Maud Casey reviews the book "Short Stories of Langston Hughes".

Gavin McNett reviews Robyn Hitchcock's album "Moss Elixir".

Christine Muhlke reviews Candace Bushnell's book "Sex And The City".

Dwight Garner reviews Klaus Kinski's autobiography "Kinski Uncut".

Sam Hurwitt reviews Iggy Pop's "Naughty Little Doggy," and Lou Reed's "Set the Twilight".

Michael Ross reviews John Barth's "On With The Story".

James Marcus reviews the book "Horizontal Woman: The Story of a Body in Exile" by Suzanne Berger.

Charles Taylor reviews Marshall Crenshaw's album "Miracle of Science".

James Marcus reviews Poppy Z. Brite's book "Exquisite Corpse".

Nell Casey reviews Elizabeth McCracken's first novel "The Giant's House".

Maud Casey reviews Donald Warren's book "Radio Priest: Charles Coughlin The Father Of Hate Radio".

Rob Spillman reviews Rafael Yglesias's novel "Dr. Neruda's Cure For Evil".

James Marcus reviews Prince's album "Chaos and Disorder".

Phil Leggiere reviews Paul Berman's book "A Tale of Two Utopias: The Political Journey of the Generation of 1968".

Charles Taylor reviews Nancy Griffin and Kim Masters' book "Hit & Run: How Jon Peters and Peter Guber Took Sony for a Ride in Hollywood".

Elizabeth Pincus reviews James Lee Burke's crime novel "Cadillac Jukebox".

Stephanie Zacharek reviews Marly Swick's novel "Paper Wings".

David Futrelle reviews Stephen Fenichell's book "Plastic: The Making of a Synthetic Century".

The following highly subjective selections, which were released over the past year, reflect the preferences of a pianist who loves orchestras, welcomes new ideas about classics and always hunts for something offbeat. If you've never listened to classical music, any of these titles might draw you in -- there's no secret handshake. Go nuts.

Stephanie Zacharek reviews Jill Ciment's memoir "Half A Life".