It took over five years for Nathaniel Rich to finish his first novel — maybe because he was writing The Mayor's Tongue secretly, first as a college student, and then while writing film criticism during the day.

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A photographer and a comedy writer went through over 50,000 head shots and picked out those that "took our breath away." The book that resulted is a bizarre tutorial in the art of getting noticed, starring an actress who will only wear pink and other entertaining dreamers.

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Ann Leary's new book is about a woman whose husband (a TV star) may be cheating on her. In real life, Leary is the wife of comedian and actor Denis Leary. She says that while the main character bears a resemblance to her, the book is not entirely based on fact.

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To swipe the immortal lines uttered by Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon, a great mystery should take "the lid off life and let [you] look at the works." Maureen Corrigan's picks for the top five crime novels of the year do just that.

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Why do Asian kids outperform American kids in math? How did Bill Gates become a billionaire computer entrepreneur? Malcolm Gladwell takes on these questions and more in his book Outliers. He argues that the "self-made man" is a myth.

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Whoopi Goldberg in a milk bath? Meryl Streep in a white mime face? After training her lens on some of the most notable faces of our day, the photographer reveals the stories behind some of her famous portraits.

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In More Information Than You Require, the follow-up to the best-selling The Areas of My Expertise, John Hodgman offers another compilation of false facts and trivia.

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What if you could diagnose cancer just by smelling it? Dr. William Hanson explains the 'Diag-Nose' — an electronic nose that can do just that — plus other medical technologies that he says will change our lives.

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Awkward over hors d'oeuvres? A mess with martinis? Knowing what to say at a cocktail party can be overwhelming — but these three books will have you culturally informed in no time.

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In 2002, archaeologists claimed a box of ancient bones held the remains of Jesus' brother. Nina Burleigh discusses her book, Unholy Business: The True Tale of Faith, Greed and Forgery in the Holy Land, which explores how forgers create fake artifacts to "prove" Biblical stories to be true.

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For decades, Marian Wright Edelman has been a proud bullhorn on behalf of disadvantaged children. In a wide-ranging conversation with Farai Chideya, Edelman reveals whether she'd accept a post in an Obama administration and speaks about her new book, The Sea Is So Wide and My Boat Is So Small.

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Hedge fund manager James Altucher says that the way to make money with minimal stress is to invest in lasting demographic trends like identity theft, chocolate and women's legs. He discusses his new book, The Forever Portfolio, and offers his top 10 stock picks.

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