The Invisible Bridge - Wendy's Review

One and a half million Jewish men and women and children. How was anyone to understand a number like that? Andras knew it took three thousand to fill the seats of the Dohany Street Synagogue. To accommodate a million and a half, one would have had to replicate that building , its arches and domes, its Moorish interior, its balcony, its dark wooden pews and gilded ark, five hundred times. And then to envision each man and woman and child inside as a unique and irreplaceable human being, the way he imagined Mendel Horovitz or the Ivory Tower or his brother Matyas, each of them with desires and fears, a mother and a father, a birthplace, a bed, a first love, a web of memories, a cache of secrets, a skin, a heart, an infinitely complicated brain – to imagine them that way, and then to imagine them dead, extinguished for all time – how could anyone begin to grasp it? – from The Invisible Bridge, page 536 -

Andras Levi, a Hungarian Jew, finds himself full of hope and excitement on a train to Paris in 1937. He has won a scholarship to a school of architecture, an unbelievable opportunity for a Jewish man living in the shadow of war. In Paris, he nurses his art and ambition, finds camaraderie with men who will change his life, and discovers love with a beautiful ballet teacher. He misses his brothers – Tibor, a medical student who finds opportunity in Italy, and Matyas, a boy who is on the brink of becoming a man and whose carefree spirit finds joy in theater. But as Europe becomes embroiled in war, all three young men will find themselves back in Hungary and struggling to survive the labor service and the steady erosion of human rights as Hitler’s influence and power come ever closer.

Julie Orringer’s novel The Invisible Bridge is a searing, sweeping, and ultimately triumphant story about love, war, survival and the endurance of the human spirit. Andras, his brothers, their wives, their children, their parents, and the friends they discover are all wonderfully developed by the talented Orringer. Paris with its noisy bars and beautiful architecture and radiant theaters and opera houses comes alive as Orringer’s characters establish their lives and nurse their dreams of a future.

The Invisible Bridge is a heartbreaking novel – how could it be anything less? One does not have to be a student of history to know the story of the Jewish people during WWII. But in this sprawling novel, Orringer puts a human face on the tragedy and gives her readers a glimpse of an often ignored part of the story – that of the Hungarian Jews whose government allied with the Germans early on and used its people as slave labor in the war machine. The sense of inevitability is strong as Orringer builds her story. I found myself breathless, emotional, wanting to stop the march forward as Andras and his brothers and the people they love are thrust into a world beyond their control.

He wanted to believe that someone could be watching in pity and horror, someone who could change things if he chose. He wanted to believe that men were not in charge. But in the center of his sternum he felt a cold certainty that told him otherwise. He believed in God, yes, the God of his fathers, the one to whom he’d prayed in Koyar and Debrecen and Paris and in the work service, but that God, the One, was not One who intervened in the way they needed someone to intervene just then. He had designed the cosmos and thrown its doors open to man, and man had moved in and begun a life there. But God could no more step inside and rearrange that life than an architect could rearrange the lives of a building’s inhabitants. - from The Invisible Bridge, page 432 -

As with all memorable works, The Invisible Bridge succeeds through its careful attention to detail, the development of its characters and the strength of its prose. Orringer has a finely honed sense of who her characters are – their fears, their vulnerabilities, their strengths, their dreams. She takes them to the edge, and then allows them to find their way back – battered, wiser, but never diminished.

There are big themes in this novel – the importance of art, the strength of familial bonds, the idea that we are but a speck in the universe being born along on a tide of which we have little control.

Of course. Why would a man not argue his own shameful culpability, why would he not crave responsibility for disaster, when the alternative was to find himself to be nothing more than a speck of human dust? - from The Invisible Bridge, page 489 -

It would be easy for an author to allow these themes to sink her novel into despair. But it is a testament to Orringer’s talent that she never vacates hope and a promise for something better for her characters.

It is no surprise that I loved this novel. I loved its scope, its humanity, and its honesty. I loved Orringer’s prose, and her ability to resurrect the feel of a generation marching towards war. I loved the characters – Andras with his generous heart, Tibor with his sensitivity and Matyas with his free spirit. I loved that Orringer did not abandon me in darkness, but lifted me into the light. This is a book that adds to our understanding of history and provides insight into the human side of war. It is remarkable. And you should read it.

