Tidings, William Wharton (Henry Holt). This novel...

Tidings, William Wharton (Henry Holt). This novel about a family that returns to an old mill in France to celebrate Christmas is “curious and wonderful . . . virtually an essay on the subject of our boundless capacity to give from our hearts and to receive tidings of great joy” (Larry Heinemann).

Many Masks: A Life of Frank Lloyd Wright, Brendan Gill (G. P. Putnam’s Sons). “Informative and authoritative . . . . As a former theater critic, (Brendan Gill) is sensitive to Wright’s capricious use of persona to dramatize himself and encourage a project forward to completion” (Ross Miller).

Liberal: Adolf A. Berle and the Vision of an American Era, Jordan A. Schwartz (The Free Press). “A lucid and rounded account of Berle’s ideas and tactics during the momentous years when his influence was at flood tide . . . (Jordan Schwartz) admirably locates the man as an actor in history” (Richard Lingeman).