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Melanie Benjamin's Alice I Have Been imagines the life and regrets of Alice Liddell, the real-life girl who served as the inspiration for Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Alice knew Carroll as Charles Dodgson, a neighbor who told her stories and photographed her as a young girl.

The influential photographer died of cancer Sunday. He was 63. In remembrance, we listen to a 1989 interview with him about his Pictures from Home, a decade-long project in which he observed the effects of his father's job loss on his family — a poignant topic once more.

Inventory, the new book of pop-culture lists from the publishers of The Onion, celebrates and skewers topics like pretentious musical instruments and songs about the horrors of bus travel. A.V. Club Managing Editor Josh Modell talks about some favorite lists with Scott Simon.

From an anti-lawn manifesto, to "sophisticated plant porn at its finest," Ketzel Levine shares this year's yield of great gardening books. She finds that geeky plant lust is officially outre, and memoirs of urban homesteads of produce and poultry are a budding new genre.

From St. Augustine's Confessions, to Frederick Douglass' journey from slave to abolitionist, to Sarah Palin's account of "going rogue," the experiences, triumphs and travails of others have enthralled readers for centuries. Journalist and author Ben Yagoda discusses his new book, Memoir: A History.

After a trip around the world to mend her broken heart, writer Elizabeth Gilbert found herself happily involved with a Brazilian man she vowed never to marry. The problem? As she writes in her new book, Committed, the only way to get him into the United States was to agree to exchange vows.

For many readers, Louisa May Alcott is synonymous with her most famous character, Jo March, the spirited sister in Little Women. But author and filmmaker Harriet Reisen says Alcott's life "was no children's book." Reisen's The Woman Behind 'Little Women' premieres Monday night on PBS.

Pilot Chesley Sullenberger's wild ride started this year when he landed a US Airways jet plop-solid perfect onto the icy surface of the Hudson River on Jan. 15, saving all 155 passengers on board. He's a hero to the nation, but Sullenberger says his story is really more about a nation in need of a hero.

Travel can be stressful, with flight delays, waiting rooms, and hours in economy class. One of the best ways to survive this mayhem is with a good book. Author Susan Jane Gilman offers suggestions for six great books that won't embarrass you in airports.

Every Christmas, Santa Claus uses advanced technology to accomplish his seemingly impossible duties. In the new book The Truth about Santa, science writer Gregory Mone explains.