10:04 A novel

I'LL DRINK TO THAT: A Life in Style, With a Twist, by Betty Halbreich with Rebecca Paley. (Penguin, $16.) As a long-reigning personal shopper at Bergdorf Goodman, Halbreich has counseled clientele on matters far more than the sartorial. Writing with Midwestern pragmatism about her work and a therapist's empathy for her clients, she details her privileged childhood in Chicago; marriage into a wealthy East Coast family; and professional passion found later in life. As our reviewer, Alexandra Jacobs, put it: "She might be a bird in a gilded cage, but her view of the flowers outside is unobstructed." ABOVE THE EAST CHINA SEA, by Sarah Bird. (Vintage, $15.95.) Set on Okinawa, this novel examines the island's history through the eyes of two grieving teenagers. In 1945, Tamiko worked in service of the Japanese Imperial Army and witnessed the devastating impact of violence. In later years, her story is interwoven with that of Luz, a modern-day American Air Force brat forced to adjust to life after her sister dies fighting in Afghanistan. THE LANGUAGE OF FOOD: A Linguist Reads the Menu, by Dan Jurafsky. (Norton, $15.95.) Mining sources like menus, recipes and restaurant reviews for insight, Jurafsky decodes the way food is described. He also uncovers surprising details of culinary history, including ketchup's Chinese origins; the Persian roots of fish and chips; and how the turkey was named. FUNNY ONCE: Stories, by Antonya Nelson. (Bloomsbury, $16.) Transporting readers into homes and lives in the open stretches of Texas, New Mexico, Colorado and Kansas, Nelson chronicles domestic upsets and ruptures. In the opening story, a recently widowed father, his children and the family's longtime housekeeper struggle to rearrange their lives in the wake of a wife's death. FIELDS OF BLOOD: Religion and the History of Violence, by Karen Armstrong. (Anchor, $16.95.) Maintaining that "modern society has made a scapegoat of faith," Armstrong offers a rejoinder to the idea that religions are inherently violent. Spanning civilizations, conflicts and creeds from ancient Mesopotamia through to the current day, her book argues that very little bloodshed can be ascribed to religious disputes; instead, violent impulses often trace their origins to the state. 10:04, by Ben Lerner. (Picador/Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $16.) The narrator of Lerner's brilliant second novel contemplates his next literary project and the possibility of having a child with his best friend. Framed by two hurricanes, story lines intersect as the narrator considers his identity and external persona. KAFKA: The Years of Insight, by Reiner Stach. Translated by Shelley Frisch. (Princeton University, $24.95.) The second installment of an exhaustive, if piecemeal, biographical project, this volume covers the writer's final eight years (1916-24), including his work as a bureaucrat during World War I, turbulent relationships and a diagnosis of tuberculosis, which would eventually prove fatal.

Starred Review. A philosophical meditation on poetry's attempt-and ultimate failure-to approximate abstract beauty, Lerner's Leaving the Atocha Station still resonates among literary critics as one of the best novels of 2011. Similarly, the relentless striving to understand our own mortality even as we negotiate the infinite future effectively underscores this new work. Set in New York City, the story features an unnamed protagonist with a modicum of literary fame, a heart condition, and a best friend who needs his assistance to conceive a child. Though graciously contributing to the start of another life, the narrator is constantly aware of his own fragile existence. This vexing awareness of time forms the core of the novel. Whether wandering through dinosaur exhibits, ruminating over the Challenger explosion, or staring at the Marfa lights, our storyteller is continually musing on the triadic relationship of the present to the unknown past and the uncertain future. VERDICT An autoethnography that skillfully weaves Back to the Future, the brontosaurus, and Ronald Reagan into a narrative about living in the moment; highly recommended. [See Prepub Alert, 3/31/14.]-Joshua Finnell, Denison Univ. Lib., Granville, OH (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.