The Wolf and the Watchman: A Father, A Son, and the CIA by Scott C. Johnson (W.W. Norton & Company, 2013, $26.95, 304 pp.)

Spies. Intrigue. Deception. Foreign countries. The CIA. And a journalist. These elements and more—familial love, lies, isolation, reconciliation—come together in Scott C. Johnson’s memoir that recounts how he learned the truth about his father being a spy and how that knowledge affected their relationship and his own career. Johnson is an Oakland freelance journalist and former foreign correspondent for Newsweek who produces a thought-provoking narrative about learning his father’s secret, distancing himself from it, and ultimately dealing with it, realizing in the end how similar the life of a reporter and an undercover government operator—gaining trust to uncover confidences—can be.

Eli, Ely by Ezekiel Tyrus (hardhead press, 2013, $14.95, 283 pp.)

San Francisco writer and performance storyteller artist Ezekiel Tyrus, also a Beat Generation fanatic, pens “a San Francisco dramedy of sex, tears, and a life lived in not-so-quiet desperation,” in this, his debut novel, from indie publisher hardheadpress. The narrative stars an unaccomplished, uncouth writer, Eli Trocchi, and his ex-girlfriend, Jennifer Ely, a somber, serious grad student. The struggling writer takes a twisting, zigzagging, sex-filled romp through San Francisco as he reminisces and tries in vain to improve his lot in life.

Maxed Out: American Moms on the Brink by Katrina Alcorn (Seal Press, 2013, $16, 379 pp.)

Are you maxed out? Katrina Alcorn, an Oakland-based writer and design consultant with a master’s degree in journalism and documentary filmmaking from UC Berkeley, was and suffered nervous breakdown, despite a successful career and loving family. Alcorn uses per personal story of being a woman overwhelmed by societal demands pitting family against careers as a springboard to suggest her vision of how working moms can find “a healthier, happier, and more productive way to work and live.” Above all, she urges, remember this: Working moms are not alone in this perilous struggle.