Jonathan Adams & Scott Weidensaul

America's wildlife is our focus today, with two new books that show how far we've come in protecting our resources, but also how far we still have to go. Scott Weidensaul's book Return to Wild America is a reminder of the progress of the last half century. We'll talk with him in a few minutes, but first, conservation biologist Jonathan Adams. In his new book The Future of the Wild he argues that America's wilderness can't be contained in a few large, but scattered, national parks.

Jesse Kellerman "Sunstroke"

A woman secretly in love with her boss turns out to be the only one interested in retrieving his body when he dies under mysterious circumstances in Mexico, in the debut mystery-thriller by Jesse Kellerman called Sunstroke. As she finds out, though, there may be much more to her boss's story than she was prepared for.

Marisa de los Santos & Olga Grushin

Today, we talk with the very talented authors of two debut novels. Russian-born Olga Grushin helps us see the moral ambiguities of Soviet life in the years just before glasnost, in her book The Dream Life of Sukhanov. But first, Marisa de los Santos, whose debut Love Walked In is an unusual love story between a 31-year-old woman and an 11-year-old girl.

Taylor Branch & Richard Reeves

New books about two of the most towering figures of the latter half of the 20th century. Taylor Branch concludes his prizewinning trilogy on the life of Martin Luther King Jr. with his newest book At Canaan's Edge. We'll meet him in a few minutes, but first journalist Richard Reeves, who is also completing a trilogy about the most influential presidents of our time, with his new book President Reagan: The Triumph of Imagination.

John Tayman "The Colony"

For over one hundred years anyone in Hawaii diagnosed with leprosy was exiled to a remote peninsula on the island of Molokai, where, it was assumed, the disease would run its course and claim its victim's life. Over 8,000 people were banished to the colony before Hawaiian law was finally changed in 1969. Now writer John Tayman takes us inside what was once the world's best-known leper colony, in his book The Colony.

Arthur Japin "In Lucia's Eyes"

In the 18th century, an Italian adventurer, soldier, spy, diplomat, and writer named Casanova wrote an autobiography that detailed his romances with scores of women across Europe. In his book, he briefly mentions a young servant girl, apparently his first romance. Her story is now imagined, in fiction, by Dutch writer Arthur Japin, in a novel called In Lucia's Eyes.

Kaye Gibbons "The Life All Around Me By Ellen Foster"

We first met the character called Ellen Foster in 1986, in the debut novel by Kaye Gibbons called simply Ellen Foster. Ellen was a child of 11 in that book, an orphan who sought out her own foster family after being kicked out of the house by her aunt on Christmas day. The book has become a modern classic, an Oprah book club selection. And now it has a sequel. Gibbons calls the new book The Life All Around Me By Ellen Foster.

Leonard Steinhorn "The Greater Generation"

The World War Two baby boom generation has been widely knocked for years as spoiled and self-centered, unable or unwilling to live up to the standards set by what has come to be known as The Greatest Generation. But American University communications professor -- and Baby Boomer -- Leonard Steinhorn argues that those born between '46 and '62 are pretty good, after all. His book is called The Greater Generation.

Michele Martinez "The Finishing School"

A federal prosecutor in New York City is handed a case that turns out to be far more dangerous than it initially appears, in the mystery The Finishing School by former real-life federal prosecutor Michele Martinez. Her heroine, Melanie Vargas, must navigate through a political minefield as she tries to track down a nasty and ruthless villain.

Gail Sheehy "Sex and the Seasoned Woman"

The stereotypical roles of middle-aged or older women just don't fit anymore, says bestselling author and cultural observer Gail Sheehy, who talked with hundreds of women over 40, or 50, and even over 90 for her new book Sex and the Seasoned Woman.

L. Paul Bremer & Peter Bergen

Today, we'll talk with the man who was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his role in helping reestablish democracy in postwar Iraq. Former Ambassador L. Paul Bremer joins us to talk about his book My Year in Iraq. But first, in light of this week's newest message to the west from Osama bin Laden, we'll meet one westerner who knows a great deal about the world's most-wanted man: CNN terrorism analyst Peter Bergen, whose new book is called The Osama bin Laden I Know.

