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Jesse Eisenberg specializes in playing (and writing about) jittery, antisocial nerds. Critic Heller McAlpin says the wonder is the empathy he brings to the sad sacks in his new story collection.

Literary critic Clive James revisits the work of great writers such as Joseph Conrad, Ernest Hemingway, Shakespeare and others, subjecting each to the "finicky test of delight."

This new anthology of science fiction and fantasy, edited by Hassan Blasim, imagines Iraq 100 years after the invasion of 2003. Harrowing, necessary, often beautiful, it resists comfort and catharsis.

Daphne Merkin's new essay collection straddles the high/low cultural divide with aplomb. Reviewer Heller McAlpin says Lunches is unfailingly intelligent, but should be enjoyed in small bites.

In his 1973 debut novel, The Miernik Dossier, former CIA agent Charles McCarry combines a classic Cold War thriller with a road trip. Olen Steinhauer says it's one of the best spy novels ever written.

Iconoclastic journalist Christopher Hitchens, who died from esophageal cancer in December 2011, chronicled his battle with the disease — his 18 months "of living dyingly" — in Mortality. Critic Heller McAlpin says the tragically posthumous work is full of his pugnacious, ever-bright prose.

In his new memoir, An Appetite for Wonder: The Making of a Scientist, the Oxford scientist reveals for the first time intimate details about his life — some of which are quite startling. Reviewer J.P. O'Malley says the book is "a fascinating account" of one man's quest for answers.

Loosely structured as a stroll through New York City, Roger Rosenblatt's memoir includes playful, endearing anecdotes from his childhood in Gramercy Park. But critic Heller McAlpin notes that his rambling riffs and excruciatingly slow pace make it a difficult read.

Obama's trip to India has prompted Pakistanis to leaf back through their visitors' book with an aggrieved eye, and reinforced their view that U.S. policy tends toward cynical pragmatism.

Novelist Julie Otsuka returns with a tale of Japanese "picture brides," while singer Shania Twain shares her account of overcoming poverty and divorce to hold her own as a country music star.