"If Elizabeth Bennet had the washing of her own petticoats, Sarah often thought, she'd most likely be a sight more careful with them." Alas for Sarah, she's the housemaid in charge of the Bennet family's laundry, and every Monday she has to scrub and launder until her hands bleed.

Jo Baker's Longbourn presents a grimy underside to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. The Bennets' housemaids, Sarah and Polly, empty the chamberpots while housekeeper Mrs. Hill worries about what will become of them after Elizabeth Bennet turns down Mr. Collins--and all the servants sigh whenever the Gardiners, and their many messy children, come to visit. Baker brings to life all the things Austen left out: Mr. Wickham's slimy ways with those beneath him, the endless duties that await the overworked servants and how a housemaid's longing for a better life can change the lives of many people around her.

This vivid story of personal growth and love could stand independently of its literary predecessor. The inclusion of familiar bits from Pride and Prejudice, however, take Baker's novel to a new level, offering alternate insights into Austen's characters. Mrs. Bennet and Mr. Collins seem unexpectedly pitiable, while other characters come across as surprisingly calloused. Fans of historical fiction and Austenites alike will enjoy Longbourn. --Jessica Howard, blogger at Quirky Bookworm

John Boyne's This House Is Haunted is a ghost story steeped in the Dickensian tradition. As Eliza and her father journey through a typically cold, wet night in London to see Charles Dickens read in a nearby pub, he falls ill from the weather and soon dies, leaving her with no parents, no siblings and very little money.

Seeking a change, Emma responds to an advertisement for a governess at an estate in the country. But when she arrives at Gaudlin Hall, she is startled to find no adults present; her two new pupils present themselves to her with no explanation. From her first night at Gaudlin, Eliza is haunted by an unseen spirit. As the attacks become more violent, threatening Eliza's life, she sets out to find the secret that lies at the heart of Gaudlin.

With The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Boyne proved his ability to immerse himself in the innocent and naive perspective of a small boy; in wholly embodying Eliza in This House Is Haunted, he further proves his narration skills. This strong voice gives the story an added layer of intrigue, as we are treated not only to a 19th-century ghost story, but also to a heroine coming into herself as a woman and an individual. Though those looking for true horror and gore may be disappointed by the subtle buildup, This House Is Haunted is ultimately a compelling story of the supernatural and an ode to the Victorian-era ghost story. --Kerry McHugh, blogger at Entomology of a Bookworm

Private investigator Spero Lucas returns in The Double, George Pelecanos's powerful follow-up to 2011's The Cut. The Afghanistan veteran who recovers stolen goods, no questions asked, is in search of a painting: after being swindled by a Casanova, Grace Kincaid has hired Lucas to reclaim what is rightfully hers. The art thief, however, has no plans to give up the piece--and is prepared to take Lucas down to keep it.

As Lucas works the case, he also finds himself in a new predicament: he's falling in love with a married woman. They've initiated a passionate affair, sneaking off to hotel rooms whenever she summons him. The affair is completely on her terms; she calls Lucas to satisfy her needs and despite his frustration with the arrangement, he can't tell her no.

Through his interactions with the art thief and his mistress, as well as his continuing struggles to reintegrate into civilian life, Lucas questions who he is. The answer isn't an easy one; Pelecanos smudges the lines between right and wrong, and good intentions count for little, if anything.

Pelecanos's characters dwell in the dark, underside of Washington, D.C., and his tone mimics their environment. In the melodic beauty and strength of his writing, readers can practically hear the soulful rhythms that form the soundtracks to his characters' complicated lives. The Double is complex, gritty crime fiction at its best. Pelecanos shines again. --Jen Forbus of Jen's Book Thoughts

There's nothing Beatrice Ojakangas (The Great Scandinavian Baking Book) loves more than a bowl of soup paired with a loaf of fresh bread--in any season. Delving into her extensive recipe archive, The Soup & Bread Cookbook presents more than 100 delicious combinations of these two staples.

