“Despite her coiffed hair and society pals, Barbara Walters was at heart a rulebreaker, even a revolutionary. Sometimes she didn’t exactly break the rules; she simply ignored them, as though they couldn’t possibly apply to her. Women can’t do serious interviews? Just watch her.” —From The Rulebreaker: The Life and Times of Barbara Walters by Susan Page (April 23)

In her third cookbook, Indulge: Delicious and Decadent Dishes to Enjoy and Share (April 2), actress Valerie Bertinelli, 63, writes about how she’s forgone denial and now relishes every step of preparing and eating her food. Mouthwatering recipes include treats like Roasted-Tomato Panzanella, Spinach Ricotta Grilled Cheese and Maple Pecan Scones.

Whoopi Goldberg, 68, writes in Bits and Pieces (May 7) about her upbringing—when she was Caryn Johnson—in the New York City projects with her loving mother and brother, both the kind of people who “give you the confidence to become exactly who you want to be.”

And Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Michael McDonald, 72, teamed up with friend Paul Reiser, 68, to pen his memoir, What a Fool Believes (May 21), capturing the highs and lows of his life in music, including his times with the Doobie Brothers and Steely Dan.

The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War by Erik Larson
The author of nonfiction page-turners (The Devil in the White City) uses a colorful cast of characters to illustrate how the country reached a boiling point in the months before the Civil War began. (April 30)

James by Percival Everett
Everett brilliantly revisits Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of the enslaved Jim (James, actually), who’s on the run with the presumed-dead Huck. The story of their wild trip down the Mississippi is full of wry social critique, humor and suspense. (March 19)

A Calamity of Souls by David Baldacci
A former attorney, Baldacci sets this gripping courtroom drama in 1968 in a racially divided Virginia, where two lawyers—one Black, one white—make dangerous enemies as they fight to free wrongfully accused Black defendants in a high-stakes double-murder case. (April 16) —Christina Ianzito