Christmas days 12 stories and 12 feasts for 12 days

ELIZABETH BISHOP: A Miracle for Breakfast, by Megan Marshall. (Mariner/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $16.99.) A former student delves into Bishop's complex personal life, which the poet fiercely tried to protect. Drawing on a trove of new documents, Marshall, a Pulitzer Prizewinning biographer, notes parallels between Bishop's published and private writing, and writes frankly about her alcoholism and central love affair. THE MORAVIAN NIGHT: A Story, by Peter Handke. Translated by Krishna Winston. (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $16.) An unnamed writer invites friends to a houseboat docked in the Balkans, where he regales them with stories of his travels across Europe. The writer's personal history is bound up with that of Central Europe, including stops in places irrevocably changed by time. THE RISE AND FALL OF AMERICAN GROWTH: The U.S. Standard of Living Since the Civil War, by Robert J. Gordon. (Princeton, $24.95.) The economic growth that powered the United States between 1870 and 1970 was probably a one-time event, Gordon, a noted macroeconomist, argues. As our reviewer, Paul Krugman, said here: "This book will challenge your views about the future; it will definitely transform how you see the past." SIGNALS: New and Selected Stories, by Tim Gautreaux. (Vintage, $16.95.) Gautreaux chronicles the life and times of ordinary Louisianians throughout this collection. Southern literary giants haunt Gautreaux's writing, including James Dickey and Flannery O'Connor, whose protagonist from "Everything That Rises Must Converge" he resurrects in one of his tales. The "stories all begin in the relatively humble territory of realistic fiction," our reviewer, Rebecca Lee, said here. "The real thrill of this collection is its inevitable march into poetry." THE WORD DETECTIVE: Searching for the Meaning of It All at the Oxford English Dictionary, by John Simpson. (Basic Books, $16.99.) A former chief editor of the dictionary, Simpson reflects on nearly four decades as a gatekeeper of the English language. Along the way, he offers insight into how words come into being and a look at origins of a scattering of words: inkling, deadline, apprenticeship, balderdash. CHRISTMAS DAYS: 12 Stories and 12 Feasts for 12 Days, by Jeanette Winterson. (Grove, $16.) For years, Winterson has made a tradition of writing a story at Christmastime, ranging from the sentimental to the bittersweet: A team of frogs saves an orphanage; a woman finds solace in a haunted seaside mansion. In this gift book, she shares a collection of those tales, along with recipes for favorite holiday dishes.