MARTYRS' CROSSING Amy Wilentz Middle Eastern politics rips apart personal lives in a well-reported novel that begins when a woman's 2-year-old son dies after a snafu at a border crossing in Jerusalem. (Simon & Schuster, $24)

GOOD IN BED Jennifer Weiner Get yourself into beach-reading mode with this lightly written debut novel about a zaftig young reporter who learns how to love her plus-size self. (Pocket, $24.95)

OF CATS AND MEN Nina de Gramont These smart but not so soft and fuzzy domestic tales will give you pause about that other familiar love triangle: feisty felines, messy men—and the women who love both. (Dial, $19.95)