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From a charming tale of the tooth fairy to the very grown-up fiction of Graham Greene, read by the very grown-up Colin Firth, Robin Whitten of AudioFile magazine picks some of 2012's best audiobooks for your holiday listening.

Europe spent much of this year trying to hold its common currency pact together. Greece, Spain, Italy and other countries flirted with disaster as interest rates spiked, forcing the debtor nations to accept austerity programs. The turmoil was bad enough to push much of the eurozone into recession.

Demonstrations in India continued for a second straight day after a young woman who was gang-raped on a public bus died of her injuries over the weekend. Police are awaiting forensic reports that would establish the presence of the men inside the bus that the young woman boarded with her companion, who was also brutally beaten in the attack.

It turns out parents are increasingly naming newborns after grandparents. That's one new trend, according to the baby website, Belly Ballot. It is also predicting first names that sound like last names: think Kennedy.

Despite what has been called a status quo election, the 113th Congress will bring with it generational changes and some history, including the first all-female delegation for a state, and the fewest number of military veterans since World War II. Here are some of the noteworthy newcomers.

Talks continue on a deal to avoid automatic spending cuts and tax increases. But with just hours to go before they kick in, an agreement remained elusive.

Diana Vreeland had a troubled childhood; her mother often told her she was ugly. But she later became editor-in-chief of American Vogue and one of the country's most revered fashion icons. Her life is captured in the new biography, Empress of Fashion: A Life of Diana Vreeland. Host Michel Martin talks with author Amanda Mackenzie Stuart.

To a significant degree, you are the sum of the stories you tell yourself about yourself. Take away your memories, the connective tissue of your life, and what's left?

Rep.-elect Ann Kirkpatrick is returning to Washington this week after sitting out a term following her 2010 defeat. This time around, Kirkpatrick hopes to strengthen her foothold in a swing district, but she's dealing with a tricky electorate.

Vice President Joe Biden was meeting late Monday with Senate Democrats to brief them on a proposed deal to stop the sharp tax increases and spending cuts. The Senate may vote on the deal Monday night, but there will be no vote in the House until Tuesday at the earliest.