Highly recommended.

The Long Song - Wendy's Review

Kitty turned to face her master.

‘Come along, Caroline. Hurry. We need to get out of the sun.’

‘Can I take her?’ she asked.

Kitty tried to seize air enough to breathe.

‘Yes, if she’ll amuse you. She would be taken soon enough anyway. It will encourage her to have another. They are dreadful mothers, these negroes.’

‘She’ll be my companion here,’ Caroline said. ‘I could train her for the house, or to be my lady’s maid.’ – from The Long Song, page 41 -

July is born in the early part of the nineteenth century on a Jamaican sugar plantation. Her mother is a black slave, her father the white overseer who is her mother’s rapist. One hot day when July is still just a young child, she is noticed by Caroline Mortimer, the sister of the plantation’s owner who has arrived from England. On a whim, Caroline decides to take July to be her companion, stealing her from July’s mother without a second thought and renaming her Marguerite. The Long Song is July’s story, narrated retrospectively by an adult July many years later. It is not an easy story, spanning decades and taking the reader through the tumultuous years of the Baptist War and the controversial end to slavery in Jamaica. But, it is July’s voice which drives the narrative. Funny, cynical, highly observant and intelligent, July weighs in on racism, violence, and the struggle for freedom at a time when blacks were viewed as property to rich, white landowners.

Only with a white man, can there be guarantee that the colour of your pickney will be raised. For a mulatto who breeds with a white man will bring forth a quadroon; and the quadroon that enjoys white relations will give to this world a mustee; the mustee will beget a mustiphino; and the mustiphino…oh, the mustiphino’s child with a white man for a papa will find each day greets them no longer with a frown, but welcomes them with a smile, as they at last stride within this world as a cherished white person. – from The Long Song, page 203 -

The Long Song is a brilliant novel narrated by an unforgettable character. July is, perhaps, one of the most memorable female voices I have read in a long, long time. Bittersweet, funny, often devastating…this is a novel which drew me in immediately and held me in its grip to the final page. Andrea Levy writes with an honesty and insight into the human condition that takes one’s breath away.

The Long Song was shortlisted for the 2010 Booker Prize, longlisted for the 2010 Orange Prize for Fiction, a finalist for the 2011 Commonwealth Writers Prize, and named as a 2010 New York Times Most Notable book. It is, in my opinion, worthy of all these accolades. Beautiful prose, enduring characters, and the evocation of place that vibrates off the page, all combine to create a remarkable novel of historical significance.

Readers who love literary fiction and historical fiction will want to put The Long Song on their must read list.

Highly recommended.

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The Three Weissmanns of Westport - Wendy's Review

When Joseph Weissmann divorced his wife, he was seventy-eight years old and she was seventy-five. He announced his decision in the kitchen of their apartment on the tenth floor of a large, graceful Central Park West building built at the turn of the century, the original white tiles of the kitchen still gleaming on the walls around them. Joseph, known as Joe to his colleagues at work, but always called Joseph by his wife, said the words “irreconcilable differences,” and saw real confusion in his wife’s eyes.

Irreconcilable differences? she said. Of course there are irreconcilable differences. What on earth does that have to do with divorce? - from The Three Weissmanns of Westport, page 1 -

Betty Weissmann may be seventy-five years old and used to being taken care of by her wealthy husband Joseph, but he underestimates her pluck, resiliency, and the blind loyalty of her daughters. Banished from the home she has shared with Joseph for almost 50 years, Betty packs up her things and moves into a beach side cottage in Westport, Connecticut (owned by Betty’s eccentric cousin Lou) with her daughters Miranda and Annie. Annie, a librarian, is the eldest and most practical of the daughters. Miranda, a 49 year old literary agent, is reeling from a business crisis when it is discovered that the authors she represents are fabricating their memoirs. Together the three women descend upon Westport, determined to make the best of their situations and support each other along the way.

The Three Weissmanns of Westport is a funny, poignant, sometimes heartbreaking novel filled with memorable and quirky characters. Betty bravely faces her impending divorce, preferring to think of herself as a widow rather than a divorcee.

In the days to come, not only was Betty merry, but she insisted that she was, literally, a widow.

