1. THE MEMORY KEEPER’S DAUGHTER
by Kim Edwards
Penguin
A doctor’s decision to secretly send his newborn daughter, who has Down syndrome, to an institution haunts everyone involved.
2. DANCE OF THE GODS
by Nora Roberts
Jove
Six otherworldly fighters prepare to battle the vampire Lilith in this second installment in the Circle Trilogy.
3. PREDATOR
by Patricia Cornwell
Berkley
On the trail of a possible serial killer, Dr. Kay Scarpetta turns to a jailed psychopath for advice.
4. MARY, MARY
by James Patterson
Warner Vision
Agent Alex Cross tracks a Hollywood killer who announces the crimes via e-mail.
5. GLAD TIDINGS
by Debbie Macomber
Mira
Two previously published stories about Christmas.
6. MORRIGAN’S CROSS
by Nora Roberts
Jove
A sorcerer gathers five warriors to help him battle a vampire who lured his twin brother to the dark side.
7. TOXIC BACHELORS
by Danielle Steel
Dell
On a Mediterranean vacation, three resolutely single friends meet three impressive women.
8. SKELETON COAST
by Clive Cussler with Jack Du Brul
Berkley
Juan Cabrillo and the crew of the Oregon rescue a beautiful woman who is searching for lost treasure.
9. DREAM MAKERS
by Nora Roberts
Silhouette
Two previously published stories, Untamed and Less of a Stranger.
10. CAMEL CLUB
by David Baldacci
Warner Vision
A group of conspiracy theorists stumbles on a plot reaching to the highest levels of government.
11. ORDINARY HEROES
by Scott Turow
Warner
A man reconstructs the story of his father’s service in World War II, including his pursuit of a rogue intelligence agent.
12. AT FIRST SIGHT
by Nicholas Sparks
Warner
The young couple from True Believer, who are now expecting the imminent arrival of a child, get a disturbing message.
NONFICTION
1. RUNNING WITH SCISSORS
by Augusten Burroughs
Picador
In the 1970s, a young boy lives with a crazy psychiatrist in a squalid household.
2. FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS
by James Bradley with Ron Powers
Bantam
The story of the six men who raised the flag at Iwo Jima.
3. THE GLASS CASTLE
by Jeannette Walls
Scribner
The author recalls a bizarre childhood during which she and her siblings were constantly moved from one bleak place to another.
4. DREAMS FROM MY FATHER
by Barack Obama
Three Rivers
The Democratic senator from Illinois reflects on life as the son of a black African father and white American mother.
5. TEACHER MAN
by Frank McCourt
Scribner
The author of Angela’s Ashes remembers his years teaching high school English in New York City.
6. NIGHT
by Elie Wiesel
Hill & Wang
A new translation of an account of the horrors of Auschwitz and Buchenwald, first published in English in 1960.
7. THE TIPPING POINT
by Malcolm Gladwell
Back Bay/Little, Brown
A journalist’s study of social epidemics, otherwise known as fads.
8. THE CITY OF FALLING ANGELS
by John Berendt
Penguin
The author of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil investigates a fire in Venice.
9. MARIE ANTOINETTE
by Antonia Fraser
Anchor
The life of the woman who was queen of France from 1774 to 1792.
10. THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY
by Erik Larson
Vintage
The tale of an architect and a serial killer, linked by the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893.
11. 90 MINUTES IN HEAVEN
by Don Piper with Cecil Murphey
Revell
A Baptist minister describes the otherworldly experience he had after a car accident.
12. THE ZOMBIE SURVIVAL GUIDE
by Max Brooks
Three Rivers
The comedy writer offers a plan for safeguarding yourself from the living dead.
A few weeks ago I found myself at a Family Mart talking with the morning shift worker there, who has become my coffee guy. Both of us were in a funk over the “unseasonable” warm weather, a state of mind known as “solastalgia” — distress produced by environmental change. In fact, the weather was not that out of the ordinary in boiling Central Taiwan, and likely cooler than the temperatures we will experience in the near-future. According to the Taiwan Adaptation Platform, between 1957 and 2006, summer lengthened by 27.8 days, while winter shrunk by 29.7 days. Winter is not
Taiwan’s post-World War II architecture, “practical, cheap and temporary,” not to mention “rather forgettable.” This was a characterization recently given by Taiwan-based historian John Ross on his Formosa Files podcast. Yet the 1960s and 1970s were, in fact, the period of Taiwan’s foundational building boom, which, to a great extent, defined the look of Taiwan’s cities, determining the way denizens live today. During this period, functionalist concrete blocks and Chinese nostalgia gave way to new interpretations of modernism, large planned communities and high-rise skyscrapers. It is currently the subject of a new exhibition at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Modern
March 25 to March 31 A 56-year-old Wu Li Yu-ke (吳李玉哥) was straightening out her artist son’s piles of drawings when she inadvertently flipped one over, revealing the blank backside of the paper. Absent-mindedly, she picked up a pencil and recalled how she used to sketch embroidery designs for her clothing business. Without clients and budget or labor constraints to worry about, Wu Li drew freely whatever image came to her mind. With much more free time now that her son had found a job, she found herself missing her home village in China, where she
In recent years, Slovakia has been seen as a highly democratic and Western-oriented Central European country. This image was reinforced by the election of the country’s first female president in 2019, efforts to provide extensive assistance to Ukraine and the strengthening of relations with Taiwan, all of which strengthened Slovakia’s position within the European Union. However, the latest developments in the country suggest that the situation is changing rapidly. As such, the presidential elections to be held on March 23 will be an indicator of whether Slovakia remains in the Western sphere of influence or moves eastward, notably towards Russia and