W. Ralph Eubanks is the author of Ever Is a Long Time and The House at the End of the Road. He is director of publishing at the Library of Congress.

The work of William Faulkner looms as a mountain too high to climb for many readers, with his long, complex sentences and shifting point of view. But Faulkner's famously tangled mix of literary techniques meant nothing when I was about 12 years old and picked up a copy of The Reivers.

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MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

Scientists say a parasite carried by cats appears to influence the behavior of humans, in this case, women infected with the parasite were slightly more likely to attempt suicide.

NPR's Jon Hamilton reports this is just the latest study suggesting that parasites can cause subtle changes in our brains.

JON HAMIILTON, BYLINE: This parasite is called Toxoplasma and its primary home is in the intestine of a cat. People can get infected when they eat under-cooked meats or sometimes when they change the litter in a cat box.

There's news from South Carolina that's beginning to get attention because of headlines like this:

-- "Judge Sentences Woman To Read Bible For Drunk Driving Conviction." (CBS Local in Charlotte)

As part of a landmark $3 billion settlement of health fraud charges by GlaxoSmithKline, the government released a slew of documents that serve as a one-stop guide to alleged sales practices that ran rampant for years.

Like the Federal Reserve before them, the International Monetary Fund lowered its growth projections for the U.S. economy. The Los Angles Times says that in its annual report, the IMF calls the U.S. recovery "tepid" and warns U.S. lawmakers that hitting the brakes too hard on spending and tax cuts could threaten the weak recovery both at home and abroad.

The Times reports: