Editor’s Choice
Unfinished Desires, by Gail Godwin, $26.
Godwin brings readers back in time to the early 1950s in this endearing story of Catholic schoolgirls and the nuns who oversee them. Godwin captures brilliantly the subtleties of friendships between teenage girls, their ambivalence toward religion and their momentous struggle to define people — especially themselves. Publishers Weekly
FICTION
Lies of the Heart, Michelle Boyajian, $25.95. Boyajian’s seductive and riveting debut uses the murder trial of a mentally retarded man to explore the crumbling marriage of the victim, Nick; the stilted dreams of his filmmaker widow, Katie; and the touching, tortured relationship that entangles all three. Publishers Weekly
The Last Time I Saw You, Elizabeth Berg, $25. A 40th high-school reunion and all of its attendant dramas is the backdrop of Berg’s rose-tinted latest. Publishers Weekly
NONFICTION
The Great Oom: The Improbable Birth of Yoga in America, Robert Love, $27.95.
A spirited portrayal of the colorful life of early yoga impresario Pierre Bernard. Genius or fraud? An evenhanded consideration. Kirkus
Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America, Robert Whitaker, $25.
A devastating critique. One day, we will look back at the way we think about and treat mental illness and wonder if we were all mad. Shannon Brownlee, author of “Overtreated”
Kaboom: Embracing the Suck in a Savage Little War, Matt Gallagher, $24.95.
Exceptional narrative technique makes the soldier in-group cant both believable and coherent; his relentless pursuit of sanity in the midst of a chaotic storm of IEDs, policy changes, sheiks, civilians and baffling missions makes this blog-based memoir an exciting read reminiscent of Anthony Swofford’s “Jarhead.” Library Journal
PAPERBACKS
Fanon, John Edgar Wideman, $13.95.
Psychiatrist, writer and revolutionary Frantz Fanon (1925-1961) fought to free Algeria from French rule. Beautifully written but inconclusive, Wideman’s 18th book is best approached as a meditation on fiction and character. Publishers Weekly
Bonnie and Clyde: The Lives Behind the Legend, Paul Schneider, $17.
The lives and the legends of doomed outlaw lovers Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker unfortunately take a backseat to Schneider’s narrative style in this heavily researched but poorly executed account touted as a nonfiction novel. Publishers Weekly
Stormy Weather: The Life of Lena Horne, James Gavin, $16.
The clouds rarely lift in this grim, perceptive biography of Hollywood’s first African-American screen siren. Publishers Weekly
COMING UP
Hitch 22: A Memoir, Christopher Hitchens, $26.99.
Hitchens, a regular contributor to Vanity Fair magazine, is one of the great commentators and contrarians of our time. His memoir should make for fascinating reading. (June)