“Poor, dear Joseph,” she said when they finally accepted Cousin Lou’s invitation to dinner. “God rest his soul.” – from The Three Weissmanns of Westport -

Miranda’s zest for life is only temporarily dampened by her business woes. She has a history of passionate love affairs which end in disaster, and is a bit of a diva. And so when she sets her sights on a man much younger than she, it is only a matter of time before things get interesting.

Annie works as a librarian, is divorced and is mourning the fact that her two sons have grown up and away from her. She dreads moving to the coast with her mother and sister (who exuberantly embrace the small, run down beach cottage). She longs to isolate herself with her books, tires of being the responsible older sister, and bemoans the aging process.

Together, the three women forge a bond that elevates them past failed romances, unexpected revelations, and family crises. Cathleen Schine fills her novel with humor, the simple joy of sun drenched days and bird song, and the comfort of friendships. I loved the contrary, yet loving relationship between the two sisters; and the realistic, yet poignant connection between a mother and her children. What Schine does, quite elegantly, is make the reader care about the characters. She exposes their flaws, unearths their fears and vulnerabilities, and in doing so, makes them real. I found myself cheering Betty, Miranda and Annie onward, wanting them to realize their dreams and find their happiness.

The Three Weissmanns of Westport is a story of family connection, of searching for love, of falling down and getting back up again. This is a satisfying novel which will appeal to those readers who like their characters quirky and who find humor in life despite disaster. Cathleen Schine writes fantastic women’s fiction.

Highly recommended.

Want to win a copy of this book? Don’t miss my giveaway January 28 – February 4, 2011.

Freedom - Wendy's Review

“It’s all circling around the same problem of personal liberties,” Walter said. “People came to this country for either money or freedom. If you don’t have money, you cling to your freedoms all the more angrily. Even if smoking kills you, even if you can’t afford to feed your kids, even if your kids are getting shot down by maniacs with assault rifles. You may be poor, but the one thing nobody can take away from you is the freedom to fuck up your life whatever way you want to. - from Freedom, page 361 -

Jonathan Franzen’s latest novel Freedom doesn’t shy away from the politically incorrect; it doesn’t mince words; it certainly doesn’t extol the virtues of freedom. Instead, this is a novel which takes a hard, often cynical look, at middle America.

Patty and Walter Berglund are in many ways the typical middle-American couple. They live in the suburbs and have exactly two children (one boy and one girl). Patty becomes the traditional stay at home mom, and Walter is a successful environmental lawyer. But, despite the outside wrappings, this is a couple whose lives are far from perfect. Joey, their son, starts having sex early and then moves next door to live with his obsessed girlfriend; Walter’s best friend from college is a rock star whose propensity to disrespect women is actually an attractant rather than a repellent for Patty; and when Walter takes a job working with a big coal company whose idea of preservation first involves blowing the tops off of pristine mountains…all bets are suddenly off.

Freedom is a huge, sprawling book that follows the lives of the Berglunds and their closest friends and relatives for decades. Along the way there is humor, cynicism, love, betrayal, and the consequences of too much freedom. Franzen explores adultery, rape, teenage lust, environmental catastrophe, greed, and political shallowness. It all adds up to a rather negative, albeit amusing, look at contemporary America – especially that of parenting and marriage.

This was my first Franzen novel, and I was impressed by his characterizations and impeccable skill at the craft of writing. At times I found myself laughing out loud at Franzen’s sardonic sense of humor; but mostly I found myself marveling at the genius of his prose. Freedom is not a light read. It is a rather negative view of the American way of life – not all I agreed with, but many times the truth of the novel was hard to deny. The characters in this novel are hardly likable. Instead, they are flawed and use their freedom to mess up their lives and the lives of those they love. Despite not really liking any of the characters, I did end up liking the book.

Since finishing this novel, I’ve read some wildly disparate reviews of it. Some people love it; others hate it; some never finished it…and I see where not everyone will connect to Freedom. On the other hand, once in a long time a novel comes along which is truly an “American” novel from start to finish. I think Freedom fits the bill. Despite painting America with a negative brush, Franzen also provides an interesting perspective on what life is like in the 21st century. Whether readers agree or disagree with his conclusions, Freedom is an entertaining read.

