EDITOR’S CHOICE
The Last Secret, by Mary McGarry Morris, $25. Morris, a PEN/Faulkner finalist (“Vanished”) and Oprah Book Club author (“Songs in Ordinary Time”), here offers a melodramatic plotline that develops into a memorable, cinematic novel… As suspense builds, Morris adds context and depth by carefully revealing inner lives dominated by deception and loneliness. Library Journal
FICTION
Rhyming Life & Death, by Amos Oz, $23. From the prodigious Oz comes a delightfully elusive if slight story of imagination, talent and the transitory nature of fame. The novella takes place over the course of a suffocatingly hot evening, narrated by an unnamed writer who whiles away his time at a Tel Aviv cafe a few hours before a dreaded reading. Publishers Weekly
The Weight of Heaven, by Thrity Umrigar, $25.99. Umrigar (“The Space Between Us”) continues her exploration of cultural divides in this beautifully written and incisive novel about an American couple’s experience in India. Publishers Weekly
NONFICTION
Vanished Smile: The Mysterious Theft of the Mona Lisa, by R.A. Scotti, $24.95. In this charming account of the brazen 1911 theft of the Mona Lisa from the Louvre and the two-year quest to bring her home, Scotti (Basilica) explores not only the puzzling crime but also the source of the painting’s universal appeal and its provenance. The true motive for the theft — and the possible connection to a larger ring of art thieves —remains tantalizingly unknown by the end of this lively recounting. Publishers Weekly
The Crisis of Islamic Civilization, by Ali A. Allawi, $27.50. Allawi (“The Occupation of Iraq”) investigates the pathways that led to the deterioration of the Islamic civilization, known for its splendid culture between the eighth and 12th centuries. In an analytic, journalistic style, Allawi presents views about modern Islam that are both stimulating and informative. Library Journal
The Day We Found the Universe, by Marcia Bartusiak, $27.95. On Jan. 1, 1925, 35-year-old astronomer Edwin Hubble announced findings that indicated the universe was much larger than previously thought….It was a milestone in astronomical science, and in the human understanding of the cosmos. Bartusiak explores the technical aspects of Hubble’s findings in an accessible way. Kirkus
PAPERBACKS
Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America, by Rick Perlstein, $20.99. There is so much literature about various aspects of Richard Nixon. . .that it would seem difficult to find an original approach to the man. But, in Nixonland, Rick Perlstein has come up with the novel and important idea of exploring the relationship between Nixon and the 1960s counterculture. Washington Post
White Protestant Nation: the Rise of the American Conservative Movement, by Allan J. Lichtman, $18.95. This comprehensive study of conservative politics from the post-WWI era to the present is replete with clear analysis and good nuggets of information. Publishers Weekly
COMING UP
Brimstone, by Robert B. Parker, $25.95. Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch (“Appaloosa”) return with another Western saga in which the two gunslingers take on the bad guys with guns ablazing and witty dialogue. (May)
