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In 2003, rare-book dealer and bibliodetective Ken Sanders tracked and caught a con artist with designs on first editions of some of the most cherished books in the world. Author Allison Bartlett tells the story in a new book called The Man Who Loved Books Too Much.

Jeremy Scahill has been investigating Blackwater, a military contractor with a long involvement in the Iraq war. His latest story, published Nov. 23 in The Nation, uncovers the contractor's involvement in a covert program in Pakistan run by the U.S. Joint Special Command.

If these books prove anything, it's that the legacy of nonfiction storytelling is still very much alive. Steve Weinberg's picks reflect the depth and diversity of the 2009 current affairs library, ranging from investigations of the role of women in America to a look at what it means to sit supreme on the highest court in the U.S.

Hall Overton was a tall, modest, Midwestern, chain-smoking college instructor of classical music at Juilliard. But at the Jazz Loft, he was living, teaching music and playing piano with greats like Thelonious Monk.

Hotels, pools, beaches, airplanes: all good places to ignite a summer fling — or read about one. Here are six recent titles that will let you explore, from the safety of your deck chair, our human capacity for ecstasy and pain.

Gail Caldwell wasn't looking to make friends when she met Caroline Knapp. But gradually the women's lives became thoroughly intertwined, and they formed a sisterly bond that lasted until the day Caroline died of lung cancer. Now Caldwell has written a memoir, Let's Take the Long Way Home, about their friendship.

In the early 1960s, writer Norton Juster and illustrator Jules Feiffer created The Phantom Tollbooth, which quickly became a kid-lit classic. Now, 50 years later, the two have finally collaborated once more — this time, on a picture book called The Odious Ogre. They speak to NPR's Liane Hansen about their partnership and their new project.

The fictional Chinese detective Charlie Chan, who starred in a series of novels and movies between the 1920s and the 1950s, is often dismissed as a "Yellow Uncle Tom." But in the fascinating, sometimes maddening history Charlie Chan, Yunte Huang argues that Charlie is much more than a stereotype.

In a new memoir, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Natasha Trethewey revisits her own memories of the Gulf Coast region, and details how members of her family worked to rebuild their lives after the storm. She asks how the identity of the Gulf will be remembered — and how the region's stories will be told.

The days are getting shorter, and it's hard to breeze though pages like you did on vacation just a few short weeks ago. Critic Cord Jefferson offers five nonfiction titles — true stories that will gently ease you out of the summer months, and back into the routines of fall.