'THE EPIC CITY: The World on the Streets of Calcutta,' by Kushanava Choudhury. When the author was 12, his immigrant family settled in New Jersey. After graduating Princeton, he went back to India and the city that his parents had once called home _ one rich with history but facing an uncertain future. (Bloomsbury, $28)
'WINTER,' by Ali Smith. In 2016, the Scottish-born author published "Autumn," the first in her "Seasonal Quartet" and a finalist for the Man Booker Prize. Now comes the bleakest of seasons. Smith assembles four characters in a Cornwall house for Christmas, offering a fragmentary, digressive group portrait. (Pantheon, $25.95)
'THIS COULD HURT,' by Jillian Medoff. Things aren't looking good for human resources executive Rosa Guerrero at the beginning of this smart novel of corporate life: It's 2009, the economy is a shambles, and the company is facing deep staff cuts. Can Rosa protect her flawed team? (Harper, $26.99)
