Because live shows aren’t really a thing in 2020, she’s launching a holiday TV special on Apple TV+ on Friday. “Mariah Carey’s Magical Christmas Special” will includes a mix of musical performances and dancing with amination. — Shawn Mendes released his debut album in 2015 and he’s dropping his fourth effort Friday. Along with the album is the Netflix documentary called “Shawn Mendes: In Wonder,” which is available for streaming and follows Mendes’ rise and journey over the last few years. — Christmas came early when Carrie Underwood released her first holiday album in September, and on Thursday she’ll debut a musical TV special to accompany the album.

NEW YORK – Stories of race, class and climate change were among the fiction finalists Tuesday for the 71st annual National Book Awards. The National Book Foundation, which presents the awards, announced five works in each of five categories: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, translation and young people's literature. None of the authors have been finalists before, although novelist Lydia Millet has been on the fiction longlist of 10. In 2011, Manning Marable died just before the release of “Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention,” a National Book Award finalist and winner of the Pulitzer Prize. Judging panels of authors, critics and others in the bookselling community selected finalists from nearly 1,700 books submitted by publishers.

Spectators pay tribute to basketball legend Kobe Bryant prior to the start of the Italian Basketball second division match between Rieti and Scafati in Rieti's PalaSojourne, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020. Bryant spent seven years of his childhood in Rieti, where his father, Joe Bryant, made his Italian basketball debut in 1984 when Kobe was 6 years-old. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)Books created by Kobe Bryant’s content company soared in popularity in the days following the basketball legend’s death in a helicopter crash. Another of Bryant’s books, “The Mamba Mentality: How I Play” has also reached No. ___More AP coverage of the life and death of Kobe Bryant: https://apnews.com/KobeBryant___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports