Bookmarks

Here are some books that have crossed our desks recently.

HARDBACKS

"THE SECRET LIFE OF EMILY DICKINSON," by Jerome Charyn, W.W. Norton & Company, $24.95 (f)

What if the old maid of Amherst wasn't an old maid at all? This novel about Emily Dickinson is told in her own voice, with all its characteristic modulations from her letters and poems. The poet dons a hundred veils, alternately playing wounded lover, penitent and female devil. Significant characters from her life — including her tempestuous sister-in-law, her brooding father and the Rev. Charles Wadsworth — also make an appearance.

More hardbacks recently released:

"Apple Turnover Murder," by Joanne Fluke (f); "Conspirator: Lenin in Exile," by Helen Rappaport (nf); "Split Image (A Jesse Stone Novel)" by Robert B. Parker (f); "Black Magic Sanction," by Kim Harrison (f)

PAPERBACKS

Paperbacks recently released:

"Talking Dirt: The Dirt Diva's Down-to-Earth Guide to Organic Gardening," by Annie Spiegelman (nf);

"The Rise of the West in Presidential Elections," edited by Jennifer L. Robinson and W. David Patton (nf);

"Paper Butterfly," by Diane Wei Liang (f, reprint);

"The Next American Century: How the U.S. Can Thrive as Other Powers Rise," by Nina Hachigian and Mona Sutphen (nf, updated);

"Faces," by Martina Cole (f);

"Live to Tell: And to Die …," by Wendy Corsi Staub (f);

"The Alexander Cipher," by Will Adams (f, reprint);

"1864: Lincoln at the Gates of History," by Charles Bracelen Flood (nf, reprint)

— compiled by Kari Morandi