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In India's capital New Delhi, many impoverished people spend their days picking through garbage — looking for anything that can be recycled and sold. But now there is competition. A battle between rag pickers and new corporate "waste managers" is raging over the trash of the affluent.

Japan's reki-jo, or "history girls," love learning about shoguns' castles and samurai battles, and they idolize historical figures like rock stars. Some observers believe this is more than just a trend: The reki-jo subculture signals a kind of empowerment.

In 1937, frustrated by a conservative Supreme Court that struck down a series of his New Deal programs, President Franklin Roosevelt set about to reform the court — by expanding it and adding as many as six liberal justices. The controversial proposition is examined in writer Jeff Shesol's new book, Supreme Power: Franklin Roosevelt vs. the Supreme Court.

The prolific and perennially controversial celebrity biographer takes a look at the life of a talk show host who doesn't much like to be talked about. Not surprisingly, Kelley's latest bio is entirely unauthorized.

For too long, Jacob Lentz thinks, certain animals have gotten by on good looks and charm, while more impressive species are ignored by children and stuffed-animal manufacturers. Lentz intends to right this wrong in The Animal Review. See what grades he gave other species.

Eva Hornung's novel Dog Boy is based on the true story of a young boy in Moscow who lived with a pack of dogs for two years.

A serial killer is on the loose in Norway, leaving his victims with mysterious, star-shaped, red marks on their bodies. It's up to hard-drinking, crime-fighting detective Harry Hole to track down the murderer in novelist Jo Nesbo's Scandinavian thriller.

To understand what it takes to be a professional umpire, journalist Bruce Weber became one himself. His adventures with fans, players and other umps are described in his book, As They See 'Em.

Jackson and Gibson never faced each other on the field, but between them they have seven World Series rings. In their book, Sixty Feet, Six Inches, the two Hall of Famers tell stories about Willie Mays and the World Series and discuss modern controversies including steroids and free agency.

Writer George Prochnik says there's plenty of evidence that noise can be harmful as well as annoying, with studies pointing to hearing loss — and even risks of higher blood pressure and cardiovascular disease. His new book, In Pursuit of Silence, is a study of noise in the modern world.