Linda Carroll & Thulani Davis

There are two new memoirs, by women seeking the truth about their heritage. Thulani Davis's book My Confederate Kinfolk recounts her search for the white ancestors in her black family. We'll talk with her in a few minutes, but first .. in her new book called Her Mother's Daughter Linda Carroll writes about finding her place in a lineage that includes her mother, writer Paula Fox, and her daughter, rock star Courtney Love.

Dr. Brenda Shoshanna "The Anger Diet"

Millions of Americans are poisoning themselves with a toxic substance, and they may not even know it. New York psychologist Dr. Brenda Shoshanna says that substance is anger, and it can kill you, but not before making you and everyone around you miserable. What you need, she says, is a program to wean you from your anger, a "diet" from anger. That's her new book, The Anger Diet.

Peter Schechter & Tom Gabbay

America spends billions of dollars a year fighting the drug trade, but still tons of drugs are smuggled into the country every day. Now debut novelist Peter Schechter imagines, what if those highly skilled drug smugglers from Colombia were recruited by one of America's enemies to smuggle something far more dangerous into the U.S.? We'll talk with him about his new book Point of Entry in a few minutes. But first .. a plot to assassinate the President is hardly a new idea, in fiction. But former network TV executive Tom Gabbay puts a unique spin on the concept in his debut thriller The Berlin Conspiracy. In his book, the year is 1963, the target of the assassination plot is John F. Kennedy, but the location is not Dallas. It's East Germany.

Louis Sachar "Small Steps"

When last we met this teenager nicknamed Armpit, he was at Camp Green Lake, along with a bunch of other teen offenders, digging holes, in Louis Sachar’s bestselling book for young readers called Holes. Now, in Sachar’s book Small Steps, Armpit is back in his hometown of Austin, Texas, working as a landscaper. Still digging holes, but at least he’s doing honest work. That is, until his old Camp Green Lake buddy X-Ray shows up with a moneymaking scheme.

J.B. Stanley "A Killer Collection"

Who knew that taking an interest in antiques and collectibles could get someone killed? In J.B. Stanley's debut mystery, a cozy called A Killer Collection, writer Molly Appleby accompanies her antiques-loving mother to a kiln opening, where -- wouldn't you know it? -- an obnoxious collector ends up dead.

Ana Marie Cox "Dog Days"

The blogosphere knows her as Wonkette. Now Washington, D.C. insider Ana Marie Cox is also a novelist. Her debut book is an inside-the-Beltway, election-year roman à clef called Dog Days.

Kate Michelman & Kate O'Beirne

Kate O'Beirne, the Washington editor of the "National Review," names names and takes no prisoners in her assessment of, as her book calls them, Women Who Make the World Worse. Among them are people like Hillary Rodham Clinton, Gloria Steinem, Maureen Dowd, and Kate Michelman. We'll talk with Kate O'Beirne in a few minutes, but first, it's Kate Michelman. After two decades at the forefront of the battle to protect a woman's right to a safe, legal abortion in the U.S., Michelman has written what's described as a political memoir of her role in that fight. It's called With Liberty and Justice For All.

W.E.B. Griffin & John Perkins

John Perkins is retired now, but he used to be a hit man: an "economic hit man," a term he explains in his bestselling memoir Confessions of an Economic Hit Man. We'll meet him in a few minutes, but first, bestselling military-thriller writer W.E.B. Griffin visits, as we talk about his new book The Hostage, plus why he is not bothered by the idea of the NSA listening in on our conversations.

Stephen Bronner "Blood in the Sand"

Politics in America, post-9/11, are brought into sharp focus and come under sharp criticism in a book by Stephen Eric Bronner, senior editor of the online journal "Logos." Bronner analyzes what's been characterized as a crisis of democracy, jabbing politicians on the right as well as the left in his book Blood in the Sand.

