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Sam Kean's The Violinist's Thumb: And Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, as Written by Our Genetic Code delves into the history of genetics, in the anecdotal and engaging mode of his previous exploration of the periodic table, The Disappearing Spoon.

When author Lucas Mann turned 13, his father gave him a copy of Portnoy's Complaint, a novel The New Yorker dubbed "one of the dirtiest books ever published." Mann says the book taught him that life is painful, sometimes gross, and often funny.

Sometimes it takes a sad story to make you feel better. When author Shani Boianjiu was young, she had an indescribable sadness. But reading The Ice Palace by Tarjei Vesaas made her feel that there were stories she could connect with. Are there sad stories you love? Tell us in the comments.

Sometimes it takes a sad story to make you feel better. When author Shani Boianjiu was young, she had an indescribable sadness. But reading The Ice Palace by Tarjei Vesaas made her feel that there were stories she could connect with. Are there sad stories you love? Tell us in the comments.

Comedy writer Maria Semple's latest, Where'd You Go, Bernadette, follows 15-year-old Bee as she tracks down her mother, Bernadette, who disappeared on the eve of a family trip to Antarctica. Bernadette is an epistolary novel that paints an acidly funny portrait of life in Seattle.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki will soon unveil the next stage in his plan to avoid an all-out civil war. President Bush says al-Maliki has discussed granting amnesty to insurgents. How might the government engage insurgents in the political process?

Poland holds national elections on Sunday and opposition parties say the future of the country's democracy is at stake.

Both candidates wear bullet proof vests after the assassination of a frontrunner last month. And both are criticized for not having more defined plans on how to combat growing crime.

For three weeks, a human column has been weaving its way across the landscape toward New Delhi. Led by a posse of chanting Buddhist monks, tens of thousands of India's poorest people are on their way to the Indian parliament, where they'll demand compensation for lost land.

Rebels and the government of Nepal have signed a peace deal. The agreement ends a 10-year insurgency, and begins a new political era in the Himalayan nation. Wednesday has been declared a national day of celebration for the accord.