Week of Dec. 6, 2012

The Round House
After a brutal attack on his mother, 13-year-old Joe Coutts pursues the truth — and a sense of justice, separate from law enforcement. In this National Book Award-winning novel, Louise Erdrich unspools a mystery that has upturned both a North Dakota reservation and the family that Coutts hopes to save.
News and Reviews
Gone Girl
After a woman disappears on her fifth wedding anniversary, her diary reveals hidden turmoil in her marriage. Her husband is desperate to clear himself of suspicion and soon discovers that the truth about what happened is even more disturbing than murder.
News and Reviews
The Black Box
When a bullet from a recent killing is found to match one used in the unsolved 1992 murder of a photographer, Harry Bosch is on the case.
Dear Life
Stories
Set in the Canadian towns around Lake Huron, this collection of stories illuminates moments that shape a life — from a dream or a sexual act to simple twists of fate.
News and Reviews
Sweet Tooth
Serena Frome isn't much of a spy. She got recruited into MI5 by her Cambridge history tutor and winds up on the clerical side of the operation, cross-filing schemes and plots to stop terrorists. Then one day, in the middle of the Cold War, she's handed her first secret mission: to cultivate and fund British intellectuals whose politics align with those of the government. Its code name is "Sweet Tooth."
News and Reviews
The Casual Vacancy
The early death of a small-town councilman reveals deep-rooted conflicts in the seemingly idyllic community of Pagford. In the face of cultural disputes, generation clashes and a volatile election, Pagford's peaceful facade rapidly deteriorates.
News and Reviews
Cold Days
After being brought back to life as the Winter Knight to Mab, the Queen of Air and Darkness, Harry Dresden is ordered to kill an immortal. But unless he finds a way out of subservience, a serious threat could endanger countless innocent victims.
The Racketeer
When a federal judge and his secretary fail to appear for a scheduled trial, panicked clerks call the FBI. A harrowing murder case ensues, culminating in the imprisonment of a lawyer who imparts the story of who killed the judge and why.
The Art Forger
An artist whose reputation has been tarnished stumbles on a piece of art that disappeared 25 years ago and agrees to forge it for a gallery owner — until she realizes that the art she is forging may itself be a forgery.
Winter of the World
Winter of the World continues the stories of five interrelated families who struggle with social, political and economic turmoil in the mid-20th century. They witness the rise of Nazi Germany, the Spanish Civil War and the horrors of World War II.
A Thousand Mornings
Mary Oliver returns to the imagery that has come to define her life's work, transporting us to the marshland and coastline of her beloved home, Provincetown, Mass. She shares the wonder of dawn, the grace of animals and the transformative power of attention. Whether studying the leaves of a tree or mourning her adored dog Percy, she patiently observes the teachings contained in the smallest of moments.
News and Reviews
The Forgotten
After he receives a posthumous note from his aunt hinting that things are horribly amiss in her Florida Gulf Coast town, special agent John Puller uncovers a shocking conspiracy.
Notorious Nineteen
Stephanie Plum tries to track down a con man who has disappeared from the hospital after an emergency appendectomy. But when a second felon goes missing from the same hospital, she's forced to call on Trenton cop Joe Morelli for help.
This Is How You Lose Her
Junot Diaz tracks protagonist Yunior's struggles with fidelity, beginning with his cheating on his girlfriend and ending with his cheating on his fiancee with 50 different women.