NONFICTION
In a Different Key: The Story of Autism by Caren Zucker and John Donvan (Broadway, $18)
In 1938, Dr. Leo Kanner, a preeminent child psychiatrist, examined a boy named Donald Triplett. Donald was detached emotionally and didn't show signs of self-sufficiency or ability to recognize danger. It would be four years after first seeing Donald before Dr. Kanner coined a term for this collection of irregular behaviors; at that point Donald Triplett became the first person ever diagnosed with autism.
The Firebrand and the First Lady by Patricia Bell-Scott (Vintage, $17)
This is the first book written about the friendship between the brilliant African American activist, writer, lawyer and priest Pauli Murray and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. Through sharing their perspectives on subjects including integration, labor, war, legal cases and political campaigns, they expanded their worldviews and fueled their passions for revolutionary social change.
In Other Words by Jhumpa Lahiri (Vintage, $16)
In works like her Pulitzer Prize-winning story collection, Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri has distinguished herself as much for her exquisite prose as for her storytelling skill. Her fascination with the beauty of language now has produced In Other Words, an equally affecting account, written in Italian, of her effort to master that language.
Native: Dispatches from an Israeli-Palestinian Life by Sayed Kashua (Grove, $16)
Arab Israeli writer Sayed Kashua comments on life, culture and politics in a collection of essays written for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz between 2006 and 2014. Kashua's work is a rare window into the effects of Israel's political climate on the lives of its residents.
Master of Ceremonies by Joel Grey (Flatiron, $16.99)
Tony and Academy Award-winning actor Joel Grey was 82 when he made international headlines in 2015 by announcing he was gay. A year later, his memoir Master of Ceremonies takes readers on a compelling and painfully candid journey through the highs and lows of his career and personal life. What makes Grey's journey of self-discovery so ceaselessly fascinating is his willingness to delve into his contradictions.
And Then All Hell Broke Loose: Two Decades in the Middle Eastby Richard Engel (Simon & Schuster, $16)
When it became clear that the U.S. would invade Iraq in 2003, journalist Richard Engel strapped $20,000 to his leg and drove into Baghdad with a fraudulent visa and no concrete employment contract. He rode out the invasion in one piece as an ABC correspondent, but the following catastrophic years of the insurgency nearly killed him more than once.
FICTION
The Travelers by Chris Pavone (Broadway, $16)
In this sharp, fun thriller, a travel writer learns his magazine isn't what he thought when he's pressed into espionage service. Making subtle commentary in the midst of a beautifully executed plot and without sacrificing pace, Chris Pavone constantly misdirects readers' suspicions until the bloody, adrenaline-soaked conclusion.
The Widow by Fiona Barton (Berkley, $16)
Jean Taylor has just lost her husband to a terrible bus accident. Reporters want to hear her story, but Jean knows she cannot tell them the truth. To her surprise, the police claim that Glen has been downloading child pornography in their home--and they believe he's responsible for the disappearance of two-year-old Bella Elliott, though they can't quite prove it. Yet.
Ways to Disappear by Idra Novey (Back Bay, $15.99)
When a famous Brazilian novelist goes missing, everyone close to her is wrapped up in the mystery. Novey writes with tremendous insight and a wistful appreciation for the elusive nature of language. But that is not to say that the novel is dry and academic--quite the opposite! With lean, incisive prose, Novey delivers a bright, unpredictable mystery that is both playful and vulnerable.
The Forgetting Time by Sharon Guskin (Flatiron, $14.99)
In The Forgetting Time, first-time novelist Sharon Guskin looks at choices, regret and second chances in the powerful story of a little boy who remembers life as someone else and the adults who struggle to help him find peace. Whether or not the reader believes in life after death, Guskin offers an intimate and suspenseful portrait of a family in crisis.
Ginny Gall by Charlie Smith (Harper Perennial, $15.99)
An African American teenager faces brutal racism in the Depression-era South when he's accused of raping white women. "We all been scared. We been scared to death over here for the last three hundred years. All day every day," Delvin Walker thinks. Novelist and poet Charlie Smith finds inspiration in the Scottsboro Boys cases as he depicts the volatile struggles of Southern blacks during the Depression.
Now in Paperback: February