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Many of Marilyn Nelson's most famous poetry collections are for children. Her latest work, How I Discovered Poetry, is a memoir about her own childhood, which was spent traveling around the country in the 1950s as the daughter of an Air Force pilot.

Pakistan's government and the Pakistani Taliban are holding a first round of peace talks in Islamabad. Expectations are low for any substantial progress toward ending what has been a particularly bloody insurgency. Some analysts believe that the Pakistani military will soon launch a major offensive against the militants in their strongholds along the border with Afghanistan.

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In Scent And Subversion, Barbara Herman explains how, at the turn of the 20th century, most perfumes were still just one note, floral. Then along came a fragrance that changed everything. "With Chanel No. 5," Herman says, "Coco Chanel said, 'A woman needs to smell like a woman, and not a rose.'"

Harlequin editor Patience Bloom maps romance novels onto her own loves in Romance Is My Day Job — from tragic heroes and beta males to the one true Mr. Right. Reviewer Bobbi Dumas says Bloom doesn't quite pull off the romance novel parallel — but most readers will find something to identify with in this brave and likable woman.

The Mexican man says he was one of 17 kidnapped by a cartel and forced to build drug-smuggling tunnels. Now he might be in prison for the rest of his life.

The Beat Generation icon was a magnet for artists, musicians and wannabe hipsters. In a 1985 interview, the author credited his most groundbreaking work to the fallout from his wife's accidental death at his own hands, saying, "It was an event that ... made me into a writer." Burroughs died in 1997.

Yale law professor Amy Chua sparked controversy with her first book, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, where she touted her strict style of parenting. Now she and her husband, Jed Rubenfeld, are out with a new book, The Triple Package. The couple talk about why they believe some cultural groups are better poised for success.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had a coming-out party of sorts over the weekend. At 25, he belongs to the next generation of Bhuttos, the family that has dominated the country's politics for decades. And in an interview, he says he does not fear the turbulent politics that claimed the life of his mother and grandfather.

Alena, a reworking of Daphne DuMaurier's Rebecca, takes place in the contemporary art world, while The Yellow Eyes of Crocodiles is a "delicious French romp." Critic Maureen Corrigan says both novels are "exquisite vehicles of escape fiction."