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In the 2008 financial crash, a lot was written in newspapers and even books — but there wasn't much fiction out there to help those who like to view life through an imaginative lens. Now author John Lanchester's Capital can fill that void. It describes the crash as seen from London, and Lizzie Skurnick calls it "brilliant."

In Mrs. Robinson's Disgrace, Kate Summerscale reconstructs the everyday private life and very public shaming of Isabella Robinson, a wife sued for divorce over her scandalous diary entries in the early days of England's divorce court.

Chances are, if you've stayed in motels in the past decade, you've stayed in at least one owned by an Indian-American. It turns out more than half of all motels in the U.S. are Indian-American-owned. And even more remarkable, the vast majority of those owners are from one western state in India.

In some of the dirtiest places on Earth, author and environmentalist Andrew Blackwell found something worth looking at. His book, Visit Sunny Chernobyl, tours the deforestation of the Amazon, the oil sand mines in Canada and the world's most polluted city, located in China.

In just a few weeks, the world will descend on London for the Olympic Games. NPR's Scott Simon talks with London Mayor Boris Johnson about his city and his new book, Johnson's Life of London: The People Who Made the City That Made the World.

Deborah Harkness combines serious academic research with occult romance in her novels, the latest of which is Shadow of Night.

Maureen McLane's experimental essay collection, My Poets, blends her academic and intellectual experiences with the poetry that has inspired her. The NYU professor tells her story through a series of reflections on poets from Chaucer to William Carlos Williams.

It wasn't just the creepy carnival that drew Seth Grahame-Smith to Something Wicked This Way Comes. It was also the book's frank portrayal of parents who don't behave like grown-ups. Do you remember when you realized your parents weren't perfect? Tell us about it in the comments.

Even if you don't know the name Eric Carle, his work has probably made you smile. The new book from the author of The Very Hungry Caterpillar is about an artist who, like the author, enjoys stepping out of the box.

Hilary Mantel's new book, Bring Up the Bodies, is the sequel to Wolf Hall, which won worldwide acclaim. It is also the latest in a planned trilogy about Thomas Cromwell. Historically, the royal adviser is considered an unscrupulous bully. In Mantel's books, he is — like any other man — much more than his reputation.