What's Essential

“That house on the hill. That girl. Children are like bombs that will one day go off.”

These brief sentences, written soon after turning in her first book for publication, inspired Gail Godwin’s Flora, finally brought to life after many years hidden in a notebook. Godwin is not the same writer she was when she started out nearly 45 years ago. For one, she’s not afraid to refashion a book anymore. “It used to kill me when I had to drop a book, but sometimes I found that I could pick out pieces of it and ...

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A Liar, a Kidnapper—a Parent

Can a deeply flawed person—an elaborate liar—be a good parent? Can he be honest? The main character of Amity Gaige’s latest novel, Schroder, is writing from jail. The narrative functions as his apology: He kidnapped his daughter, and is writing to explain himself. But that’s only the starting point of what will become a long confession of complex lies and buried memories.

The basic storyline is loosely connected to the Clark Rockefeller scandal, the German man who, for years, pretended to be a member of the Rockefeller family, and who also, quite infamously, kidnapped his daughter ...

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Jen Lancaster Confronts Time Travel in 'Here I Go Again'

Jen Lancaster does not travel through time—but her characters do.

Her latest venture into fiction, Here I Go Again, follows Lissy Ryder, a 30something publicist who’s still living off the satisfaction of her time as queen bee in high school. Lissy’s obsession with her looks and her infamous, brutally honest retorts made her an object of fear and envy back when Kurt Cobain was first becoming a household name. She got away with everything back then. Lissy’s attitude is still one of entitlement: After a long workout at the gym on company time, she heads to ...

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Alaska, Beautiful and Rugged, in ‘The Snow Child’

Eowyn Ivey sets her debut novel in 1920s Alaska, where readers are first introduced to its wilderness by an aging couple struggling to survive in this unrelenting, isolated place.

Read more new and notable fiction this February.

Verging on desperation, winter’s first snow ignites their hope again—and a flighty, wild little girl appears to them out of nowhere.  Only Jack and Mabel believe she is real, and sometimes even they question whether Faina, who thrives in the deep cold and seems capable of conjuring snowstorms, could possibly be a normal child.  

Here, Ivey talks about her connection to ...

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Kendra: The Girl Next Door Grows Up

Former Playboy bunny and Girl Next Door Kendra Wilkinson is back with her second book, Being Kendra: Cribs, Cocktails, and Getting My Sexy Back. The follow-up to her New York Times bestseller Sliding Into Home, she now reveals everything—really—on how she eased into her role as a wife and new mom without sacrificing fun or an ounce of sexiness. Kendra also candidly describes her professional life as she gives the scoop on Dancing with the Stars and filming her reality series on E!. Here, we present 10 facts on Being Kendra.

Crave more pop culture fun? Read Jane ...

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A Magical Debut: ‘The Night Circus’

This year, Erin Morgenstern delivered a love story bound to a magical competition of skill and endurance set amid a nocturnal circus in her debut The Night Circus. This isn’t your everyday three-ring affair—while the competition fuels the suspense of the narrative, the circus is the novel’s real treat.

Morgenstern encourages readers to explore the multitude of tents, which are both part of the magical competition and open for public interaction. From the Cloud Maze, a vertical network of platforms covered in clouds you can touch and play with, to the Wishing Tree, where each new fancy ...

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10 Things About Common

Hip-hop star Common reveals his passion for rhyme, basketball, his mother and fame in his new memoir One Day It’ll All Make Sense. The book follows the evolution of the artist, from the sensitive, girl-obsessed Chicago kid, to the influential, and at times, controversial musician he is today.

Read how Jay-Z went from the Marcy Projects to an Empire State of Mind in his memoir Decoded.

Here, we present 10 things you may not know about Common:

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Amit Majmudar: ‘Partitions’

An award-winning poet, Amit Majmudar made his full-length novel debut this year with Partitions, a beautifully written and confrontational portrayal of the 1947 partition of India.

Read more of 2011's best debut novels.

Majmudar’s narrator is unique—he died five years ago and has fully embraced the invisible but conscious presence he still holds in the natural world. As he follows his sons on their grueling crossing from Pakistan into India, he occupies the perspective of multiple characters from different backgrounds, killers and victims alike, fighting to uphold not-so-different beliefs. Here, he tells us about constructing his first ...

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10 Things Every Man Should Know: 'The Gentleman's Bedside Companion'

Tom Cutler, author of humorous titles like the bestselling 211 Things a Bright Boy Can Do, offers a variety of man-friendly information in his new book, The Gentleman’s Bedside Companion. Cutler covers subjects ranging from relationships to abnormal science, doctor lingo to old-fashioned activities. You may wonder how he’s gathered such an eclectic mix of facts and stories. Well, Cutler has been a toy-store manager, wine waiter, radio broadcaster and magician, and his father was both a sex therapist and an on-again, off-again Dominican Friar. Here, he combines informative writing and wit to provide men with a never-disappointing ...

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