AARP The Magazine and Publishers Weekly have teamed up to let you know about the latest fiction, nonfiction, and lifestyle/self-help of interest to you. Once you've checked out the selections below, visit Publishers Weekly's fiction and nonfiction pages for reviews, author Q&As, and more.
FICTION
The Autobiography of Fidel Castro
By Norberto Fuentes, trans. from the Spanish by Anna Kushner (Norton, $27.95)
Remember when that bearded guy took over Cuba and the well-wishing turned to fear of Russian missiles raining down on the East Coast? Well, you can relax now—and enjoy this intelligent, darkly humorous, faux autobiography of Fidel Castro, written by a former member of his inner circle.
Ticket to Ride
By Ed Gorman (Pegasus, $25)
It's the summer of 1965. In a small Iowa town, a protest march against the escalating war in Vietnam leads to murder. Gorman's eighth mystery to feature lawyer Sam McCain gets the period's pop culture just right. It also deftly captures the bafflement of good folk coming to realize you can't always trust the people in authority.
Union Atlantic
By Adam Haslett (Doubleday/Talese, $26)
What happens when a nouveau-riche banker clashes with a retired Boston schoolteacher? That's the premise of this fictional take on the financial crisis by debut novelist Haslett, who proves wise beyond his years—40—and prescient, too: he finished the book the day Lehman Brothers collapsed.
The Disappeared
By Kim Echlin (Black Cat, $14)
Despite her father's disapproval, 16-year-old Anne Greves falls in love with a Cambodian-refugee math instructor in 1970s Montreal. He leaves her, but 11 years later Anne travels to Phnom Penh to find him. This daringly imaginative novel also confronts the destruction of a nation unleashed by the Pol Pot regime.
True Confections
By Katharine Weber (Shaye Areheart, $22)
Weber effortlessly ranges from World War II to the present day in this lively story of a young woman who marries into a candy empire. Call it a delicious novel.
NONFICTION
The Language of Life: DNA and the Revolution in Personalized Medicine
By Francis Collins (Harper, $26.99)
A medical revolution is upon us, and NIH director Collins does a fabulous job of explaining its dimensions. "Personalized medicine" (care based on an individual's genetic makeup) can now be used to understand and treat diseases at the molecular level. Collins also recommends—guardedly—direct-to-consumer DNA testing.
True North: Journeys into the Great Northern Ocean
By Myron Arms (Upper Access, $16.95)
Veteran sailor Arms (Servants of the Fish) delivers a richly descriptive, almost poetic collection of essays about sailing up and down fiords from northern Labrador to western Greenland and among the fishing villages of the Faroe Isles. The sturdy crew of his trusty boat, Brendan's Isle, included his youngest son, Steve.
I Walked with Giants: The Autobiography of Jimmy Heath
By Jimmy Heath and Joseph McLaren. (Temple University Press, $35)
This bold account by Philly-born saxophonist Heath is a jazz milestone. In a career stretching from the Big Band era to today's contemporary sound, Heath struggled with drugs, shady club owners, and Jim Crow, but his influence lives on in the blue notes of Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Dexter Gordon.
Star: How Warren Beatty Seduced America
By Peter Biskind (Simon & Schuster, $30)
This refreshing biography looks at Beatty's dual, often dueling status as Tinseltown legend and lothario. (His little black book included Natalie Wood, Leslie Caron, Julie Christie, Diane Keaton, and current wife Annette Bening.) Despite a string of flops, Beatty helped shape some of New Hollywood's key films; Biskind explains how.
