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Curtis Sittenfeld admits she's not sure what constitutes "chick lit." What she does know is that these three books featuring smart young women make her proud to be a chick.

It took Zach Bates just over 28 hours to complete the course earlier this year. At age 19, he became the youngest person to finish the rugged Arizona circuit known as the Coldwater Rumble.

The fashion industry is sometimes criticized for unrealistic portrayals of young women. But if you're a woman older than 60, there are almost no portrayals, realistic or otherwise. Now a fashion blog called Advanced Style has made stars of some of these older fashionistas, including a 93-year-old who says the spotlight makes her feel like she's "part of the world."

Poet Mbali Vilakazi pays tribute to South African swimmer Natalie du Toit, the first female amputee ever to qualify for the Olympic Games. For Vilakazi, du Toit's accomplishment is "everything the Olympics represent ... the triumph of the human spirit."

Steve Martin is at the top of his game. He has just been awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, at the same time that his newest movie, Shopgirl, is winning strong reviews around the country.

The film adaptation of Christopher Buckley's 1994 satirical novel Thank You for Smoking is about to hit the big screen. He talks with Liane Hansen about the movie from a smoke-filled bar in Washington, D.C.

If you caught heat for neglecting to send a romantic text last Valentine's Day, you might now be vindicated: Server maintenance slowed 170,000 texts to a glacial pace. They were recently delivered.

Foreign aid workers, contractors and journalists are increasingly becoming targets of kidnappings across Iraq. The Al-Jazeera news network broadcast a video of a captured American soldier who identifies himself as 20-year-old Pfc. Keith Maupin. An American and a Danish citizen were seized Friday in separate incidents, and dozens have been kidnapped over the past two weeks. Many have been released fairly quickly -- but one, an Italian, was murdered by his captors. NPR's Philip Reeves reports.

U.S. soldiers are involved in an operation to hunt down and destroy militia loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in Baghdad's Sadr City. In Ramadi, 12 Marines die in intense battles. In Fallujah, U.S. rockets hit a mosque, reportedly killing dozens. Three days of clashes in the Sunni stronghold have killed as many as 30 U.S. soldiers and more than 150 Iraqis. Hear NPR's Philip Reeves.

Four U.S. soldiers are killed and six are wounded as insurgents fire on a base north of Baghdad. Dozens of Iraqis are killed in rocket attacks, roadside bombings and fighting with U.S.-led troops around the country. An the oil terminal off the southern city of Basra comes under attack, apparently by suicide bombers. Hear NPR's Cheryl Corley and NPR's Philip Reeves.