Fiction & Nonfiction
 Dawn Light
by Diane Ackerman (Norton)
Few writers are able to reveal the natural world's astonishing intricacies with prose so ravishing, fanciful and evocative as Diane Ackerman. In her newest book, she offers a feast of facts, images and ideas, in these seasonally arranged essays whose basic theme is dawn. The behaviors of animals, birds and humans at daybreak, the inspiration experienced by painters such as Monet, our many sunrise-centered myths and rituals are a few of the subjects so precisely explained, and with such joyful contemplation, that we are able, as Ms. Ackerman puts it, to "enchant ourselves by paying deep attention." -Erica
 Naming Nature: The Clash Between Instinct and Science
by Carol Kaesuk Yoon (Norton)
In this fascinating investigation of how the scientific categorization of the natural world has evolved over the centuries, Yoon shows how the field of taxonomy—which started with scientists and amateurs out in nature collecting thousands of specimens—has transformed into a field of carefully controlled genetic investigations in laboratories. This yields results which often fly in the face of our instinctual sense of how species relate to each other. Yoon argues that this helps separate us from the living world. Skillfully and passionately written, Yoon brings the incredible fathers of the field to life with affection and wit while raising important questions about how humans fit into the natural world. -Casey O.
 The Adderall Diaries
by Stephen Elliott (Graywolf)
Stephen Elliott's part true crime story, part memoir is one wild ride through his thunderous history with his abusive father, adolescent group homes, drug addiction and a developing dependency on his cure for writer's block—Adderall. Hans Reiser, accused of murdering his Russian mail order bride, becomes known to Elliott through Reiser's best friend, Sean Sturgeon, who Elliott crossed paths with in San Francisco's underground S&M scene. Sturgeon's tale of his love for his friend's wife and her eventual murder was just the type of tale to break Elliott's writer's block. But as Reiser's murder trial plays out, Sturgeon himself confesses to killing 8 people, refusing to reveal their names. Elliott writes at a relentless pace about depression, anger and his urges to be hurt and humiliated. Join him as he pulls back the layers of an unbelievable story told with piercing candor. -Seth
 Chronic City
by Jonathan Lethem (Doubleday)
Jonathan Lethem is known for testing the boundaries of what is possible in literary fiction, but with Chronic City he has achieved the seemingly impossible: the highbrow stoner novel. Following the marijuana-fueled adventures of an unlikely group of friends in Manhattan, the narrative leads readers on an existential journey through an ingeniously rendered landscape of countercultural elements, with Mr. Lethem ultimately poking his fingers through the fragile membrane of our perceived reality. At once humorous and seriously thought provoking, Chronic City is sure to resonate with fans of the sort of enigmatic and surreal literature pioneered by such luminaries as Pynchon and Murakami. -Jamil
 Blood's a Rover
by James Ellroy (Knopf)
Eight years after the last installment, Blood's a Rover concludes Ellroy's Underworld USA Trilogy, an alternate history of America in the 1960s. The book opens by dropping the reader smack in the middle of an armored car heist. From there the story propels across a crazy, whacked-out tapestry of American history filtered through the three-headed hydra point of view of Ellroy's main characters—Wayne Tedrow Jr., a little older, wiser and darker; crooked G-Man Dwight Holly, as corrupt and corruptible as ever; and the new guy wheelman/wannabe P.I. Don "Crutch" Crutchfield, a slimy little perverted peephole squinter and panty sniffer. These three are joined by such historical luminaries of stinking corruption and mendacity as J. Edgar Hoover, Howard Hughes, Richard Nixon and a cadre of killers, commies, pushers, freaks, pederasts, radicals, assassins, drug runners and all the low-life scum who have made this country what it is today.
