Temporary Shelter: Short Stories, Mary Gordon (Random...

Temporary Shelter: Short Stories, Mary Gordon (Random House). “These stories contain a paradox: Extremely traditional, they are also almost infinitely varied. They are made with such meticulous care that you can give yourself up to them with perfect confidence. In their seeming simplicity, they are magic” (Carolyn See).

Abigail Adams: A Biography, Phyllis Lee Levin (St. Martin’s). “Full of wonderful, immediate dailiness, the biography . . . (presents) an altogether personal account of the events presaging and following the American Revolution, perceived by a woman with the ability to record and interpret her era for posterity with uncommon verve and wisdom” (Elaine Kendall).

Sphere, Michael Crichton (Knopf), is “his best work since ‘The Andromeda Strain.’ Each chapter end reveals some new clue or poses some new threat that compels the reader to read on. And each new twist builds the pace with careful precision” (James M. Kahn).

Gone to Soldiers, Marge Piercy (Summit), “is a landmark piece of literary prose, a totally infuriating narrative, an amazing feat of research, a wildly audacious gesture . . . a ‘great’ novel of World War II” (Carolyn See).