Search results for

In softcover fiction, Tracy Chevalier follows an English Quaker across the Atlantic, Herman Koch serves a meal with a hefty helping of unease and Peter Sis brings an ancient flock of birds into the 21st century. In nonfiction, Jared Diamond mines lessons from traditional societies.

Juan Vidal recommends three Latin American masterpieces that were translated this year: a boundary-pushing novella, a noir tale of an assassination plot and a complex exploration of identity and history. There are no noble heroes in these pages — instead, they feature hapless, struggling souls in search of meaning.

This week in paperback, Mark Mazzetti investigates changes in the CIA, Neil Irwin looks at the guardians of the global economy and Meg Wolitzer follows a group of gifted friends.

As autumn kicks in, Swedish novelist Anne Swärd reflects on the magical, short-lived summers near the Arctic circle. In places where the sun doesn't set, she says, "light insomnia" makes the world dream-like. And in the Nordic novels she recommends, Arctic sunshine makes betrayals sharper, friendships more intoxicating and love more enthralling.

Novelists are famously prone to self-imposed exile and introspection; sometimes, they invent characters who are similarly solitary. Author Rachel Louise Snyder recommends three compelling books starring such loners. She says their isolation isn't what's compelling, but it's riveting to watch these recluses step back into the world of others.

Author Craig Nova recommends three books that take a fresh approach to the age-old bildungsroman. The experience of growing up is both universal and unique — and, in these books, timeless.

In softcover fiction, Joyce Carol Oates wreaks karmic horror on turn-of-the-century Princeton, and Sebastian Faulks braids five lives in the search for what makes a self. In softcover nonfiction, Elton John tells the story of his crusade for better AIDS treatment, and Bernard Lewis maps the Middle East with a life's worth of anecdotes.

In softcover nonfiction, Vali Nasr analyzes foreign policy, Kathryn Miles details the fate of a ship fleeing famine and Kurt Vonnegut's letters reveal a man both hilarious and haunted. In fiction, Rachel Kushner plunges into the world of Italian radicals, Jamie Quatro crafts surreal tales and Alejandro Zambra weaves a Chilean meta-narrative.

NPR's go-to librarian returns to some old favorites from her personal shelves. "All the books on my bookshelves are books that I loved," she says. "Those are the only books I keep." Her picks include a trilogy of novellas filled with British humor and an Irish mystery.

Forget the taped readings of yore. Today's audiobooks feature integrated musical performances, movie-quality sound effects and all-star casts of rotating narrators. Take a peek at the new world of listenable literature with AudioFile magazine founder Robin Whitten's list of four notable audiobooks from 2013.