Books

Carrie Vaughn — known for her Kitty Norville urban fantasies — ventures offworld with Martians Abroad, a high-school adventure that pays fun, thoughtful homage to Robert Heinlein's "juveniles."

In her book, How to Be Bored, Eva Hoffman says we should embrace those moments when we'd otherwise be looking for stimulation. Her book is part of a self-help series called The School Of Life.

The characters in Ottessa Moshfegh's new collection are cold, unfiltered, frequently pathetic — all suffering from unease and nameless longing, made understandable by each perfectly-built story.

Rachel Cusk's latest — the second in a trilogy that began with Outline — follows a writer unmoored by the breakup of her marriage, and the people she meets as she goes about her strange new life.

In a new collection, 16 essayists describe how Michelle Obama helped change the perception of black women and the White House.