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Author Adam Brent Houghtaling has put together an encyclopedia of the best music to pair with melancholy moments.

Jennie Fields' new novel, The Age of Desire, reimagines Edith Wharton's fling with a young journalist and the obsession that accompanied its fallout. Without that experience, Fields says, Wharton's The Age of Innocence would not have been the same.

In the latest book in her Mrs. Murphy mystery series, Sneaky Pie For President, author Rita Mae Brown's feline protagonist puts the mysteries aside to make a run for the White House and unify all Americans under an animal-friendly agenda.

Poet Mbali Vilakazi was inspired by a fellow South African, swimmer Natalie du Toit, who lost one of her legs at age 17 and is the first female amputee to qualify for the Olympic Games. "It's not about what happens to you, it's about how quickly you can get up," Vilakazi says.

The Olympics are transforming Britain — at least for now. Before the games began The London Times declared they were sure to produce a litany of disasters. But the gloom has been obliterated in just a few days by a tsunami of patriotism and self-congratulation. The nation has been stunned and thrilled that the games are so far successful — and that their trophy cupboard is filling up at unexpected speed.

Golden Days starts out as a fun tale of '80s Los Angeles. By the end, it's a devastating portrait of life after a nuclear blast. Author Gabrielle Zevin says it showed her that novels, like life, can span multiple genres. Do you have a favorite book about life in California? Tell us in the comments.

In Hillsborough County, the way people voted in 2008 — for or against President Obama — signals their perception of everything that's happened since and, usually, the way they intend to vote. In this swing county hit hard by the financial crisis, the rarest voter is a person who's changed his mind.

Journalists Donald Barlett and James Steele say a government commitment to free trade and an indifference to offshoring of jobs has crippled the middle class. And, they say, that situation is unlikely to change, no matter who wins this year's presidential election.

Working closely with a former detective, James still goes out with Brighton police to gather material for his work about an English city with a rich criminal history.

NPR Music's Tom Huizenga and host Guy Raz spin an eclectic mix of new classical releases.