NONFICTION
Released: Jan. 24, 2012
"As short, cogent and stimulating as John Gribbin's Alone in the Universe (2011), but far more optimistic. Readers should check out both."
Since astronomers discovered the first planet circling another star in 1995, they've found hundreds; predictably, this has energized the debate on whether life exists beyond Earth. Sasselov (Astronomy/Harvard Univ.) reviews the hard evidence in favor (not much) before proceeding to explain discoveries and simulations that suggest we are not alone.
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NONFICTION
Released: Jan. 24, 2012
"An intriguing and potentially life-altering examination of the human psyche that is sure to benefit both introverts and extroverts alike."
An enlightened Wall Street survivor exhorts wallflowers everywhere to embrace their solitude-seeking souls and fully appreciate the power of the lone wolf.
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NONFICTION
Released: Jan. 17, 2012
"Leleux sweeps readers from New York to Texas to rural Tennessee on a family pilgrimage--an understated work that highlights the emotional rewards of caring for a loved one."
A memoir of Alzheimer's during its final stages and of a family's attempt to provide support for a spirited grandmother whose changed outlook allowed a vital relationship to move from estrangement to reconciliation.
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NONFICTION
Released: Jan. 17, 2012
"A remarkable personal testament that will be cited by future historians of both Facebook and the Arab Spring."
A demonstration of the power of social networking by a Google engineer named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people of 2011.
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NONFICTION
Released: Jan. 17, 2012
"Stately pronouncements from a master of the form."
A wry, mannered retrospective collection of essays by octogenarian Gass (
A Temple of Texts, 2006, etc.).
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NONFICTION
Released: Jan. 10, 2012
"A rich record of the vicissitudes of publishing during an inimitable time and place."
A dense, detailed, priceless eyewitness account of the making of a literary generation between Paris and New York.
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NONFICTION
Released: Jan. 10, 2012
"An inspiring story of a woman who participated in "one of the greatest revolutions in history"—and is still at the forefront of the struggle."
A searingly honest debut memoir by a leader in the fight for a woman's right to "legally gain and exercise reproductive choice—the power of life and death."
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NONFICTION
Released: Jan. 3, 2012
"A fascinating portrait of a complex figure who ponders the place of man and God in the universe and who still loves the "Eureka moment of discovering something that no one knew before.""
Ferguson (
Pythagoras, 2010, etc.) brilliantly updates her 1991 children's biography of Stephen Hawking for an adult audience.
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NONFICTION
Released: Jan. 3, 2012
"Will the partnership prevail? Stay tuned, but hope for the best--for, they warn, "[i]f urgent steps are not taken to rein in nuclear weapons...a catastrophic attack is virtually inevitable.""
Timely portrait of an alliance, seemingly unlikely, of former Cold War mavens now committed to nuclear disarmament.
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NONFICTION
Released: Jan. 3, 2012
"An insightful, bitingly humorous book."
Why one of the biggest financial disasters in history somehow strengthened the political position of those who were most responsible.
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NONFICTION
Released: Jan. 3, 2012
"A provocative, surprising look at the lesser-known parts of a sci-fi superstar's writing career."
Cyberpunk's patron saint of prose proves that his reality is every bit as trippy as his fiction.
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NONFICTION
Released: Jan. 3, 2012
"A profound demonstration of what needs to be recognized, reconciled and forgiven if current crises are to be overcome."
A vigorous retelling of Haiti's history intended to revive the promise of the world's first black-led republic.
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NONFICTION
Released: Jan. 2, 2012
"Zaslow's profile of the bridal shop, from the geopolitics of dressmaking to the effects of TV shows like Bridezillas, is almost as riveting as the bridal tales."
Wall Street Journal columnist Zaslow (
The Girls from Ames, 2009, etc.) delivers an emotive excursion through the world of parents and daughters and the state of marriage in the United States.
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NONFICTION
Released: Jan. 2, 2012
"For the world that knew Liu Xiaobo only for his empty chair in Oslo, this much-needed book fills the void."
The recipient of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize confronts the problems of closed-society China.
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NONFICTION
Released: Jan. 2, 2012
"A sure-to-be-controversial, troubling tale of the wages of fear on the body politic."
Investigative journalist and native Arizonian Zoellner (
Uranium: War, Energy, and the Rock that Shaped the World, 2009, etc.) combines memoir, history and reportage in an attempt to understand mass murder and the attempted assassination of a friend in Tucson.
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