Body Piercing Saved My Life
by Andrew Beaujon (Da Capo)
A music journalist explores the thriving (and increasingly hip) Christian-rock scene.

Rumspringa
by Tom Shachtman (North Point)
Tradition dictates that Amish teens take time away from their community to sow their wild oats. Sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll ensue—followed, in 80 percent of the cases, by a return to the fold.

Friendship
by Joseph Epstein (Houghton Mifflin)
A leading essayist’s musings on the changing nature of companionship and fraternity.

I Feel Bad About My Neck
by Nora Ephron (Knopf)
Thoughts on aging and femininity from a veteran cultural observer.

Uncommon Carriers
by John McPhee (FSG)
A freight-transport travelogue conducted via towboat, UPS, and tanker truck.

Heat
by Bill Buford (Knopf)
A New Yorker writer agrees to become Mario Batali’s “kitchen slave,” learning valuable lessons about excess and suffering in the process.

Into My Own
by Roger Kahn (St. Martin’s)
The eminent sportswriter pays tribute to the people who most shaped his life, including his parents, Robert Frost, and Pee Wee Reese.

The Sound of No Hands Clapping
by Toby Young (Da Capo)
The bumbling Hollywood adventures of the author of How to Lose Friends and Alienate People.