George Packer chronicles American boom and bust in 'The Unwinding'

George Packer paints a vivid, novelistic portrait of recent U.S. history through its people.

'Nothin' but Blues Skies' tells Rust Belt stories

Edward McClelland's book reminds us of what has transpired in the heartland of America over the past 30 years.

'The Roberts Court' captures an important transformation

Marcia Coyle skillfully reports on the aggressive turn the Supreme Court has taken under Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.

'Stuck in the Middle' offers a singular perspective on parenting

Author and transgender advocate Jennifer Finney Boylan looks at motherhood, fatherhood and the putative difference in this new memoir.

'The Cooked Seed' details Anchee Min's fraught immigrant saga

Picking up where 'Red Azalea' left off, 'The Cooked Seed' explores the hardships of her path to American citizenship.

Was the Revolutionary War a reactionary war? 'Bunker Hill' reconsiders history.

Nathaniel Philbrick's new book gets at the on-the-ground reality of the American Revolution, which the author writes began as 'a profoundly conservative movement.'

'The Way of the Knife' exposes America's shadow wars

Journalist Mark Mazzetti looks at the U.S.' targeted killings and use of drones in the war on terror. Amid the many details, he raises warnings.

Janet Malcolm's brilliant methods are on show in 'Forty-One False Starts'

The collection of profiles and critical pieces exposes the journalist's subjects and herself.

Flip Wilson, a pioneer in prime time

Kevin Cook's new biography, 'Flip,' looks back at the life of a black TV star who helped break the color line

A spin through a world where bicycles rule streets

In 'City of Bikes,' American Pete Jordan pays tribute to Amsterdam, where cycling has long been a daily part of life

The boy behind Kristallnacht

Jonathan Kirsch takes a deft look at the teen assassin of a Nazi diplomat in 'The Short, Strange Life of Herschel Grynszpan'

The art of becoming Edna O'Brien

In her memoir 'Country Girl,' the writer recounts her difficult beginnings and escape into writing.

David Graeber looks at the Occupy movement, from the inside

In 'The Democracy Project,' David Graeber makes a case for revolution and attempts to rehabilitate anarchism.

David Sedaris, my imaginary friend

'Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls' offers fresh tales of the essayist's life and travel travails.

'Hank Greenberg' reveals resilience of early baseball legend

John Rosengren takes a play-by-play look at the Jewish baseball star and his battle against bigotry in the 1930s.

How Prince became royal

Touré explores the pop music artist's ascendance to icon status in 'I Would Die 4 U.'

The epic life of Símon Bolívar

In a new biography, Marie Arana portrays the South American revolutionary as a courageous and confounding self-creation.

Baseball books cover the bases

New titles about the sport focus on its history, legal status, Jackie Robinson, the DiMaggios and more.

'The Book of My Lives' offers fragments of a writer's life

Aleksandar Hemon's collection of essays suggests a ruthless unwillingness to look away, even in the face of untimely death.

'Scoop' follows Jack Nelson's rise to civil rights crusader

The Pulitzer-winning journalist's autobiography, completed by his wife Barbara Matusow, is a vivid account of the civil rights era and a reporter who wouldn't back down.

'The New Mind of the South' visits the modern heart of Dixie

Tracy Thompson's book follows in the footsteps of W.J. Cash's `The Mind of the South' and finds hope in an unlikely place: the past.

In Barbara Garson's 'Down the Up Escalator,' the 99% make do

The Great Recession may have officially come to an end, but it lives on for many Americans in Garson's new book, 'Down the Up Escalator.'

'With Charity for All' looks beyond the glossy appeals

As tax deadline looms, ex-NPR chief Ken Stern looks at how little donors understand about the needs and the operations of even the most prominent charities.

Emily Rapp writes her way through grief in 'Still Point of the Turning World''

How do you live with the knowledge that your baby is dying? A radiant new memoir chronicles the nine months after a mother's worst nightmare came true.

Dennis Hopper's carnival ride through life

Tom Folsom's high-octane new biography 'Hopper' never misses an opportunity to mythologize the filmmaker, photographer, art collector and icon of rebelliousness.

'Whitey Bulger' digs deep into a gangster's tale

Kevin Cullen and Shelley Murphy offer an authoritative study of the legendary criminal and the long manhunt that culminated in Santa Monica in 2011.

In search of 'The Searchers' and the history behind the western

In ''The Searchers: The Making of an American Legend,' Glenn Frankel explores the battles behind the John Ford movie but also the broader conflicts between western settlers and Native Americans.

Sheryl Sandberg's 'Lean In' offers a feminist view from the top

The Facebook executive's book stirs up controversy with her advice for women -- and suggests a way forward.

'The Golden Shore' details a love affair with the sea

Marine conservationist David Helvarg lingers at the California coast to study its history and the ties that bind people to the blue, blue Pacific.

Infiltrating Southern California biker gangs

Two new books tell firsthand accounts of going undercover with the Vagos.

Gavin Newsom says the revolution will be digitized

In 'Citizenville,' the California lieutenant governor argues that access to government date will lead Internet experts, digital thinkers and grass-roots activists to advance ideas.