Toni Morrison's prose is as lush as ever, but this story of six black women's lives is a disappointment.

Chandler Burr takes a whiff, and then engagingly studies the origins of smell.

This strong, insightful story of two Afgan brothers under brutal Taliban rule made Hosseini's fame.

Alex Garland uses coming out of a coma as a means of healing and re-establishing identity. But can "it" become "he"?

Junger uses doomed fishing boat "Andrea Gail" a centerpiece for his riveting recounting of the 1991 Halloween Gale.

Kevin Brockmeier, an adult writer with a child's fantasies, has a way with all things improbable.

The geographic, demographic, and environmental factors that have shaped civilization from the caveman onward.

Jonathan Lethem uses Tourette's Disease, Zen and shysters to craft an inimitable literary thriller.

Perhaps the most inventive of all post-9/11 novels. Julavits sinks her teeth into terrorists, conspiracies, and the illusions that sustain both.

Jhumpa Lahiri's hews to the Anglo-Indian tradition of family storytelling and immigration in her first novel.

Of the many reasons to read inconsistent Kerouac, the most compelling may be unwashed enthusiasm.