Scriptorium

Harper Lee's much-hyped "Go Set a Watchman" is skimpy, uninspired and poorly written.

Pamela Schoenewaldt offers World War I historical fiction sympathetic to the plight of German-Americans.

Toni Morrison's "God Help the Child" shifts from racism to child abuse, though the two are kin.

Tiziano Scarpa's tactile guide is still probably the book you want at hand if you're lagoon-bound.

Marilynne Robinson's "Lila" completes her Gilead, Iowa trilogy with brilliance and compassion.

Despite some overwrought trimmings, here is a World War II book with a vision.

Canadian Nobel winner Alice Munro's final collection depends on deft portrayals of small-town sadness.

Howard Jacobson's "J" pushes the British-styled Jewish question into dystopian territory.

Richard Flanagan's "The Narrow Road to the Deep North" features a full-fledged epic hero.

Ian McEwan's "The Children Act" shines mostly when one case comes front and center.

British novelist Martin Amis offers a fierce satire to revive ever-vital Holocaust themes.

Yasmina Reza applies a shrewd and knowing scalpel to the foibles of the French elite.