Books Update

Also in the Book Review 'The Puppy Diaries' By JILL ABRAMSON Reviewed by ALEXANDRA STYRON Jill Abramson shows how life with a puppy enriches middle age.  Excerpt: 'The Puppy Diaries' Is the Brain Good at What It Does? By CHRISTOPHER CHABRIS Three books explore the brain's astonishing capability, as well as its flaws and limitations. 'The Marriage Plot' By JEFFREY EUGENIDES Reviewed by WILLIAM DERESIEWICZ Life after college poses challenges for the three friends in Jeffrey Eugenides's novel.  Excerpt: 'The Marriage Plot' 'The Cat's Table' By MICHAEL ONDAATJE Reviewed by LIESL SCHILLINGER Three Ceylonese schoolboys on a sea journey to England take delight in their eccentric companions at the ship's worst dining table.  Excerpt: 'The Cat's Table 'The Keats Brothers' By DENISE GIGANTE Reviewed by CHRISTOPHER BENFEY Did George Keats's move to America inspire his brother John's greatest poetry? 'Liberty's Surest Guardian' By JEREMI SURI Reviewed by ROBERT KAGAN Jeremi Suri argues that nation-building is central to American history. 'Until the Dawn's Light' By AHARON APPELFELD Reviewed by JULIE ORRINGER In this novel, an assimilated Austrian Jew chooses a vicious, and symbolic, husband. 'Habibi' Written and illustrated by CRAIG THOMPSON Reviewed by ROBYN CRESWELL Craig Thompson's dark graphic novel draws on "The Thousand and One Nights," Orientalist paintings and R. Crumb. THE MECHANIC MUSE Do Androids Dream of Electric Authors? By PAGAN KENNEDY The irresistible rise of the robot-book. CRIME Blood in the Sand By MARILYN STASIO New mystery novels from James Lee Burke, S. J. Rozan, Ruth Rendell and John Connolly. Children's Books 'The Apothecary' By MAILE MELOY Reviewed by KRYSTYNA PORAY GODDU Maile Meloy's first novel for young readers combines historical fiction with fantasy. 'A Monster Calls' Reviewed by JESSICA BRUDER This monster forces a boy to confront his despair over his mother's terminal illness. 'Daughter of Smoke and Bone' By LAINI TAYLOR Reviewed by CHELSEY PHILPOT An enigmatic art student in Prague becomes a pawn in a centuries-old war. Bookshelf: Boo! By PAMELA PAUL Children's books about Halloween, goosebumps, goblins and monsters. Bookshelf: Night By PAMELA PAUL Children's and young adult books about the moon, the stars and the creatures of the night. CHILDREN'S BOOKS 'I Want My Hat Back' By JON KLASSEN Reviewed by PAMELA PAUL A standout picture book about a bear and his lost hat makes a noteworthy debut for author Jon Klassen.

BEST SELLERS Combined Print & E-Book Fiction Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction Hardcover Fiction Hardcover Nonfiction Paperback Trade Fiction Paperback Mass-Market Fiction Paperback Nonfiction All the Lists RELATED COLUMNS TBR: Inside the List Editors' Choice Paperback Row Back Page ESSAY I Was an Under-Age Semiotician By STEVEN JOHNSON Embracing semiotics came with certain costs, but it left an intoxicating sense that the everyday world contained a secret layer of meaning that could be deciphered with the right key. SLIDE SHOW: Bookshelf: Boo! Pamela Paul reviews new children's books about Halloween and spooky creatures. SLIDE SHOW: Bookshelf: Night Pamela Paul reviews new children's books about dreams and the night. Book Review Podcast Featuring the Times's executive editor Jill Abramson on her new book, "The Puppy Diaries"; Christopher Chabris on new books about the science of the human brain; and Helen Schulman on her novel "This Beautiful Life", a selection of the Big City Book Club. Graphic Books Best Sellers: Double Dipping Picture This: New 'Star Wars' Comics, and Graphic Novels of Stieg Larsson's Trilogy P. D. James Writes a 'Pride and Prejudice' Sequel (but No Zombies)