NYT Books X

In Angie Kim’s new novel, “Happiness Falls,” Adam Parson’s wife and children question everything they thought they knew about him.

In “The Breakaway,” a woman at a crossroads agrees to lead a cycling trip that turns out to be more than she bargained for.

In his lively “Empire of the Sum,” Keith Houston looks at the best — and worst — years of the pocket calculator’s life.

In “Quiet Street,” Nick McDonell reflects on America’s most entrenched elite and his place within it.

In “Live to See the Day,” the sociologist Nikhil Goyal tracks the lives of three teenagers as they try to balance school and survival in Philadelphia.

In “Necessary Trouble,” by Drew Gilpin Faust, and “Up Home,” by Ruth J. Simmons, the former presidents of Harvard and Brown recount their unlikely paths to leadership at two of America’s most elite universities.

Christine Mangan’s “The Continental Affair,” a cat-and-mouse chase across 1960s Europe, evokes Gauloises, orange blossoms and corner cafes.

In “Birth Control,” Allison Yarrow argues that this country’s male-dominated medical industry prioritizes control instead of the autonomy — and safety — of pregnant patients.

In “The Great White Bard,” Farah Karim-Cooper maintains that close attention to race, and racism, will only deepen engagement with the playwright’s canon.

In Paul Murray’s new novel, “The Bee Sting,” an Irish family faces economic ruin after the 2008 financial crash. And that’s just the start of their troubles.