Penelope Lively’s DANCING FISH AND AMMONITES: A MEMOIR; from boarding school in Cairo, marriage, and motherhood; to literary success, fame, and–Dame.

Joshua Wolf Shenk’s LINCOLN’S MELANCHOLY: HOW DEPRESSION CHALLENGED A PRESIDENT AND FUELED HIS GREATNESS; an examination of how “Honest Abe” transformed his chronic inner turmoil into humor, which helped save the Union.

Carmen Agra Deedy’s, Randall Wright’s, and Barry Moser’s THE CHESHIRE CHEESE CAT: A DICKENS OF A TALE; in a 19th century London inn, frequented by Charles Dickens and William Makepeace Thackeray, a cat and a mouse become friends.

James B. Garfield’s FOLLOW MY LEADER; after a boy is blinded in an accident, he gets a guide dog.