Topic: Yvonne Zipp

Alexander McCall Smith: the incredible productivity of a writer

Alexander McCall Smith has four books coming out in 2010 – the equivalent of "War and Peace" and then some.

The Cookbook Collector

Allegra Goodman’s digital-age romance mixes a traditional story line with some intellectual oomph.

One Hundred Years Later, Twain finally speaks his piece

Scout, Atticus & Boo

A 50th-anniversary celebration of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ – America’s ‘national novel.’

Faith, Interrupted

A writer dedicates a memoir to his lost religious faith – and the father who inspired it.

Children's books: reviews of "Wishing for Tomorrow," "A Conspiracy of Kings," and "The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place"

Three terrific books for middle-grade readers.

Classic review: Suite Française

Two novellas deliver a sharp, ironic view of the Nazi occupation of France - written as it was taking place.

The Double Comfort Safari Club

Bush tea and empathy flow in the new ‘No. 1 Ladies’ Detective agency’ novel.

Jenniemae & James

Brooke Newman’s memoir honors the numbers-savvy maid who delighted Newman’s mathematically brilliant father even as she saved Newman’s childhood.

The Surrendered

Chang-Rae Lee toggles between Korea, New York, and Italy in this epic novel of grief and survival.

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand

Jane Austen meets Alexander McCall Smith in this charming debut novel.

Louis Auchincloss: "Last of the Old Guard"

Prolific writer and close class observer Louis Auchincloss dies at the age of 92.

Monitor reviews of National Book Award nominees

That Old Cape Magic

Wry humor and middle-aged meditation give flavor to Richard Russo’s novel about two beach-side weddings.

Let the Great World Spin

Colum McCann’s evocative new novel imagines how it felt to watch Philippe Petit from below.

Losing Mum and Pup

Christopher Buckley’s affectionate portrait of his larger-than-life parents.

Censoring an Iranian Love Story

More than a love story, this novel serves as a meditation on culture, modern Iran, and the power of what is left out.

Today's coverage agenda: car dealers, Pelosi, Obamas, nukes, Netanyahu

Admission

An Ivy League admissions officer worries about her school’s eager applicants, even as she struggles with a past secret of her own.

Everything Asian

Linked stories follow a Korean family uncomfortably trying to assimilate as they run a gift shop in a New Jersey mall in the 1980s.

'Olive Kitteridge' takes 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction

The Song Is You

The writing is lovely but the romance feels creepy in Arthur Phillip’s latest novel.

Obama speeds past his stimulus critics

Classic review: Ireland

A history of Ireland by the people who know it best - the storytellers.

From the Monitor archives: "Q and A" by Vikas Swarup

The brisk, breezy novel that inspired the movie "Slum Dog Millionaire."