Bridge of Sighs
By Richard Russo
Vintage, $14.95
A man travels to Italy to better understand a close childhood friend who, unlike him, long ago deserted their hometown.
At Large and At Small
By Anne Fadiman
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $12
A collection of what is known as “familiar essays” that mix the personal with the literary and historical.
The Scandal of the Season
By Sophie Gee
Scribner, $15
Alexander Pope becomes enmeshed in the affairs of high society London when he writes a naughty poem featuring two prominent socialites in this historical novel.
The Yoga Teacher
By Alexandra Gray
Black Cat, $14
A pharmaceutical saleswoman abandons her London life to study yoga in California, then is ready for a fresh start at home.
Red Moon Rising: Sputnik and the Hidden Rivalries That Ignited the
Space Age
By Matthew Brzezinski
Holt, $17
A recounting of the power struggles surrounding the Soviet Union’s 1957 Sputnik launch, including Kremlin leaders’ fears of the possibility America would launch a pre-emptive nuclear attack.
The House the Rockefellers Built
By Robert F. Dalzell Jr and Lee Baldwin Dalzell
Holt, $18
The Rockefeller family’s Kykuit estate in Westchester County, N.Y., is examined alongside the inner workings of each new generation.
Who Can Save Us Now?: Brand-New Superheroes and Their Amazing (Short) Stories
Edited by Owen King and John McNally
Free Press, $16
Twenty-two tales of superheroes — and a few supervillains — to satisfy any comic fan.
Tokyo Year Zero
By David Peace
Vintage Crime, $14.95
In this novel, a Japanese detective in 1946 is haunted by his war memories as he pursues a murder case.
Right Livelihoods
By Rick Moody
Back Bay, $13.99
The shadow of 9/11 looms in this collection of three novellas as the author imagines what Manhattan would be like if a dirty bomb destroyed much of the city.
By the Sword: A History of Gladiators, Musketeers, Samurai, Swashbucklers, and Olympic Champions
By Richard Cohen
Modern Library, $16
A comprehensive and adventurous look at fencing.
Inside Out Girl
By Tish Cohen
Harper Perennial, $13.95
A single mother upsets her children when she starts dating the father of a quirky girl with a learning disorder.
Seizing Destiny: How America Grew From Sea to Shining Sea
By Richard Kluger
Vintage, $17.95
The Pulitzer Prize-winning author takes a fresh (and sometimes harsh) look at the early history of the U.S.
The Secret Life of Josephine: Napoleon’s Bird of Paradise
By Carolly Erickson
St. Martin’s, $13.95
Historical fiction focusing on Napoleon’s first wife.
William Maxwell: A Literary Life
By Barbara Burkhardt
University of Illinois Press, $24.95
The literary biography of the life and work of William Maxwell, longtime fiction editor at The New Yorker and author of “Bright Center of Heaven” and “So Long, See You Tomorrow.”
The Unprofessionals
By Julie Hecht
Simon & Schuster, $14
Two lost souls — a young heroin addict and a middle-age photographer — become best friends as they try to tackle life’s obstacles.
