The Rev. Uwem Akpan is a Nigerian and a Jesuit priest who has just published a debut collection of stories about the dark side of human experience.

* More on Uwem Akpan's 'Say You’re One of Them': Review | Excerpt

'The Lincolns'
By DANIEL MARK EPSTEIN
Reviewed by JANET MASLIN

Daniel Mark Epstein’s careful parsing of the Lincoln marriage interweaves the crisis-filled, mercurial career of Abraham Lincoln with an equally rocky tale of man and wife.

* Times Topics: Abraham Lincoln

A Tale of Real Estate, Life and Possibly Arson
By PENELOPE GREEN

“House & Home” is a sharply funny, nicely realized work of catharsis that will be satisfyingly familiar to anyone who has ever suffered seller’s remorse.
Books of The Times
The Case That Led to an Uneasy Shift in the Balance of Government Powers
'Claim of Privilege'
By BARRY SIEGEL
Reviewed by ADAM LIPTAK

Barry Siegel’s exhaustive look at the Supreme Court case that gave birth to the state secrets privilege conclusively demonstrates that the government’s argument was built on a lie.
Book Review
Mapping the Myriad Tastes of the ‘Other China’
Mapping the Myriad Tastes of the ‘Other China’
By ANNE MENDELSON

“Beyond the Great Wall” opens up vast worlds of other Chinas scarcely known to cooks and food lovers in the United States.
Iraqi Files in U.S.: Plunder or Rescue?
By HUGH EAKIN

To critics, the depositing of Baath Party files at the Hoover Institution is an act of plunder.
Books of The Times
A Night Stalker in the Center of Manhattan, Spying on Owls and Moths
'Central Park in the Dark'
By MARIE WINN
Reviewed by MICHIKO KAKUTANI

In “Red-Tails in Love” Marie Winn gave us some enchanting glimpses of Central Park as the place where the wild things are, and her new book is very much a companion volume to that earlier account.

* First Chapter

Books of The Times
Friends Reunited at a Wedding on Maine’s Rocky Coast, Dashed Hopes All Around
'The Romantics'
By GALT NIEDERHOFFER
Reviewed by JANET MASLIN

“The Romantics” manages to be more entertaining than many other stories without being notably more original.
Sunday Book Review
Urban Poet
'Selected Poems'
By FRANK O’HARA
Reviewed by WILLIAM LOGAN

This long-needed collection fair-mindedly presents Frank O’Hara’s unapologetic narcissism and often blissfully trivial verse.
Swingers
Books About Golf
Reviewed by HOLLY BRUBACH

Carl Hiaasen’s memoir of returning to golf after 32 years; Leigh Montville’s biography of a thief turned celebrity golfer; and Dan Jenkins’s novel about a sportswriter covering the L.P.G.A.
The Spy Who Wouldn’t Love Me
'Devil May Care'
By SEBASTIAN FAULKS
Reviewed by ALEX BERENSON

In the latest Bond novel: Villains? Check. Graphic violence? Check. Libido on overdrive? Um . . .

* First Chapter

'The Spies of Warsaw'
By ALAN FURST
Reviewed by ALESSANDRA STANLEY

In Alan Furst’s latest spy thriller, a French diplomat keeps a nervous eye on Hitler’s troops.

* First Chapter
* More on Alan Furst: Profile | Times Topics Page

Back to the Center
'Grand New Party'
By ROSS DOUTHAT and REIHAN SALAM
Reviewed by NORMAN ORNSTEIN

Two analysts urge Republicans to appeal to the working class.

* First Chapter

Point of Origin
'White Protestant Nation'
By ALLAN J. LICHTMAN
Reviewed by DAVID FRUM

Allan J. Lichtman traces the origins of modern conservatism to the 1920s.
Huffington’s Post
'Right Is Wrong'
By ARIANNA HUFFINGTON
Reviewed by JACK SHAFER

Arianna Huffington blames the Democratic Party and the press for the Republican ascendancy.
Cubicle Rats
'Personal Days'
By ED PARK
Reviewed by MARK SARVAS

In his first novel, Ed Park ponders the anxious culture of the modern workplace.

* First Chapter
* Profile of Ed Park