Learning from Silence,” a memoir about losing his family's Santa Barbara home and everything he owned in a 1990 wildfire.

Critic Bethanne Patrick recommends 10 promising new titles — fiction and nonfiction — to consider in February.

Rwandan-backed M23 rebels say they are now in control of the key eastern Congolese city of Goma. Their fighters continue to claim more territory in one of the world's most mineral-rich territories.