We Are Water

Wally Lamb (Get this book)
A searching novel of contemporary manners--and long-buried secrets--by seasoned storyteller Lamb. Lamb's latest opens almost as a police procedural, its point of view that of one Gualtiero Agnello (hint: agnello means "lamb" in Italian), rife with racial and sexual overtones. Fast-forward five decades, and it's a different world, the POV now taken by an artist named Annie Oh, sharp-eyed and smart, who is attending to details of her upcoming nuptials to her partner and agent, Viveca, who has chosen a wedding dress with a name, Gaia. We all know that life is tangled and messy. Still, in reminding readers of this fact, Lamb turns in a satisfyingly grown-up story, elegantly written.--Kirkus

David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants

Malcolm Gladwell (Get this book)
A far- and free-ranging meditation on the age-old struggle between underdogs and top dogs. Beginning with the legendary matchup between the Philistine giant and the scrawny shepherd boy of the title, New Yorker scribe Gladwell returns continually to his main theme: that there are unsung advantages to being disadvantaged and overlooked disadvantages to being "advantaged." In addition to the top-notch writing one expects from a New Yorker regular, Gladwell rewards readers with moving stories, surprising insights and consistently provocative ideas.--Kirkus

The October List

Jeffery Deaver (Get this book)
Thriller Award winner Deaver delivers a clever, demanding stand-alone that moves backward in time over the span of a three-day weekend, from Sunday evening to early Friday morning. As the ingenious plot folds back on itself, the reader has to reevaluate and reinterpret the constantly shifting "facts" in the case. The finished picture finally emerges with a shock of recognition. This is brilliant craftsmanship in a vastly entertaining package.--Pubulisher's Weekly

Running Like a Girl: Notes on Learning to Run

Alexandra Heminsley (Get this book)
With humor and honesty, Elle UK books editor Heminsley details the anxiety and exhilaration she felt when she decided to try running in her mid-30s. Like most children, the author had enjoyed running around and playing, but over the years, she writes, she had forgotten she could run: "Somehow I had lost sight of the fact that not being a runner and being unable to run were not one and the same." For anyone contemplating running, Heminsley provides valuable insight into the mechanics and emotions inherent in the sport. The author also includes information regarding proper gear, physical ailments and preparing for a marathon. Useful insights into how to run and why one woman does so for sport and for its life-enhancing effects.--Kirkus

The Universe in the Rearview Mirror: How Hidden Symmetries Shape Reality

Dave Goldberg (Get this book)
A Drexel University physics professor offers readers an informative, math-free, and completely entertaining look at the concept of symmetry in physics. Goldberg begins by explaining that for something to be considered symmetrical, it must look the same after undergoing a transformation whether being flipped over, spun around, or reflected in a mirror. Intriguing asides cover topics like the veracity of Star Trek (it "could totally happen"), how black holes shrink the more matter they consume, and why you should never teleport a teaspoon of material from a neutron star into the cargo hold of your starship. Seasoning his expose with pop culture references that range from Doctor Who to Lewis Carroll to Angry Birds, Goldberg succeeds in making complex topics clear with a winning style--Publisher's Weekly

Blowback (Vanessa Pierson Novel)

Valerie Plame (Get this book)
Having told her real-life story in the memoir Fair Game (2007), former CIA agent Plame teams with Sarah Lovett to relate the adventures of undercover CIA operative Vanessa Pierson. Pierson is obsessed with tracking down the world's most dangerous terrorist, Bhoot, who is said to be stockpiling weapons of mass destruction in Iran. There are plenty of action scenes for Vanessa to fling herself into and, in this first installment in the series, a decently drawn, if not yet scare-inducing, villain. Making her spy fiction debut, Plame, with the seasoned Lovett's help, delivers a solid, entertaining thriller--Kirkus

Thank You for Your Service

David Finkel (Get this book)
Washington Post writer Finkel delivers one of the most morally responsible works of journalism to emerge from the post-9/11 era. In a series of interconnected stories, Finkel follows a handful of soldiers and their spouses through the painful, sometimes-fatal process of reintegration into American society. The author gives a cleareyed, frightening portrayal of precisely what it is like to suffer with post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury and what it is like to have the specter of suicide whispering into your ear every day. The truly astonishing aspect of Finkel's work is that he remains completely absent from his reportage; he is still embedded. A real war story with a jarring but critical message for the American people.--Kirkus

Mortal Bonds

Michael Sears (Get this book)
Jason Stafford, on probation after imprisonment for fraud, certainly has the necessary skills to be a financial fraud consultant. When William von Becker is convicted of a huge Ponzi scheme and commits suicide, his son hires Stafford to find several billion dollars unaccounted for. A touching, tense, and terrific thriller.--Library Journal

The open-hearted way to open adoption : helping your child grow up whole

Lori Holden (Get this book)
Holden's debut is an insightful, heartfelt exploration of open adoption, an evolving arrangement that has been growing in popularity over the last 20 years. Her endorsement is personal; she has two children from open adoptions and maintains that openness helps heal adoption's split between a person's "biology" and "biography." She references open adoption as a "process" that encourages high-functioning relationships between birth parents, extended family members, and adopted parents. Holden skillfully covers many bases, including potential "bumps in the road," offering appendices and resources for further guidance.--Publisher's Weekly