“Murder at the 42nd Street Library”By Con Lehane; Minotaur (320 pages, $25.99)The beautiful and iconic New York Public Library on 42nd Street in Manhattan -- with its stone lions in front, multiple levels and history -- makes a stimulating setting for the launch of what should be a lively series about librarian Raymond “Ray” Ambler. The series is certainly off to a good start as “Murder at the 42nd Library” is fueled by an energetic plot, an evocative setting one can literally get lost in and re

“Dinner With Edward” By Isabel VincentAlgonquin Books of Chapel Hill (213 pages, $23.95)Isabel Vincent's marriage was on the verge of ending when a friend introduced her to Edward, a man whose wife had just died. The attraction was immediate. What followed was not a romance -- Isabel was in her 40s, Edward in his 90s -- but a close relationship that can only be called love.In her memoir, “Dinner With Edward,” Isabel -- a hard-nosed, hard-boiled investigative reporter and former war correspondent

“Dear County Agent Guy” By Jerry NelsonWorkman (207 pages, $14.95)I should have seen this coming, seen that Jerry Nelson's essays about farming weren’t quite what they seemed. I' a farmer’s daughter, and familiar with the irresistible corniness that comes with telling stories about rural life -- the “don‘tcha knows” and the punchlines about winter temps rivaling Siberia -- “and that was just in my bedroom.”Many of the essays in “Dear County Agent Guy” have been published in various farm magazine

“Hamilton: The Revolution” By Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarterGrand Central Publishing (288 pages, $40)The revolution started with the idea that a hip-hop-Broadway marriage was the perfect vehicle for the story of Alexander Hamilton, the $10 Founding Father who created America’s monetary system. The genius who came up with the idea and executed it to groundbreaking, earth-shaking, money-making success is Lin-Manuel Miranda, so it should come as no surprise that he gets “Hamilton” in book

“Olympic Boulevard” Philip Onho Lee (Translated by John Cha)Seoul Selection (12,000 won, $10)Philip Onho Lee’s “Olympic Boulevard,” published last month, details the daily joys and sorrows of immigrant life in the U.S. in the ’80s and ’90s.It features a series of vignettes about the life of a first-generation immigrant navigating through the ups and downs of adjusting to a new life in a new country.The story is told from the perspective of Myung Tay, who opens up a dry cleaning store in Los Ange

“The Loney” By Andrew Michael HurleyHoughton Mifflin Harcourt (294 pages, $25)A menacing presence inhabits the Loney, the locals’ name for Britain’s north Lancashire coastline.A small group of Catholic faithful have traveled to the rain-battered seacoast from London on an Easter pilgrimage to visit a fabled shrine in hopes of a miracle cure for one of the travelers. The young man is simple-minded and cannot speak, but he has a pure heart and a deep love for his younger brother, our narrator.As E

MADRID (AFP) -- An amateur historian has found the press pass issued to French writer and pilot Antoine de Saint-Exupery when he covered Spain‘s 1936-39 civil war for several French newspapers, officials said Tuesday.The pass was lost because it was not stored with others given other reporters such as German photojournalist Gerda Taro, the partner of war photographer Robert Capa, Maria Jose Turrion, the assistant head of Spain’s Salamanca-based civil war archives told AFP.Dated April 16, 1937 th

CINCINNATI (AP) -- Just in time for the Cleveland-hosted Republican National Convention this month and as the general election campaign heats up, a new book, “The Bellwether,” examines Ohio’s importance in picking the nation’s president.Every four years, Ohio becomes, to paraphrase its former tourism slogan, the heart of it all, with the candidates, their surrogates and news crews overrunning the state while a seemingly endless loop of campaign ads dominates its airwaves.The stakes couldn’t be h

Choi Jung-wha, a professor at the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, has released the English version of her new book, “K-Style: Living the Korean Way of Life,” which delves deep into the evolution of modern Korean living. 　Through her book, the founder and president of the Corea Image Communications Institute intended to arouse interest and curiosity about all things Korea and the Korean way of life.　Choi said her desire to raise international interest in Korean society was first ignited dec

Prolific translator, professor Brother Anthony discusses poetry past and present

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Disney is letting “Frozen” go in new directions.　The company says Anna, Elsa, Olaf, Kristoff and Sven from the blockbuster 2013 animated film will appear in both new books from Random House and an animated short film series from the Lego Group.　 The eight-book series “Frozen Northern Lights” will revolve around the characters attempting to restore the aurora borealis with a new troll protagonist named Little Rock. 　  This image released by Disney Publishing shows the cover of