FICTION

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest (out now) – The final novel in the immensely popular trilogy by the late Stieg Larsson about a reporter and a punkish, troublesome young woman who refuses to lie down and let evil pass over her.

Anthropology of an American Girl, by Hillary Thayer Hamann (June) – A novel that was originally self-published in 2003, then revised, is now picked up by Spiegel & Grau. It’s about a young girl’s path to womanhood, from the ’70s to the ’80s, in the monied environs of the Hamptons.

A Visit from the Goon Squad (out now) – Jennifer Egan’s novel about exploding careers and waistlines in the record business, today and yesterday.

The Whole World, by Emily Winslow (June) – A first novel about growing up, having sex and going seriously off the rails at Cambridge University, written in an intimate, breathy, stream-of-consciousness style that captures youth’s ardor.

My Hollywood, by Mona Simpson (August) – The excellent novelist writes about the young wife of a Hollywood writer and her close relationship with her Filipino housekeeper. (Sounds like a distaff version of the lousy James L. Brooks movie Spanglish.)

The Widower’s Tale, by Julia Glass (August) – The winner of the National Book Award tells a story of an aging, lonely man who allows a preschool to move into a barn on his property, resulting in changes to his life, not all of them positive.

NONFICTION

The Second Sex (May) – a new translation of the Simone de Beauvoir classic that kicked off the women’s movement.

Life Would Be Perfect if I Lived in That House (June) – Megan Daum writes about her over-arching case of house lust, her search for the perfect abode and her habit of moving on when she can’t find it.

Take Good Care of the Garden and the Dogs, by Heather Lende (June) – The witty author of If You Lived Here, I’d Know Your Name writes again about her small town in Alaska and how the town rallied around her when she got hit by a truck. Literally.

Pearl Buck in China, by Hilary Spurling (June) – A biography focusing mainly on the author’s years in China, which resulted in The Good Earth, the primary literary document of the East as far as the West is concerned.