Highly recommended for readers who enjoy literary fiction.

I Curse the River of Time - Wendy's Review

The picture of Mao I had was the well-known retouched photograph where he sits hunched over his desk writing with one of those Chinese brush pens, and I always thought, or hoped, that it was not one of his political or philosophical articles he was writing, but one of his poems, perhaps the one which begins:

Fragile images of departure, the village back then.
I curse the river of time; thirty-two years have passed.

for it showed the human Mao, someone I was drawn to, someone who had felt how time was battling his body, as I had felt it so often myself; how time without warning could catch up with me and run around beneath my skin like tiny electric shocks and I could not stop them, no matter how hard I tried. – from I Curse the River of Time, page 56 -

Avrid Jansen is thirty-seven years old and has spent nearly twenty years searching for the truth through Communism. But now the year is 1989 and Communism is unraveling. Avrid is faced with a crisis of identity when his marriage fails and he learns that his mother has cancer, and everything he has believed in seems to be crumbling. When Avrid discovers his mother has left Norway to return to Denmark where she was born and raised, he boards a ferry to join her at their summer house.

Per Petterson’s novel I Curse The River of Time is the story of a man and his mother – two people who have drifted apart and are now brought back together. The story is non linear and told almost entirely from Avrid’s limited point of view. Avrid remembers moments from his childhood and the early days of his marriage. Gradually, the fault lines in his relationships and his insecurities are revealed. The reader discovers that Avrid has rejected his parents’ wish that he be educated and leave behind his working class roots. Instead, in alignment with his Communist leanings, Avrid chooses to leave college and go to work in the factory where his father once toiled.

[...] I wanted to be part of the working class, which, for Christ’s sake I already was, and always had been. The whole point, for them, was that I should stop being working class so they could all be proud of me, because I had been allowed to go farther. - from I Curse the River of Time, page 145 -

There is much in the novel that remains ambiguous and unnamed. Avrid’s mother seems to have a history which is largely secret, or at least Avrid remains ignorant of it. Because of this, the novel takes on a drifting, dreamlike atmosphere which I found bleak. Avrid fumbles and struggles with his identity as son, husband and Maoist. At times he seems to lack any insight into who he is and who he wishes to be, and he sees his life as something which he has little control over.

I have never really been able to see enormous changes coming until the last minute, never see how one trend conceals another, as Mao used to say, how the one flowing right below the surface can move in a whole different direction than the one you thought everyone had agreed on, and if you did not pay attention when everything was shifting, you would be left behind alone. – from I Curse the River of Time, page 67 -

Petterson’s prose is spare and reflective, and he provides little hope in a novel about loss, isolation, regret, and confused identity. The landscape of a wintry Norway and Denmark are a perfect backdrop to the story. In fact, the descriptions of scene were some of my favorites in the book.

I Curse the River of Time revisits some of the themes from Petterson’s award winning book Out Stealing Horses (read my review) – those of identity, a boy’s ambivalence with a parent, grief and loss – but it is a much bleaker book. I can’t say I enjoyed the novel as it is a sad meditation on aging, marriage and the child/parent relationship, but I did respect the writing which allows the reader to fully realize the character development.

Readers who enjoy literary fiction in translation and who have appreciated Petterson’s previous work might want to give this one a try.

The Lotus Eaters - Wendy's Review

California was infinitely far away. California was gone. Even her dreams were shaped by this land – rice paddies stretched flat to the horizon, mountains and jungles, fields of green rice shoots and golden rice harvests like rippling fields of wheat, lead curtains of monsoon rain, bald gaunt hides of water buffalo, and, too, Saigon’s clotted alleyways, the destroyed tree-lined avenues, the bombed-out, flaking, pastel villas, even their small crooked apartment with the peacocks and Buddhas painted on the door. The battered, loving, treacherous people. Her heart’s center, Linh. An undeniable rightness in ending here. - from the ARC of The Lotus Eaters, page 30 -

Helen Adams is an American photojournalist who arrives in Vietnam in 1967 as a scared, inexperienced freelance photographer. A woman reporter in Vietnam is not met with enthusiasm, especially from the men who make up the news corp and the soldiers in the field. Helen is expected to cover the human interest aspects of the Vietnam War, but instead she connects with Sam Darrow – a veteran reporter with a Pulitzer prize under his belt – and convinces him to take her into the field. She continues to position herself for combat coverage even when Darrow no longer seems willing to help her. Eventually, Helen overcomes the doubts of others and secures her place among the men…but there is a price to pay which Helen never anticipated.

