Search results for

As summer vacations draw to a close and school-age children begin the mad scramble to fulfill their summer reading obligations, author Lesley M. M. Blume recommends a few timeless books that may not be on the required book lists.

At first glance, Lev Grossman's new novel looks very much like a Harry Potter story — with older characters and an American setting. But a heap of moral ambiguity surrounds the use of magic and there is no villain, giving the tale many shades of gray.

Cara Black's crime novels explore the gritty underbelly of the City of Light, neighborhood by neighborhood. She draws on a longtime network of contacts — including private detectives and police officers — for inspiration.

If you fancy a nice, cozy whodunit set in the jolly English countryside with kindly vicars and fresh-faced debutantes, then Mark Billingham's novels are definitely not for you.

More than a million people left the Swat Valley in May when the Pakistani military announced a major offensive to drive out the Taliban. Residents are now returning to Mingora, the biggest center in the valley, eager to restore their lives, but also anxious about what they will find.

Author Laura Dave remembers the book that taught her about unabashed sin: Peyton Place, a raucous novel of sex, murder and love in a small New England town.

Best known for his series about Louisiana cop Dave Robicheaux, crime writer James Lee Burke moves westward in his latest novel. Rain Gods has a different protagonist, Hackberry Holland, and is set in the dry landscape of Texas.

British historian David Cesarani's new book, Major Farran's Hat, is a nonfiction account of the final days of the British mandate in Palestine.

On ABC's This Week, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner opened the door to a middle-class tax hike. The White House quickly slammed it shut. But many experts say Geithner was right to leave the idea on the table, and a recent Gallup Poll shows Americans are generally satisfied with the amount of taxes they pay.

Reports say Baitullah Mehsud, the leader of the Taliban in Pakistan, has been killed in a U.S. drone attack. The Pakistani foreign minister, intelligence sources and some members of the Taliban say Mehsud died when an unmanned U.S. aircraft destroyed his father-in-law's house Wednesday. But no one has been able to offer definitive proof of his death.