Pamela Winnick & Alan Burdick

The human habitat now reaches to every corner of the planet, as people move freely about in ways nature could never have imagined -- taking with them other creatures, transplanting living things to new environments. Science writer Alan Burdick studies "invasion biology" in his new book Out of Eden. But first: religion and science, which have always, to some extent, been at odds. The author of a new book argues that the nature of the antagonism has shifted. It used to be heroic scientists versus harsh and unbending religion. Now it's science that is throwing its weight around, says Pamela Winnick, whose book is called A Jealous God.

Carl Weber "So You Call Yourself a Man"

Three guys who have been best friends as long as they can remember have their love lives sorely tested, in Carl Weber's novel So You Call Yourself a Man. One is in a happy marriage, which evidence of a past indiscretion now threatens. Another's wife has just left him, and the third is a good Christian who nevertheless finds that temptation is too much for him.

Edvard Radzinsky "Alexander II: The Last Great Tsar"

He freed his country's slaves in the middle of the 19th century, was revered by many but reviled by just as many, and was ultimately assassinated. But it's not Abraham Lincoln we're referring to -- it was Russian tsar Alexander II. Now well-known Russian historian Edvard Radzinsky reveals the life Alexander led, in his book Alexander II: The Last Great Tsar.

Joe Conason "The Raw Deal"

President Bush has been a strong proponent of Social Security reform, but many people remain unconvinced that even if Social Security is in as much trouble as we're told it is, that the Bush "reform" is really the answer. Joe Conason explains the flaws in the Bush privatization plan, in his book The Raw Deal.

David Roll "Louis Johnson And the Arming of America"

The name Louis Johnson does not come immediately to mind, when discussing the key American leaders of the World War Two era. But as Washington, D.C. attorney David Roll points out in his book Louis Johnson And the Arming of America, he was a man who played a major role in building America's military might, even before we were drawn into the war.

Bruce Chadwick "The First American Army"

Our collective knowledge about the Revolutionary War is based largely on the actions of a relative handful of men, the group of leaders that includes, for example, George Washington. But that is an incomplete version of the war. Historian Bruce Chadwick brings the war into focus a different way, in his book The First American Army. He looks at it through the eyes of eight ordinary men, the citizen-soldiers who took time out from their everyday occupations and fought a well-trained British army -- and won.

Katrina vanden Heuvel "The Dictionary of Republicanisms"

Have American politics reached the point where we need a special dictionary just to figure out what politicians are really saying? The longtime editor of "The Nation," Katrina vanden Heuvel, says figuring out what Republicans really mean does require some translation. With the assistance of hundreds of the magazine's readers, vanden Heuvel has assembled a book she calls The Dictionary of Republicanisms.

Greg Critser "Generation Rx"

Journalist Greg Critser has been writing about the pharmaceutical industry for several years, but was struck by a 2002 study showing that the average use of prescription drugs in the U.S. had doubled in only about 12 years' time. One out of every two Americans now takes at least one prescription drug a day, and one out of six people takes three or more prescriptions a day. Critser wanted to find out why. The result is his book Generation Rx.

Richard Boyatzis "Resonant Leadership"

Mindfulness and hope are among the key ingredients in business success, says the co-author of a book that identifies what it takes to achieve "resonance." Richard Boyatzis speaks to leaders at all levels in his book Resonant Leadership.

C.T. Adams "Moon's Web"

Can a shapeshifter who used to be a contract killer, and his new human bride find true happiness? There are plenty of challenges to their new marriage, in the C.T. Adams fantasy romance Moon's Web, written with her co-author Cathy Clamp. In this book, a kidnapper has shaken up the shapeshifter community in a big way, and only former mob hitman Tony Giodone can make things right again.

Brian Tracy "Something for Nothing"

It's said that the love of money is the root of all evil, but the love of getting something for nothing is a powerful motivator, too, says bestselling author and personal development consultant Brian Tracy. In his book Something For Nothing, Tracy explains how the "gimme" mentality is corroding society from the inside out, and why we better stop it.