Books Update NYT

March 8, 2013
Books Update
http://www.nytimes.com/indexes/2013/03/08/books/booksupdate/index.html

On the Cover of Sunday's Book Review

'Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead'
By SHERYL SANDBERG with NELL SCOVELL
Reviewed by ANNE-MARIE SLAUGHTER


In "Lean In," Sheryl Sandberg, the chief operating officer of Facebook, encourages women to make their voices heard at the workplace.
Up Front: Anne-Marie Slaughter




Also in the Book Review

Marilynne Robinson: By the Book


The author of "Gilead" says that after "Housekeeping," her greatest fear was writing "a fraudulent book simply to escape the embarrassments of having written only one novel."
By the Book: Archive

'The Great Agnostic'
By SUSAN JACOBY
Reviewed by JENNIFER MICHAEL HECHT


The 19th-century freethinker Robert Ingersoll drew crowds with his brilliant oratory.

'The Dinner'
By HERMAN KOCH. Translated by SAM GARRETT.
Reviewed by CLAIRE MESSUD


In Herman Koch's novel, two Dutch couples struggle with the hardest decision of their lives - over the course of one meal.

'The Good House'
By ANN LEARY
Reviewed by J. COURTNEY SULLIVAN


In Ann Leary's novel, an alcoholic real estate agent pretends to be sober, with disastrous consequences.

'P. G. Wodehouse: A Life in Letters'
Edited by SOPHIE RATCLIFFE
Reviewed by CHARLES McGRATH


The collected letters - many previously unpublished - of the great comic writer P. G. Wodehouse.

'The Blue Book'
By A. L. KENNEDY
Reviewed by WENDY LESSER


On a trans-Atlantic cruise, a former psychic examines the tricky deceptions of magic, relationships and language itself.

'I Do and I Don't'
By JEANINE BASINGER
Reviewed by JUDITH NEWMAN


It's difficult to make marriage in the movies interesting, Jeanine Basinger's survey argues.

'Ghana Must Go'
By TAIYE SELASI
Reviewed by NELL FREUDENBERGER


Taiye Selasi's first novel follows a splintered Ghanaian-Nigerian family across continents and generations.

CRIME
Bodies for Hire
By MARILYN STASIO


"The Boyfriend," by Thomas Perry, is a thriller about a retired homicide detective investigating a series of unsolved murders of high-priced prostitutes.

'Benediction'
By KENT HARUF
Reviewed by PAUL ELIE


Kent Haruf continues his cycle of novels set in the high plains of Colorado, where a close-knit community is pushed to the brink.

'Weird Life'
By DAVID TOOMEY
Reviewed by RICHARD FORTEY


A search for hidden organisms finds some that thrive in extreme conditions, and some that may live only in the imagination.
ArtsBeat Q. & A.: David Toomey

Children's Books

You're Special
By MICHAEL IAN BLACK


Three picture books explore the theme of individuality.

'Eleanor & Park'
By RAINBOW ROWELL
Reviewed by JOHN GREEN


This novel's title characters are an unlikely couple.

'Hold Fast'
By BLUE BALLIETT
Reviewed by ABBY McGANNEY NOLAN


A man vanishes in Chicago, and his family struggles to survive.

Rising Stars
By BOB BALABAN


In two middle-grade novels, boys pursue a passion for show business.

Bookshelf: Bats and Baskets
By PAMELA PAUL


New picture books include a look at baseball in Japan and biographies of Willie Mays and Babe Ruth.