Organized by season and emphasizing fresh, local ingredients, the soups employ a wide assortment of vegetables, from delicate spring peas and asparagus to hearty winter root veggies and even summer fruits (for sweet chilled soups). The breads likewise range from crunchy breadsticks and flatbreads to pillowy loaves of focaccia, crisp baguettes, crusty Tuscan bread and sweet scones and muffins. The combinations can be mixed and matched, of course, though each pair has been placed together with flavor profiles and cooking time in mind.

Ojakangas's Scandinavian heritage is on display as she shares soup recipes involving Finnish chanterelles, fresh nettles and Swedish yellow peas. Other soups draw on cuisines from around the world, from Moroccan vegetable soup with couscous to Brazilian feijoada with French twist bread. Most of the soup recipes can easily be modified to suit varying tastes and occasions.

Packed with helpful baking tips (and a few key recipes for basic breads, stocks and broths), The Soup & Bread Cookbook lives up to its name: a treasure trove of flavorful recipes for the days when nothing but a steaming, savory bowl of soup and a warm loaf of bread will do. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams

Jenna Woginrich was determined to live an authentic life, one that did not involve long hours sitting in a cubicle. One Woman Farm is her delightful story of one year on Cold Antler Farm, her small homestead in upstate New York. Woginrich begins her story in October, "the four weeks of the year when my endorphins speed up, and every day I am six years old again. It's also the month I have the most to say about since so much living is packed inside it."

The essence of life permeates Woginrich's pages as she describes a typical day spent caring for her sheep, horses, goats, rabbits, chickens and bees. Her lyrical prose and Emma Dibben's beautiful illustrations depicting rural life place readers in the moment, whether that's mucking out a barn, helping a sheep to lamb or cutting honey off the comb. Readers can breathe in the fresh air, feel the movement of Woginrich's horse beneath her as she travels a dirt road and taste the chèvre made from fresh goat's milk. The seasons cycle from the rush of fall through the cold calmness of winter to the burst of energy and new life of spring and the productive and soothing summer.

One Woman Farm is a book to be savored, helping the reader to contemplate what is truly important in life: sunrises, fresh food, the love of hard work and having a purpose in life. Woginrich's "observational spiritual farming" is a gift to the reader. --Lee E. Cart, freelance writer and book reviewer

One Hundred and Four Horses should come with a disclaimer: impossible to put down, but devastating to finish. It begins in 2002, as Mandy Retzlaff stands on a neighbor's front porch at dusk waiting for her husband, after being told by Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwean government they had four hours to leave Crofton, the farm the family had owned for more than a decade.

Retzlaff then flashes back to her family's arrival at Crofton, with three young children and four horses, and recounts the happy decade they spent farming tomatoes and paprika. She traces the history of Rhodesia's civil war in the 1960s and '70s, the transition to the new nation of Zimbabwe and the eventual devastation of the area once considered Africa's breadbasket. In the face of the Mugabe regime's cruelty, the Retzlaffs refuse to turn away any horse in need and nearly lose their own lives trying to remain in their beloved home, moving from one friend's farm to the next, before escaping--with the eponymous 104 horses--to neighboring Mozambique.

While Retzlaff's love of her native land and use of vivid imagery initially echo Isak Dinesen and Nadine Gordimer, she also firmly establishes her own voice as a writer. One Hundred and Four Horses reveals a disturbing history, but the Retzlaffs' tenacity of spirit and unflagging loyalty to their horses tempers the devastation and results in an unforgettable tale of the indomitable human spirit. --Kristen Galles from Book Club Classics

Chris West combines an uncle's Edwardian stamp collection with his own interest in history to create a quirky and insightful approach to the past in A History of Britain in Thirty-Six Postage Stamps.

Taken together, the stories of individual stamps tell the larger story of British history. West begins with the world's first postage stamp, the Penny Black of 1840, which becomes an emblem of the energy and invention of Victorian Britain. He ends with the 2012 First Class stamp and a thoughtful discussion of whether, in an inevitable pun, Britain is still "first class." In between, he considers recurring themes suggested by the stamps themselves: industry, social change, the role of the royal family and the nation's postwar decline and subsequent reinventions.

