GRAPHIC NOVELS

Reviews | 'Grandville', 'The Year of Loving Dangerously' and 'The Escapists'

Funny animals? Ugh. Though Walt Kelly, Carl Barks and even Jack ''King'' Kirby embraced and elevated the genre, it mostly left me cold -- until now. Talbot's tightly plotted political thriller posits an alternate universe where France conquered England in the Napoleonic Wars, and the world is ruled by anthropomorphic animals, with a few hairless apes as servants and lackeys. Following his tour de force Alice in Sunderland, the grand master of British comics' recent projects have been a bit odd. Grandville is no exception, but this wildly heady blend of mystery, heroics, politics, religion and romance is more reminiscent of his classic Luther Arkwright series than anything he's done since. If you can get past -- or embrace -- his archetypical menagerie of well-drawn faux-bipeds, the story, with allegorical echoes of 9/11, is further evidence that Talbot blazes his own path and is always worth following.

FICTION

Review | 'I Am An Emotional Creature': Girls from around the globe speak out

Author of ''The Vagina Monologues'' imagines sorrowful -- and powerful -- voices.

What are you reading now? | Ann Mah

''I just finished The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters. It's a chilling ghost story and examination of the British class system post-World War II. Is Hundreds Hall haunted or are its inbred owners suffering from psychotic delusions? Waters twists the tension tighter with each chapter, until I was left breathless with suspense, gripped by the story and shocked by the destructive nature of desire.''

Author appearances

TUESDAY Michael Gross and ''Rogues' Gallery.'' 7:30 p.m. Books & Books, 9700 Collins Ave., Bal Harbour Shops.

THEATER

Review | The moment of being stage-struck in 'The Play That Changed My Life'

Nineteen playwrights reveal the defining event of their careers. [R](105.0)(.0)(220.5)(70.2)(.0)(.0)(.0)(.0)(.0)(.0)(.0)(.0)(.0)(.0)(.0)(.0)(.0)(.0)

FICTION

Review | Writer visits Calcutta seeking inspiration for 'A Dead Hand'

Paul Theroux, in his first crime book, paints a striking portrait of India, but his plot is thin.

FICTION

Review | Falling apart with 'Shadow Tag'

Louise Erdrich portrays a troubled marriage between a Native-American woman and her painter husband

BOOKS

Salinger's world was a peaceful haven for artists

J.D. Salinger supposedly spent the latter half of his life writing for his own pleasure, composing each day in a pine house in the hills that overlooked towering maple trees, plowed hay fields and the neighboring mountains of Vermont.

NONFICTION

Review | 'Free for All: Fixing School Food in America': Improving school lunches

School lunches don't exactly have a great reputation. The daily smorgasbord of pizza, Tater Tots, soda and other fattening fare has come under fire as obesity continues to be a national health crisis. In Free for All, sociology professor Poppendieck explains how nutrition-deficient meals came to dominate America's school cafeterias and outlines a slew of problems in the national school lunch and breakfast programs.

SUSPENSE

Review | 'Silencer': Thorn's fortune brings nothing but trouble

James. W. Hall latest in his popular series puts strong supporting characters in control.

FICTION

Review | 'The Privileges': Decadence gets tight grip on Adam and Cynthia

A husband takes big risks to give his family a privileged life.

NONFICTION

Review | 'Wrong Place, Wrong Time': Into the heads of black survivors of violence

A doctor explores the effects of trauma on five men from Boston.

What are you reading now? | Malcolm Jones

''I've been reading Ralph Ellison's book titled Three Days Before the Shooting, a very unfinished 1,100-page collection of what Ellison had produced toward writing a second novel. There's a story there, but it's almost like a build-your-own-novel kit. There's so much wonderful writing in there. I would recommend that anybody go and poke around in it.''

Author appearances

TUESDAY David Eigen and ''Women: The Goddesses of Wisdom.'' 8 p.m. Books & Books, 265 Aragon Ave., Coral Gables.

BOOKS

Looking back through the eyes of a boy

The capricious nature of memory fascinates Malcolm Jones. What we remember of our past is a vital question to a memoirist bent on exploring life when he was growing up in North Carolina in the 1950s and '60s.

STORIES

Review | 'Wild Child': Feral vs. tamed

T.C. Boyle's 14 stories explore connections between nature and civilization.

FICTION

Review | A mighty urge to go for a walk in 'The Unnamed'

Joshua Ferris' dark novel is markedly different from his debut.