The Lotus Eaters is part action-thriller, and part love story as Helen finds herself torn between two men – Sam Darrow (who is most at home in the middle of a war), and Linh (a Vietnamese poet who mourns the loss of his country). It is also a story about identity and love of country, about the horror of war and about what makes us human.

The novel begins in 1975 in Saigon as frightened South Vietnamese citizens and Americans attempt to flee the city in front of the North Vietnamese takeover. Fast-paced, tense and graphic…the first forty pages had me glued to my seat. Soli takes no time to develop a sense of place and history with her characters driving the narrative. I was immediately hooked, and I wanted some back story on Helen and Linh. Soli did not disappoint. She sets the stage, then takes the reader back to the mid-sixties when Helen first arrives in Vietnam. From there, the story moves forward.

Soli writes with authority and takes the reader inside the minds and hearts of her tightly drawn characters. The war scenes, including devastated villages and patrols through the jungle, capture the emotion of war. But, what is remarkable about Soli’s writing in The Lotus Eaters is not the story of war but the story of a country and its people, and the definition of “home.” Despite the burned out fields, Soli manages to also capture the beauty of Vietnam as Helen grows to love the country.

This is what happened when one left one’s home – pieces of oneself scattered all over the world, no one place ever completely satisfied, always a nostalgia for the place left behind. – from the ARC of The Lotus Eaters, page 277 -

This is a mesmerizing novel on all levels. The Lotus Eaters is haunting, evocative and marvelously written. Helen’s growth as a character found me empathizing with her and fearing for her safety. But it was the character of Linh who really captured my heart – a man who loses family and country, and yet still finds the poetry in life.

In case you have not yet figured it out, this is a novel which I can highly recommend…especially for readers interested in the Vietnam War era. Unlike many novels which cover this unpopular war, Soli focuses not on the politics, but on the people most impacted…and it is that which makes The Lotus Eaters unique.

Read a guest post by the author.

Room - Wendy's Review

After nap we do Scream every day but not Saturdays or Sundays. We clear our throats and climb up on Table to be nearer Skylight, holding hands not to fall. We say “On your mark, get set, go,” then we open wide our teeth and shout holler howl yowl shriek screech scream the loudest possible. Today I’m the most loudest ever because my lungs are stretching from being five.

Then we shush with fingers on lips. I asked Ma once what we’re listening for and she said just in case you never know. - from the ARC of Room -

Jack’s mother has lived seven years in a tiny room after being kidnapped at the age of nineteen. Jack’s birth (the result of repeated rapes), gives her a new purpose for her life – that of mother. Room is Jack and Ma’s story which begins on the morning of Jack’s fifth birthday. Narrated in the unique voice of Jack, the novel follows the characters from the limited life of captivity, to the overwhelming and chaotic Outside world and freedom.

Emma Donoghue deftly creates Jack and Ma’s world within an eleven by eleven foot room. Their days are surprisingly interesting, with Ma creating imaginative games for them to play together. But there is an underlying tension, made more poignant by the fact that it is through a five year old’s eyes that we see the story unfolding. Jack is no longer an infant. He is a smart, curious boy who asks a lot of difficult questions. His mother has allowed him to believe that the world does not exist except for the room in which they live, an alternate reality which eventually must be corrected if they are ever to escape Room.

I must admit that the first 40 pages or so of this novel took some getting used to…Jack’s voice is odd. But once I allowed myself to be fully inside Jack’s world, the book began to resonate with me. The daring escape attempt is perhaps one of the most suspenseful and nerve-wracking scenes I’ve read in a long, long time. Ma’s inner turmoil is perfectly captured through the eyes of her observant son – even though he does not fully understand it. What begins as a story of captivity evolves into a deeper novel of mothering, love, hope and the resilience of the human spirit.

