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In The Violinist's Thumb, writer Sam Kean goes inside our genetic code, looking at the stories written by the fundamental building blocks within us. The book explains things like why some people can't handle drinking coffee and why some human babies are born with tails.

In his new memoir, David McGlynn describes how his teenage years were disrupted by violence. McGlynn was a swimmer who turned to evangelical Christianity in college. A Door in the Ocean is a compelling coming-of-age story marked by random tragedy and biblical tracts, church coffee and chlorine.

The musician describes his life in the '80s as a "drug-fueled haze," but he says he turned it all around after meeting Ryan White, a teenager who contracted AIDS through a blood transfusion. In Love Is the Cure, John recounts his journey from substance abuse to AIDS advocacy.

NPR's Linda Wertheimer walks the halls of power — and the local cafes — with crime novelist Mike Lawson, whose Joe DeMarco books serve up murder and mayhem in the nation's capital.

Writer Geoff Johns and artist Gary Frank revisit and revise the origin of DC Comics' Caped Crusader, freed from the chains of comics continuity, in Batman: Earth One. NPR critic Glen Weldon says their take features some electrifying moments for fans.

For author Bruce DeSilva, Providence, R.I.'s storied history of mob violence and small-town sense of intimacy make it the perfect place to set his crime fiction. The only trouble, he says, is toning down the truth just enough to make it believable.

You might know them best in pet form, but the tiny little seeds have moved beyond their terra cotta figurines to become an increasingly popular health food. Wayne Coates writes about the benefits of chia seed in Chia: The Complete Guide to the Ultimate Superfood.

India expelled a senior Canadian diplomat a day after Canada expelled a top Indian diplomat over allegations that India may have had links to the assassination of a Sikh activist on Canadian soil.

Charles Yu's collection Sorry Please Thank You embraces the tradition of experimental fiction that dates back to Gertrude Stein, playfully spinning fictions with a speculative edge. NPR critic Alan Cheuse says he's the best "story-bending talent" since George Saunders.

Smartphones and tablets just need a flick of a finger to keep us updated about news and friends anytime, anywhere. As much as we're connected, though, we're also detached. That's a big theme in a new book of short stories by author Charles Yu.