The First Bad Man By Miranda July (Scribner)The first sentence of Miranda July’s debut novel, “The First Bad Man,” suggests the almost surreal self-absorption of its problematic narrator: “I drove to the doctor’s office as if I was starring in a movie Phillip was watching.” Cheryl ― 43, single and childless ― has a crush on Phillip, a rich, aging hippie who sits on the board of the Los Angeles nonprofit where she works and lusts after a 16-year-old girl. She’s on her way to the doctor ― actually

The Unquiet Dead By Ausma Zehanat Khan (Minotaur Books) War atrocities reverberate for generations, affecting those who fought on the battlefield and the civilian victims who were collateral damage. Ausma Zehanat Khan’s gripping first novel tackles questions of identity, culture, revenge and war horrors in a strong police procedural. Using the massacre of Muslims at Srebrenica in 1995 during the Bosnian war as a backstory, Khan is careful not to overwhelm “The Unquiet Dead” with issues or politi

The Girl on the TrainBy Paula Hawkins(Riverhead Books)How many times have you been on a train and wondered about the people who live near the tracks and leave their curtains open so that passersby can watch them?That voyeuristic view of lives as seen from a distance echoes the themes of obsession, isolation and loneliness explored in “The Girl on the Train.” British journalist Paula Hawkins deftly imbues her debut psychological thriller with inventive twists and a shocking denouement.Rachel Wats

“Honeydew”By Edith Pearlman (Little, Brown and Co.)Edith Pearlman’s fiction is all about the ways we touch each other ― albeit not in the manner we expect. Sure, there are lovers in her stories: husbands and wives, young women and their feckless boyfriends, girls experiencing the first taste of something we might recognize as desire. The connection to which I’m referring, though, is different, involving a kind of witness, a space in which a secret is exposed.“The dialogue began in a confidential

In our image-bombarded world, one-of-a-kind creations are hard to find. Paintings and sculptures, maybe. But digital media ― smartphones, e-readers, tablets ― have made the world of words an infinitely expanding universe.Vashon Island bookmaker, artist and calligrapher Suzanne Moore has been swimming against this tide for most of her career. She makes manuscripts, lettering them by hand, illustrating them and then turning them over to her husband and an assistant to bind. Collectors buy them. So

If the trend holds, there soon will be a shelf of books explaining why the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan was a misadventure or worse.Into that crowded field comes Graeme Smith’s “The Dogs Are Eating Them Now: Our War in Afghanistan.” But even among tomes of pessimism and clear-eyed hindsight, Smith’s book seems destined to be a standout: a compelling, self-revealing account of a reporter coming to grips with a big story and his own feelings of shock and disappointment.Smith, a Canadian, is an anom

White PlagueBy James Abel (Berkley)James Abel’s new thriller, “White Plague,” combines elements from “The Hunt for Red October” and the cutting-edge science from the best of Michael Crichton to send chills down the reader’s spine. Marine doctor Joe Rush is sent into action when times are desperate. Besides being a top-ranked physician, he can also lead a team into potentially hostile and lethal situations involving bioweapons. He’s earned the nickname “Killer Joe,” thanks to an earlier, still cl

The Season of MigrationBy Nellie Hermann (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)When Vincent van Gogh steps off the train in the coal-mining region of Belgium known as the Borinage, his artist’s eye is immediately captivated by his surroundings.Van Gogh has not come to paint the region but to save souls. Before he was an artist, he was a minister, sent to bring comfort to the poor, hungry and desperate families who slaved in mines to warm the rest of Europe. His experiences destroyed his faith and led to th

A Pleasure and a CallingBy Phil Hogan (Picador)William Heming is the proverbial quiet man, nondescript, keeping to himself, mastering “the skill of being likable, but not memorable.” Yet Heming seethes with self-righteous contempt for others and a propensity for vengeance and violence that erupts when he feels threatened, or just irritated.His employees and clients believe the seemingly unobtrusive Heming leads a boring life, but nothing could be further from the truth in Phil Hogan’s fascinatin

The symptoms were grim: advanced age, crumbling physical condition, broken spine. The operation would last several hours and require meticulous care. But recovery was likely, and the procedure would cost only $100.The patient was a 90-year-old family Bible in need of major restoration.“I always tell people that I compare book restoration with face-lifts,” said Bruce Kavin, one of three siblings who run Kater-Crafts Bookbinders. “Generally speaking, the less you do, the better.”The Pico Rivera co

River of No ReturnBy David Riley Bertsch (Scribner)Vivid scenery and a likable protagonist mark the second book in a series by David Riley Bertsch. In “River of No Return,” Wyoming fishing guide Jake Trent, a former Department of Justice operative with a violent past that has left him emotionally scarred, must deal with a vixen who tries to lure him back to Washington, with the kidnapping of his friend’s girlfriend and with a nefarious population-control plot.The cast of characters also includes

On a hectic Saturday before Christmas, writer Kate DiCamillo stands in front of a buzzing crowd of toddlers and children at the Red Balloon Bookshop in St. Paul, Minnesota. She is dressed in her usual black top and jeans, and her white-blond hair curls around her watchful face. Some of the kids sit cross-legged on the floor; some perch demurely on chairs or on a parent’s lap; some peer around the edges of bookshelves; some bat absently at furry puppets that hang from a display.DiCamillo is used

Ali Smith is a playful writer, but her sense of fun thrives in unlikely places. It’s evident in the language of the terrible death of the young chambermaid in a dumbwaiter in Hotel World (“Woooooooo-hooooooo what a fall what a soar what a plummet what a dash into dark into light what a plunge what a glide thud crash what a drop what a rush what a swoop what a fright what a mad hushed skirl what a smash mush mash-up broke and gashed what a heart in my mouth what an end.”)It’s there in the title a

Die AgainBy Tess Gerritsen (Ballantine)Tess Gerritsen delivers another outstanding thriller in her continuing series featuring Boston police Detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Dr. Maura Isles. The murder of a big game hunter spurs the duo into action. The victim was bound and hung upside down like a hunter stringing up his prey after a successful kill. His body was also cut open in a style reminiscent of being trimmed for meat consumption. The autopsy reveals the cause of death was like

Democracy’s Defender: The Life of L.M. BirkheadBy Jim Grebe (Lulu Publishing Services)The U.S. Senate censured Joseph McCarthy on Dec. 2, 1954, for behavior “contrary to senatorial traditions.”The previous day, Leon Birkhead, former Kansas City Unitarian pastor, had been found dead in his New York City hotel room.Birkhead, who had been receiving treatment for cancer, long had battled those he considered enemies of tolerance and free thought.McCarthy, the red-baiting Wisconsin senator, had been B