Webster County Library

In far-flung regions, two girls’ dreams are impeded by family obligations.    

There’s never a dull moment for the explorers in these picture books.    

The plain heroine of Paul Rudnick’s novel is transformed.    

Brandon Sanderson’s hero longs to join a magical cadre.    

A primer on the Federalist Society and its extraordinary influence.    

Jill McCorkle returns to the fictional Fulton, N.C., in her sixth novel.    

In Jennifer Haigh’s linked stories, restlessness and regret loom over a Pennsylvania coal-mining town for generations.    

A diary washes ashore, linking a teenager in Japan and an author in Canada in Ruth Ozeki’s latest novel.    

A collection of short stories by the Russian writer Nikolai Leskov, a contemporary of Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy.    

Albert Camus’s writing on Algeria reveals both hope and dread.    

Arnon Grunberg’s hero wants to throw his daughter the best party ever.    

Mark Mazzetti argues that the C.I.A. gave up its traditional functions as it embraced manhunting.    

Plus, Mother's Day reads and literary tattoos.

Jodi Picoult, Jennifer Weiner and others share the best book they ever got for Mother's Day.

Plus, Dexter's Michael C. Hall is adapting a book into a series for Showtime.

The 71-year-old has a new book, 'The Shared Wisdom of Mothers and Daughters.'

The world's strongest librarian gives his recommendations.

Josh Hanagarne's memoir traces the librarian's battle with Tourette's Syndrome.

Richard Blais and Fabio Viviani both have new cookbooks out.

The author of “Waiting to Be Heard” says that reading Marilynne Robinson’s “Housekeeping” in prison helped, because it explores themes of loneliness and alienation.