''I was walking down a street called The Navel of the World, one of two paved lanes in town. Banana fronds hung prostrate in the mugginess, shrouding homes in wanton green. I felt laminated.'' From The Face, science journalist DANIEL McNEILL's evolutionary and social dissection of the human face (Little, Brown, $25)
''Olivia had so many things she wanted to tell the girl who killed her husband that she wasn't even sure where to begin.'' From ANN HOOD's new novel, Ruby (Picador, $22)
