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The ABC series Lost may focus on a mystical island, but it's also about larger themes like religious faith and the importance of community — the stuff of memorable novels. ()
Sea of Poppies follows the voyages of a British ship on the eve of the First Opium War. ()
Novelist Lethem adds a post-modern twist to this bizarre, 1970s cult classic superhero series. ()
January 5, 2009 · In British writer Bernardine Evaristo's new novel, Blonde Roots, African slave traders raid Europe. Evaristo wields language and messes with history and geography with the gusto of someone having a great time with a great subject. ()
January 5, 2009 · A Wovel is an on-line novel written serially, with readers deciding the turns of the plot. Publisher Underland Press is hoping people who already do most of their reading surfing the web will return each week to read the next installment. ()
January 5, 2009 · Fate is the protagonist in Patricia Ferguson's masterful Peripheral Vision, which examines the effects one unhappy accident has on a constellation of characters. ()
January 2, 2009 · It's a good time to be holed up with the supercharged pages of some new thrillers. Here are four: Noir by Olivier Pauvert, Eclipse by Richard North Patterson, Daemon by Daniel Suarez, and Terminal Freeze by Lincoln Child. ()
December 30, 2008 · For Mary and Carol Higgins Clark, the family business is suspense — of the fictional order. The mother and daughter write suspense novels separately, and also team up to write a series of holiday mysteries, most recently Dashing Through the Snow. ()
December 16, 2008 · Don't let the capes and external underwear fool you; no longer escapist entertainment, superhero comics capture the timbre of the times as no pollster can. And this year, the mood is dark. ()
December 16, 2008 · Sally and Stephen Kern read to their kids pretty much every night, but one box of books is special, reserved for this time of year only. Filled with stories about Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and the winter solstice, the books in this box are part of a cherished tradition. ()
December 13, 2008 · In Karan Mahajan's debut novel, nothing happens in the Ahuja family in small doses. Every day seems to bring a new breaking point — and sometimes, a new understanding. ()
December 12, 2008 · If reading a story is — as John Gardner said — like falling into a vivid and continuous waking dream, then is giving a book like giving someone a dream? Reviewer Alan Cheuse puzzles over the perfect books for your loved ones this year. ()
December 9, 2008 · Two new novels explore the consequences of a personified Death who fails to perform expected duties. Jonathan Carroll's The Ghost in Love focuses on an individual saved from Death, while Jose Saramago's Death with Interruptions examines an entire nation. ()
December 1, 2008 · Works of humor, wisdom, supreme originality and stunning ambition top Jessa Crispin's foreign fiction list. Engage the global conversation with these five novels from five countries. ()
December 2, 2008 · Drawing on tales from her grandmother's life, debut novelist Padma Viswanathan depicts the intense social and political changes of the past century in India in The Toss of a Lemon. ()
The ABC series Lost may focus on a mystical island, but it's also about larger themes.
Awkward over hors d'oeuvres? Knowing how to make small talk is tough. These books may help.
Pitch darkness moves the world with a different logic in these three books.
