Heroes in Their Twilight Years, and Still in the Spotlight

Audiobooks to Cook (or Eat) To, From Ina Garten to David Chang

These culinary coming-of-age tales are movable feasts for the gluttonous listener.

Book Club: Let’s Talk About Claire Keegan’s ‘Small Things Like These’

This slim novella about one Irishman’s crisis of conscience during the Christmas season is the topic of our December book club discussion.

The Story of Hong Kong’s Billionaire Dissident

“The Troublemaker” is a brisk account of the life and work of Jimmy Lai, the media mogul and democracy activist currently on trial for national security offenses.

Maurice Berger Held a Mirror to a Racist Art World

A posthumous anthology of photo essays by the curator and art historian reveals the “troubling reality” of prejudice and the power of images to “undermine the very concept of difference.”

Book Club: Read ‘Our Evenings,’ by Alan Hollinghurst, With the Book Review

In January, the Book Review Book Club will read and discuss “Our Evenings,” a sweeping story about the life, loves, struggles and triumphs of a queer English Burmese actor.

How a Scrappy New Publisher Landed 25 Books on the Best-Seller List in a Year

Bloom Books took off with the help of E L James, the author of “Fifty Shades of Grey.” It broke with tradition and became the fastest-growing imprint in romance.

The Books Readers Loved in 2024

Memorable characters, delightful nonfiction and poignant novels stuck with people across the world.

For These Picture Book Heroes, Daydreams Are What Life Is Made Of

Like Max and Madeline, this boy and girl keep faith with the intangible treasures of their imaginations.

Staffers at The Times on the Books They Enjoyed in 2024

A taboo-busting Brooklyn memoir, a tender Japanese novel about the beauty of connection, a book by a death doula: Editors and writers from around the newsroom describe their favorite books of the year.

5 New Books We Recommend This Week

Suggested reading from critics and editors at The New York Times.

‘The Mark Leyner Reader’ Doesn’t Mean Mark Leyner Is Done Writing

“I’m like one of those deranged soldiers they find on some remote island still fighting a war that’s ended decades ago,” he says. “A Shimmering, Serrated Monster!” is his collection of comic fiction.

Will You Fall in Love With This Poem? I Did.

“Romantic Poet,” by Diane Seuss, is one of the best things that our critic A.O. Scott read (and reread) this year.

The History of Poetry, From the Bronze Age to A.I., in a Single Poem

With “Context Collapse,” Ryan Ruby aims to explain poetry’s origins and its waves of innovation all the way to the present.

This Book Tour Comes With a Side of Fried Rice

Curtis Chin’s memoir, “Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant,” celebrates the cuisine and community of his youth. Now he’s paying it forward.

What Satan’s Biographer Can Teach Us About Tyranny and Resistance

A new book about John Milton and “Paradise Lost” traces the 17th-century epic’s influence and relevance through the ages.

Books That Make Great Gifts

Joumana Khatib, an editor at The New York Times Book Review, recommends a few books to readers looking for gifts for their loved ones.

How Well Do You Know the London of Charles Dickens?

Try this short quiz to see how many landmarks and locations around the city you remember from the great author’s works.

Percival Everett’s Prose Is Having a Moment. How Is His Poetry?

The winner of this year’s National Book Award in fiction has published several collections of poems. Our critic takes a look.

It’s Hard to Be the Brother of a Genius Who Died Young

In “Ira Gershwin: A Life in Words,” Michael Owen offers a sympathetic portrait of the lyricist, overshadowed in a life that had him tending the legacy of his younger sibling George.

An Art World Satire Invokes a (Literal) Ghost

In Ella Baxter’s novel “Woo Woo,” a feminist performance artist starts to question herself on the eve of a provocative solo exhibition.

4 Mysteries Shot Through With Malice and Grief

Our columnist on the month’s best new releases.

Jerome Kohn, Keeper of Hannah Arendt’s Flame, Dies at 93

He devoted his career to guarding the legacy of the philosopher known for her writings on totalitarianism and “the banality of evil.”

Our Book Critics on What Stuck With Them in 2024

Dwight Garner, Jennifer Szalai and Alexandra Jacobs discuss highlights from their year in books.

10 Great Thrillers Set in Remote, Hard-to-Reach Places

Ruth Ware, the author of “The Woman in Cabin 10,” recommends locked-room mysteries and psychological horrors by Agatha Christie, Stephen King, Andy Weir and more.

Two’s a Crowd: 3 New Chapter Books Sing the Praises of Me Time

The protagonists of “A Day With Mousse,” “Little Shrew” and “Lone Wolf Goes to School” feel happiest on their own.

Big Tech Is Embracing Trump. How Long Will It Last?

Three new books explore the fraught relationships between tech companies and the U.S. government through close looks at Jeff Bezos’ Amazon and Elon Musk’s X.

The Best Book Covers of 2024

A Book Review art director selects the book jackets that made a compelling impression.

Match the Taylor Swift Song to the Poem Inspired By Her Music

Famous poets (tortured or not) have taken inspiration from Swift's music. Can you match the poem to the song?

6 New Books We Recommend This Week

Suggested reading from critics and editors at The New York Times.

Birth Control’s (First) Civil War

In “The Icon and the Idealist,” Stephanie Gorton tells the story of two women who fought a patriarchal system — and each other.

Our Book Critics on Their Year in Reading

Jennifer Szalai, Dwight Garner and Alexandra Jacobs look back at the books that “offered refuge from the wheels grinding in our heads.”

S.E. Hinton Leans on Dave Barry for Post-Election Comfort

“You can’t read a page without laughing,” says the author of “The Outsiders,” who’s watched the stage musical of the novel become a Tony Award-winning hit this year.

Holiday Romance Novels to Make Your December Merry and Bright

New festive stories center the many ways people celebrate the season, and each other.

Read Your Way Around Chicago

Chicago is a city of bookish abundance, home to countless literary giants past and present. The author Rebecca Makkai recommends works that capture its spirit.

