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So Much For That, Lionel Shriver's new novel, is about a middle-aged man forced to give up his dream of retirement on a tropical island when his wife falls ill and he's forced to go back to work to keep his employee health insurance. Critic Maureen Corrigan says the novel "acknowledge[s] the dramatic depth that fiction can bring to the debate over current events."

Author and law professor Stephen Carter started reading the novels of John le Carre in college and he hasn't stopped. After all these years, he says his favorite is still Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, a Cold War spy story that demonstrates le Carre's marvelous craftsmanship.

Before there was Mad Men, there was From Those Wonderful Folks Who Gave You Pearl Harbor, the cultish and colorful advertising memoir by 1960s ad man Jerry Della Femina that also served as inspiration for AMC's hit series.

Young-ha Kim's latest thriller, Your Republic Is Calling You, is about a North Korean spy living covertly in Seoul for two decades — when he's suddenly called to return to Pyongyang. Critic John Powers says the suspenseful novel offers a gripping look inside modern Korean culture.

Gustave Flaubert was an apostle of le mot juste — using exactly the right word. Lydia Davis elegantly translates his masterpiece, Madame Bovary, in the same spirit. Davis' words lure readers back into Emma Bovary's sexy, scandalous and tragic tale.

Fall of Giants is the latest doorstop from author Ken Follett. The massive tome is the first in a three-part series that follows five families through the tumultuous events of the 20th century.

Rebecca Traister's incisive analysis of misogyny and gender roles in the 2008 election takes on Tina Fey's satire, "Iron My Shirt" T-shirts and Hillary Clinton's "Night of the Imaginary Tears."

Huge waves have confounded sailors, scientists and surfers for years, but author Susan Casey dives deep into the story of ship-swallowing seas in The Wave with history, scientific research and intrepid surfer Laird Hamilton.

Writer Mark Feldstein says muckraking columnist Jack Anderson cut ethical corners to get Nixon exposes, and the president responded with fury. He recounts surprising details of the long-running battle between the journalist and the politician in Poisoning the Press.

What kind of force is religion in American life today? A new book by professors Robert Putnam and David Campbell seeks to examine some of the changes.