New and recent

“An Ugly Truth: Inside Facebook’s Battle for Domination” by Sheera Frenkel and Cecilia Kang (Harper, 333 pp.). The “ugly truth,” write the two New York Times reporters, is Facebook’s two “possibly irreconcilable” goals: in a reviewer’s words, “advancing society by connecting the world while also profiting off the people it is connecting.” Reviewer Susan Benkelman wrote, “The heart of the book, and its most compelling parts, involve the company’s discovery of Russian-generated disinformation on the platform during the 2016 election and the security team’s frustrated efforts to get their findings in front of ” chiefs Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg — who were focused on growth. (Washington Post)

“Wayward” by Dana Spiotta (Knopf, 288 pp.). In her fifth novel, Spiotta explores the difficulty of being female and true to self, and the lure of self-reinvention. A middleaged mother, undone by the 2016 election and her husband’s nonchalant response, flees her family and buys a fixer-upper. Her teenage daughter is rebelling too. (NYT)

“‘Frankly, We Did Win This Election’: The Inside Story of How Trump Lost” by Michael C. Bender, a Wall Street Journal reporter (Twelve, 432 pp.). “Though the analysis often feels rote, Bender’s insider access impresses, and he enriches the narrative with a sharp sense of humor,” wrote a Publishers Weekly reviewer.

Also: Joyce Maynard, ”Count the Ways” ... Speculative fiction from Lucinda Roy, “The Freedom Race,” and Rebecca Roanhorse, “Black Sun” ... Debbie Macomber, “It’s Better This Way” ... B.A. Paris, “The Therapist” ... Dan Fesperman, “The Cover Wife” ... Daniel Silva, “The Cellist,” a Gabriel Allon novel.