Now Read This: The Week’s Best New Books, February 26th Edition

Blood Royal: A True Tale of Crime and Detection in Medieval Paris
(Little, Brown and Company, hardcover, $29)
By Eric Jager
Jager, an award-winning author and UCLA professor, releases his fourth book, a historical murder mystery that follows the chief law enforcement officer of 15th century Paris as he investigates the assassination of Louie of Orleans.
Out: February 25

Bark: Stories
(Knopf, hardcover, $25)
By Lorrie Moore
Bark compiles eight new stories by renowned short-story writer Lorrie Moore. From the travails of a divorced man whose country prepares to invade Iraq to a teacher who is forced to sing by the ghost of a recently deceased friend, Moore’s newest pieces exhibit her flare for combining the absurd and the familiar.
Out: February 25

Dragnet Nation: A Quest for Privacy, Security, and Freedom in a World of Relentless Surveillance
(Times Books, hardcover, $28)
By Julia Angwin
Angwin, a longtime reporter on digital privacy issues for the Wall Street Journal, releases the contemporary (and, unfortunately, nonfiction) companion book to Orwell’s 1984. Dragnet Nation examines the surveillance economy and its effect on free speech and thought, likely causing readers to rethink the next words they type into a search engine.
Out: February 25

The Future of the Mind: The Scientific Quest to Understand, Enhance, and Empower the Mind
(Doubleday, hardcover, $29)
By Michio Kaku
The Future of the Mind gives readers the rundown on the current state of scientific research on the brain and mind. Michio Kaku, a professor of physics and bestselling author, reveals a future where science fiction simply becomes science.
Out: February 25