Congressman John P. Murtha passed away today, leaving behind a legacy of more than 30-years worth of legislative work and writings on national security.

The Pennsylvania State University Press published his 291-page work, From Vietnam to 9/11: On the Front Lines of National Security. In 2006, he wrote the forward to Presidents at War: From Truman to Bush, The Gathering of Military Powers To Our Commanders in Chief.

Here's more from his official obituary: "Murtha, 77, was Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense. First elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in February of 1974, Murtha dedicated his life to serving his country both in the military and in the halls of Congress. A former Marine, he became the first Vietnam War combat Veteran elected to the U.S. Congress. This past Saturday, February 6, 2010, Murtha became Pennsylvania's longest serving Member of Congress."

This morning Amazon.com (AMZN) made its Kindle Development Kit available for software developers, opening the door for new applications to expand the functionality of the device. Developers can apply here.

Our digitally obsessed sibling has all the details: "The KDK comes with a simulator, as well as permission to test apps on up to three Kindles before submitting to Amazon ... As far as pricing goes, Amazon promises at 70%/30% share, minus $.15/MB for download. And, Amazon also points out 'that unlike smart phones, the Kindle user does not pay a monthly wireless fee or enter into an annual wireless contract. Kindle active content must be priced to cover the costs of downloads and on going usage.'"

We've been excited to see how developers will use the new tools, and at Digital Book World, we asked developer Joshua Tallent from eBook Architects to give us some of his ideas for Kindle apps. His enthusiastic response should help developers, publishers, and readers re-think the Kindle.

Nobody ever expects high-culture Super Bowl ads, but a Bud Light advertisement irked some literary football fans.

Bud Light released the beer ad embedded below, mocking book clubs, male readers, female readers, and book reading in general. The ad shows a couple fun-loving beer drinkers crashing a book club, playing with all sorts of stereotypes about American readers. As this Twitter search shows, America's reaction was mixed.

Literary blogger Edward Champion has led the online backlash against the ad. He described the message: "Let women have their 'little' book clubs, which can be easily interrupted on a masculine whim and which women will never dare object to. They will set everything aside to give you head or to serve you beer. And, by the way, if you're a man, you don't even need to read to get ahead in the world. (Indeed, one of the commercial's curious philosophical positions is that one cannot both enjoy beer--at least the stuff better than the undrinkable swill that is being sold in this commercial--and books."

What do you think? Leave your thoughts in the comments, and we'll round up the responses later today. UPDATE: Jezebel rounds up other trouble-making ads.

Today HCI Books announced the new Vows imprint, publishing what they call a brand new "subgenre" of romantic literature--reality-based romance, or "RB Romance."

The series will match romance writers with real life couples, turning the wedding column into steamy nonfiction. In the words of the press release, it's "Life...Romanticized." Romance novelist Julie Leto will write the first book, a retelling of a real life romance in New York City. The series will launch in 2010.

Here's the juicy description of the first reality-based romance: "New York lobbyist Michael Davoli feels like he's been sucker punched when he meets Anne Miller at a concert ... Michael falls hard ... But while Mike effortlessly holds her with his gaze, he withholds the embrace she longs for ... he finally confesses that he suffers from a neurological disorder that he's learned to disguise from others but could keep him from ever holding her through the night--she makes a choice that changes the rest of her life. Anne isn't about to let anything like Tourette's Syndrome keep her from the man of her dreams ... Hard to Hold is a modern day fairy tale that proves that the best things in life--and in romance--are real."

If you want to confirm the reality of the story, check out the couple's wedding webpage. What do you think? Will real life romance sell beside the imaginary kind?

Today's Author Pick of the Day is Michael Buckley, author of the hilarious new series of books called, N.E.R.D.S. (Abrams) I had been waiting for this book to come out for months and harrassed the publicist night and day to receive a review copy of it.

Buckley is already the author of the New York Times bestselling series and Today Show Al Roker Book Club pick, The Sisters Grimm. He has also written and developed shows for Nickelodeon, Disney, MTV Animation.

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It's been two full weeks since we launched GalleyCat Reviews, publishing our first reviews, building a Twitter review directory, aggregating timely criticism, and teaming up with some great outlets. This week, we'll join some of publishing's brightest minds--trying to figure out how to improve our coverage.

On Wednesday, February 10, at 7 p.m. in the Melville House Bookstore this GalleyCat editor will join a panel of journalists and reviewers to discuss "the future of book reportage." The panel includes: Laura Miller (Salon.com), Sara Nelson (O, the Oprah magazine), Michael Miller (Time Out New York), Craig Morgan Teicher (eBookNewser), and John Mutter (Shelf Awareness). Stop by if you can make it and share your thoughts about the future. There is a $5 cover charge.

Here's more from the site: "With both the book industry and the journalism industry in historic tumult, whither literary journalism? Where will people read about books and authors and publishers in the future? Will reviews remain important? Will blogs play a more or less important role? Will reportage of industry trends and business developments improve or worsen? What kind of journalism will impact how people hear about books, and where they buy them?"

Read more about GalleyCat Reviews

On Good Morning America today, Jenny Sanford revealed she'd shown her husband drafts of memoir passages while writing her new book.

Sanford, you may recall, is the estranged wife of South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford. The memoir explores her husband's highly publicized affair with an Argentinian woman. Last week The Daily News ran exclusive excerpts from Sanford's memoir, "Staying True."

