It took over five years for Nathaniel Rich to finish his first novel — maybe because he was writing The Mayor's Tongue secretly, first as a college student, and then while writing film criticism during the day.

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The life of Robert Altman, told in interviews with nearly 200 of his friends, colleagues and family members.

A wonderfully intelligent and frank memoir about the Mennonite upbringing Rhoda Janzen returned to after an emotional and physical crisis.

John Irving’s new novel follows a father and son through 50 years in “a world of accidents.”

A duck discovers a huge speckled egg in “The Odd Egg”; readers free a frog by opening the pop-up book “Big Frog Can’t Fit In.”

A journey in pictures and verse from an unexplored beach to a busy music-filled family room and into a tranquil, moonlit night.

A pop-up romp through cubism and futurism, and a lesson in early-­20th-century modernist formalism.

This beautifully illustrated retelling of the classic fable has only seven words, all sound effects.

An illustrated poem about the seasons; a story about a penguin searching for new colors; and a collection of classic fairy tales with vivid pictures.

A book imagining trucks as dinosaurs, and other explorations of the primal place of machines in the lives of small children.

Books about a squirrel waiting for winter; a bunny having a snow day; and Santa getting ready for Christmas.

This illustrated collection of surreal tales features water buffalo, stick figures and rivers of unread poetry.

Two young adult histories and a graphic novel about the worst ecological disaster in American history.

A young adult novel about an 18-year-old American soldier struggling under the weight of his experience in Iraq.

This lovely picture book tells a true story about Masai villagers who bestow a heartfelt gift after 9/11.

A tightly paced young adult novel set in a steampunk version of the First World War.

A recent crop of fairy-themed novels and reworked fairy tales is proving the resilience of an age-old genre.

An argument that can-do optimism has hardened into a suffocating force that bears little relation to genuine happiness.

Before the financial crisis hit, John Paulson was just your run-of-the-mill hedge fund operator, worth millions of dollars. But when the market crashed, Paulson made billions. How he did it lies at the heart of a new book called The Greatest Trade Ever. The book's author, Gregory R. Zuckerman, offers his insight.

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Top 5 at a Glance
1. FREAKONOMICS, by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
2. THREE CUPS OF TEA, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
3. I HOPE THEY SERVE BEER IN HELL, by Tucker Max
4. THE GLASS CASTLE, by Jeannette Walls
5. BLINK, by Malcolm Gladwell