At first glance, a reader might reject In Pinelight. Where are the quotation marks? The paragraph breaks? The punctuation? A few pages into Thomas Rayfiel's sixth novel, however, and the rhythm of the narrator's soliloquy becomes addictive; it feels rude to interrupt his story by closing the book.

Confined to a retirement home, Bill relates the story of his life to an unknown narrator. On the surface, it was an uneventful existence. He never left his village in upstate New York, but change came to him. The narration unfolds in a stream of consciousness: "Brown was handsome in a forward-looking way full of possibilities or so I recall. It could all be colored by what happened subsequently subsequently yes I know my English three and a half years of high school then I had to go to work but Rebecca what on earth are you asking about her for? Of course I know there's a town under there. When they decided to flood the valley no one objected money was hard to come by then."

Bill is a smart man. His stories speak to universal themes as they detail the particulars of life in his little town, the tensions between the educated and the working class, the vacation homes that sprung up for down-state summer people, the friendships, loves and small-town gossip, much of it more sophisticated than one might expect, all of it offering food for thought. --Cheryl Krocker McKeon, bookseller, Book Passage, San Francisco

Ernest Shackleton's expedition to Antarctica is legendary. The Endurance became stuck in the ice and the crew wasn't heard from for nearly two years; that everyone lived is one of the greatest survival stories of all time.

German poet Mirko Bonne's The Ice-Cold Heaven re-creates this incredible adventure from the inside. "Cowering down here for a night and half a day," says the novel's 17-year-old Welsh narrator, Merce Blackboro. Merce is a stowaway--the 28th man--on the British barque as it sets sail from Buenos Aires in October 1914. "You must be half starved," Shackleford says when they finally meet. "Fine. So now you're here."

It grows colder. Unrelenting rain turns to snow, painting the ship white: "Every day a slightly thicker coat sticks to the deck." Soon the ship is sheathed in ice. It grows colder. Blink too long, your eyelids freeze shut. Boiling water freezes before hitting the ground when poured. Eventually, the ice begins to crush the ship's hull. The crew tries to strengthen it from within, but to no avail. Then it's time to leave, with sleds, boats on top, dogs pulling, men pushing, taking with them just 150 of their precious photographs.

We know how the story will turn out, but Bonne invites us to join this close-knit group of comrades so we can experience the expedition's inhumane conditions first-hand. Thus we embark on a well-told, totally engrossing voyage. Bring warm gloves. --Tom Lavoie, former publisher

If you've ever wondered what Stephanie Plum would be like with a little experience in life under her belt, Nanci Rathbun has the answer. Her debut novel, Truth Kills, introduces readers to sassy librarian turned private investigator Angelina Bonaparte (pronounced Bo-nah-par-tay, thank you very much). In this first book of a planned series, Angelina finds herself in the unenviable position of working for a cheating schmuck accused of murdering his greedy, narcissistic mistress. Going toe to toe with the local cops puts her squarely in the path of danger--and also in the path of Detective Ted Wukowski, who might be the man to break down her walls.

Rathbun injects a lot of depth into a standard romantic mystery story. Her heroine is flawed and complex, her plot perfectly constructed to bring out all of the facets she's created. Angelina is surrounded by extreme personalities that play off and against each other to punctuate the risks in adhering too closely to a system of absolutes. From the militant members of an extremist right-wing religious group to the heroine's deeply traditional (and thus regrettably sexist) Sicilian father, Rathbun populates her novel with people who can't or won't bend and ultimately suffer for it. In the mercurial Angelina, rigid only in her refusal to compromise herself, however, she shows us the many perks of flexibility. For mystery lovers, or fans of romantic suspense, Nanci Rathbun is one to watch. --Judie Evans, librarian

Ann Mah and her diplomat husband, Calvin, lived in New York, Beijing and Washington, D.C., during the few years they'd been married. Then, in 2008, Calvin got a dream posting: three years in Paris. Ecstatically, they packed their belongings, only to have Calvin sent onward for a year's posting in Baghdad. Because of the dangers there, Ann wasn't allowed to accompany him, and found herself alone in Paris.

Like Julia Child, another diplomat's wife, Ann decided to spend her year learning about the history of French cuisine by taking a series of excursions around France in search of famous regional dishes. She devours crêpes in Brittany, boeuf bourguignon in Burgundy, fondue in Haute-Savoie, soupe au pistou in Provence.

Along the way, Mah learns how hard it is to live alone, perfects her French, starts to make friends and creates a solid career of her own (to escape the feeling that she's merely following Calvin around the world).

Mastering the Art of French Eating is chock-full of delicious recipes, luscious descriptions of the French countryside and fascinating glimpses into Ann's background and personal life. Her Chinese-American perspective on French culture makes for interesting insights, and her love of cooking and food shine through the pages of the book. Armchair travelers and foodies alike will enjoy Mastering the Art of French Eating. --Jessica Howard, blogger at Quirky Bookworm

Fifty years ago, Madame Ngo Dinh Nhu, National Assembly representative and sister-in-law of South Viet Nam's celibate President Ngo Dinh Diem, was a controversial figure who both fascinated and repelled the American press. Named Tran Le Xuan, or "Beautiful Spring" by her parents, she became known in the West as "the Dragon Lady," an alluring but treacherous femme fatale whose infamous "monk barbecue" statement following a Buddhist bonze's self-immolation triggered the U.S.'s deeper involvement in the Vietnam War and its eventual loss in April 1975.

