Los Angeles Times: Books

Richard Misrach's photographs of post-Katrina New Orleans detail the frustrations and resolve of a surviving city.For blocks and blocks they appeared — grids, circles, numerals: In post-Katrina New Orleans, those symbols became indelible shorthand, modern hieroglyphics set down in fluorescent paint, runny marker, even chalk embroidered on the sides of what was left of the city's built-architecture — duplexes, shotgun shacks, colonials done in miniature.

Paretsky's private detective again steps into a hornet's nest as she takes on a new case involving a troubled Iraq war vet, performance art and murder.I've been following Sara Paretsky's private investigator, V.I.

A woman's superhuman talents are sought by a Pythagorean secret society in its deadly quest for a Mozart manuscript.A woman's superhuman talents are sought by a Pythagorean secret society in its deadly quest for a Mozart manuscript.

The author of 'The Book of Salt' follows a North Carolina girl with an unusual auditory disorder through adolescence into adulthood.In "The Writing Life," Annie Dillard advises would-be writers to find their bone, the thing that drives them to write, and to work as closely to that bone as possible.

The author examines the ties between public policies and the troubled economy, and offers some solutions.The author examines the ties between public policies and the troubled economy, and offers some solutions.

Powerful agent Andrew Wylie's plan to sell the e-book backlist of some of his best-known authors -- among them John Updike, Ralph Ellison and Philip Roth -- has come mostly undone.

Charles Yu's 'How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe' offers a vision of time travel that's engaging and unexpectedly spiritual.Charles Yu's 'How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe' offers a vision of time travel that's engaging and unexpectedly spiritual.

In a cleverly subtle A-Z style, Michael Largo reveals some of the puzzling beliefs and excesses of religions, cults and spiritual movements.In a cleverly subtle A-Z style, Michael Largo reveals some of the puzzling beliefs and excesses of religions, cults and spiritual movements.

The iconic protagonist Arkady Renko is back, this time investigating the death of a young woman and the insidious underbelly she represents.The iconic protagonist Arkady Renko is back, this time investigating the death of a young woman and the insidious underbelly she represents.

In 'No Place Like Home: A Memoir in 39 Apartments,' Brooke Berman charts her itinerant lifestyle.