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The myth of the pirate — that swashbuckler standing on the bow of a boat with a wooden leg and a parrot on his shoulder — can be irresistible, but these books prove that the truth behind the fabled eyepatch is infinitely more interesting.

Reading words printed on dead trees doesn't automatically translate into saving the planet. But by encouraging us to reevaluate the world around us, these three books offer a vision of a different path forward.

What happens when an entrenched culture suddenly opts for rapid change and the upheaval of centuries of cherished tradition? Maureen Corrigan finds some answers in two new works of nonfiction.

For soldier Brian Turner, words have the impact of bullets. His poems provide a first- person account of war; The New York Times praised their "attention to both the terrors and the beauty he found among Iraq's ruins."

You may not like her, but you do what she wants. She's a tough chick, a woman with sass and an instinct for survival. Brace yourself for these three books featuring heroines with attitude.

Lt. Col. John Nagl wrote the textbook on counterinsurgency — literally. Nagl was part of the team that drafted a U.S. Army field manual on counterinsurgency. Having completed his tour in Iraq, Nagl talks about how military theory was put into practice in the region.

Though much was made of the conflagration between John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev during the Cuban missile crisis, Michael Dobbs, author of One Minute to Midnight, says the two leaders were actually of like minds when it came to the threat of nuclear war.

For Stella Rimington, the author of Illegal Action, secret intelligence is second nature; for nearly 30 years, she worked for MI5, Britain's domestic intelligence agency, rising through the ranks to become the first woman appointed director general.

Evan S. Connell, an old American master, and Claire Keegan, a young Irish prodigy, both have new books of short fiction this summer — and both are worth picking up.

Health care advocate Carol Levine has looked out for the interests of the housebound both at work and at home. For 17 years, she cared for her husband, who had been seriously injured in a car accident. He died recently, and Levine is left coping with a renewed sense of loss.