It takes a talented writer to write entirely from the point of view of a child – and Donoghue pulls off this feat seamlessly. The relationship between mother and child is beautifully revealed on every level. Donoghue’s ability to draw the reader in and emotionally invest them in the story is brilliant. Room was recently shortlisted for the 2010 Booker Prize…and it is a well deserved nomination. Original, enthralling, haunting, and memorable Room is a novel I highly recommend for readers who enjoy literary fiction.

New York Times (NYT) Most Notable - 2010

The Book Review has made these selections from books reviewed since Dec. 6, 2009, when they published their previous Notables list. Links are to NYT reviews of the books.

FICTION & POETRY

AMERICAN SUBVERSIVE. By David Goodwillie.

ANGELOLOGY. By Danielle Trussoni.

THE ASK. By Sam Lipsyte.

BOUND. By Antonya Nelson.

COMEDY IN A MINOR KEY. By Hans Keilson.

DOUBLE HAPPINESS: Stories. By Mary-Beth Hughes.

FOREIGN BODIES. By Cynthia Ozick.

FREEDOM. By Jonathan Franzen.

FUN WITH PROBLEMS: Stories. By Robert Stone.

GIRL BY THE ROAD AT NIGHT: A Novel of Vietnam. By David Rabe.

THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET’S NEST. By Stieg Larsson.

GREAT HOUSE. By Nicole Krauss.

HOW TO LIVE SAFELY IN A SCIENCE FICTIONAL UNIVERSE. By Charles Yu.

HOW TO READ THE AIR. By Dinaw Mengestu.

I CURSE THE RIVER OF TIME. By Per Petterson. Translated by Charlotte Barslund with Per Petterson. .

ILUSTRADO. By Miguel Syjuco.

THE IMPERFECTIONISTS. By Tom Rachman.

THE INVISIBLE BRIDGE. By Julie Orringer.

LISA ROBERTSON’S MAGENTA SOUL WHIP. By Lisa Robertson.

THE LIVING FIRE: New and Selected Poems, 1975-2010. By Edward Hirsch.

THE LONG SONG. By Andrea Levy.

THE LOST BOOKS OF THE ODYSSEY. By Zachary Mason.

THE LOTUS EATERS. By Tatjana Soli.

MATTERHORN: A Novel of the Vietnam War. By Karl Marlantes.

MEMORY WALL: Stories. By Anthony Doerr.

MR. PEANUT. By Adam Ross.

THE NEAREST EXIT. By Olen Steinhauer.

THE NEW YORKER STORIES. By Ann Beattie.

ONE DAY. By David Nicholls.

THE PRIVILEGES. By Jonathan Dee.

ROOM. By Emma Donoghue.

THE SAME RIVER TWICE. By Ted Mooney.

SELECTED STORIES. By William Trevor.

SHADOW TAG. By Louise Erdrich.

SOLAR. By Ian McEwan.

SOMETHING RED. By Jennifer Gilmore.

SOURLAND: Stories. By Joyce Carol Oates.

THE SPOT: Stories. By David Means.

SUPER SAD TRUE LOVE STORY. By Gary Shteyngart.

THE SURRENDERED. By Chang-rae Lee.

THE THOUSAND AUTUMNS OF JACOB DE ZOET. By David Mitchell.

THE THREE WEISSMANNS OF WESTPORT. By Cathleen Schine.

TO THE END OF THE LAND. By David Grossman. Translated by Jessica Cohen.

VIDA. By Patricia Engel.

A VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD. By Jennifer Egan.

WHAT BECOMES: Stories. By A. L. Kennedy.

WHITE EGRETS: Poems. By Derek Walcott.

WILD CHILD: Stories. By T. Coraghessan Boyle.

NONFICTION

ALL THE DEVILS ARE HERE: The Hidden History of the Financial Crisis. By Bethany McLean and Joe Nocera.

APOLLO’S ANGELS: A History of Ballet. By Jennifer Homans.

BIG GIRLS DON’T CRY: The Election That Changed Everything for American Women. By Rebecca Traister.

THE BOOK IN THE RENAISSANCE. By Andrew Pettegree.

THE BRIDGE: The Life and Rise of Barack Obama. By David Remnick.

CHANGING MY MIND: Occasional Essays. By Zadie Smith.

CHARLIE CHAN: The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and His Rendezvous With American History. By Yunte Huang.

