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Jonathan Franzen's much-discussed Freedom arrives in paperback, along with selected stories from William Trevor and a new Rick Bass novel set in 1950s Nashville. In nonfiction, Nelson Mandela opens the archives to his past, and Ian Frazier explores Siberia.

Comedian Steve Martin tackles the New York art world, while singer Dionne Warwick delivers her life story, music critic Alex Ross charts the evolution of his taste, Jennet Conant explores Julia and Paul Childs' secret World War II spy work, and Michael Korda recounts the life of Lawrence of Arabia.

In fiction, Paul Auster sets a family story against the housing crisis and Garrison Keillor looks at a Midwestern holiday blizzard. In nonfiction, Lewis Black goes on a USO tour of Afghanistan and Iraq, Frank Sinatra gets a new biography and Jenna McCarthy redefines lust and love with a comic wink.

Young adult literature has never been so psychologically probing or artistically ambitious as it is today. Marissa Meyer's favorite novels beguile, thrill and, above all, transport younger readers to a Shakespearean magical theater, futuristic Chicago and a netherworld of ghost hunters.

Jonathan Gottschall is an English professor fed up with academia's ugly jargon. He recommends three books that help writers with their prose. Has a book ever helped you with your composition skills? Tell us about it in the comments.

It's been 100 years since the sinking of the RMS Titanic, and the anniversary brings with it a barrage of literature. Former NPR editor Rachel Syme has been keeping track of the new releases and lists her favorites here. Do you have a favorite Titanic book? Let us know in the comments.

To some, spending April in Paris would be divine. But author Amy Thomas knows that living there full-time isn't always fun. She recommends three books that show how frustrating, judgmental and maddening Paris can be. Have you ever lived abroad? Tell us about your experience in the comments.

Nonfiction rules the week with humorist Nora Ephron on aging, Simon Winchester on the history of the Atlantic Ocean, Brian Greene on the parallel universes that surround us, rapper Jay-Z on his life and lyrics, and entrepreneur Russell Simmons on what it means to be rich.

Elmore Leonard takes on Somali pirates in his latest thriller, while former President George W. Bush defends his decision points, biographer Edmund Morris looks at Theodore Roosevelt's last decade, and writer Dan Buettner reports on what the world's happiest people have in common.

India has catapulted to the world stage. Yet for its meteoric economic rise, it remains beset by social problems. NPR editor Miranda Kennedy recommends three books that don't shy from what she sees as the most contentious Indian issue: the caste system.