Juliet by Anne FortierJuliet
By Anne Fortier
464 pages; Ballantine

Call this debut novel Julie and Juliet: It's about a contemporary woman descended from the model for Shakespeare's heroine.
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I'd Know You Anywhere by Laura LippmanI'd Know You Anywhere
By Laura Lippman
384 pages; William Morrow

The popular mystery-series author's latest stand-alone: a terrifying story about a death-row inmate obsessed with the only victim he left alive.
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Designated Fat Girl by Jennifer JoynerDesignated Fat Girl
By Jennifer Joyner
264 pages; Skirt!

A familiar tale—food-obsessed woman finally conquers her demons, almost—is noteworthy for its memoirist's brutally frank voice.
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Hollywood: A Third Memoir by Larry McMurtryHollywood: A Third Memoir
By Larry McMurtry
160 pages; Simon & Schuster

Just as winning as the first two installments of the Lonesome Dove author's lifelong reminiscences.

The Lady Matador's Hotel by Cristina GarciaThe Lady Matador's Hotel
By Cristina García
224 pages; Scribner

A multicultural group of strangers gathers in a Central American hotel in this exotic, lush, and sensual novel from the author of Dreaming in Cuban.
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5 more at-a-glance reviews

A Curable Romantic by Joseph Skibell A Curable Romantic
By Joseph Skibell
608 pages; Algonquin

An irresistible romp about a lovelorn 19th-century doctor who falls in with Sigmund Freud—and some dangerously attractive women.
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Bitter in the Mouth by Monique Truong Bitter in the Mouth
By Monique Truong
304 pages; Random House

A deeply compassionate and artfully crafted novel about being foreign and family at the same time—by the writer whose debut, The Book of Salt, swept us away.
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Ape House by Sara Gruen Ape House
By Sara Gruen
320 pages; Spiegel & Grau

From the author of Water for Elephants, a novel about bonobos who are smarter and more interesting than their human "caretakers."
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Russian Winter by Daphne Kalotay Russian Winter
By Daphne Kalotay
480 pages; HarperCollins

This tale of a Russian ballerina who defected to Boston is a history lesson inside an evocative novel about art and betrayal.
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Book of Days by Emily Fox Gordon Book of Days
By Emily Fox Gordon
320 pages; Spiegel & Grau

These accessible yet sophisticated essays on modern life are so astute, you'll think the author has been hiding in your closet.
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