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Welcome to your weekly roundup of book news and literary highlights from 

This week, fans of Maya Angelou got a chance to browse the poet's estate sale; McDonald's in Australia is adding books to Happy Meals; and a new tool could help you figure out exactly how many books to bring on vacation.

Maya Angelou, iconic poet, writer and activist, is considered to be one of most influential authors of the 20th century. And last week, you could browse her household goods.

Angelou, the recipient of the National Medal of Arts and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, died last May at the age of 86, in her Winston-Salem, N.C., home. In the process of cleaning out her house, Laster's Fine Art & Antiques held an estate sale at the house. It was a rare opportunity to view the personal belongings of a literary legend.

According to Laster's, the sale included books, paintings, furniture, handbags and other household items. 

 show everything from coffee mugs to Christmas ornaments. 

Many who came to browse were looking for a connection to Angelou.

, "I've always admired her work. I've admired her as a woman. It just brings me joy to have some of her items now."

The items, Time Warner reported, were surprisingly affordable: Prices were as low as $10. Proceeds benefit one of Angelou's foundations. 

 can estimate your personal reading speed, and tell you how long it will take you to read almost any book. The site's database has more than 12 million titles, so chances are your current reading material is in there. 

How does it work? The site times you while you read a sample of the book, and then refers to the book's page count to give you an estimated reading time.  

An example: Next up on my list is Marlon James' "A Brief History of Seven Killings." It's a hefty book at 704 pages. 

 thinks I can put it down in five hours and 24 minutes. We'll see.

This might seem like a frivolous tool, but when it's time to decide how many books to pack for vacation, it could come in handy. Some e-readers already offer similar tools, but if you're a paper book hold-out, here you go.

It turns out books really can save lives.
Chemist Teri Dankovich has created "drinkable books," a tool for filtering drinking water in developing countries. 

, each page contains nanoparticles of silver and copper, which kill bacteria when the water passes through it. In early trials in South Africa, Ghana and Bangladesh, the paper removed more than 99 percent of bacteria.

"All you need to do is tear out a paper, put it in a simple filter holder and pour water into it from rivers, streams, wells etc., and out comes clean water," Dankovich told the BBC.

Each page can filter up to 26 gallons; the whole book could filter up to four years' worth of water for a single user. 

Dankovich said her team still has more work to do before the drinking books can be widely distributed, but here's hoping it's an international bestseller. 

In Australia, kids can get a book with their burgers or chicken nuggets — but not all parents are happy about it.

McDonald's stores down under are offering paperbacks and e-books instead of the usual plastic toys in Happy Meals. The books range from non-fiction titles like "Wild Baby Animals" to digital books inspired by "Angry Birds" or "My Little Pony," according to the 

So what's not to like about more books for kids? An Australian organization called The Parents' Jury is arguing that the marketing campaign will encourage unhealthy eating habits for children. The theory is that parents will have a harder time saying "no" to child's request for a Happy Meal if there's a book involved. 

 in the United States last January. They gave away more than ten million books in two weeks, which presumably all ended up with some greasy French fry fingerprints.

Arts and Culture

The Thread® - Books and Literary News

Tracy Mumford

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How fast do you read? An online database with more than 12 million books claims that it can estimate your personal reading time for any title.

Book briefs: How long will it take you to read that book?

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