'The Match King: Ivar Kreuger, the Financial Genius Behind a Century of Wall Street Scandals'
By Frank Partnoy
Reviewed by Adam Lashinsky

'Golden Dreams: California in an Age of Abundance'
By Kevin Starr
Reviewed by Phyllis Filiberti Butler

'The Story Sisters'
By Alice Hoffman
Reviewed by Malena Watrous

'An Irreverent Curiosity: In Search of the Church's Strangest Relic in Italy's Oddest Town'
By David Farley
Reviewed by Tony Horwitz

'In the Kitchen'
By Monica Ali
Reviewed by Heller McAlpin

'Stormy Weather: The Life of Lena Horne'
By James Gavin
Reviewed by David Wiegand

'The Book of William: How Shakespeare's First Folio Conquered the World'
By Paul Collins
Reviewed by Elaine Margolin

'Brodeck'
By Philippe Claudel | Translated by John Cullen
Reviewed by Gregory Leon Miller

Books Around The Bay Here's your guide to local independent bookstores. Plus: Find them on this map.

Top Shelf
This week's recommendations of recent books comes from Moe's Books in Berkeley.

Fresh Ink
Part of Vladimir Nabokov's unfinished novella in Playboy; Amazon lowers Kindle price; and more.

Grabbers
These first sentences from new books caught our attention. How about yours?

Three Panel Book Review
Lisa Brown's artistic takes on literary classics.

Bay Area Bound
Notable books, due out in July, by Bay Area authors.

Bound by fog Fog creeps into many a novel set in S.F. Here's a look at why »?

The best in comic books
Here's a sample of the best graphic storytelling available in hardcover and trade paperback.

Politics on two wheels Reporter Jeff Mapes' new book, "Pedaling Revolution," chronicles the rise of urban bicycling.

Clueing readers in
The promotion for Dan Brown's new thriller will itself be a bit of a puzzle.

Forgiving pages After a car accident, Holly Payne wrote the driver responsible a book about forgiveness.

And the worst writing is ...
David McKenzie's roaring sea tale takes worst writing honors.

Language of the right Geoffrey Nunberg's new book looks at the death of right-wing political speak.

Book sharing, cyber-style
Book lovers are trading tomes through Web sites.

An enjoyable fable Luis Alberto Urrea explores border culture in his latest novel, "Into the Beautiful North." | Read the review.

Boy wizard under fire
"Harry Potter" publisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC denies plagiarism allegations.

Judy Blume approved "My Little Red Book" shares women's stories of their first period.

Black Oak Books Closes
The Berkeley bookstore closed on May 31.