Blood's a Rover is a big, ballsy, brutal book that could only have been written by the Demon Dog of American crime fiction. -Matt
 Jacques Cousteau: The Sea King
by Brad Matsen (Pantheon)
Just as Jacques Cousteau first revealed to the world the myriad wonders beneath the surface of the vast ocean realm, Brad Matsen's latest effort brilliantly explores the depths of this complex and equally enticing legend. Like a faithful wide angle lens in one of the Frenchman's films, The Sea King uses an impressive array of sources to bring into focus the disparate nature—the beauty, yet also the decay—of a life fully lived. For in Cousteau, we have a deeply curious and innovative, while flawed, man whose life was a sum of its parts. -Jamie
 The Cry of the Sloth
by Sam Savage (Coffee House)
Sam Savage follows up his novel about a bookstore rat with another type of literary lowlife: an editor. Andrew Whittaker is other things as well; a slumlord, a gadfly, and a writer. Presented here is his complete output for a four month period in the late 1970s—every letter, eviction notice, shopping list, and novel fragment that pass from his pen. The result is an unintentional self-portrait of a man desperate for renown and attention. As he becomes beleaguered by debt and shunned by the artistic community, his writings present a mental unraveling that is epic in its humor and pathos. -Christopher
 Why Does E=mc2?
by Brian Cox & Jeff Forshaw (Da Capo)
These respected professors lead the lay reader through Einstein's most famous equation with aptitude and humor. Using a myriad of examples—from light clocks to concubines to motorcycles (and some math)—we are introduced to heady concepts not only of mass, energy, and relativity, but to momentum conservation, causality and space-time. The ultimate goal of the book is not just providing an understanding of the elegance of the equation but how our understanding of its principles applies to larger understandings of how our universe works. This book is an excellent primer for anyone with a curiosity into physics. -Holly
 Hard Rain Falling
by Don Carpenter (New York Review of Books)
The plot of this masterful novel—thankfully now back in print—is difficult to encapsulate because it meanders broadly and shifts irrevocably, much the way a real life can. Jack Levitt is a white orphan teen scraping by on the streets of Portland, where he meets Billy Lancing, a black teenager just off the bus from Seattle who is wise beyond his years when it comes to handling a pool cue. By the time they meet again in San Quentin over a decade later a lot has happened. This book is about real pain and real desperation, but it is also about love that is honest, unexpected and heartbreaking. Its beauty and power lies in Carpenter's refusal to dishonor his characters with easy redemption or simple solutions. –Casey O.
 Cockroach
by Rawi Hage (Norton)
After failing to commit suicide from a low hanging branch the unnamed narrator of Cockroach is forced into therapy sessions where he slowly unwinds the horrors of his past, stretching it out until it reaches his mundane, impoverished present. Among the frozen streets of Montreal, he breaks into other people's homes to rifle among their things, sleep in their beds, and occasionally make himself a ham sandwich. At night he meets beautiful, fragile women, moonlights as a busboy in a neighborhood restaurant, and by day lurks in busy smoke-filled cafes.
Seedy, haunting, tender and unforgettable, Cockroach will no doubt find a place in some darkened corner of many readers careworn shelves. -Jillian
 Why Architecture Matters
by Paul Goldberger (Yale University Press)
Architecture can be mundane, crass, sublime or transcendent. What Goldberger makes clear is that good, bad or indifferent, all of it has consequences and we live with them every day. Goldberger describes architecture as a concrete conversation between eras, forces and imaginations and his eloquent case studies range from famous masterpieces to the most common dwellings. The reader will be compelled to take a closer look at the built landscapes all around us that are so omnipresent that they can be easy to tune out and take for granted. -Casey O.
