By Janet Groth

The Receptionist: An Education at the New Yorker

Dreams of writing, and of a sparkling life in the big city, don’t quite pan out for a child of the Midwest who goes to work at the famed magazine.

Stephen Hinton

Weill’s Musical Theater: Stages of Reform

This eminently readable biography captures the genius of the composer whose music captured the time, place and climate of the times.

Anna Quindlen

Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake

With her usual razor-sharp insight and laugh-out-loud humor, the Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist examines the arc of her life in what feels like a cozy chat with a friend.

Robert A. Caro

The Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson

This fourth volume of the series provides a detailed and riveting account of the years immediately leading up to LBJ’s presidency.

Alice Kessler-Harris

A Difficult Woman: The Challenging Life and Times of Lillian Hellman

In a nontraditional biographical approach, the author dissects the multiple perspectives of the controversial playwright and screenwriter.

All In: The Education of David Petraeus

Paula Broadwell with Vernon Loeb

All In: The Education of David Petraeus

Given firsthand access to her subject, the author looks at the superstar general’s intellectual development and how he put it to action.

Sonia Gandhi: An Extraordinary Life, An Indian Destiny

Meet a lesser-known member of the iconic family.

Michael Holroyd

A Book of Secrets

Biography and memoir meet in probing the intertwined stories of two notable English women.