Books

In summer, lots of readers like to tackle complex works of non-fiction. Our book critic tells us why this summer, she turned to two ambitious works of historical fiction: Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky and Triangle by Katharine Weber.

Alan Furst has a new historical spy novel called The Foreign Correspondent. His first one, Night Soldiers, came out in 1988, and he's written eight more since then. Critic at large John Powers, who says he always snaps up a new one, explains Furst's appeal.

Our book critic reviews the critically acclaimed Stuart: A Life Backwards, by Alexander Masters. It's a British biography of a homeless man as told by his social worker.

Our book critic reviews Terrorist, the new novel by John Updike.

The award-winning Australian novelist Peter Carey is known for his manic comic energy. Reaching for comparisons, reviewers have likened him to James Joyce, Tom Wolfe and other writers obviously in love with words, words, words. Carey's latest novel, Theft: A Love Story, is sure to steal its readers' attention away from all other activities.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews Elements of Style, the first and last novel by the late playwright Wendy Wasserstein.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews The Poem That Changed America: 'Howl' Fifty Years Later, a collection of essays by writers about their first encounters with the famous poem by Allen Ginsberg.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews American Gospel: God, the Founding Fathers, And the Making of a Nation by Jon Meacham. His previous book, Franklin and Winston, was about the friendship between FDR and Churchill.

Danielle Trussoni's just-published memoir is Falling Through the Earth. In the book, Trussoni explores the damaging legacy of her father's military service in Vietnam. Book critic Maureen Corrigan says the memoir is also an unusual testament to the father-daughter bond.

Allegra Goodman's new novel is Intuition.