 Bicycle Diaries
by David Byrne (Viking)
Musician and visual artist David Byrne's Bicycle Diaries is a celebration of the making of art and of the two-wheeled exploration of some of the world's greatest cities. Faster than walking and more connected to the world than riding in a motor vehicle, bicycling offers opportunities to take in unique details of landscape, culture and people. Byrne tracks the intimate shift, decay and movement of cities; Berlin after the fall of the Wall; rustbelt era Detroit; Istanbul as bicycle travel gives way to the car. Traveling, performing, and witnessing are all part of this enjoyable journey and readers are invited along. -Karen
 The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire That Saved America
by Timothy Egan (Houghton Mifflin)
Timothy Egan's newest book is full of heroic stories that came out of the largest wildfire in American history. In the summer of 1910, it raged for just 3 days. Fueled by hurricane force winds, it scorched three million acres, swallowed five towns, and snuffed out eighty-five human lives. The scope of Egan's book though is wider—it follows the deep friendship between President Roosevelt and his right-hand man Gifford Pinchot, who bonded over their zeal for untamed wilderness and their steadfast conviction that forests be conserved for future generations. -Jake
 A Paradise Built in Hell
by Rebecca Solnit (Viking)
Rebecca Solnit is the best kind of optimist, the sort who is unafraid to take a harsh look at reality. In her latest investigation, she examines how people react to emergencies. She studies five major North American catastrophes and finds that in every case those most immediately effected react with kindness and altruism. "Disaster communities" form among the victims, where strangers feed, clothe and tend the wounds of one another. As the book works its way from an enormous earthquake to a terrible hurricane, an underlying theme becomes overt: the greater tragedy is the habitual everyday which keeps people apart. -Christopher
 Going Away Shoes
by Jill McCorkle (Algonquin)
Jill McCorkle's stories are both sad and funny because they deal with the stuff of life. Her characters find humor in pathetic situations; otherwise, what would life be? Caring for a convalescing mother who probably never loved you; paint-by-number kits and Bob Ross; bad marriage counselors; and friends who just can't leave your single status alone. She's the kind of writer who leaves her reader greedy for the next story. They may be sad but they are always good for a laugh or two. -Pamela
 Memoir: A History
by Ben Yagoda (Penguin)
In recent years, the memoir genre seems to have exploded with tales of less-than-perfect childhoods, beloved animal companions, and struggles with addiction. Ben Yagoda traces the history of the genre back to Saint Augustine and his confessions, exploring the motivations behind sharing personal stories—whether to confess one's sins, inspire others, or just make it to the top of the bestseller list—their place in history and literature, and the importance (or unimportance) of complete truthfulness (A Million Little Pieces, anyone?). Memoir is a fascinating look at a constantly changing, perennially beloved genre. -Charlotte
 Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall
by Kazuo Ishiguro (Knopf)
Each story in Ishiguro’s masterful new short story collection deals with themes of love, marriage, and music. It is sometimes hilarious, sometimes tragic, and always exquisitely written. The different narrators in each story witness or experience the difficulties of a long time love, and the recurring emotions accompanied by familiar songs connect each of the stories, making the overall effect particularly moving. -Becky
 The Man Who Loved Books Too Much
by Allison Hoover Bartlett (Riverhead)
The passion for discovering and owning a rare book is palpable in this intriguing portrait of an obsessed serial book thief, and the book dealer determined to catch him. The world of book collecting gets a journalist’s masterful examination, explaining its allure for mild-mannered John Gilkey, as he manages to steal hundreds of precious volumes, and for the sometimes eccentric dealers and bibliophiles who, throughout history, have valued a treasured tome not for its content, but for its rarity.
This suspenseful psychological study of an unusual criminal, and informative look at the antiquarian book world will leave you incredulous, entertained, and very likely tempted to browse used bookshops. -Erica
 Spooner
by Pete Dexter (Grand Central)
From the outset, Spooner is an accident waiting to happen. His twin brother dies during birth and his father follows shortly after he is born. Most people instinctively veer from his innate disaster, women and employers included. His step-father, Calmer Ottoson, is one of the exceptions. A rare and kind man who has had his own share of bad luck follows Spooner through life, ever watchful and caring—from Milledgeville, Georgia to Whidbey Island, Washington. As Spooner stumbles through his phases of life, the reader sees the complexity of their relationship as it turns full circle. -Pamela
 The Death of Bunny Munro
by Nick Cave (Faber and Faber)
Bunny Munro is a ladies' man, a salesman, and is becoming increasingly aware that very soon he will be a dead man. Following the ghastly suicide of his wife, he sets off on a maniacal junket, hawking beauty products while trying to seduce his customers. He deadens his grief with copious amounts of liquor and feeds into an all-consuming lust. All the while he drags in tow his precocious nine-year-old son, who sees everything through wounded eyes. This tale is simultaneously a sick road trip and a commentary on hyper-sexualized society, made beautiful in its own way by Cave's thick and lyrical prose. -Christopher
 Homer and Langley
by E.L. Doctorow (Random House)
E.L. Doctorow's latest novel about the famous Collyer brothers is a richly imagined account of their lives. Each major world event happening outside of their walls is represented by their collections that accumulate over the years until their house becomes a labyrinth of artifacts. It is at once a psychological study and a historical account spanning decades of the American experience. -Becky
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The Unfinished Angel
The Sound of Music
The Storm in the Barn
Ash
