Books: New and noteworthy

Paste BN's Jocelyn McClurg scopes out the hottest books on sale each week.

1. The Stranger by Harlan Coben (Dutton, fiction, on sale March 24)

What it's about: A wife disappears after her husband learns a devastating secret about her from a stranger.

The buzz: Coben's many best sellers include last year's Missing You, which hit No. 3 on Paste BN's Best-Selling Books list.

2. The Haunting of Sunshine Girl by Paige McKenzie and Alyssa Sheinmel (Weinstein Books, fiction, on sale March 24)

What it's about: The first book in a young-adult series based on the hit YouTube "mockumentary" series about a teenage girl who's sure her new house is haunted.

The buzz: The Weinstein Company also holds film rights and is developing Haunting for TV.

3. Cake My Day! by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, non-fiction, on sale March 24)

What it's about: "Easy, Eye-Popping Designs for Stunning, Fanciful, and Funny Cakes."

The buzz: Nothing plain about these tasty cakes. From the authors of the best-selling Hello, Cupcake!

4. The Precious One by Marisa de los Santos (William Morrow, fiction, on sale March 24)

What it's about: A young woman faces challenges when she reunites with her narcissistic father and the half-sister she barely knows.

The buzz: It's an Indie Next Pick of independent booksellers. "Warmly funny and heartbreaking," says Fran Duke of Where the Sidewalk Ends Bookstore in Chatham, Mass.

5. The Book of Wanderings: A Mother-Daughter Pilgrimage by Kimberly Meyer (Little, Brown, non-fiction, on sale March 24)

What it's about: A single mother and her college-age daughter spend a summer retracing the journey of medieval Dominican friar Felix Fabri from Venice to Cairo.

The buzz: "An uncommonly rich and spiritual book," says Booklist.