T.C. Boyle (The Women) is a dynamic writer with an expansive vocabulary. He chooses controversial topics and then weaves chatty novels around them; his characters are modern and the language in his writing feels instantly familiar. When the Killing's Done is no exception: the topic is how humans interact with the environment, and while the scenarios feel a bit stale, they do represent both sides of this divisive issue. Read review.

_{Photo: Viking}

I'm a big fan of the Radiolab podcast and and avid reader, so the Radiolab Virtual Bookshelf, a list of all the books that have been mentioned in the podcast's one-hour episodes, was a great find. Radiolab is largely a pop-sci show, and this list highlights some great reading - some of which I've delved into, but most of which will be new discovery for me. Check it out.

_{Photo: (Swamibu/flickr)}

Sarah Vowell (The Partly Cloudy Patriot, The Wordy Shipmates) is credited with creating her own category of writer: "funny historian." And the fact that another bestselling writer and humorist - David Sedaris - is the one who gives Vowell this credit should be reason enough for readers to give Unfamiliar Fishes, Vowell's new history, a look. But there are many other good reasons, too. Read review.

_{Photo: Riverhead Books}

Chris Adrian's The Great Night fuses the heavy weight of the mortal coil with the mischiefs of the faerie kingdom when three individuals crossing San Francisco's Buena Vista Park en route to a party find their world intermingled with that of Titania, Oberon and Puck, fairies from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Read review.

_{Farrar, Straus & Giroux}