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The Paper Garden Mrs. Delany Begins Her Life's Work at 72, by Molly Peacock, Emblem, 395 pages, $22

It's hard to know which is the more fascinating, the life of Mary Granville Pendarves Delany (1700-1788) – married young, widowed twice, witty friend of the wealthy and powerful – or the spectacular art form she invented at the age of 72, mixed-media collages, and the nearly 1,000 exquisite, highly detailed flower images she created over the last 10 years of her life.



Earth (The Book) A Visitor's Guide to the Human Race, by Jon Stewart et al., Grand Central, 245 pages, $18.50

When it became apparent to Jon Stewart and the writers of The Daily Show that the Earth was doomed, they decided to write a book that summed up humanity for the aliens who will arrive in the indefinite future, a compendium of what we looked like and how we acted, to the details of our society, culture and arts.



Northern Light The Enduring Mystery of Tom Thomson and the Woman Who Loved Him, by Roy MacGregor, Vintage Canada, 337 pages, $22

Roy MacGregor grew up near Algonquin Park, where painter Tom Thomson did most of his best work and where he died mysteriously in 1917. The MacGregor family stories included a spinster relative named Winnie Trainor, with whom Thomson was said to have been in love. MacGregor fleshes out Trainor's story, and offers a fresh take on Thomson's death by drowning, even pointing to where the painter is likely buried – unknown until now.



George Clooney The Last Great Movie Star, by Kimberly Potts, Applause, 290 pages, $20.50

Revised and updated, this bio is essential reading for George Clooney fans (you know who you are). Pop culture writer Kimberly Potts traces Clooney's rise from small-town boy to big-screen superstar, providing plenty of dish on his business acumen, practical joking and affairs with beautiful women.



Practical Jean By Trevor Cole, Emblem, 294 pages, $21

Small-town middle-aged ceramics-maker Jean Vale Horemarsh has an epiphany while caring for her dying mother: She can protect those she loves from the miseries of sickness and aging … by killing them.

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