After the U.S.-backed 1963 coup that killed Diem and her husband, Madame Nhu spent many years in obscurity, until 2005 when Monique Demery, a young scholar with an interest in Vietnam, decided to track her down. Demery's persistence helped her to locate the elusive Madame Nhu, who created elaborate cat-and-mouse schemes for their purported meetings but stood Demery up each time. They nevertheless formed a six-year friendship during which Demery succeeded in calling forth, via phone and e-mail conversations, poignant remembrances from Nhu, until the latter's death in April 2011. In Finding the Dragon Lady: The Mystery of Madame Nhu, Demery paints Nhu as thoughtful, passionate and perennially embattled: a plucky teen who chose the role of the evil stepmother "for its magnificent potential" in a school's ballet performance of Snow White; a young mother fiercely protective of her infant daughter during a Communist forced march; a reformer critical of gender inequality yet whose strident ways alienated her from the very women whom she wished to save. --Thuy Dinh, editor, Da Mau magazine

Jim Henson died at the age of 54 in May 1990, leaving a vast legacy of warm, joyful puppetry that influences the world to this day. Brian Jay Jones's Jim Henson: The Biography tells the story of Henson's life, starting with his upbringing in Greenville, Miss., his early career in children's television and his rise to fame.

Henson created the Muppets used on Sesame Street and Fraggle Rock. He spent years pitching The Muppet Show to American television networks, eventually heading to the United Kingdom to produce it. Using the show's international success in syndication as a springboard, The Muppet Movie hit theaters in 1979 to rave reviews and big box office. His later, more experimental films, like The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth, weren't as well received initially, but have become classics.

What is most telling throughout Jones's biography is how much Henson loved what he did. His family, his marriage and his company all took a back seat to his genuine enjoyment of the work involved in bringing puppets to life onscreen. Not one of the people Jones quotes has a bad word to say about Henson, noting his gentleness and charm throughout.

Jim Henson: The Biography feels comprehensive without bogging down; it will keep readers turning pages and enjoying every scene from Henson's life. --Rob LeFebvre, freelance writer and editor

Any bibliophile would rejoice upon discovering a copy of The Novel Cure. This delightfully unusual self-help book prescribes cures for common ailments including Breaking Up, Being a Coward, Internet Addiction, Not Taking Enough Risks, Being Seventysomething and Tonsillitis. But the briskly practical (and sometimes quite funny) advice from Ella Berthoud and Susan Elderkin is only a prelude to their "prescriptions" of novels to help the reader feel better about his or her dilemma.

For each recommendation, Berthoud and Elderkin share a brief synopsis of the novel in question,explaining why it relates to the ailment at hand. Some ailments, like Fear of Commitment, elicit only one suggestion (José Saramago's Blindness), while Not Enough Orgasms merits 16 recommendations, ranging from Flowers in the Attic to Fingersmith.

Vanity Fair is prescribed as a cure for Social Climbing, the audiobook version of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance to help with Road Rage. A very few ailments, such as Reading-Induced Loneliness, don't prompt specific novel recommendations, but rather suggestions for how to alter one's reading habits (read in company!).

Berthoud and Elderkin have created a book that can be savored in snippets or devoured in a sitting. Full of hundreds of great recommendations, The Novel Cure is a welcome answer to the perennial question: "What should I read next?" --Jessica Howard, blogger at Quirky Bookworm

Touted as the ideal suburb when it was built, Levittown, Pa., is today a depressed town, an unlikely destination for top Broadway producers. In the theater program at Harry S. Truman High School, though, generations of students have flourished under the tutelage of director Lou Volpe.

Over four decades, Volpe's productions have drawn such acclaim the school has become a regular testing ground for high school versions of such shows as Les Misérables, Rent and Spring Awakening. Sokolove (The Ticket Out) returns to his hometown to observe Volpe in action, chronicling the theater program's growth as he watches the students develop several challenging, powerful shows.

Sokolove mixes biography with memoir, journalism with social commentary, as he interviews Volpe and his students and attends dozens of rehearsals. Volpe expects total commitment from his students: the atmosphere of the theater program is one of kindness, professionalism and fanatical attention to detail. Offstage relationships among cast members, while sometimes complicated, are never allowed to interfere with a show.

The economic and social realities of life in Levittown are rarely far from Sokolove's mind. As a Levittown native who "got out," he understands how difficult it may be for these students to escape the confines of their hometown--and the potential of the theater program to open their eyes to a bigger world.

Clear-eyed, thoroughly researched and quietly joyful, Drama High is a testament to Lou Volpe's dedication and to the transformative power of his beloved stage. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams

Debut author Katie Cotugno's powerful love story effectively alternates "Before" and "After" chapters. She doesn't play her entire hand immediately, always managing to reveal new information that seamlessly ties into the story's crux when the time is right.

Reena Montero, now 19, had finally gotten used to life without Sawyer LeGrande, when he returns to their Florida hometown after a three-year disappearance. In his absence, Reena gave birth and raised their daughter, Hannah, and has rebounded with a new boyfriend, Aaron. But Sawyer's reappearance revives feelings Reena had buried and introduces confusion as to what's best for herself and her daughter. The "Before" chapters offer readers the chance to see why Reena fell in love with Sawyer, even when a tragedy threatens to divide them. Reena, who narrates, was preparing to graduate early to major in travel writing at Northwestern, neatly playing into the book's overarching themes of belonging. The wrenching "After" sequence follows Reena as she struggles to forgive the boy she once thought was so special and mature that he must've "already lived a thousand different lives." Cotugno crafts many touching moments between these young parents and their daughter.

Even with an unexpected pregnancy, the novel avoids preachy territory. Cortugno does not dismiss the struggles; instead, the once naïve Reena takes charge, grows up and makes mistakes. Readers will want more from this fresh new voice. --Adam Silvera, reviewer and children's bookseller