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Novelist Pete Dexter was once a columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News. The title of his new book says it all: Paper Trails: True Stories of Confusion, Mindless Violence, and Forbidden Desires, A Surprising Number of Which Are Not About Marriage.

Former President Jimmy Carter defends his new book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid. The best-seller has generated passionate criticism that it is slanted toward Palestinians and full of inaccuracies.

The Kitchen Sisters explore the saga of a Texas corn chip and C.E. Doolin, the can-do visionary behind it. Doolin, who envisioned Fritos as a side dish, never imagined anyone would consume an entire king size bag. The story of the Frito is the latest in the "Hidden Kitchens" series.

Crumpet the Elf, better known as writer David Sedaris, is back for another holiday visit. Sedaris first read from his Santaland Diaries, about his experience working as an elf at Macy's, 15 years ago. That reading helped launch his career as a novelist, playwright and humorist.

Author William Langewiesche tried to imagine what it would take for a terrorist to build a nuclear bomb. He describes how would-be terrorists could obtain the materials and evade safeguards.

No country in the world is more dependent on its computers than the U.S., making it uniquely vulnerable to attack. One official tells NPR that the Pentagon has experienced an "explosion" of computer attacks, currently averaging about 5,000 each day. But is the country ready to wage a cyberwar?

Until his arrest in 2004, nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan — the father of Pakistan's atomic bomb — ran a vast smuggling network that sent nuclear materiel to Iran and Libya. In his book Peddling Peril: How the Secret Nuclear Trade Arms America's Enemies, weapons expert David Albright explains how Khan's network continues to threaten global security.

The musical-theater titan tells the stories behind some of his most famous work, from West Side Story to Gypsy. And he offers some surprising criticisms of other theater greats, including his mentor Oscar Hammerstein.

Whether you're vacationing for a week or a weekend, Alan Cheuse has a fiction recommendation to fit. Novels from Jennifer Egan and Laurence Gonzales for your weeklong escapes; a novella from Ann Beattie for those three-day getaways; and stories from Robert Stone for all you day-trippers.

Bill Bryson is known for exploring far-flung places, but he found inspiration for his most recent book after a hike through his own old, Victorian house in England. At Home: A Short History of Private Life explores the history of domesticity — from making beds, to the long history of hallways.