Gun runners, spies, swindlers and more fill the reading list

In search of something good to read? USA TODAY’s Barbara VanDenburgh scopes out the shelves for this week’s hottest new book releases.

1. “Honey Girl” by Morgan Rogers (Park Row, fiction, on sale Tuesday)

What it’s about: Twentyeight-year-old Grace Porter is a strait-laced high achiever with a newly completed Ph.D in astronomy. To celebrate, she does something very un-Grace-like: drunkenly marries a woman whose name she doesn’t know in Las Vegas.

The buzz: “A strong romantic fiction debut that will appeal to readers looking for a story of true love via self-discovery,” says a starred review from Kirkus Reviews.

2. “Tom Stoppard: A Life” by Hermione Lee (Knopf, nonfiction, on sale Tuesday)

What it’s about: Biographer Lee – who also has written about Virginia Woolf, Edith Wharton and Penelope Fitzgerald – vividly tells the story of one of our greatest living playwrights.

The buzz: “Authoritative and exhaustive – another jewel in Lee’s literary crown,” says a starred review from Kirkus Reviews.

3. “Blood Gun Money: Firearms Trafficking Along America’s Iron River” by Ioan Grillo (Bloomsbury, nonfiction, on sale Tuesday)

What it’s about: This eyeopening work of investigative journalism follows the guns to reveal how they make it onto the black market and into the hands of criminals, and talks to armsmakers, hit men, gun sellers and victims.

The buzz: “Grillo brings more than two decades of intimate experience to the task” to look at “virtually every facet of gun culture, laws and trends,” says a ★★★☆ review for USA TODAY.

4. “The Spymaster of Baghdad: A True Story of Bravery, Family, and Patriotism in the Battle against ISIS” by Margaret Coker (Dey Street, nonfiction, on sale Tuesday)

What it’s about: The former New York Times bureau chief in Baghdad tells the gripping story of a covert team of Iraqi spies that triumphed over the Islamic State group.

The buzz: A starred review from Publishers Weekly calls it “a dramatic and edifying mustread for espionage fans and anyone interested in Middle Eastern affairs.”

5. “Confident Women: Swindlers, Grifters, and Shapeshifters of the Feminine Persuasion” by Tori Telfer (Harper Perennial, nonfiction, on sale Tuesday)

What it’s about: An entertaining and darkly funny roundup of history’s frequently forgotten female con artists with the incredible chutzpah to pull off spectacular swindles.

The buzz: “Assured prose complements the vivid portraits. True crime fans are in for a treat,” Publishers Weekly says.