Simon Mawer's novels often tread loosely down the genre path of historical fiction, and Trapeze is no exception. It's the story of Marian Sutro, a woman recruited by the British Special Operations Executive to be an agent in occupied France near the end of the Second World War. Sutro is based on the real-life Anne-Marie Walters, whose 1946 memoir, Moondrop to Gascony, chronicled the special role female spies played in the war. With a storytelling flair, Mawer recreates the tension and loneliness of a woman driven by duty and pride into a life where "your cover story would become more real than your true story. The lies would become truths, and truth lies."

The young Sutro is ostensibly recruited because of her native French-speaking skills and mastery of a covert agent's toolbox of Morse code, parachuting, weapons, memorization and endurance. However, it is her childhood friendship with a French scientist that elevates a good spy story into one with overtones of morality and game-changing technology. Before the war, Clément Pelletier did research in France with Niels Bohr and others on an atomic bomb. The British desperately want to extract him from Paris to finalize a working prototype before Hitler does. Clément and Marian had a youthful crush, and her feelings still linger despite the intervening time and war. That romance will determine the success of her real mission--to convince him to leave and bring the war to a rapid close. Mawer's crisp prose, erudite science and subtle bilingual details raise Trapeze above the genre riff-raff. –-Bruce Jacobs, founding partner, Watermark Books & Cafe, Wichita, Kan.

Buddy Guy is the epitome of Chicago electric blues. Even more than the men he idolized and worked with, Guy influenced the cream of the crop of modern blues players: Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page, to name just a few.

When I Left Home is Guy's story, from growing up the son of Louisiana sharecroppers and the early gift of his first guitar to the bus ride to Chicago where he could get a "real job" as a janitor at the university while playing nights at the clubs, sharpening his act. The stories in this memoir read as a veritable who's who of modern electric blues: Guy started out as a hardworking musician alongside well-known artists like Howling Wolf and B.B. King, then started his own band with Junior Wells in the late 1950s and, ultimately, became a blues legend in the '60s, when "white guys from Britain" popularized the genre and the players.

Guy describes how he created his signature wild style by copying guitarists who would have ladies in the clubs screaming for more. He talks about the racial discrimination of the era and the way many of his contemporaries ended up dead or wasting their lives with drugs and alcohol. He also discusses his own failings and mistakes along the way with the candor and humility of a genuinely nice human being who sees his extraordinary success as a gift not to be squandered. --Rob LeFebvre, freelance writer and editor

When Daniel Duane (A Mouth Like Yours) and his wife welcomed their daughter into the world, he found his writing, surfing and rock-climbing skills of little use in his life as a new father. Though his repertoire initially consisted of burritos and stir-fry, he decided to become the family cook.

From this simple beginning sprang an eight-year obsession with cookbooks, kitchen techniques and obtaining the freshest ingredients. Ignoring the reservations of his wife, who grew up in a restaurateur family and wanted to leave complicated cuisine behind, Duane embarked on a journey that would eventually include butchering his own meat, diving for live abalone and taking a two-day steak-eating tour of Las Vegas. While his adventures in the culinary world sustained him through personal tragedies, they also occasionally put a strain on his relationships with family and friends, finally leading him to question whether his enthusiasm stemmed from a desire to feed his family or from pure self-interest. The pitfalls he recounts, including an over-the-top truffle-themed dinner party that left his friends with a lifelong truffle aversion, range from amusing to harrowing, as Duane finds that learning to cook like a man is not as important as learning to be a man.

Duane describes his evolution as a cook as it entwines with his evolution as a father and examines how food shapes our lives. Readers of any level of culinary skill will relate to this funny, reflective and honest memoir. --Jaclyn Fulwood, blogger, Infinite Reads

Reading is a pleasure that most of us wish we could do more often, if only time and energy would allow it. Reading about food is an even more exquisite treat for some; if the focus happens to be Southern food, well, that's simply icing on the cake. Luckily, for those who appreciate all that the world of Southern food entails, there's Cornbread Nation.

Cornbread Nation 6: The Best of Southern Food Writing is edited by Brett Anderson, a restaurant critic and features writer at the New Orleans Times-Picayune, and he has created a compilation that will literally make the reader salivate. Divided into six categories, with such titles as Menu Items and Southern Characters, the book features an eclectic mix of essays, brief memoirs, poetry and profiles. Savvy readers will recognize contributors like Molly O'Neill, Michael Pollan, Calvin Trillin and Kim Severson--and savor the discovery of new voices, as well as the ability to revisit the words of the past (including notes by Frederick Douglass on the sustenance of slaves). Southern food is influenced by a combination of diversity, history, location and tradition; Cornbread Nation 6 delves into each of these inspirations, but also allows a glimpse of the innovation shaping Southern cuisine and food culture today. --Roni K. Devlin, owner of Literary Life Bookstore & More

In Herbivoracious, Michael Natkin offers "a collection of vegetarian recipes that are so full of flavor, so pleasurable to make and to eat, and so satisfying that, if you are an omnivore, you won't give a second thought to the fact that they contain no meat." Natkin first became interested in vegetarian food at the age of 18, when his mother, battling cancer, decided to try a macrobiotic diet. This sparked an enduring passion for food that led to an award-winning vegetarian blog, from which Herbivoracious has emerged.

