Too-smart-for-his-own-good Jay Davidovich is the centerpiece of Hillary Bell Locke’s new novel Jail Coach. Davidovich is a veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and a loss prevention specialist whose job is to protect company

 After reading Mamoulian: Life on Stage and Screen (University Press of Kentucky), David Luhrssen's comprehensive, illuminating biography of the pioneering director, I'm tempted to call its subject “the Kevin Bacon

 A school shooting sends sullen 15-year-old Linnea off to live with her estranged father in Jean Thompson’s new book The Humanity Project. Meanwhile, across town, Sean and his teenage son Conner face eviction in part due to Sean’s

 In The Third Coast: When Chicago Built the American Dream, Chicago native Thomas Dyja transports readers to a time in the Windy City’s recent past when artists and innovators flourished. Focusing on the years between

 Humor and religion may not seem synonymous, especially these days, but theologian Daniel Maguire merges the two in his funny and contemplative new book A Merry Memoir of Sex, Death, and Religion. This enlightening memoir

 A good sleuth is hard to come by, and intelligent and unpredictable Aimée Leduc prides herself on being one of the best. This Parisian private investigator returns to star in author Cara Black’s new noir mystery Murder Below

 In post-Katrina New Orleans, the battle to educate children has been anything but easy. Author Sarah Carr’s new book, Hope Against Hope: Three Schools, One City, and the Struggle to Educate America’s Children, follows

A broad history comes to life in Europe and the Islamic World: A History, written by three distinguished scholars: John Tolan, Gilles Veinstein and Henry Laurens. This captivating and groundbreaking work sheds light on the shared roots of Islamic and European cultures as it recounts wars

 Garage rock first gained popularity in the U.S. in the 1960s and today garage bands continue to find their way into the mainstream of rock ‘n’ roll. Perfect for both fans of rock and students of history, Peter Roller’s new book Milwaukee Garage Bands: Generations of Grassroots Rock follows

 It is called “the slowing”—the sudden and inexplicable change in the rotation of the earth that makes the days and nights grow longer and longer. Widespread panic ensues in The Age of Miracles, the debut novel by Karen Thompson Walker, as humanity struggles to understand what is