Here's an excerpt: "Sanford told Good Morning America that the governor has not yet read her new book, but that she showed him drafts of various passages as she wrote it. 'I think generally he's OK with it,' she said."

Political celebrities are hot in the publishing industry, following the blockbuster success of Game Change and Going Rogue.

I'm Still Standing: From Captive U.S. Soldier to Free Citizen My Journey Home is an inspirational memoir by Shoshana Johnson, published by Touchstone. It tells the story of the first female POW in Operation Iraqi Freedom and the first black female POW in U.S. history military history. It is her deeply personal account of 22 days in captivity and how she survived.

Johnson's book discusses her experience with postpartum stress disorder, raising her 9-year old daughter, war, what it means to be an American hero, and so much more.

Johnson will be having her book signing on:
Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 7:00 PM. The signing will be held at Borders Books & Music (10 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10019)

Penguin CEO John Makinson wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal today, comparing the eBook revolution to the paperback revolution.

His essay outlined the birth of the paperback in 1935, as Penguin began selling softcover editions of hardcover books for a "ridiculous price." Makinson reminded readers that the model has changed, perhaps subtly criticizing the common $9.99 eBook price at Amazon--a price point the CEOs of Hachette Book Group and Macmillan have openly criticized.

Here's an excerpt: "Penguin's paperback idea eventually collapsed, though not for many years, because hardback publishers decided to publish the paperbacks themselves rather than to sell the rights. Penguin responded by moving into the hardback market and now all of the world's major publishers operate on the same integrated basis. The integrated model has become universal because it works."

The op-ed makes no mention of the fact that the paperback evolved in the middle of the Great Depression. The model "collapsed" after the economic turmoil had passed. The eBook's rapid growth came during another crippling recession, and $9.99 may reflect an economic reality until our own crisis has passed. This GalleyCat editor has written about the lives of writers during the Great Depression--their stories can provide guidance during this difficult time for publishing.

What do you think?

For weeks, the film industry has debated what kind of movie would knock Avatar off the number one spot at the box office--the film had already survived vengeful angels, tooth fairies, and an angry Mel Gibson.

This weekend, the blue-skinned aliens were replaced by an unexpected contender--an adaptation without a single spaceship or fantastical mythology. In a shocking twist of fate, Avatar was topped by Dear John, a low-budget romance picture based on a novel by Nicholas Sparks.

Here's more about the book: "An angry rebel, John dropped out of school and enlisted in the Army, not knowing what else to do with his life--until he meets the girl of his dreams, Savannah. Their mutual attraction quickly grows into the kind of love that leaves Savannah waiting for John to finish his tour of duty, and John wanting to settle down with the woman who has captured his heart. But 9/11 changes everything. John feels it is his duty to re-enlist. And sadly, the long separation finds Savannah falling in love with someone else."

Yesterday President Barack Obama made headlines by calling for a televised, bi-partisan meeting about the future of health care in this country. As the debate nears, we interviewed an author who works on the front lines of health care.

Today's guest on the Morning Media Menu was editor and author Danielle Ofri (pictured).

She discussed her new book, "Medicine in Translation"--a literary look at her relationship with her patients at Bellevue Hospital.

She also talked about her work as editor of the Bellevue Literary Review, a journal that features "previously unpublished works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry that touch upon relationships to the human body, illness, health and healing."

Press play on the embedded player below to listen. The show will be archived around the mediabistro.com network all morning.

She offered this advice for writers looking to pitch the journal: "I often recommend letting time pass before you write a creative interpretation [of an event]. I think things need to bake a little bit before you write them. If you'd like to publish a piece of fiction or nonfiction or poetry, it needs to be more than just a recounting of the event. No matter how dramatic an event is, if it's told in simply a diary style, it doesn't offer any more than the actual event. What we're looking for at the Bellevue Literary Review (or anything literary) is something that actually transcends the plot of what happened to reveal some greater truth about what happened... I would recommend reading the Review to see how other people interpret these issues."

After a week of speculation, the Macmillan and Amazon (AMZN) standoff has ended the way it began--with a New York Times article on a Friday evening after this GalleyCat editor had went home for the night. It appears that the online bookseller has restored the direct purchase buttons to books by the publisher.

Over the weekend, a number of commentators weighed in on the decision. Author Paul Carr wrote: "Macmillan's attempt to bring back the NBA though, while it might result in a few more hardback sales in the short term, can only end in disaster for everyone concerned."

On the other hand, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes speculated that the new price model for eBooks could cripple Amazon: "The Kindle is a single-purpose device in a convergent world. Late last year I gave the Kindle three years. Now, that could be as little as 18 months."

Here's an excerpt: "Details of the resolution have not been made public, but the restoration of Macmillan books to Amazon's site indicates a peaceful settlement was reached. 'I am delighted to be back in business with Amazon,' John Sargent, chief executive of Macmillan, said in an e-mail message."

Last week Amazon removed the direct sale buttons for the publisher's books, writing: "We want you to know that ultimately, however, we will have to capitulate and accept Macmillan's terms because Macmillan has a monopoly over their own titles, and we will want to offer them to you even at prices we believe are needlessly high for e-books." More than 2,000 comments have been posted alongside that controversial letter.

Finally, the Authors Guild has created a site to continuously monitor the status of buy buttons for many different Amazon books--Who Moved My Buy Button?