The Mamas & the Papas singer was known for her wit, her voice and her skill as a connector. For 50 years, a rumor has overshadowed her legacy.

The singer and songwriter with a silky-smooth voice has written a memoir with Paul Reiser that recounts his story of pain and redemption with dashes of humor.

Critics and readers love the term, but it can be awfully slippery to pin down. That’s what makes it so fun to try.

The economist and philosopher Daniel Chandler thinks so. In “Free and Equal,” he makes a vigorous case for adopting the liberal political framework laid out by John Rawls in the 1970s.

In “The Birds That Audubon Missed,” Kenn Kaufman delves into the fierce, at times unethical, competition among early American ornithologists.

New books by H.A. Clarke, Robert Jackson Bennett and Micaiah Johnson.