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For a secretive industry, the business of espionage is one many readers feel they understand — especially if they happen to be fans of spy thrillers. Nancy Pearl, a Seattle librarian and author, offers a list of her favorites.

Robert Siegel talks with Peter Bernstein, author of Wedding of the Waters: The Erie Canal and the Making of a Great Nation, about the building of the canal and its impact on America, east and west.

Essie Mae Washington-Williams is the daughter of the late Sen. Strom Thurmond. While her mother, who was black, served as the Thurmonds' maid, she had an affair with the future senator. Thurmond, from South Carolina, long opposed integration. Washington-Williams has a new memoir, Dear Senator: A Memoir by the Daughter of Strom Thurmond.

Berthe Morisot was a contemporary of Impressionist masters such as Degas, Monet, Renoir and Manet. Now she is getting her due with a retrospective exhibit at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C., and her paintings are the source of some modern literary fiction.

Architect and author Christopher Alexander recently issued the final book of his four-volume tome, The Nature of Order, In it, he attempts to define and understand the "life" and livability of structures, spaces and cities.

There are 3 million children receiving special services for learning disabilities in American public schools. With a possible 10 to 15 percent of children have serious learning issues, pediatrician Mel Levine is challenging many assumptions about learning.

Audio book sales are increasing at a double-digit rate, making up a healthy chunk of a title's revenue. As Lynn Neary reports, popular books like the Harry Potter series have done well — and expanded consumer awareness of audio books in the process.

Former New Jersey governor and Environmental Protection Agency head for the Bush administration Christine Todd Whitman. She is a moderate Republican and in her new book argues against the hijacking of her party by zealous "social fundamentalists." Her new book is It's My Party, Too: The Battle for the Heart of the GOP and the Future of America.

A new book compiles U.S. memos and reports on the interrogation and treatment of detainees in Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison. The Torture Papers: The Road to Abu Ghraib was edited by Karen J. Greenberg and Joshua L. Dratel.

Comic and journalist Stephen Colbert is the fake senior correspondent on Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. We talk with Colbert about his reports, from "Rathergate" to "This Week in God."