West builds a large historical framework on his "thirty-six little pieces of paper," but he always brings the discussion back to the stamps themselves. He uses details about designs and designers to illuminate changes not only in taste but also in the national spirit. The book ends with philatelic information about each stamp, including hints for beginners, more detailed information for experts and an occasional description of a rare issue for "the philatelist who thinks they have died and gone to heaven." This section is written in the same engaging style as the main history, and even readers who don't care about stamps as collectibles may be drawn into West's discussion of forgeries, printing errors and rarities. --Pamela Toler, blogging at History in the Margins

As Elizabeth Gilbert, the guest editor for this year's edition of The Best American Travel Writing, explains, she wasn't looking for service articles or travel tips to fill the anthology. Rather, she wanted stories that made her feel, at the conclusion, "I have now been there." Her selections are wide-ranging: from the story of a man visiting an improbable attraction called Dickens World, to a guy who didn't walk the Mexican-American border as planned, to a woman who decides to walk through the streets of Cairo in a full niqab and observe how men's reactions differ from the way she's normally treated in the Egyptian capital.

Some of these stories are mere paragraphs long, while others range closer to 20 pages. But each shares a vivid look at a different part of the world, from Papua New Guinea to Pamplona. And the combination of such vastly different authors, from the funny David Sedaris to the profane but profound Kevin Chroust and the renowned Ian Frazier, keeps the pages turning.

Perfect for armchair travelers and essay admirers, The Best American Travel Writing 2013 is a quintessential before-bed book: so interesting that you won't fall asleep, but containing short enough segments to allow reading a bit every night, luxuriously prolonging the wanderlust this collection creates. --Jessica Howard, blogger at Quirky Bookworm

Debut author Mindy McGinnis paints a harrowing and realistic vision of a world with little water in Not a Drop to Drink. The first line sets the mood for the entire book: "Lynn was nine the first time she killed to defend the pond, the sweet smell of water luring the man to be picked off like the barn swallows that dared to swoop in for a drink."

This story of survival centers on 16-year-old Lynn, who is left with nothing but her mother and a pond of drinking water that must be defended. Early on in the book, her mother is killed by coyotes, and Lynn discovers the value (and the risk) in relying upon others when the world is so dangerous, including her neighbor Stebbs, and a family taking refuge on the banks of a nearby stream. McGinnis focuses on a narrow setting--the environment immediately surrounding the pond. She lets readers know the stakes are high, and sets up crucial situations for her characters.

A story informed by the constant threat of danger, Not a Drop to Drink will keep readers on the edge of their seats as McGinnis paints a picture of a world missing one of the things we take most for granted. --Shanyn Day, blogger at Chick Loves Lit

With an economical text and a spirited refrain, debut author H. Joseph Hopkins tells the story of boundary-breaking scientist Katherine Olivia Sessions.

Hopkins sets the social scene with straightforward humor: "It was the 1860s, and girls from Kate's side of town weren't supposed to get their hands dirty. But Kate did." Artist Jill McElmurry (Mad about Plaid) pictures a girl in a dress gathering leaves from majestic oaks, elms and redwoods, and, opposite, the child's muddy handprints. Next, scientific names appear under close-up images of the leaves, as Kate raises her hand in class: "Most girls were discouraged from studying science," writes Hopkins, "But not Kate."

The story is as much poetry as it is biography: "Trees seemed to Kate like giant umbrellas that sheltered her and the animals, birds, and plants that lived in the forest." In a gorgeous full-spread illustration of Kate's arrival on the deck of a ship in San Diego, the Pacific's blue in contrast to the golden coast, readers might not pick up at first that there are no trees in San Diego. Kate soon fixes that. She researches trees that would thrive in its subclimates. A page of plants, carefully labeled, along with envelopes that delivered them from all over the world, illustrate to readers the farflung places Kate searched out gardeners for help. Kate broke the boundaries of what most women could do because of her passion for science, and for trees in particular. Her story will inspire children to follow their dreams. --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness