The New York Times Book Update

'Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America'

By JILL LEOVY
Reviewed by JENNIFER GONNERMAN

In "Ghettoside," Jill Leovy describes a homicide case in South Los Angeles to examine the epidemic of unsolved murders of African-American men in America.

Daniel Handler: By the Book

The author, most recently, of the novel "We Are Pirates" (and, as Lemony Snicket, numerous children's books) likes to read Miss Manners.

·         By the Book: Archive

'Marissa Mayer and the Fight to Save Yahoo!'

By NICHOLAS CARLSON
Reviewed by SHEELAH KOLHATKAR

In 2012, Marissa Mayer was tasked with reversing the fortunes of a struggling Internet pioneer.

'If I Fall, if I Die'

By MICHAEL CHRISTIE
Reviewed by SAÏD SAYRAFIEZADEH

A debut novel about family, phobias and the high-flying freedoms of skateboarding.

'Against the Country'

By BEN METCALF
Reviewed by THAD ZIOLKOWSKI

Ben Metcalf's novel, set in Virginia, takes issue with the American idealization of the back-to-the-land life.

'Where the Dead Pause, and the Japanese Say Goodbye'

By MARIE MUTSUKI MOCKETT
Reviewed by RICHARD LLOYD PARRY

Mourning her father's death, the author undertakes a pilgrimage to Japan's great Buddhist temples.

'Reeling Through Life' and 'Silver Screen Fiend'

By TOM SHONE

Tara Ison's essays and Patton Oswalt's memoir offer personal accounts of intense movie fandom.

'Mr. Mac and Me'

By ESTHER FREUD
Reviewed by ELIZABETH GRAVER

In Esther Freud's novel, an artistic boy befriends the architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh in 1914.

'Van Gogh: A Power Seething'

By JULIAN BELL
Reviewed by PATRICIA ALBERS

Julian Bell looks at van Gogh's brief, explosively creative life.

'The Season of Migration'

By NELLIE HERMANN
Reviewed by LEAH HAGER COHEN

A novel of van Gogh's anguished time in Belgium.