• Boomsday: A Novel—The newest work from local satirist Christopher Buckley goes back inside the Washington world of “original spin” that he depicted in Thank You for Smoking, which was made into a successful movie. This time Buckley breathes new life into the “Washington female blogger” genre with his story of Cassandra Devine and generational warfare over the always-exciting world of Social Security.

• Body of Lies—Read the book before you see what’s sure to be a movie. This post-9/11 thriller from the creative mind of Washington Post columnist David Ignatius follows the Inspector Javert-like quest of idealistic CIA agent Roger Ferris to penetrate the terrorist world of a mastermind killer. As in the best espionage novels, you won’t see the ending coming.

• The Jesus Machine: How James Dobson, Focus on the Family, and Evangelical America Are Winning the Culture War—This new work by first-time author and U.S. News & World Report senior writer Dan Gilgoff argues that Dobson’s political influence eclipses that of all other evangelical leaders. It’s good reading for anyone trying to understand where the Republican Party is today and where it may be going.