>ALLISON PEARSON I Don't Know How She Does It She's got a job. She's got kids. She's got a husband. She's got a headache. Brit Pearson's novel is like life, only funnier.

SANDRA CISNEROS Caramelo A century of Mexican-American life makes for a richly satisfying novel about the Reyes clan, who remain as tightly knit as the striped cloth that gives the book its title.

DAVID W. SHAW The Sea Shall Embrace Them The real-life 1854 wreck of the steamship Arctic makes for a harrowing tale of a disaster at sea that should have been prevented.