Cathleen Medwick reviews Naming Nature: The Clash Between Instinct and Science by Carol Kaesuk Yoon, a sensuous book, lush with biology, biography, and folklore. More...

Vince Passaro reviews Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon, a noirish, psychedelic detective story set in California in the late '60s. More...

Cathleen Medwick reviews The Art of Caring: A Look at Life Through Photography, a collection of photographs from the eponymous New Orleans Museum of Art exhibit, showing the healing, motivating power of connection at every stage of life. More...

Cathleen Medwick reviews Eric Fischl: Beach Paintings by Eric Fischl & A.M. Homes, a collection of 200 paintings, watercolors, charcoals, and photographs of beachgoers. More...

Cathleen Medwick reviews It's Beginning to Hurt by James Lasdun, a collection of intimate, sometimes wryly comforting stories of tenderness and rue. More...

Elaina Richardson reviews The Magicians by Lev Grossman, a playful fantasy novel about young (well, postgraduate) wizards who make their way through a dangerous world of magic -- and Manhattan. More...

Cathleen Medwick reviews Harper Perennial's classic story collections, including the works of Tolstoy, Melville, Wilde, and Dostoyevsky, to name a few. More...

Pam Houston reviews That Old Cape Magic by Richard Russo, a novel about one man's shaky first steps out of his past and into self-knowledge. More...

Cathleen Medwick reviews Glover's Mistake by Nick Laird, a satirical novel about a love triangle, made unique by Laird's savvy portrayal of the cultural elite and insights into the deft deceptions of love. More...

Cathleen Medwick reviews Making an Elephant by Graham Swift, a collection of essays, poems, interviews, and reminiscences, musing about the literary life. More...

Francine Prose reviews Methland: The Death and Life of an American Small Town by Nick Reding, a journey into the communities ravaged by the meth epidemic. More...

Cathleen Medwick reviews Swimming by Nicola Keegan, a novel about a girl trying to overcome family tragedy to become a gold medal-winning Olympic swimmer. More...

Jessica Winter reviews Julie and Julie, starring Amy Adams and Meryl Streep. More...

Vernetta Cockerham did everything by the book. She took her abusive husband to court. Got a protective order. Reported his violations to the police. Yet in the end, none of that was enough. More...