Random Family

Random Family by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc (Scribner, $17). LeBlanc spent a decade following a South Bronx, N.Y., family in order to create this beautiful book, a riveting tale that captures the human drama of poverty’s challenges. [Reporter Emily Brady embedded in an insular community for a year to produce “Humboldt,” her book-length portrait of a California region getting rich on marijuana farming. Here, she names some favorite books that served as inspiration.]