Vegetarians will be thrilled by the wide variety of recipes--from a beginner-friendly aglio e olio (spaghetti with garlic and oil) to the more challenging chirashi sushi. But even the most exotic recipes are explained with clear, simple instructions that will not intimidate even the greenest chef.

In addition to recipes, Natkin includes a section on ingredients--how to choose a perfectly ripe avocado and which canned tomatoes have the best flavor--and a section on equipment. Sidebars provide additional information on how to find the best ingredients, when to veer from a recipe and how to perfect a technique. Natkin believes experiencing other cultures' cuisines can bridge differences and encourage mutual respect, in addition to providing original flavors, so Herbivoracious is quite international as well.

Why vegetarian? At the end of his introduction, Natkin explains: "Because vegetarian meals are good for you, tread more lightly on our planet's resources, and are kinder to animals." Add to that "simply delicious" and you have a recipe for success. --Kristen Galles from Book Club Classics

The perfect gift book has arrived, filled with original--yet accessible--international recipes and photographs of sun-drenched Mediterranean scenes.

Summer Days & Balmy Nights is divided into six sections that reflect the best dishes from Spain, Italy, France and Greece, tailored to summer eating--light dishes that emphasize fresh produce and simple preparation. The first section, "Grazing Plates," is divided by country and includes explanations of each regional cuisine. For example, Greek Meze are "delicious little plates of spicy, savoury and often salty food... designed to enhance the taste of alcoholic drinks," while the Spanish Tapas are "from the Spanish word 'tapar,' meaning 'to cover'... originally served in bars and used as lids covering alcoholic drinks to protect the drinks from fruit flies."

The remaining sections are not divided by country, but do include facts about unfamiliar regional terms or why certain countries use certain herbs. Classic favorites are reinterpreted in refreshing ways, like a vegetable-only bouillabaisse or a steak Nicoise. The "Food to Go" section is an original take on picnics--including savory delights such as the mixed mushroom frittata, souvlaki (Greek kebab) in pita, and cheesy stuffed croissants--while "Alfresco Feasts" focuses on lighter pasta and risotto dishes as well as quick pizzas and tarts. Summer Days & Balmy Nights ends with desserts and drinks--from panna cotta and strawberry tiramisu to sangrias and iced coffees. This book would be a welcome gift simply based on the luminous photography; the exquisite recipes are almost incidental. --Kristen Galles from Book Club Classics

The author of the much-loved Mysterious Benedict Society series here gives readers a delightful prequel.

When readers meet nine-year-old Nicholas Benedict, a newly arrived orphan in the small town of Pebbleton, right away they can tell that he is no ordinary child. Not only does he suffer from narcolepsy, which causes him to fall asleep whenever he is overcome with emotion, he also has an exceptional memory, is very observant and tends to solve mysteries before others have even noticed they need solving.

Child's End orphanage is peppered with the usual menaces: strict and sneaky director Mr. Collum, a cranky but lovestruck housekeeper, a gang of bullies known as the Spiders and a nurse who eagerly administers "drops" to the orphans for any possible ailments. But when Nicholas discovers that Mr. Collum is on the hunt for a treasure hidden by the orphanage's wealthy founders, his life takes on a powerful purpose. Money would mean freedom!

Freedom, however, proves not to be as important to Nicholas as friendship, and readers will be deeply satisfied when Nicholas finally finds allies and creates a home for himself. Though readers may guess what the orphanage's "treasure" is before Nicholas does, the story takes many surprising twists and turns, from creepy to hilarious. Fans of Stewart's series will be thrilled to discover the story of the Society's founder, and Nicholas is such an endearing character that those who haven't read the other books will no doubt be eager to do so. --Molly McLeod, middle school librarian

Andrew Fukuda (The Crossing) takes the feeling of isolation that dominates adolescence and builds a world around it in a novel where the tension rarely slackens.

Seventeen-year-old narrator Gene dares not laugh or cry, or walk into the sunlight. If he did, his secret would be out, and he would be devoured by his neighbors and classmates--literally. Gene is the last heper--human--left in a world of vampire-like carnivores who consider hepers the greatest delicacy. Gene lost his mother and sister when he was too young to remember them. Then his father disappeared. Now Gene must masquerade alone, with only his memories and his father's lessons to sustain him. "Never forget who you are," the man told him. And for Gene, remembering who he is becomes his nightmare: "Every time I... hold in a sneeze or stifle a laugh,... I am reminded of who I am. A fake person." Then the Ruler announces that for the first time in a decade, he will hold a Heper Hunt. Just as Gene discovers there are others like him, he is chosen to be one of the hunters.

Fukuda perfectly captures the excruciating experience of high school, where it feels as if every gesture receives close scrutiny by the entire student body. He turns up the violence a notch from Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games because this society is hardwired to kill the hepers. Since Gene narrates, we know that he must survive, but how he survives is what propels us swiftly through these pages. --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness

For more on The Hunt, check out our Maximum Shelf.