The River Queen
By Mary Morris
Picador, $15
A memoir about a woman heading down the Mississippi River in a houseboat with two strangers, enduring sweltering heat and a lack of decent food, plumbing and privacy.
Perfect Spy: The Incredible Double Life of Pham Xuan An, Time Magazine Reporter and Vietnamese Communist Agent
By Larry Berman
Smithsonian, $14.95
This biography of the amiable reporter, who became an infamous spy throughout the Vietnam War, includes several years worth of interviews.
Uncommon Arrangements: Seven Marriages
By Katie Roiphe
Dial, $14
An English literature expert examines the marriages of various literary figures from 20th Century England.
The Pursuit of Glory
By Tim Blanning
Penguin, $20
A history of Europe from 1648 to 1815.
The Loss of Leon Meed
By Josh Emmons
Scribner, $15
In this novel, a mysterious man connects 10 Californians, who all interpret his oddities differently yet all are affected by his actions.
Tearing Down the Wall of Sound: The Rise and Fall of Phil Spector
By Mick Brown
Vintage, $16.95
A biography of the legendary music producer.
Sister Pelagia and the Black Monk
By Boris Akunin
Random House, $14
The Russian author’s second novel in a trilogy follows the mystery of the Black Monk and the terror he brings to an otherwise calm locale.
The Way Life Should Be
By Christina Baker Kline
Harper, $13.95
A novel about a lovelorn woman who moves to Maine after meeting a man online and finds herself disappointed by the fantasy she created yet determined to carve out a new life for herself.
The Conviction of Richard Nixon: The Untold Story of the Frost/Nixon Interviews
By James Reston Jr.
Three Rivers, $13.95
Written in 1977 but published for the first time in 2007, this is the story behind the interviews that earned Richard Nixon $1 million three years after he resigned from office.
Boomsday
By Christopher Buckley
Twelve, $13.99
The author of “Thank You for Smoking” looks at Baby Boomers in this satirical novel.
Michael Tolliver Lives
By Armistead Maupin
HarperPerennial, $13.95
This novel follows the life of a character from the popular “Tales of the City” series.
Consequences
By Penelope Lively
Penguin, $14
A novel about three generations of strong, independent English women.
Fateful Choices
By Ian Kershaw
Penguin, $18
The pivotal decisions that marked the path of World War II, as made by the world’s six critical powers and told through various perspectives.
The Crimson Portrait
By Jody Shields
Back Bay, $13.99
In this novel set during World War I, a young war widow turns her English estate into an army medical unit and falls for one of the patients.
The Manny
By Holly Peterson
Dial, $12
In this novel, a busy and powerful New York mom hires a male nanny to care for her son, resulting in a special connection of her own.
The Forgotten Man
By Amity Shlaes
HarperPerennial, $15.95
The economic commentator offers a history of the Great Depression.
