![Solar by Ian McEwan](https://static.oprah.com/images/201004/omag/201004-omag-book-mcewan-190x130.jpg)
By Ian McEwan
304 pages; Nan A. Talese/Doubleday
The master of Atonement is back with a story about a womanizing scientist who tries to mend his life by fixing the world.
![Imperfect Birds by Anne Lamott](https://static.oprah.com/images/201004/omag/201004-omag-book-lamott-190x130.jpg)
By Anne Lamott
288 pages; Riverhead
In her fictional mode, the spiritual bard of Marin County, California, explores what happens to the girl she introduced in Rosie (1983).
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![Further Adventures in the Restless Universe by Dawn Raffel](https://static.oprah.com/images/201004/omag/201004-omag-book-raffel-190x130.jpg)
By Dawn Raffel
120 pages; Dzanc
Sharp, spare stories about women at, or approaching, the ends of their ropes.
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![American Taliban by Pearl Abraham](https://static.oprah.com/images/201004/omag/201004-omag-book-abraham-190x130.jpg)
By Pearl Abraham
272 pages; Random House
Ripped from the headlines: a novel about an American surfer dude who enters a chat room and emerges an Islamic zealot.
![Burned by Louise Nayer](https://static.oprah.com/images/201004/omag/201004-omag-book-nayer-190x130.jpg)
By Louise Nayer
270 pages; Atlas
Nayer looks back at the fire that didn't quite kill her parents but did destroy their lives.
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5 more at-a-glance reviews
![The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli](https://static.oprah.com/images/201004/omag/201004-omag-book-soli-2-190x130.jpg)
By Tatjana Soli
400 pages; St. Martin's
In this novel of war, an American photographer and her Vietnamese friend come to terms with their romantic past as Saigon falls.
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![The First Thing and the Last by Allan G. Johnson](https://static.oprah.com/images/201004/omag/201004-omag-book-johnson-190x130.jpg)
By Allan G. Johnson
408 pages; Plain View
A fictional tale of a wife who finally kills the man who abused her, and of the woman who helps her deal.
![The House of Tomorrow by Peter Bognanni](https://static.oprah.com/images/201004/omag/201004-omag-book-bognanni-190x130.jpg)
By Peter Bognanni
354 pages; Amy Einhorn
A young man lives with his grandmother in a geodesic dome in Iowa. No surprise: He's a total oddball. Yes, surprise: His life makes for a sweet novel.
![Backing into Forward by Jules Feiffer](https://static.oprah.com/images/201004/omag/201004-omag-book-feiffer-190x130.jpg)
By Jules Feiffer
464 pages; Nan A. Talese/Doubleday
The loopy, octogenarian cartoonist tells his own story, this time in words. Well, mostly.
![The Solitude of Prime Numbers by Paolo Giordano](https://static.oprah.com/images/201004/omag/201004-omag-book-giordano-190x130.jpg)
By Paolo Giordano
288 pages; Pamela Dorman/Viking
Two misfits meet and miraculously connect in this debut novel, a prizewinning best-seller in the author's native Italy.
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Photos: Ben Goldstein/Studio D