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Japan has been devastated by an earthquake and a tsunami — but author Marie Mutsuki Mockett has faith in the resilience of the Japanese people. She recommends Yoko Kamio's manga series, Boys Over Flowers, about a young heroine, who embodies Japanese perseverance.

In 2008, the faltering economy sent Starbucks a wake up call. Former CEO Howard Schultz returned to the company's helm, and led the coffee giant in some corporate soul searching. He describes the process in his new book, Onward: How Starbucks Fought For Its Life Without Losing Its Soul.

After a private company entices Littlefield, Texas, officials with the promise of new revenue, the declining inmate population is forcing the city to pay thousands every month for an empty facility.

Fifty years ago one of the chief operators of the mass execution of Jews was tried for crimes against humanity. In her new book, The Eichmann Trial, author and historian Deborah Lipstadt explains how the trial transformed Jewish life and changed our perception of the victims of genocide.

Portugal looks like it's heading toward an international bailout, becoming the third European country to seek help after Greece and Ireland. After the Portuguese parliament rejected a series of austerity measures proposed by the prime minister, his government resigned. Since then, market pressures on Portugal increased, and the need for financial aid from the EU and IMF became all but inevitable.

Rolling blackouts in the Tokyo area are crippling businesses as diverse as automakers and fishmongers. The blackouts could continue for months, even years, as Japan struggles to bridge the gap between different power grids operating in its eastern and western regions.

Physician Kevin Patterson has treated patients in the Arctic, in Kandahar and on remote Pacific Islands. He says that Western ideas and the effects of urbanization are making people everywhere in the world both fatter and sicker.

Twenty years ago, Italian food was regarded as cheap, peasant food. Now it's served on menus worldwide and considered to be one of the healthiest cuisines. Esquire Magazine's food critic John Mariani chronicles the story of pizza, macaroni and red sauce in How Italian Food Conquered the World.

In 2008, Robert Mugabe carried out a campaign of violence and terror against the people of Zimbabwe. In The Fear, African journalist Peter Godwin takes on the story, chronicling his travels through the country. Critic Susan J. Gilman says this chilling portrait turns us all into witnesses.

Mystery writer Ian Rankin recently retired the gruff detective John Rebus, beloved star of 17 novels. In The Complaints, Rankin whips up a new police protagonist: Malcolm Fox, a more mild-mannered cop who works in internal affairs, investigating other policemen.