NONFICTION

Review | 'Shocking True Story': Scandals, exposés of America's first tabloid

The real Hollywood revealed -- in the pages of Confidential!

BIOGRAPHY

Review | 'Star: How Warren Beatty Seduced America': Sex and self-analysis from the eternal Romeo

An investigation into Warren Beatty's enigmatic personality provides telling details and revealing quotes.

FICTION

Review | 'Remarkable Creatures': Fossils, woman power come to the surface

The main character, Mary Anning, is a real-life figure in 19th century paleontology.

NONFICTION

Review | 'Marriage and Other Acts of Charity': Minister: Crazy to marry, essential to love

This is an insightful look at marriage and loving relationships in everyday lives.

Review | 'The Lock Artist': Author Hamilton's work gets better and better

Edgar-winner Steve Hamilton's work gets better with each of his seven novels. But the unconventional The Lock Artist surpasses even Hamilton's high standards as the author examines the aftermath of a young boy's trauma.

What are you reading now? | Sheila Kohler

''J.M. Coetzee's Summertime. It is such a remarkably honest and very funny book, a sort of faux-memoir which at the same time contains a great deal of truth. Coetzee writes of himself in the third person (he is supposed to be dead in this book), and a biographer interviews five people, four of them women who tell him about the writer, Coetzee. Their comments are often remarkably unflattering but contain, we sense, in a wonderfully playful and imaginative way some truth.''

Author appearances

TUESDAY Jeffrey Fekete and ''Making the Big Game: Tales of an Accidental Spectator.'' 6:30 p.m. Books & Books, 265 Aragon Ave., Coral Gables.

AUTHOR! AUTHOR!

Strangers seek divorce advice

When you blog about relationships for Psychology Today, you aren't surprised when people you barely know start asking for advice. The questions come even faster once the story gets out that you've written a book on the popular subject of how and why people fall in and out of love.

NONFICTION

Review | 'Bomb Power': Hail to the Chief

A historian shows how U.S. presidents overrode the principle of checks and balances.

NONFICTION

Review | Bus ride inspires monthly quest in 'The Happiness Project'

The author attempts to better her already-good life with small changes.

FICTION

Review | 'The Swan Thieves': Obsession and art's great power

Meticulous historical research is evident in this beautifully written book.

ARTS BRIEFS

Nevermore? Poe devotee a no-show

A mysterious visitor who left roses and cognac at the grave of Edgar Allan Poe each year on the writer's birthday failed to show early Tuesday, breaking with a ritual that began more than 60 years ago.

AUTHOR! AUTHOR!

One case in which we root for the 'bad guy'

Anyone who's a fan of serious crime fiction knows the work of Robert Crais. And if you know the work, then you know Elvis Cole, a classic Corvette-driving L.A. gumshoe with more than a little Marlowe in his DNA.

FICTION

Review | 'Small Wars': War within and without a '50s British family

Sadie Jones firmly establishes her gifted and fresh voice with her second novel.

NONFICTION

Review | 'My Father's Bonus March': Piece of history drives son closer to his father

Adam Langer's quest to delve into the past links two generations.

What are you reading now | Sascha Rothchild

''I just read a book called Bought by Anna David. It's a really fun book about call girls. It's fiction. It sucked me in immediately. I could see how easily a person could become a call girl. . . . When you really get into it, it's just like any job, which I thought she did a good job of expressing. It's well-written and captivating.''

Author appearances

TUESDAY Beth Hoffman and ''Saving CeeCee Honeycutt.'' Books & Books, 265 Aragon Ave., Coral Gables.

FICTION

Review | Human nature explored in 'The Farmer's Daughter'

Three novellas from Jim Harrison draw intricate portraits of vivid characters.

FICTION

Review | 'The Autobiography of Fidel Castro': Quoting the despot, in matters large and small

A former friend of Castro sends him up in this mix of history and satire.

POLITICS

Review | 'Notes From the Cracked Ceiling': Gender still an obstacle

Double standards are firmly in place in politics.

'VAMPIRE ACADEMY'

Miami fans win tour stop

Smart trend-watchers might look at the two biggest publishing phenomenon of the past decade -- the Harry Potter series and the Twilight books -- and conclude that the next can't-miss blockbuster would take place at a boarding school that trains vampires to use magic.

BOOKS

Architect's urban living guide doesn't include cars

Want to be green? Dump the cul-de-sac. Ban the mall. Leave the Prius at home. The best thing you can do for the environment is to push for dense, compact, attractive and walkable urban neighborhoods that mix homes, shops and offices, just like we used to.