Clare Azzopardi's Castillo is as complex as each individual reader may make of a writerly novel. Not only its themes, but also plot lines sometimes overlap in a way that might make it appear...

At a time when millions can hardly turn away from the news, fiction and nonfiction authors have similar reasons for why books matter more than ever. It's about perspective. "I think that...

"The Line That Held Us" (Putnam), by David Joy Life is hard in the corner of the Smoky Mountains where the Hooper, Moody and Brewer families live. Drug abuse is rampant. Jobs are scarce. And some...

"Room to Dream" by David Lynch and Kristine McKenna (Random House) The simplest avenue for beginning to understand filmmaker David Lynch might be found in a childhood friend's observation:...

"Swift Vengeance" (G.P. Putnam's Sons), by T. Jefferson Parker A drone circles like a bird of prey, waiting for a clear shot at a terrorist. Thousands of miles away in America, its operator...

"The Other Woman: a Novel" (Minotaur), by Sandie Jones The other woman isn't an ex-girlfriend, a new affair or an obsessive stalker — though Emily Havistock might welcome any of those...

Most of us spend much more time with digital media than we did a decade ago. But today’s teens have come of age with smartphones in their pockets. Compared to teens a couple of decades ago, the...

"The Other Woman" (Minotaur), by Sandie Jones The other woman in the title of Sandie Jones' thriller isn't an ex-girlfriend, a new affair or an obsessive stalker — though heroine Emily...

"Seeds of Science: Why we got it so wrong on GMOs" (Bloomsbury), by Mark Lynas. Mark Lynas has written a timely and important book about changing sides on the controversial topic of genetically...

"Bindi" (Little, Brown), by Paul Matthew Maisano Any parent would be proud of Birendra, the 8-year-old boy who is the central character of "Bindi," the debut novel of Paul Matthew...