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Walter Starhr's new biography, Seward: Lincoln's Indispensable Man, tells the story of William Seward and Abraham Lincoln and how these two campaign adversaries became close White House allies.

Jean Thompson's The Humanity Project follows the fortunes of a number of hard-luck people — and looks at the bizarre, sad and funny ways we fail to help others.

Sharing power in the Eisenhower administration, John Foster Dulles and Allen Dulles were the forefathers of using covert operations to upset foreign governments. Journalist Stephen Kinzer, who wrote a book on the siblings, says Americans are still paying the price for them.

Najla Said's father, Edward Said, was an outspoken professor and prominent voice for Palestinian independence. Yet Najla's life felt less grounded. Growing up as a Palestinian-Lebanese-American in New York City, she balanced competing cultures and multiple lives, searching for a place to fit in.

When the economy's dropping like an anvil, young professionals have to find ways to make do — and having friends always helps. Reviewer Alex Espinoza says Choire Sicha's Very Recent History is an insightful tale of friends weathering a tough economy in the big city.

The award-winning children's book author has written more than two dozen books set in the American heartland. He's most famous for his intricate illustrations of the Midwest — sprawling prairie, family farms and his signature mischievous pigs.

Swedish writer Karin Tidbeck's debut story collection, Jagannath, is suffused with the myths of her homeland — and the American oddities she picked up as a student here. Reviewer Alan Cheuse says the stories are weird — but it's a good kind of weird.

Over the past generation, Belle Glade Central High School in Belle Glade, Fla., has sent 30 players to the NFL. The school is proud of that record, but it might have come at a cost. Bryan Mealer's Muck City spotlights the stories of players, their families, their coach and a town that struggles to win a spot on the field — and life.

When aspiring Broadway actress Catherine and World War II vet Harry first lock eyes on the Staten Island Ferry, everything changes — but their lives together won't be easy. Mark Helprin delivers an old-fashioned love story, and an ode to 1940s New York, in his novel In Sunlight and in Shadow.

A former addict, Jeet Thayil spent decades in Mumbai's seedy, drug-ridden underworld. He draws from his life to populate his first novel, Narcopolis, with a cast of desperate, damaged and magnetic characters.