nonfiction

We asked some of our trusted critics which upcoming books they are most looking forward to. Here are the fiction and nonfiction titles they picked.

New books out this week look at everything from pressing political concerns — Original Sin — to perspective-altering riddles about life itself, like in Is A River Alive? and The Book of Records.

A host of beloved authors have new books hitting shelves this week, including a memoir by humorist Barry, a Mark Twain bio by Chernow and essays by Richard Russo.

My Name Is Emilia Del Valle is the newest novel from the prodigious Chilean expat, now in her 80s. Plus, a personal history of the orange, a Josephine Baker history and having kids in the digital age.

The second volume in Pulitzer-winning historian Rick Atkinson's planned trilogy on the American Revolution publishes Tuesday. Plus a graphic memoir, short fiction, and "the secret life" of a cemetery.

The Secret Life of a Cemetery is a paean to the renowned Parisian cemetery, Père Lachaise. There, 10,000 visitors a day seek the graves of some 4,500 notable figures.

A true smorgasbord is on offer for readers this week. Care for an inspirational memoir? Reminders of the precarious position of civilization? Early summer read? They're all here.

Didion's book is an intimate chronicle of the author's struggle to help her daughter, even if it meant digging into her own long-unexamined neuroses.