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Emma Straub's novel, Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures, centers on small-town girl Elsa Emerson's transition into movie star Laura Lamont. Straub says her main character came to her while she was reading an obituary of real-life actress Jennifer Jones. "I was just struck by her life," Straub says.

Frances Ashcroft's new book details how electricity in the body fuels everything we think, feel or do. She tells Fresh Air about discovering a new protein, how scientists are like novelists and how she wanted to be a farmer's wife.

Graphic novelist Chris Ware's latest, Building Stories, is a collection in many formats, following the (mostly) sad and lonely lives of the inhabitants of a Chicago brownstone. But reviewer Glen Weldon says the work is colorful, intricate and ultimately beautiful.

The debut novel of Robin Sloan, a former Twitter and Current TV employee, tells the thoughtful, magical story of Clay, a worker in a mysterious literary emporium. Aside from the occasional groaner insight, the buoyant narrative demonstrates Sloan's gift of charismatic prose.

Susan Isaacs' latest novel revolves around Gloria Garrison, a 79-year-old CEO with a multimillion-dollar makeover business. Isaacs says her female characters don't need to be likable, but they should "fight for something beyond themselves."

In his new book, Doug Saunders says there are those who believe immigration and high birth rates will make Muslims a majority in Europe in coming decades — and their hostility to Western values makes them a threat. Saunders tells Fresh Air that such fears are based on inaccurate assertions of fact.

When aspiring Broadway actress Catherine and World War II vet Harry first lock eyes on the Staten Island Ferry, everything changes — but their lives together won't be easy. Mark Helprin delivers an old-fashioned love story, and an ode to 1940s New York, in his novel In Sunlight and in Shadow.

Author Shani Boianjiu's debut novel draws on her own military experience to tell the story of three young women in the Israel Defense Forces. Reviewer Alan Cheuse says the book has a refreshing frankness that's initially very appealing — but its episodic nature wears thin after a while.

It's the latest in what has been decades of prisoner swaps between the two countries. The Americans include Siamak Namazi, held since 2015, and Morad Tahbaz and Emad Shargi, both detained in 2018.

Pop. 1280 is the perfect noir thriller, featuring a murderous, corn bread-loving sheriff from a small town in the South. Author Stephen Marche explains why the book is genre fiction at its best. Do you have a favorite tale of twisted justice? Tell us in the comments.