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These are All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen's favorite albums of 2009, the records he looked to for comfort. This year, Bob needed songs with stories and melodies, not agitation or anger.

After the first long day of music and a big showcase, Bob Boilen, Robin Hilton, Ann Powers, and Stephen Thompson huddle up to break down the days events.

A dirty deed and official cover-up drive the plot in John le Carre's A Delicate Truth. The novel sets its sights on old-boy corruption and corporate criminality at the heart of the "Deep State," but critic Alan Cheuse finds this latest effort lacks the tension of le Carre's Cold War novels.

To some, Detroit may be a symbol of urban decay; but to journalist Charlie LeDuff, it's home. In Detroit: An American Autopsy, he says the city's heart beats on. "We're still here trying to reconstruct the great thing we once had," he tells Fresh Air's Dave Davies.

To Kill a Mockingbird and Valley of the Dolls have more in common than you think. In his new book Hit Lit, mystery writer James Hall argues that best-sellers from the past century share 12 features.

An accused drug dealer has turned the tables and helped prosecutors convict his defense lawyer of manufacturing evidence to help his case. The hard-nosed strategy is raising questions about whether the Justice Department is chilling the relationship between a defendant and his lawyer.

Economists had expected better news. Private payrolls grew by just 57,000. Cuts at government agencies pulled the overall figure down even more. Previous months' job growth figures were revised down.

Wolfe tells Fresh Air's Dave Davies that what makes Miami exceptional is the story of how an immigrant community rose to dominate its political landscape in just over a generation. His new novel deals with racial and ethnic conflict among the city's diverse inhabitants.

Critic Alan Cheuse maps out a winter wonderland of fiction and poetry — from ancient Greece to the near-future visions of Walter Mosley, a selection of the best books to give and receive this holiday season. Cheuse says these five books strike the perfect balance between lyricism and narrative.

In Thomas Caplan's latest novel, The Spy Who Jumped Off the Screen, Ty Hunter, a spy-turned-movie star, is called back to service at the U.S. president's behest. The book is Caplan's third work of fiction, and an early draft got a little editing help from the real-life ex-president.

In Thomas Caplan's latest novel, The Spy Who Jumped Off the Screen, Ty Hunter, a spy-turned-movie star, is called back to service at the U.S. president's behest. The book is Caplan's third work of fiction, and an early draft got a little editing help from the real-life ex-president.

Thor Hanson's new book looks at the evolutionary significance of feathers in birds. Hanson tells Fresh Air that he's amazed by birds' magnitude of feathers, how feathers grow and how they're the "most efficient insulation known."