FICTION

TIME AND TIDE by Thomas Fleming (Bantam: $4.95). A Navy captain is distressed over duty and loyalty to his best friend and now disgraced fellow officer.

GIFT OF FIRE by Jayne Ann Krentz (Popular Library: $4.50). Verity puts aside running her restaurant to get Jonas’ career as a Renaissance scholar (with a talent for psychometry) back on track.

THE MELTING POT: And Other Subversive Stories by Lynne Sharon Schwartz (Penguin: $7.95). “Deceptively simple stories” describe complex transitions such as moving, changing looks or spouses.

THE BOOK AND THE BROTHERHOOD by Iris Murdoch (Penguin: $8.95). An Oxford reunion conjures up past rivalries, secrets and unfulfilled relationships.

LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES by Choderlos de Laclos; translated by Richard Aldington (Signet: $4.95). Missives expose the decadence of 18th-Century French aristocracy.

NONFICTION

LET THE TRUMPET SOUND:The Life of Martin Luther King, Jr. by Stephen B. Oates and WHY WE CAN’T WAIT by Martin Luther King Jr. (Mentor: $4.95 and $3.50) Two voices trace the impetus for King’s belief in equality.

CITY SLICKERS by William E. Geist (Penguin: $7.95). Geist is currently a correspondent for CBS’s “Sunday Morning,” and he extracted this humorous collection of stories, about why people come to and leave New York City, from his four years as a columnist for The New York Times.

THE GENIUS OF CHINA: 3,000 Years of Science, Discovery, and Invention by Robert Temple (Touchstone: $14.95). Illuminations of ancient and medieval Chinese inventions that predated and often influenced their European counterparts.

WITNESSES AT THE CREATION: Hamilton, Madison, Jay and the Constitution by Richard B. Morris (Mentor: $4.50). Three strong-willed statesmen’s impact and imprint on the Constitution.

SELF-HELP / REFERENCE

THE NOW HABIT: A Strategic Program for Overcoming Procrastination and Enjoying Guilt-Free Play by Neil A. Fiore (Tarcher: $8.95). Constructed program on how to prioritize work tasks and leisure activities expeditiously.

THE COLOR OF LIGHT: Meditations for All of Us Living With AIDS by Perry Tilleraas (Harper/Hazelden: $7.95). Daily meditations and affirmations melded from philosophical and biblical sources.