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Set in the Rocky Mountains after an epidemic has killed off most of society, The Dog Stars, by adventure writer Peter Heller, casts an unusual mood as it alternates between elegiac reflection, lyrical nature writing and intense, high-caliber action. The Dog Stars will be published on Aug. 7.

Ernest Hemingway famously told The Paris Review that he'd rewritten the ending to A Farewell to Arms 39 times before he was satisfied. Those endings — and more — are being published in a new addition to the classic novel. But the writer's grandson, Sean, says Hemingway always knew the book would end sadly.

Darkly funny, suspenseful and cunningly plotted, Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl will be published June 5. In this exclusive selection from the book's opening, we meet Nick and Amy, the seemingly perfect couple whose alternating chapters soon reveal them to be unreliable narrators — and spouses.

Jasper Fforde is known to older readers for his Thursday Next literary fantasies. His first young adult novel follows 15-year-old foundling Jennifer Strange, who runs a wizard management agency in a world that's rapidly losing magic — but business is about to pick up.

Michael Chabon's new novel, set on the border between Berkeley and Oakland, Calif., takes stylistic cues from jazz, soul and funk music. It's formally playful, and even when it misses the mark, it's still satisfying to watch Chabon work, says NPR critic Glen Weldon.

How much do the people who've made it owe to the people who've been left behind? That question is at the heart of Zadie Smith's new novel NW, a nuanced and disturbing look at class issues in a working-class northwest London neighborhood.

In his new book, The Philosophy of Hebrew Scripture, scholar Yoram Hazony makes the case that the ancient texts are a work of philosophy in narrative form. The scriptures are a cautionary tale — an epic that advocates wariness of great imperial powers and individualism in the face of authority.

When she was a teen, Lois Lowry had seen the "dirty" books her classmates passed around on the playground. But A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was different. It was gritty, raw and utterly fascinating.

Jeffrey Toobin's new book, The Oath, explores how President Obama and Chief Justice John Roberts are at odds over constitutional law. Toobin tells Fresh Air that while Obama likes precedent when it comes to the Supreme Court, Roberts "wants to move the court in a dramatically new direction."

Thor Hanson's new book looks at the evolutionary significance of feathers in birds. Hanson tells Fresh Air that he's amazed by birds' magnitude of feathers, how feathers grow and how they're the "most efficient insulation known."