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Author Helen Simonson risks her literary pretensions to admit a lifelong secret attraction to the Regency romance novels of Georgette Heyer. The dampened muslin dresses, the highly polished boots — for her, nothing beats these tales of heroines who require a man with a firm hand on the bridle.

Author and law professor Stephen Carter started reading the novels of John le Carre in college and he hasn't stopped. After all these years, he says his favorite is still Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, a Cold War spy story that demonstrates le Carre's marvelous craftsmanship.

In China, the vast following of a folk goddess of the sea illustrates the remarkable rebirth of local popular religion since the Cultural Revolution. Now, China's communist leaders are supporting worship of Mazu as "cultural heritage" and using it to advance their own political and economic goals.

Before the BP explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, the worst domestic oil spill was the 1989 Exxon Valdez in Alaska. The accident gave the oil giant a jolt and prompted the company to rethink its approach to safety. Now, Exxon does considerably better than the industry average on several safety-related measures.

When Laura Lorson needs a break from the daily grind, she curls up with books that transport her to simpler times. She recommends three titles that take her back to her days of childhood summer reading — absorbing words off sun-dappled pages under the shade of a tree.

Contemporary authors have a habit of lazily shoplifting plots and characters from 19th-century fiction — especially the works of Jane Austen. But even though Allegra Goodman's latest novel, The Cookbook Collector, is a modern riff on Sense and Sensibility, her homage quickly comes to have a glorious life of its own.

Authors Philip Furia and Laurie Patterson share the stories behind Hollywood's most beloved songs — from Casablanca's "As Time Goes By" to the melodies from Mary Poppins — in their book The Songs of Hollywood.

If public health officials know how to prevent malaria, the mosquito-borne pathogen that kills more than a million people each year, why isn't more being done to eradicate the infectious disease? That's the question journalist Sonia Shah decided to answer in her book, The Fever, which examines why malaria continues to spread around the globe.

The Williamsons of Carlisle, Pa., live well below the poverty line. And in the family's struggle to obtain enough food, nutrition sometimes takes a back seat to necessity. Hunger in America is complicated. It's not just getting enough food, but getting the right food -- and making the right choices.

Almost half of the fish we eat has been raised on farms — and the genetic modification of fish is increasing. Paul Greenberg writes about changes in the fishing industry — and what the future holds for our dinner tables — in his new book, Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food.