I’ve watched Jacques Pepin on TV for over 30 years, all the way back to his duets with Julia Child, so I had to buy his latest book. It is a treasure trove, gathering his favorite recipes from a 60 year cooking career. He is a brilliant cooking teacher, and if you want to learn the secrets of the best French cooking, this book and the accompanying DVD are a great place to start.

As you open a bottle of Veuve Clicquot, the fine French champagne, spare a moment for the Veuve (widow) Clicquot herself. Barbe-Nicole Clicquot Ponsardin grew up during the French Revolution and was widowed as Napoleon conquered Europe. She took over the family wine business and navigated through the turbulent times to succeed spectacularly. Francofiles, wine and food lovers and feminists will devour (sorry) this story of a brilliant entrepreneur who became the world’s first great businesswoman.

I treasure the tactility and visual allure of good magazines, especially as they seem to have become endangered species. And no magazine was more tactile or alluring than Flair, a cutting edge publication that lasted for a dozen issues in the 1950s.

Created by Fleur Cowles, the legendary artist, writer and editor, Flair was meant for both sexes, combining art, fashion, beauty, décor, humor, entertainment, travel and literature. The contributors were a who’s who of the 50s, including Salvador Dali, Eleanor Roosevelt and Tennessee Williams. Flair broke all the rules for magazine production: the covers feature a peephole-like cutout and inside are inserts of varying sizes that add visual and textural interest.

The production costs ultimately sunk Flair, but if you are a magazine junkie like me, bid on one of the copies that are always trading on eBay.

How would you behave if a conquering army occupied your country? Would you go along or would you resist? When German tanks rolled into Paris in 1940 this was no abstract question. Focusing on the writers, painters, composers, actors and dancers who kept working during the Occupation, Alan Riding has written an unsettling account of this morally ambiguous time. The truth is, the artistic life of Paris flourished with as much vitality as before the war. While Jews were being deported to the death camps the cabarets, theaters and film studios of Paris were humming. What should the cultural elite have done? Alan Riding provides no easy answers, but his portrait of this nightmarish time makes for riveting reading.

Ask people to name an architect and Frank Lloyd Wright would top many lists. It’s hard to minimize his influence on modern architecture, even 50 years after this death. Taschen, one of my favorite large format publishers, are producing a three-volume monograph, which includes all his designs, both realized and unrealized. I just received the third volume, featuring his later work, as a gift. And what a gift! Weighing in at thirteen pounds, 12.5 x 16 inches in size, and close to 600 pages, this massive book details over 1100 projects. The photos and drawings are breathtaking. Even a cursory glance leaves you overwhelmed by the audacity and visionary brilliance of Wright’s work.

I hesitate to mention this extraordinary novel because it’s not a quick or easy read. But the reward if you come under its spell is to be consumed by a time and place as foreign and fascinating as any you are likely to encounter. The time is 1800 and the place is Japan, specifically an outpost of the Dutch East India Company on a tiny island off the coast of Nagasaki. It’s an epic history, a haunting romance and without doubt the most imaginative fiction I’ve read in quite a while.

I can figure out who did it in most whodunits. This one is tough. There are so many twists; the plot turns on a dime, and until very near the end you’re not sure who, if anyone, to believe. But the best thing about “Bad Things Happen” is the wry, cynical, tone, personified by the lead character, “a man who calls himself David Loogan.” The edgy suspense is neatly leavened by an amused, understated irony, and the mix is addictive. This is noir mystery with at least half its tongue cleverly planted in its cheek. I raced through “Bad Things Happen” in record time, enjoying every minute of it.

If you’re a mystery fan and haven’t read Tana French, it’s about time you discovered what you’re missing. Her award-winning debut, “Into the Woods”, was a brilliant murder mystery set in Dublin. She then made one of the characters the lead in her equally absorbing second book, “The Likeness.” This device has become a habit, as a character from “The Likeness” is the focal point of her third book, “Faithful Place.” Her prose moves at the speed of sound, her plotting is never predictable and her characters are always compelling. Great beach books.

If you’ve read “Presumed Innocent” by Scott Turow or seen the movie, this sequel is a must read.  It’s the kind of book that should come with a warning: Once you’ve started the last 50 pages, make sure you have the time to finish, because you won’t be able to put it down. “Innocent” is a legal mystery/thriller with enough twists and turns to cause vertigo. Perfect for summer beach reading; just make sure you have enough sunscreen on.