Books Update

On the Cover of Sunday's Book Review 'Gods Without Men' By HARI KUNZRU Reviewed by DOUGLAS COUPLAND In Hari Kunzru's fourth novel, an autistic boy disappears in the California desert and many lives intersect around a rock formation called the Pinnacles.  Up Front: Douglas Coupland Also in the Book Review 'Lost Kingdom: Hawaii's Last Queen, the Sugar Kings, and America's First Imperial Adventure' By JULIA FLYNN SILER Reviewed by MALIA BOYD Julia Flynn Siler traces Hawaii's fraught history, from Captain Cook to American annexation. 'Enchantments' By KATHRYN HARRISON Reviewed by SUSANN COKAL In Kathryn Harrison's novel of late imperial Russia, Rasputin's sway doesn't end with his death. 'No Cheating, No Dying' By ELIZABETH WEIL Reviewed by MAGGIE SCARF A writer embarks on a project of marital enhancement. 'House of Stone' By ANTHONY SHADID Reviewed by PATRICK COCKBURN Anthony Shadid rebuilt his ancestors' house in Lebanon. 'The Escape Artists: How Obama's Team Fumbled the Recovery' By NOAM SCHEIBER Reviewed by PAUL M. BARRETT Noam Scheiber takes us behind the scenes with President Obama's economic team. 'That Woman: The Life of Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor' By ANNE SEBBA Reviewed by LIESL SCHILLINGER This new book looks at the life of Wallis Simpson, for whom Edward VIII abdicated. 'The Power of Habit' By CHARLES DUHIGG Reviewed by TIMOTHY D. WILSON A look at the science of how we form habits and how we can break them. 'Beautiful Souls' By EYAL PRESS Reviewed by LOUISA THOMAS Eyal Press looks at ordinary people who resisted the status quo to follow their own convictions. CRIME Strangers Abroad By MARILYN STASIO In Chris Pavone's "The Expats," a burned-out C.I.A. operative moves to Luxembourg and begins investigating her husband's activities there. ON POETRY Versions By DAVID ORR The English versions of the Nobel Prize winner Tomas Transtromer's poems raise issues that go to the heart of the translator's function. Fiction Chronicle By JOHN WILLIAMS New fiction by Richard Mason, Anna Funder, Alex George, Helen Simpson and Jonathan Odell. Children's Books Honest, Fair, Courageous and Strong By CANDACE FLEMING It's Women's History Month, and four picture books introduce children to some real-life heroines. The Finer Points of the Game By MATT de la PEÑA Basketball, in these two novels, is a path to success and a means of escape. Bookshelf: Poetry By PAMELA PAUL Five new picture books introduce children to the art of poetry.   Slide Show: Poetry Bookshelf 'After the Snow' By S. D. CROCKETT Reviewed by JULIANNA BAGGOTT In S. D. Crockett's dystopian novel, a teenager navigates frozen terrain in search of his family. 'The Glass Collector' By ANNA PERERA Reviewed by JOSHUA HAMMER This novel's hero belongs to a group of trash scavengers who prowl Cairo's filthy streets.