Can’t get enough of “The Godfather” fiction? Mark Winegardner, picking up on characters created by Mario Puzo, is back with “The Godfather’s Revenge.” David Kuo, who worked with the President’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, in his memoir “Tempting Faith,” urges Christians to take a step back from politics. Terry Coleman is the authorized biographer of actor Laurence Olivier, and he shows all sides of the complicated man in “Olivier,” just out in paperback. Looking ahead to February, Chris Bohjalian is out with “The Double Bind,” the story of a young woman whose life takes some unexpected twists after she is attacked.
FICTION
The Godfather’s Revenge, by Mark Weingardner, Putnam, 496 pages, $25.95 |The third installment in Weingardner’s continuing Corleone family saga concerns the Mafia’s involvement in a presidential assassination.
An Elm Creek Quilts Album, by Jennifer Chiaverini, Simon & Schuster, 768 pages, $18.95 |Three novels, “The Runaway Quilt,” “The Quilter’s Legacy” and “The Master Quilter,” are gathered in one place along with a timeline of the events at Elm Creek Manor.
The Rising Tide, by Jeff Shaara, Ballantine, 576 pages, $27.95 |This is the first of a trilogy of novels set during World War II. The author has already written novels of the American Revolution, the Civil War and World War I.
NONFICTION
Tempting Faith: An Inside Story of Political Seduction, by David Kuo, Free Press, 304 pages, $25|In this memoir, the second in command at the White House’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives talks about how religion is corruputed by politics.
The Race Beat: The Press, The Civil Rights Struggle, and the Awakening of a Nation, by Gene Roberts and Hank Klibanoff, Knopf, 528 pages, $30|Here is the story of how the press came to cover the Civil Rights Movement after decades of ignoring the story.
Ariel Sharon: An Intimate Portrait, by Uri Dan, Palgrave, 320 pages, $27.95|Dan, a journalist, has covered Sharon for more than 50 years. He uses that first-hand knowledge as well as interviews and correspondence to provide the story of the Israeli leader.
PAPERBACKS
Olivier, by Terry Coleman, Owl, 608 pages, $18|Laurence Olivier had a penchant for stretching the truth. Coleman, who was given wide access by the surviving family members to the actor’s life, doesn’t sugarcoat things, showing all of Olivier’s warts.
The Penelopiad, by Margaret Atwood, Canon Gate, 198 pages, $12|Atwood updates the classic Greek myth in the story of Penelope, the wife of Odysseus, and her 12 maids.
Ordinary Heroes, by Scott Turow, Warner, 512 pages, $7.99|Stewart Dubinsky’s father never talked about his experiences in World War II, and Stewart finds out why when he goes through his father’s papers after he dies.
COMING UP
The Double Bind, by Chris Bohjalian, Shaye Areheart, 368 pages, $25, Feb.|The author of “Midwives” is back with the story of a college sophomore who is attacked while riding her bike, changing her life forever.
Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy, by Barbara Ehrenreich, Metroplitan, 320 pages, $26, Jan.|In “Blood Rites,” the author looked into humans’ attraction to war. She turns the tables this time out with an examination of how humans have celebrated down through the ages.
Breakpoint, by Richard A. Clarke, Putnam, 320 pages, $25.95, Jan.|A new techno-thriller from the former counterterrorism official. This one takes on what could happen if a group of people could take down the government’s Internet access.
