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This holiday season, instead of settling for the standard martini, historian Lesley Blume suggests you reach for a taste of bygone cocktail culture. She offers tips for picking the right antique elixir, as well as the original recipe for one of Ernest Hemingway's favorites.

The rebels, rule breakers and renegades who rule this year's Top 10 list aren't looking for a Ph.D. in Traditional Cooking. They're pleasure seekers whose books are filled with quirky facts, gorgeous pictures and ingredients deployed in unexpected places.

Four novels for the year's end: a new Raylan Givens adventure from Elmore Leonard, a story of psychology and obsession from Ellen Ullman, Thomas Caplan's latest spy thriller and Alex Gilvarry's debut set in the fashion world and Guantanamo Bay.

Budweiser, is known as the "King of Beers," and the Busch family was once considered practically royalty. Their early success led to a long reign, but the end, when it came, wasn't so glorious.

It was a strange and wonderful year for young adult fiction, says critic Maggie Stiefvater. This list rounds up five magical books for young adults and grown-ups alike.

Our latest pick for NPR's Backseat Book Club is The Red Pyramid, a tale of two kids who must rescue the world from Egyptian gods. Author Rick Riordan, a former schoolteacher, combined his obsession with books with his passion for mythology to write this book about ordinary kids doing heroic things.

A celebrity who was a serial rapist and molester operated at the BBC for years, was revered, and knighted. After he died, the BBC bungled its own efforts to investigate and expose him.

Femmes fatales and their crafty female creators dominate this year's mystery and thriller picks. Critic Maureen Corrigan wonders whether it takes a woman to capture the evil that can hide behind a lip-glossed smile and pair of shining eyes.

Jean Merrill's classic children's book The Pushcart War explores war, peace and pushcarts on the streets of New York. Author Adam Mansbach writes that the story still resonates. Do you have a favorite children's book that deals with heavy themes? Tell us in the comments.

It used to be called the "vanity press," a name that carried a sniff of derision. But Lynn Neary reports that self-publishing has become a booming business, spawning best-sellers, and attracting the interest of Amazon and the major publishing houses.