CHRISTIANITY: The First Three Thousand Years. By Diarmaid MacCulloch.

CLEOPATRA: A Life. By Stacy Schiff.

COLONEL ROOSEVELT. By Edmund Morris.

COMMON AS AIR: Revolution, Art, and Ownership. By Lewis Hyde.

CONTESTED WILL: Who Wrote Shakespeare? By James Shapiro.

COUNTRY DRIVING: A Journey Through China From Farm to Factory. By Peter Hessler.

THE EMPEROR OF ALL MALADIES: A Biography of Cancer. By Siddhartha Mukherjee.

EMPIRE OF THE SUMMER MOON: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History. By S. C. Gwynne.

ENCOUNTER. By Milan Kundera. Translated by Linda Asher. (Harper/HarperCollins, $23.99.) Illuminating essays on the arts in the context of a “post art” era.

THE FIERY TRIAL: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery. By Eric Foner.

FINISHING THE HAT: Collected Lyrics (1954-1981) With Attendant Comments, Principles, Heresies, Grudges, Whines and Anecdotes. By Stephen Sondheim.

FOUR FISH: The Future of the Last Wild Food. By Paul Greenberg. (Penguin Press, $25.95.)

HITCH-22: A Memoir. By Christopher Hitchens. (Twelve, $26.99.)

THE HONOR CODE: How Moral Revolutions Happen. By Kwame Anthony Appiah.

THE IMMORTAL LIFE OF HENRIETTA LACKS. By Rebecca Skloot.

INSECTOPEDIA. By Hugh Raffles. (Pantheon, $29.95.)

KOESTLER: The Literary and Political Odyssey of a Twentieth-Century Skeptic. By Michael Scammell.

THE LAST BOY: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood. By Jane Leavy.

LAST CALL: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition. By Daniel Okrent.

THE LAST HERO: A Life of Henry Aaron. By Howard Bryant.

THE LAST STAND: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn. By Nathaniel Philbrick.

LIFE. By Keith Richards with James Fox.

LONG FOR THIS WORLD: The Strange Science of Immortality. By Jonathan Weiner.

THE MIND’S EYE. By Oliver Sacks.

OPERATION MINCEMEAT: How a Dead Man and a Bizarre Plan Fooled the Nazis and Assured an Allied Victory. By Ben Macintyre.

ORIGINS: How the Nine Months Before Birth Shape the Rest of Our Lives. By Annie Murphy Paul.

PARISIANS: An Adventure History of Paris. By Graham Robb.

PEARL BUCK IN CHINA: Journey to “The Good Earth.” By Hilary Spurling.

POPS: A Life of Louis Armstrong. By Terry Teachout.

THE POSSESSED: Adventures With Russian Books and the People Who Read Them. By Elif Batuman.

THE PRICE OF ALTRUISM: George Price and the Search for the Origins of Kindness. By Oren Harman.

THE PROMISE: President Obama, Year One. By Jonathan Alter.

THE PUBLISHER: Henry Luce and His American Century. By Alan Brinkley.

RATIFICATION: The People Debate the Constitution, 1787-1788. By Pauline Maier.

THE SABBATH WORLD: Glimpses of a Different Order of Time. By Judith Shulevitz.

SCORPIONS: The Battles and Triumphs of FDR’s Great Supreme Court Justices. By Noah Feldman.

SECRET HISTORIAN: The Life and Times of Samuel Steward, Professor, Tattoo Artist, and Sexual Renegade. By Justin Spring.

SUPREME POWER: Franklin Roosevelt vs. the Supreme Court. By Jeff Shesol.

THE TALENTED MISS HIGHSMITH: The Secret Life and Serious Art of Patricia Highsmith. By Joan Schenkar.

THE TENTH PARALLEL: Dispatches From the Fault Line Between Christianity and Islam. By Eliza Griswold.

TRAVELS IN SIBERIA. By Ian Frazier.

THE WARMTH OF OTHER SUNS: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration. By Isabel Wilkerson.

WASHINGTON: A Life. By Ron Chernow.

THE WAVE: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks, and Giants of the Ocean. By Susan Casey.

WILLIE MAYS: The Life, the Legend. By James S. Hirsch.