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African-American philosopher Cornel West's new book laments the decline of "prophetic" black leadership, lifting up examples of people who were willing to risk their lives in the service of the truth.

The Vacationers is a cinematic family drama set on the picturesque island of Mallorca. While the narrative arc verges on predictable, the book's screwball charms make for a pleasant diversion.

In his new book, The Woman Who Lost Her Soul, Bob Shacochis returns to Haiti, but also takes the reader across continents and generations. The 700-page book has been compared to the work of Joseph Conrad, Graham Greene and Norman Mailer.

Books about quantum mechanics can be pretty dry stuff. But when a novelist conjures up multiple worlds, the results can be spellbinding, even when it's no easy read. Such is the case with Duplex, the latest book from Kathryn Davis. Reviewer Rosecrans Baldwin, says this one's worth the effort.

NPR commentators favor Jennifer Close's look at women facing marriage and Amanda Hodgkinson's post-World War II family drama. There are also memoirs by actor Christopher Plummer and nuclear watchdog Mohamed ElBaradei, plus Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams re-evaluate universities for the digital age.

Miranda July's new novel The First Bad Man defies neat summaries; reviewer Annalisa Quinn calls July "a master of the intimate weirdnesses of human thought," who treats dusty mental corners with care.

Samantha Shannon's richly detailed follow-up to The Bone Season picks up with clairvoyant heroine Paige on the run after leading a revolt against the alien oppressors of her far-future England.

Elizabeth Bear's new novel makes thoughtful use of steampunk elements in a lively tale of brothel inhabitants defending their house against a rival — and in the process uncovering a political plot.

An enormous cargo ship is stuck in the Suez Canal in Egypt, blocking one of the world's key shipping routes.

English rose from humble beginnings to become a language that's spoken by people from every corner of the Earth. In Globish, Robert McCrum tells the story of how a mongrel language slowly took the world by storm.