Selina Hastings’s biography sees the origins of Somerset Maugham’s habit of cruelty in his cruel childhood.

Wendy Moffat’s perceptive biography does not make E. M. Forster’s sexuality explain everything, though of course it explains a great deal.

Lily King’s novel delves into the relationship between a charismatic but troubled man and his devoted daughter.

Two books on how yoga was packaged and promoted in different ways in America, depending on the audience and the era.

Howard Norman’s crisp epistolary novel explores the illogic of love and the violent chaos left in its wake.

The disorderly threesome in this novel are marginalized and angry, but for good reason.

Amid clear echoes of “Sense and Sensibility,” two sisters of emotionally opposite persuasions navigate a world on the brink of 9/11 in Allegra Goodman’s new novel.

Jack Rakove argues that the struggle for American independence molded the founders as much as they molded it.

Two redemption-rock chronicles, one earnest, one jocular.

A history of the aftermath of World War I, when Britain strove to suppress its grief with willed gaiety.

Why it feels so good to be right, and what happens to us when our wrongness is exposed.

A patient, fair-minded exploration of the human ideals, hatreds and delusions that were on display in the Dreyfus Affair, “the most famous cause célèbre in French history.”

A collection of letters between George F. Kennan and the historian John Lukacs sheds light on the intellectual underpinnings of Kennan’s notion of “containing” the Soviets.

This biography of an influential Russian clan encompasses the Soviet secret police and Sigmund Freud’s inner circle.

Letter in response to Ben Downing’s review of Daisy Hay’s “Young Romantics.”

Letters in response to Armond White’s review of Nicole LaPorte’s “Men Who Would Be King”

Letter in response to Dana Jennings’s review of Katherine Rosman’s “If You Knew Suzy.”

Letter in response to Andrew Cayton’s review of “At the Edge of the Precipice” and “Henry Clay.”

Top 5 at a Glance
1. THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET’S NEST, by Stieg Larsson
2. FLY AWAY HOME, by Jennifer Weiner
3. THE SEARCH, by Nora Roberts
4. THE HELP, by Kathryn Stockett
5. PRIVATE, by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

Top 5 at a Glance
1. THE OBAMA DIARIES, by Laura Ingraham
2. ---- MY DAD SAYS, by Justin Halpern
3. MEDIUM RAW, by Anthony Bourdain
4. THE BIG SHORT, by Michael Lewis
5. WAR, by Sebastian Junger

Top 5 at a Glance
1. THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, by Stieg Larsson
2. THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE, by Stieg Larsson
3. LITTLE BEE, by Chris Cleave
4. UNDER THE DOME, by Stephen King
5. ONE DAY, by David Nicholls

Top 5 at a Glance
1. THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, by Stieg Larsson
2. THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE, by Stieg Larsson
3. NINE DRAGONS, by Michael Connelly
4. THE LUCKY ONE, by Nicholas Sparks
5. CHARLIE ST. CLOUD, by Ben Sherwood

Top 5 at a Glance
1. EAT, PRAY, LOVE, by Elizabeth Gilbert
2. THREE CUPS OF TEA, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
3. ARE YOU THERE, VODKA? IT'S ME, CHELSEA, by Chelsea Handler
4. MY HORIZONTAL LIFE, by Chelsea Handler
5. THE GLASS CASTLE, by Jeannette Walls

Top 5 at a Glance
1. WOMEN FOOD AND GOD, by Geneen Roth
2. DELIVERING HAPPINESS, by Tony Hsieh
3. THE LAST LECTURE, by Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow
4. THE SECRET, by Rhonda Byrne
5. THE 4-HOUR WORKWEEK, by Timothy Ferriss

Top 5 at a Glance
1. WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU’RE EXPECTING, by Heidi Murkoff and Sharon Mazel
2. THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE, by Mark Cotta Vaz
3. THE FIVE LOVE LANGUAGES, by Gary Chapman
4. THE BELLY FAT CURE, by Jorge Cruise
5. SKINNY BITCH, by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin

Top 5 at a Glance
1. LEGO STAR WARS, by Simon Beecroft
2. STAR WARS, written and illustrated by Rufus Butler Seder
3. OOH LA LA! IT’S BEAUTY DAY, by Jane O’Connor
4. LADYBUG GIRL AT THE BEACH, by David Soman and Jacky Davis
5. THE VERY FAIRY PRINCESS, by Julie Andrews and Emma Walton Hamilton

Top 5 at a Glance
1. BLACKEST NIGHT, by Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis
2. BLACKEST NIGHT: GREEN LANTERN, by Geoff Johns and Doug Mahnke
3. BLACKEST NIGHT: GREEN LANTERN CORPS, by Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason
4. TWILIGHT: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL, VOL. 1, by Stephenie Meyer and Young C. Kim
5. KICK-ASS, by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.

Long before Elizabeth Gilbert, Somerset Maugham turned the ashram experience into a monster best seller, “The Razor’s Edge.”

Featuring Allegra Goodman on her novel “The Cookbook Collector”; and Stefanie Syman on her history of yoga in America, “The Subtle Body.”

Miranda Seymour is deep into the research for her next book, a social study of the friendship and the royal and cultural links between England and Germany before World War I.

What is Laura Ingraham’s “Obama Diaries,” based on a stash of made-up White House memos, doing on the nonfiction list?

Recently reviewed books of particular interest.

Paperback books of particular interest.

Complete contents of the Book Review since 1997.