“Kissinger the Negotiator,” by James K. Sebenius, R. Nicholas Burns and Robert H. Mnookin, presents diplomacy as the art of influencing friends and adversaries.
Sophie Hannah, whose Hercule Poirot novel “The Mystery of Three Quarters” will be published this month, is addicted to self-help: “Write a book and call it something like ‘The Five Secrets of Badass Kickassery’ and I will buy it immediately.”
“A Girl Stands at the Door,” by the Rutgers historian Rachel Devlin, shows how the work of desegregation was done disproportionately by young black women.
Scott W. Stern’s “The Trials of Nina McCall” is the first book-length history of the “American Plan,” under which women suspected of having venereal disease were forcibly examined and imprisoned.
Eliza Griswold’s new book, “Amity and Prosperity,” is an impassioned account of the devastating effects of fracking on a community in southwestern Pennsylvania.
Mona Hanna-Attisha’s “What the Eyes Don’t See” traces her role in proving Flint had a crisis. Anna Clark’s “The Poisoned City” takes a broader, historical view. Both books are damning.
Hillary Chute talks about new graphic books that address serious issues, and Nicole Lamy discusses her Match Book column, in which she helps readers find books they’ll love.
In Paula Saunders’s debut novel, “The Distance Home,” a stuttering, ballet-loving boy and his younger sister struggle to find their place in the world.