Literature

On this week’s Shelf Discovery, Kristin enrolls in a school for the criminally gifted with Jeffrey Salane’s Lawless.

Title: Lawless

Author: Jeffrey Salane

Pages: 336  

Publisher: Scholastic Press

ISBN: 978-0545450294

And read Kristin’s full review on NightsAndWeekends.com.

As the U.S. economy struggles to recover from the financial crash, and Europe is buffeted by a series of banking crises, attention has focused on the presidents and prime ministers who've tried to cope with it all. Journalist Neil Irwin, an economics writer for The Washington Post, says there's an elite group of policymakers who can make enormously important decisions on their own, often deliberating in secret, and in many ways unaccountable to voters.

As a Mormon missionary, Ryan McIlvain spent two years ringing strangers' doorbells, even as he experienced doubts about his own faith. McIlvain left the church in his mid-20s. His debut novel, Elders, is based on the experiences he had trying to convert people to join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "Elder" is the term used for a young Mormon on his mission.

Tina Brown, editor of the Daily Beast and Newsweek, joins NPR's Steve Inskeep again for an occasional feature Morning Edition likes to call Word of Mouth. She talks about what she's been reading and offers recommendations.

This month, as Brown prepares for her annual Women in the World Summit in New York City, her reading suggestions address just that: the role of women in the developing world.

Malala And The Media

On this week’s Shelf Discovery, Kristin tries out a new identity with Allie Larkin’s Why Can’t I Be You.

Title: Why Can’t I Be You

Author: Allie Larkin

Pages: 304

Publisher: Plume

ISBN: 978-0452298378

And read Kristin’s full review on NightsAndWeekends.com.

On this week’s Shelf Discovery, Kristin reunites with a troubled secret agent in Black Sheep by C. J. Lyons.

Title: Black Sheep

Author: C. J. Lyons

Pages: 341

Publisher: St. Martin’s Paperbacks

ISBN: 978-1250015341

And read Kristin’s full review on NightsAndWeekends.com.

Nicole J. Georges' latest book is Calling Dr. Laura.

My mother picked me up from school in early April 1994. I was barely a teenager, lips stretched over braces as I focused my attention on the radio dial, seeking an alternative station when my mom delivered some news: "Oh, your buddy died."

"Who is 'my buddy?' "

"Uhhh ... whatshisname ... the screaming, you know, the blonde. ..."

She was talking about Kurt Cobain.

The daily lowdown on books, publishing, and the occasional author behaving badly.

On this week’s Shelf Discovery, Kristin indulges in Jessica Beck’s latest Donut Shop Mystery, Illegally Iced.

Title: Illegally Iced

Author: Jessica Beck

Pages: 277

Publisher: Minotaur Books

ISBN: 978-1250001078

And read Kristin's full review on NightsAndWeekends.com.