These books confront readers with the recent past and distant future, bring them to southeastern Africa and an alternative Japan, and bedeck their pages with subversive cartoons and lush landscapes.

Romance novels are often dismissed as meaningless distractions from real life, but sometimes that’s just what a reader needs.

A major exhibition on the life and career of Dolly Parton will open at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in May, including signature costumes.