Amazon.com and Macmillan, one of the six largest book publishers in the U.S., waged a battle this weekend over e-book pricing. Amazon did not want to charge over $9.99 for e-book editions, but Macmillan (and other publishers) wanted the freedom to price some of their titles higher.

As a result of the dispute, Amazon removed the “Add to Shopping Cart” button from all Macmillan titles on its website, including print versions. Customers can still purchase new and used copies of the titles from outside vendors through the site, however.

In a statement, Amazon said:

Macmillan […] has clearly communicated to us that, regardless of our viewpoint, they are committed to switching to an agency model and charging $12.99 to $14.99 for e-book versions of bestsellers and most hardcover releases.

We have expressed our strong disagreement and the seriousness of our disagreement by temporarily ceasing the sale of all Macmillan titles. We want you to know that ultimately, however, we will have to capitulate and accept Macmillan’s terms because Macmillan has a monopoly over their own titles, and we will want to offer them to you even at prices we believe are needlessly high for e-books. Amazon customers will at that point decide for themselves whether they believe it’s reasonable to pay $14.99 for a bestselling e-book.

Publishers Weekly reports, “In the wake of the launch of Apple’s iPad device and its content deals with the big publishers, it has been reported that Apple and the publishers have agreed on prices of $12 to $15 for e-books sold through Apple’s forthcoming iBooks Store.”

Macmillan books will return to Amazon.com, but there is currently no timeframe given for the restoration.

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Christopher Reid has won the Costa book of the year award. He is only the fourth poet to win the £30,000 prize. His winning collection, A Scattering, was written as a tribute to his late wife.

Of the four poetry volumes that have won the book of the year award, three have been elegies, all for deceased wives. There was Douglas Dunn’s Elegies in 1985, for his first wife, and Ted Hughes’ Birthday Letters in 1998, inspired by Sylvia Plath.

The recipient of the book of the year award is selected from a list of five category winners, which were announced in early January.

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Beloved and reclusive author J.D. Salinger passed away on January 27 at the age of 91. He is most famous for his quintessential coming-of-age novel The Catcher in the Rye, which has total worldwide sales of over 65 million.