The three-day trade show includes 1, 500 exhibitors and more than 500 authors, plus a digital book zone that will no-doubt be a popular hub for readers wondering about iPad and the future of print media.

FORBES: Barbara Streisand to Headline Book Expo

The fragments served as signposts for Richard Preston, the best-selling author of the nonfiction book "The Hot Zone, " who was brought in by the Michael Crichton Trust to finish the partially written manuscript.

WSJ: Deciphering Michael Crichton's Clues for 'Micro'

Now, in his new book, "In the Hot Zone: One Man, One Year, 20 Wars, " it just kind of reads like a diary, really.

NPR: Kevin Sites Seeks the 'Hot Zone'

He was their bureau chief there for a few years and his book, Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone, will be released tomorrow.

NPR: No Smoking in the Green Zone