6 Engrossing Historical Novels to Keep the Chill Away

Curl up with these transporting reads.

Nikki Giovanni: A Life in Pictures

The poet left a long visual record of a career in the public sphere.

What Can We Learn From the C.E.O. Shooting Suspect’s Goodreads History?

Like many Americans of his background, Luigi Mangione’s bookish aspirations were defined by what everybody else was reading, or thought they should be reading.

When Nikki Giovanni Was Young, Brilliant and Unafraid

The poet set the course for her revolutionary career early, and charted it faithfully for decades by staying true to her vision and herself.

What Were the Lives of Medieval Women Like?

In “Poet, Mystic, Widow, Wife” the historian Hetta Howes seeks to relate to figures of the past.

A Novel Inspired by Images of a Young Prisoner at Auschwitz

In “The Rest Is Memory,” Lily Tuck imagines the life of a Polish teenager during the Holocaust.

Sarah Jessica Parker Lands Her Dream Gig: Booker Prize Judge

The actress and publisher will help decide the 2025 winner of the prestigious British book award. It is “the thrill of a life,” she said.

How Netflix Made Magic Look Real in ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’

The first-ever screen adaptation will be released this week — a feat even the author didn’t think possible. We traveled to the set in Colombia to see how it was done.

Do You Know These Winter Holidays and Popular Books of the Season?

Celebrate the literature of this festive month with with a five-question quiz that comes with its own reading list.

A Comedian’s Path From Small-Town Tennessee to Breakout Fame

Leanne Morgan went from helping her husband sell mobile homes to sudden success in her 50s.

Chiung Yao, Top Romance Novelist in Chinese-Speaking World, Dies at 86

Writing from Taiwan, she shaped her readers’ idea of romantic love with a raft of best sellers, many adapted for the screen. Newborns were named after her characters.

From Tarot Cards to Streamlined Design, We Can’t Stop Predicting the Future

In “A Century of Tomorrows,” Glenn Adamson offers a hurtling history of the art, science and big business of looking ahead.

The Best Poetry Books of 2024

Here are the year’s most notable collections of verse as chosen by our poetry columnist.

8 Great Thrillers About Bad Marriages

Lucy Foley, the author of “The Guest List,” recommends books about the most intimate of dramas, including twisty mysteries and all-time favorites like “Rebecca” and “Gone Girl.”

Short, Sweet Reads for Fans of the American Absurd

A Don DeLillo novel; a Joy Williams short story.

Lust and Loss in the Upper Ranks of the Black Panther Party

Fabienne Josaphat’s novel “Kingdom of No Tomorrow” sets a love triangle amid late-1960s Oakland and Chicago.

The Best Horror Fiction of 2024

We’re in a golden age of horror. Here are 10 books that stood out in a year filled with fantastic releases.

Shuntaro Tanikawa, Popular Poet and Translator of ‘Peanuts,’ Dies at 92

A perennial front-runner for the Nobel Prize in Literature, he was a revered figure in Japan, not just in literary circles but also among casual readers.

Falling in Love With Nora Ephron

Ilana Kaplan’s new coffee table book pays tribute to the godmother of the modern rom-com.

The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of 2024

The year’s best speculative fiction includes a fantasy novel by Kelly Link, alien epics and promising starts to series.

The Best Children’s Books of 2024

Here are the year’s most notable picture, chapter and middle grade books, selected by our children’s books editor.

The Best Graphic Novels of 2024

A sketchbook collection, a Joycean comedy and a brutal self-examination gave us a lot to look at.

She Revolutionized Medicine. Why Isn’t She a Household Name?

Lydia Reeder’s “The Cure for Women” tells the story of the remarkable Dr. Mary Putnam Jacobi.

6 New Books We Recommend This Week

Suggested reading from critics and editors at The New York Times.

Taylor Swift’s ‘Eras Tour Book’ Sold 814,000 Copies in its Launch Week

The print sales over the Thanksgiving weekend nearly matched the first week of Barack Obama’s “A Promised Land.” And she did it while selling only at Target, avoiding Amazon and bookstores.

The Best Historical Fiction of 2024

Our columnist picks the year’s outstanding books.

A Gothic Ghost Story for All Ages

Frances Hardinge’s “Island of Whispers” is lush and poetic, and holy moly is it eerie.

The Best Romance Novels of 2024

Here are the novels our columnist loved most.

Robin Wall Kimmerer Is Learning From ‘Rest as Resistance’

“It is an important idea and a serious challenge for me, at which I consistently fail,” says the author of the best-selling “Braiding Sweetgrass.” Her new book is “The Serviceberry.”

The Best Audiobooks of 2024

Voices, cadence, pacing: These 8 sublime audiobooks do everything right.

The Anarchist With Big Ideas and a Silver Tongue

A posthumous collection of essays by the anthropologist and activist David Graeber shows a bold thinker whose original arguments could strain credibility.

The Best Thrillers of 2024

Our columnist on the books that wowed her this year.

The Best Crime Novels of 2024

Our columnist on the year’s most outstanding crime novels.

Talking About the Best Books of 2024

A group of editors on the year’s most extraordinary novels and nonfiction.

The 10 Best Books of 2024

The staff of The New York Times Book Review choose the year’s top fiction and nonfiction.

The Top 10 Books of The Year

The New York Times Book Review’s editor, Gilbert Cruz, shares three highlights from the 10 best books of 2024.

Can a Marriage Survive a Summer Holiday With the In-Laws?

In Weike Wang’s novel “Rental House,” a couple invite their families to visit them on vacation.

A Throwback to 1960s Spy Novels and Cads Who Knew Too Much

In “Gabriel’s Moon,” William Boyd follows a writer who is drawn into an espionage plot and a global crisis.

A Lebanese Exile Builds a Haven for Those in Need — or So the Legend Goes

The first English translation of Charif Majdalani’s 2005 novel “A History of the Big House” charts one family’s — and country’s — cycles of prosperity and ruin.

Edna Ferber Wrote ‘Giant.’ James Dean, Rock Hudson and Elizabeth Taylor Made It Immortal.

In “Giant Love,” the novelist’s great-niece chronicles the Texas saga’s divisive reception and the epic film adaptation that’s now better known than the book.

Do You Know These Tween and Teen Books That Became Movies?

Novels for young adults often become films for young adults. Test yourself on these five books and their adaptations with this short quiz.

The Artist Who Remembered Everything

The New York City writer and painter Joe Brainard comes alive in a new collection of letters.

A Cabin-Porn Star Bares All

Patrick Hutchison left city life to live an urbanite’s rural dream. The rest is funny, philosophical, chainsaw-wielding history.

Subsidized Housing With a Wait List, and a Catch

The South Korean writer Gu Byeong-mo’s novel “Apartment Women” imagines a commune of young families with a short fuse.

Hal Lindsey, Author of ‘The Late Great Planet Earth,’ Dies at 95

In that 1970 book and others, he wrote of history and apocalyptic predictions based on biblical interpretations and actual events of the time.

When Stephen Sondheim Transformed Theater, and Theatergoers, Forever

An incisive new book, “How Sondheim Can Change Your Life,” examines the extraordinary career of the master of the musical.

New Horror Novels That Chill and Entertain

Our columnist reviews books with lessons about perseverance, an undead girl and bizarre food.

The ‘Braiding Sweetgrass’ Author Wants Us to Give Thanks Every Day

The world is a gift, not a giant Amazon warehouse, Robin Wall Kimmerer said. In her new book, “The Serviceberry,” she proposes gratitude as an antidote to prevailing views of nature as a commodity.

Transcendent (and Occasionally Filthy) New Romance Novels

Our columnist on some recent favorites.

An Apocalyptic Novel Throws Stones at the Glass House of ‘King Lear’

Julia Armfield’s “Private Rites” is a contemporary reimagining of the Shakespearean tragedy, set in a flooded London.

Peggy Caserta, Who Wrote a Tell-All About Janis Joplin, Dies at 84

Her Haight-Ashbury clothing store was ground zero for the counterculture. But she was best known for a tawdry book — which she later disavowed — published after Ms. Joplin’s death.

7 New Books We Recommend This Week

Suggested reading from critics and editors at The New York Times.

Poems About Dead Relatives Irk Billy Collins

“If I come across ‘Dad’ or ‘Mommy,’ I’m out,” says the former U.S. poet laureate. “‘Grandma’ gets a pass.” His new collection is “Water, Water.”

How the World’s Largest Democracy Slid Toward Authoritarianism

“The New India,” by Rahul Bhatia, combines personal history and investigative journalism to account for his country’s turn to militant Hindu nationalism.

What Exactly Is Morning Mist? And Other Questions.

In “The Miraculous From the Material,” the best-selling author Alan Lightman examines the science behind the wonder.

9 Books Coming in December

A Hitchcockian thriller, an off-the-grid memoir, novels by Weike Wang and Lily Tuck, and more.

Sign Up to Learn the 10 Best Books of 2024

On Dec. 3, we’ll announce our picks. Make sure you’re among the first to find out.

100 Notable Books of 2024

Here are the year’s notable fiction, poetry and nonfiction, chosen by the staff of The New York Times Book Review.

Angela Merkel Tells Us What She Really Thinks

In her memoir, the former German chancellor reflects on her political rise and defends her record as the outlook for her country turns grim.

3 Edge-of-Your-Seat New Thrillers

Our columnist on books by Christopher Bollen, M.W. Craven and Marie Tierney.

Book Club: Read ‘Small Things Like These,’ by Claire Keegan, with the Book Review

In December, the Book Review Book Club will read and discuss “Small Things Like These,” a meditative Christmastime novella about a man confronting a local horror.

Can You Find The 13 Hidden Book Titles in This Text Puzzle?

This very short story hides the titles of 13 popular books published in the first decade of the 21st century. Dive in and see if you can find them all — and get an instant reading list at the end.

Barbara Taylor Bradford, Whose Sagas Were Best Sellers, Dies at 91

Her own rags-to-riches story mirrored those of many of her resilient heroines, and her dozens of novels helped her amass a fortune of $300 million.

A Nobel Laureate’s Journals Offer Much Color but Little Drama

Orhan Pamuk’s illustrated notebooks lead us to the great writer’s mind, then ask us to remain outside.

10 Picture Books That Help Kids (and Adults) Celebrate Gratitude

Stories of giving and of appreciating everyday wonders will warm hearts and teach valuable lessons this holiday season.

The Icy, Terrifying, Pathological Human Need to Climb

In “The White Ladder,” the British writer Daniel Light explores the heroes, villains and dramas of early mountaineering.

Shopping and Shame Share the Shelves in ‘American Bulk’

In an eye-opening collection, Emily Mester considers why she, and we, seek satisfaction by obsessively choosing, buying and rating the objects we desire.

2 Books for Readers Who Don’t Care About Polite Company

A Japanese tale of “frustrated love and revenge,” and a visual history of bathrooms.

A Long-Held Secret Is Now Public. Will It Alter Cormac McCarthy’s Legacy?

Revelations about a relationship between the author and a girl who was 16 when they met shocked readers, but not scholars of his work. Now there’s a debate about how much she influenced his writing.

The Supervillain Is the Hero Now

How Americans learned to root for the dark side — from the Joker and “Wicked” to Elon Musk.

The French Philosopher Whose Romantic Theory of Time Was All the Rage

Henri Bergson enjoyed a cult following on both sides of the Atlantic in the early 20th century. A new biography explains what the fuss was about.

Book Club: Let’s Talk About ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’

Gabriel García Márquez’s classic novel about the rise and fall of a rural Colombian village as seen through generations of its founding family remains the leading exemplar of magical realism.

4 Fantasy Books to Get Lost In

There are few pleasures as delicious as losing yourself in a great fantasy book. Jennifer Harlan, an editor at The New York Times Book Review, lists a few of her favorite fantasy books.

Loathe Thy Neighbor, at Least in These 4 Crime Novels

Our critic on November’s best new books.

Two Picture Books That Set the Table for an Object Lesson

Sometimes a spoon is just a spoon.

For a Raw Portrait of War, Look to Palestinian Poets

In their new collections, Mosab Abu Toha and Najwan Darwish share unvarnished views of destruction, displacement and loss.

Spencer Lawton Jr., D.A. in ‘Midnight in the Garden’ Case, Dies at 81

He devoted much of his 28 years in office in Savannah to victims’ rights, but he was best known for his role in a 1981 murder at the center of a best seller and its movie version.

6 New Books We Recommend This Week

Suggested reading from critics and editors at The New York Times.

Sex and Horror and the End of the World, in November’s Graphic Novels

This month’s offerings include a collection of warped horror stories, an apocalyptic flood narrative and a hero doing battle with a super-being who sees humankind as a race of pests to eliminate.

A New York Times Book Critic’s Appraisal of Gabriel García Márquez

John Singer Sargent Painted Them. London Society Talked.

Jean Strouse’s brisk, wise “Family Romance” takes on the painter’s relationship to the Wertheimers, a vast Jewish clan he immortalized on canvas.

Glory Edim Is ‘Patiently Waiting’ for Maya Rudolph to Write a Memoir

Her own is called “Gather Me: A Memoir in Praise of the Books That Saved Me,” which follows anthologies that grew out of founding the Well-Read Black Girl book club.

Percival Everett, Author of ‘James,’ Wins National Book Award for Fiction

Jason De León received the nonfiction award for “Soldiers and Kings: Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling.”

Read the Book Review’s 1982 Nobel Interview with Gabriel García Márquez

The Bataclan Terrorists’ Trial: 10 Months of Horror and Pity

For his latest book, the French writer Emmanuel Carrère sat in a Parisian courthouse, absorbing grueling testimony about the 2015 massacre at the concert hall and other venues in the city.

One Book That Made Gabriel García Márquez a Writer

2 Novels Filled With Christmas Miracles

Two families navigate a pivotal holiday season that transforms their lives.

In a No-Nonsense Memoir, Cher Traces the Path to Stardom, With and Without Sonny

The first volume of her frank autobiography is a testament to resilience, chronicling a grim childhood and relationships with controlling men.

Arthur Frommer, 95, Dies; His Guidebooks Opened Travel to the Masses

After publishing “Europe on 5 Dollars a Day” in 1957, he went on to build an empire of guidebooks, package tours, hotels and other services.

Sandra M. Gilbert, Co-Author of ‘The Madwoman in the Attic,’ Dies at 87

A poet, scholar and literary critic, she turned a feminist lens on 19th-century writers like Jane Austen and Charlotte Brontë, creating a feminist classic.

Read The New York Times’s 1970 Review of ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’

How Well Do You Know These Memorable Couples of Literature?

Fiction of full of love stories. Try this short quiz on the romantic pairings in five 20th-century novels.

How a Gen X Graphic Novelist Reinvented the Romance Comic

To fully understand Charles Burns’s remarkable graphic novel, “Final Cut,” you have to look closely at the way in which it was rendered.

Haruki Murakami’s New Novel Doesn’t Feel All That New

“The City and Its Uncertain Walls” features all the author’s signature elements — and his singular voice — in a story he has told before.

Cher Can, and Does, Turn Back Time

In the first volume of her memoir (which she hasn’t read), she explores her difficult childhood, her fraught marriage to Sonny Bono and how she found her voice.

A Palestinian Refugee Becomes a Jewish Israeli in This Novel

Elias Khoury’s “Children of the Ghetto” series continues with a young man switching identities in a society seeking to erase him.

2 Novels That Could Almost Be Diaries

Barry Gifford’s bohemian scrapbook; Elizabeth McCracken’s eulogy for a mother.

The Prado, Renowned for Its Art, Tries a New Role: Muse to Authors

Spain’s most storied museum has been inviting writers, including Nobel laureates, to live nearby and take inspiration from its paintings.

Patrick Radden Keefe on Taking ‘Say Nothing’ From Acclaimed Book to TV Show

Keefe’s narrative history, which was No. 19 on our list of the 100 Best Books of the 21st Century, has now been adapted into a streaming series.

Richard Price’s New Novel Is Full of Color but Short on Drama

“Lazarus Man” follows several characters in Harlem in the wake of a building collapse.

A Translation of a Translation of a Novel Within a Novel

Yang Shuang-zi’s “Taiwan Travelogue,” a National Book Award winner, is a nesting-doll narrative about colonial power in its many forms.

Two Picture Books About the Many Meanings of the Word ‘Go’

In Julie Flett’s “Let’s Go! haw êkwa!” and Kirsten Cappy and Yaya Gentille’s “Kende! Kende! Kende!” going is just the beginning of a whole new world.

Alice in Moominland

Tove Jansson’s illustrations for a rare 1966 edition of “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” are melancholy, complex and occasionally scary.

Elizabeth Nunez, Who Chronicled the Immigrant’s Challenges, Dies at 80

In “Prospero’s Daughter” and other novels, she explored the legacy of colonialism in her native Trinidad and the struggle for belonging in an adopted country.

7 New Books We Recommend This Week

Suggested reading from critics and editors at The New York Times.

Awaiting the Results of I.V.F., a Couple Watch the World Burn

In his novel “States of Emergency,” Chris Knapp doesn’t just tighten the distance between our inner lives and the world around us; he erases it.

Murderous Emperors, Plagues, Killer Lobsters: New Speculative Fiction

Recent books by Minsoo Kang, Margaret Killjoy and James S.A. Corey.

3 Thrillers Brimming With Shocking Twists and Turns

Our columnist on new books by David McCloskey, Sarah Sawyer and Ragnar Jónasson.

Jenny Slate Has Learned to Chill by Reading Aloud to Her Daughter

“It is perhaps the most relaxing thing that I’ve ever done,” says the actress, whose new book of essays is “Lifeform.” She thanks her own mother for the gift of Margaret Atwood.

The Needy Genius Who Understood the Cosmos (People, Not So Much)

“The Impossible Man,” by Patchen Barss, depicts the British mathematical physicist and Nobelist Sir Roger Penrose in all his iconoclastic complexity.

In This Tokyo Rock Novel, the Cool Kids Are Not All Right

“Set My Heart on Fire” follows a young woman through a world of drugs, music and highly conditional relationships.

Do You Know These World-Famous Children’s Books?

Folk tales and beloved characters from cultures around the globe can are celebrated in popular books for young readers. Test your knowledge of them with this short quiz.

Where on Earth Are We Going? This Geographer’s Not Sure.

In “Four Points of the Compass,” Jerry Brotton explores the disorienting, dizzying history of our relationship to direction.

In Every World-Weary Private Eye Is an Errant Philosopher

Sergio De La Pava’s novel “Every Arc Bends Its Radian” is a detective story that takes a strange turn in Colombia’s dark underbelly.

Jamie Oliver Pulls Children’s Book Amid Criticism of Insensitivity

The celebrity chef’s second children’s book, “Billy and the Epic Escape,” faced accusations that it stereotyped First Nations people in Australia.

How Do You Spell Rock Royalty? R.E.M.

In a new biography, Peter Ames Carlin chronicles the rise of an indispensable band and the evolution of its music.

How ‘The Wild Robot’ Was Born in a Weedy Patch of Manhattan

Peter Brown’s obsession with the abandoned railway that became the High Line led to two best sellers — including “The Wild Robot,” which is now a blockbuster movie.

5 Vintage Crime Novels Spiked With Peril and Pitfalls

Our columnist on a handful of recently reissued crime novels, all of which are worth your time.

I Gave My Son the Books I Loved. He Chose ‘Heidi’ Instead.

What a 19th-century Swiss novel, and a young fan’s pilgrimage to the Alps, taught me about fatherhood.

Calling All Misfits: When Greenwich Village Conquered the Music Scene

In his latest book, the Rolling Stone writer David Browne tracks three decades of folk, blues, rock and jazz below 14th Street.

Joan Didion and Eve Babitz: Contemporaries, Peers, Rivals — and Soul Mates?

In a dual biography, the journalist Lili Anolik casts the two writers as opposite sides of the same ambitious, 1960s-Hollywood coin.

A Heady History of the Novel Embraces Works That Shock, Not Soothe

In “Stranger Than Fiction,” Edwin Frank maps a path from Dostoyevsky to Sebald, finding mystical power and surprising ties among 20th-century writers.

Was Wallis Simpson Really a Sex-Crazed Spy?

As Paul French argues in a new biography, the future Duchess of Windsor’s year in China was less lurid — and more interesting — than her critics knew.

She Inherited Her Family’s Mansion, the Site of Secret Traumas

In “The Magnificent Ruins,” an Indian expatriate reunites with her estranged family after her grandfather unexpectedly made her heir to his estate.

In a Run-Down Movie Theater, She Found a Window on the World

Esther Kinsky reflects on the nature of seeing in a book about an old cinema in Hungary.

Is Taylor Swift’s Superpower a Gift for Writing?

In “Heartbreak Is the National Anthem,” Rob Sheffield chronicles how Taylor Swift has made fans, foes and even journalists part of her story.

Dorothy Allison, Author of ‘Bastard Out of Carolina,’ Dies at 75

She wrote lovingly and often hilariously about her harrowing childhood in a working-class Southern family, as well as about the violence and incest she suffered.

What It’s Like to Write a New John le Carré Novel

Nick Harkaway is an accomplished author who also happens to be le Carré’s son. In his latest book, “Karla’s Choice,” he revisits his father’s great spy protagonist, George Smiley.

A Coming-of-Age Novel That Crosses America’s Impossible Divide

“Us Fools,” by Nora Lange, is a tale of two sisters living through the diseased expanse of the country’s recent history.

Rapunzel’s Got Nothing on These Picture Books’ African Heroines

In “Freedom Braids” and “The Magic Callaloo,” young girls follow cornrowed maps to escape slavery.

Read Your Way Through Shanghai

Shanghai straddles the past and the future, a dizzying prism of many histories and cultures. The poet Sally Wen Mao shares books that illuminate this cosmopolitan city.

5 New Books We Recommend This Week

Suggested reading from critics and editors at The New York Times.

In Tumultuous Times, Readers Turn to ‘Healing Fiction’

Cozy, whimsical novels — often featuring magical cats — that have long been popular in Japan and Korea are taking off globally. Fans say they offer comfort during a chaotic time.

How Does It Feel to Turn 100? Ask Winnie-the-Pooh

An imagined chat with Pooh commemorates the 100th anniversary of A.A. Milne’s “When We Were Very Young.”

What Makes a Great Search-and-Find Picture Book

Perhaps the ultimate test is whether it merits a reread, even after all the objects have been found.

Jean Hanff Korelitz Gave Spreadsheets a ‘Workout’ to Plan Her New Book

A novel within a novel fueled her hit thriller, “The Plot.” Keeping the stories straight was even harder for “The Sequel.”

How Uvalde’s Newspaper Kept Going, Despite Unimaginable Loss

Craig Garnett, the publisher of The Uvalde Leader-News, opens up about covering a tragedy that was — and is — too close to home.

Do You Know These Space Books That Were Adapted Into Hit Movies?

This short trivia quiz tests your knowledge of fiction and nonfiction works that were made into popular films about space exploration and the quest to connect with other worlds.

The Early Loves of Oliver Sacks: Medicine, Muscles and Motorbikes

A new collection of personal letters tracks the neurologist’s raucous self-discovery and venerable career.

These Fantasy Books Will Transport You to Other Worlds

Immersive novels by Leigh Bardugo, Madeline Miller, Brian Jacques and more offer thrilling adventures in richly imagined realms.

A French Veterinary Psychiatrist Puts Cats on the Couch

In “The Interpretation of Cats,” Claude Béata helps explain the inscrutable behavior of our feline companions.

Bookstores Are Setting Up Readers on ‘Blind Dates’ With Books

Bookstores say customers love “Blind Date With a Book,” which masks a book’s real cover and lets readers discover what’s inside.

Where’s Johnny? The Biography of a TV Host Whose Life Was a Closed Book.

Johnny Carson dominated late-night television for decades, but closely guarded his privacy. Bill Zehme’s biography, “Carson the Magnificent,” tries to break through.

2 Books to Take Your Mind Off Certain Current Events

An underground party memoir; an argument for nonhuman life.

The Writing Tool That Mark Twain, Agatha Christie and James Joyce All Swore By

A new history by Roland Allen uncovers the wealth of ideas and invention hidden in the notebooks of literary luminaries.

The Coming of the ‘Messiah’: How Handel’s Masterpiece Was Born

John Adams reviews “Every Valley,” Charles King’s new book about the artistic, social and political forces surrounding one of the greatest pieces of music ever created.

Book Club: Let’s Talk About ‘Intermezzo’

Sally Rooney’s new novel explores the relationship between two brothers grieving the death of their father, and follows their complicated love lives with Rooney’s usual panache.

A Poem About Waiting, and Wishing You Had a Drink

Our critic A.O. Scott walks you through a poem that speaks to his mood right now. It’s called “Party Politics,” but it’s not about those parties, or those politics.

‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’ Book Club Conversation Space: García Márquez Memories

Share your memories of reading García Márquez’s books here.

‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’ Book Club Conversation Space: Main Discussion

Discuss our November book club selection, “One Hundred Years of Solitude,” by Gabriel García Márquez, with the Book Review.

Before You Get Started

Here’s what to know about joining the discussion, including important dates and information on our various conversation spaces.

Learn More About ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’

‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’ Book Club Conversation Space: Spoiler Chat

Want to discuss spoilers related to our November book club selection, “One Hundred Years of Solitude,” by Gabriel García Márquez? Post them here.

‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’ Book Club Conversation Space: Chat About Gabriel García Márquez’s Other Books

Looking to discuss García Márquez’s other books? Chat about them here.

Books by Jodi Picoult, John Green and Stephen King Among the Most Banned in Schools

A record number of books were banned in districts across the country during the 2023-2024 school year, according to a free speech organization.

A Sense of Time Wasted (Productively) Anchors October’s Graphic Novels

A maximalist comedy about the interior life, a riff on fatherhood and a return after four decades to a sci-fi classic are all worth close looks this month.

6 New Books We Recommend This Week

Suggested reading from critics and editors at The New York Times.

Authors Call for a Boycott of Israeli Cultural Institutions

Thousands of people, including prize-winning writers, signed a letter pledging not to work with “complicit” organizations. Many others opposed the call in a separate letter.

How Do You Get Kids to Read? Give Them Pizza.

Pizza Hut’s Book It! literacy program, founded in 1984, has reached more than 70 million students — and counts the radio host Charlamagne Tha God among its fans.

4 Smart, Riveting New Crime Novels

Our columnists on new books by John Banville, Kate Christensen under a pseudonym and more.

This Sapphic Monster Novel Flips the Script on Queerness in Horror

In “Feast While You Can,” two women who have long been nemeses rely on each other to face an ancient terror that has re-emerged.

Stanley Tucci Is Making His Way Through Jon Fosse’s Work

The actor and foodie admired the Nobel Prize winner’s “Aliss at the Fire,” with “Septology” up next. His own new book is “What I Ate in One Year (and Related Thoughts).”

Charles Brandt, Whose Book Inspired ‘The Irishman,’ Dies at 82

“I Heard You Paint Houses,” his true-crime best seller about the death of Jimmy Hoffa, was brought to the screen by Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro.

Lewis Sorley, 90, Who Said the U.S. Won (but Then Lost) in Vietnam, Dies

His Pulitzer Prize-nominated history of the war was warmly received by the Pentagon but rejected elsewhere for ignoring what many said made the war “unwinnable.”

The Wild, Wild West Makes for an Oddly Tame Yarn

Tom Clavin’s “Bandit Heaven” takes us down the “Outlaw Trail” with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

12 Books Coming in November

Novels by Haruki Murakami and Rebecca Yarros, memoirs by Angela Merkel and Cher, and more.

John Gierach, Fly Fishing Author With Wit and Wisdom, Dies at 77

Writing for anglers and amateurs alike, he found that the sport can reveal as much about people as it does about fish.

Two Horror Authors on the Scary Books You Should Read

Stephen Graham Jones and Joe Hill with their recommendations for this Halloween season.

In 1930s Rwanda, a Black Savior Is Coming, and She Might Be a Woman

The eponymous healer in “Sister Deborah” inspires a Black feminist uprising.

Taking on Nora Ephron, Movie by Movie and Book by Book

Ephron’s entire oeuvre — “When Harry Met Sally,” “You’ve Got Mail,” “Heartburn” and more — is examined in a new book.

How Well Do You Know Classic Books for Halloween Reading?

Magic, madness and supernatural horror have driven many book plots over the centuries. This short quiz scares up several popular novels to test your knowledge.

New Horror for Readers Who Want to Be Completely Terrified

Our columnist reviews October’s new horror books.

Piet Mondrian: An Orderly Painter, a Deeply Eccentric Man

A new biography of one of the quintessential artists of the 20th century.

How the Sound of Music Can Be Healing. Literally.

Three new books make the case for music as medicine. In “The Schubert Treatment,” the most lyrical of the trio, a cellist takes us bedside with the sick and the dying.

Joan Didion Remains as Elusive as Ever. These Books Want to Fix That.

Since her death, Didion has become a literary subject as popular for her image and writing as for the fascination she inspired for almost half a century.

2 Novels About Complicated Nuns

An atheist in a convent; a bloodthirsty reality show hostess.

4 Historical Novels Loaded With Witches, Fiends and Demons

These books are perfect for the spooky season.

Alan Moore Beckons Readers Into a Rich New Fantasy World

With the first volume of a new series and an instructional book on magic, the “Watchmen” author wants an imaginary revolution.

The Culture Was Always Playing Catch-Up With Gary Indiana

From downtown New York, the writer both scrutinized and kept ahead of a turbulent world.

Susanna Clarke Wrote a Hit Novel Set in a Magical Realm. Then She Disappeared.

Twenty years after the publication of her fantasy debut, “Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell,” Clarke is returning to her richly imagined world of magical England.

From a Novelist, a Chilling True Fable of Anorexia

The English writer Sarah Moss brings her trademark subtlety and sense of the ominous to her harrowing memoir.

The Many Faces of Rammellzee

How the multi-hyphenate, biracial artist from Far Rockaway influenced 1980s graffiti culture and the downtown New York art scene.

A Poem Hitches a Ride on a Rocket, to Infinity and Beyond

NASA and the U.S. Poet Laureate may not be obvious collaborators, but a Jupiter-bound mission helped them find common ground.

Poetry and a Lone Stag Help an Isolated Deaf Girl Connect

The young language-deprived protagonist of Ann Clare LeZotte’s novel “Deer Run Home” tells her own story, in verse.

Dispatches From the Middle East, With Cameos by Osama bin Laden

In “Night of Power,” Robert Fisk’s posthumous war stories focus on the victims and perpetrators in conflicts across the Middle East.

For This Turkish Writer, the Flaws of Language Were Its Greatest Asset

Oguz Atay stretched the possibilities of fiction and critiqued his changing nation with playful, surreal stories.

7 New Books We Recommend This Week

Suggested reading from critics and editors at The New York Times.

Antonio Skármeta, Who Wrote of Chile’s Tears and Turmoil, Dies at 83

His literary career traced the arc of his country’s modern political journey in stories about ordinary citizens facing repression and arbitrary government.

In This Biography, Mitch McConnell Hates Trump but Loves Power More

“The Price of Power,” by Michael Tackett, reveals a legislator for whom political survival has been a top priority — even when it means supporting a “sleazeball” for the presidency.

5 Books to Read About Policing Before You Vote

Memoirists and scholars explore the issue at every level, from the origins of the war on crime to what comes after “broken windows.”

Steamy New Romance Books to Heat Up Your Fall

Romantasies, paranormals and fantasy romances, just in time for Halloween.

Richard McGuire Knows Fans Want a Drawing When He Signs Their Books

Ten years ago he published the graphic novel “Here,” an instant classic depicting one room in one house over generations. Now Tom Hanks is starring in the movie.

A Devastating Dutch Love Story, in the Shadow of Anne Frank

In Yael van der Wouden’s debut novel, “The Safekeep,” the writer spins an erotic thriller out of the Netherlands’ failure to face up to the horrors of the Holocaust.

What Do Animals Know About Death?

“Playing Possum,” a new book by the philosopher Susana Monsó, explores the mysteries of grief and mourning in the animal world.

5 Books to Help You Understand the Immigration Debate

Journalists and scholars explore the issue at every level, from the legacy of Cold War coups to the vulnerable lives caught up in a tangled system.

The Voice of ‘Marcel the Shell’ Becomes a Mom

The comedian Jenny Slate reads the audiobook version of “Lifeform,” her new memoir about parenting.

Bethany Joy Lenz Wanted Community. She Ended Up in a Cult.

The “One Tree Hill” actor has written a memoir of the decade she spent beholden to the Big House Family — and her escape.

Jeff VanderMeer Returns to the Uncanny World of Area X

The author’s Southern Reach trilogy, which began with “Annihilation” in 2014, now has a fourth installment, a prequel.

6 Books to Help You Understand the Reproductive Rights Debate

Journalists and scholars explore the issue at every level, from the movement that took down Roe to the human stories of women who had abortions, and those who were denied.

John le Carré, With a Son’s Help, Comes Back In From the Cold War

Nick Harkaway’s novel “Karla’s Choice” revisits the British spy George Smiley a few years after the construction of the Berlin Wall.

Can You Find These 14 Hidden Book Titles in This Puzzle?

Look closely to uncover the recent memoirs lurking in this passage of text.

The Gadfly Journalist Who Punched Far Above His Weight

With a weekly newsletter and plenty of charm, the left-wing writer Claud Cockburn became a crucial polemical voice of the 20th century.

How the Writer André Aciman Learned to Live in Exile

When he was a teenager, Aciman’s family was turned out of Egypt and landed in Italy. In a beguiling new memoir, “Roman Year,” he revisits a lost era.

5 Books to Help You Understand the Economy Before Voting

The brightest minds explore the issue at every level, from the levers that control inflation to the best way to achieve work-life balance.

An Exile Revisits the Squalor and Grandeur of 1960s Italy

Recounting the time his family spent in a former Italian brothel, André Aciman’s new memoir, “Roman Year,” picks up where 1994’s “Out of Egypt” left off.

In His Memoir, Aleksei Navalny Speaks From the Grave

The Russian opposition leader, who died in an Arctic penal colony earlier this year, tells the story of his struggle to wrest his country back from President Vladimir Putin.

How Aleksei Navalny’s Prison Diaries Got Published

In his posthumous memoir, compiled with help from his widow, Yulia Navalnaya, Navalny faced the fact that Vladimir Putin might succeed in silencing him. The book will keep “his legacy alive,” Navalnaya said.

Jeff VanderMeer Writes His Strangest Novel Yet

Known for his blockbuster Southern Reach series, the author talks about his eerie new installment, “Absolution,” keeping mysteries alive and what people get wrong about alligators.

From the Golden Age to the Streaming Age, Hollywood Has Been Hell for Writers

Dorothy Parker worked on the script for “A Star Is Born,” but the tragic ending was all hers, while Bruce Eric Kaplan manages to find the laughs in today’s industry foibles.

2 Unexpected Books for Spooky Season

A haunted author; haunted dolls.

A Fan Discovers a New Story by the Author of ‘Dracula’

The work by Bram Stoker, previously unknown to scholars, will be read and included in a book launched during Dublin’s annual Bram Stoker Festival.

How White Greed Destroyed a Bank for the Newly Freed

A book by the historian Justene Hill Edwards charts the rise and fall of the Freedman’s Bank, founded at the end of the Civil War for the formerly enslaved.

A More Freewheeling Book Lives Inside Al Pacino’s Memoir

From Shakespeare to Strindberg to “Scarface”: The actor remembers all of it and talks about some of it in “Sonny Boy.”

A Schizophrenia Diagnosis Sets Off a Reckoning With Mental Illness

In “No One Gets to Fall Apart,” the TV writer Sarah LaBrie follows the breadcrumbs of her mother’s disorder back to her childhood, and beyond.

J. G. Ballard, Secret Agent in Suburbia

A graphic tribute to the British novelist who documented the blight and brutality of the sleepy London outskirts from the 1970s into the 2000s.

This Novel for Young Readers Imagines Anne Frank Before Her Diary

“When We Flew Away” envisions what Anne might have been like before the cataclysm that shut her away and made her into “the voice of the Holocaust.”

She Shared Her Notes with John Steinbeck. It was Her Novel’s Undoing.

Sanora Babb’s interviews about the Dust Bowl informed “The Grapes of Wrath.” The book’s success led to the cancellation of her own book contract. “Riding Like the Wind” tells her life story.

Forgery, Fraud and Absinthe’s Enduring Mystique

Evan Rail’s “The Absinthe Forger” takes the reader on a picaresque tour through the world of vintage alcohol collectors in pursuit of a fraudster.

7 New Books We Recommend This Week

Suggested reading from critics and editors at The New York Times.

3 Psychological Thrillers That Will Creep You Out

Our critic on new books by Stephanie Wrobel, Lawrence Robbins and Hildur Knútsdóttir.

Colin Kaepernick Is Learning How to Be a C.E.O.

Business memoirs are at hand as he navigates a new role as the founder of a startup to “democratize storytelling.” Meanwhile he has co-written “We Are Free, You & Me,” an illustrated book for kids.

Why Us vs. Them Is Not Such a Bad Way to See the World

Two new books by psychologists explore the roots of group identity, arguing that it is natural and potentially useful — even in polarized times.

TikTok’s Owner Already Publishes Digital Books. Now It Is Moving Into Print.

ByteDance, the Chinese tech giant that owns TikTok, will focus its publisher, 8th Note Press, on popular genres such as romance, romantasy and young adult fiction.

The Scientists Who Hoarded Seeds Even as They Were Starving

In “The Forbidden Garden,” Simon Parkin examines the mad, heroic decision during the siege of Leningrad to guard biodiversity at the cost of human life.

Do You Know Where These Memorable Detectives Live?

Many crime novels are known for their enduring characters who keep coming back for more adventures. Can you place these five sleuths on their home turf?

Telling the Stories of Wrongful Convictions, One Painstaking Case at a Time

In “Framed,” an advocate for the wrongly accused joins forces with John Grisham to tell stories of justice denied.

Need Help Understanding the Election? Try These Audiobooks

Gripping histories, cleareyed memoirs and satirical fiction can help you make sense of our political moment.

Neal Stephenson’s New Novel Traces the Making of a Spy

“Polostan” sets up a historical fiction series about espionage and revolution in the early 20th century.

His Blood Test Predicted Felonies in His Future

Charles Baxter’s new novel is a snapshot of a troubled America, disguised as a speculative comedy.

A Girl’s Death Sets Up This Novel’s Mystery: Did the Maid Do It?

In “Clean,” a domestic worker for a wealthy family tells her side of a tragic story.

4 Creepy Books to Read This Halloween

Gilbert Cruz, editor of The New York Times Book Review, recommends four of his personal favorite creepy books to read in October.

Randy Newman Is Great. He Deserved a Better Biography Than This.

A biography of the singer behind “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” and “Short People” considers a complicated man with a satirical edge.

The Toxic Sludge That Ate Tennessee

The 2008 coal ash spill was among the biggest industrial disasters in U.S. history. In a new book, Jared Sullivan recounts the accident, the lawsuits and the lasting damage.

A Fact Checker Reflects on Our Age of Political Lying

In “Beyond the Big Lie,” Bill Adair worries that the world of spin and fabrication in America has gotten out of hand.

Christopher Steele and the Mueller Team Are Still Trying to Set the Record Straight

Two new books explore the messy business of uncovering Russian interference in American elections.

Friends With Benefits, but Without Illusions

In “Don’t Be a Stranger,” Susan Minot once again explores female desire, staging a romantic collision between a divorced mother and a much younger musician.

The Author of ‘The Curious Incident’ Is Back With More Dogs

The new story collection by Mark Haddon takes inspiration from Greek myths, H.G. Wells and Snoopy.

Boris Johnson Makes a Case for Trump’s Return, and Perhaps, His Own

In his memoir, “Unleashed,” the former prime minister is “optimistic” about the possibility that Donald J. Trump could regain the White House.

Scary Books for Scaredy-Cats

Looking to dip your toe into horror this Halloween season? Entry-level thrills by Shirley Jackson, Victor LaValle and T. Kingfisher are a good place to start.

A Tender Ode to a 1960s ‘Women’s Hotel’

Daniel M. Lavery’s debut novel collects vignettes from inside the Biedermeier, a second-rate, rapidly waning establishment in midcentury New York City.

A Heroine Determined to Live Alone, and to Get Pregnant

The protagonist of Eva Baltasar’s novel “Mammoth” contains multitudes, and that’s the way she likes it.

Stanley Tucci on His New Book, ‘What I Ate in One Year’

The actor and renowned foodie talks about his eating habits and his food diary, and we look at the fiction and nonfiction titles up for the National Book Award.

Evan Gershkovich, U.S. Journalist Imprisoned in Russia, Will Publish a Memoir

The memoir, which will cover his time in prison and Russia’s move toward autocracy, will be published by Crown, an imprint of Penguin Random House.

These ‘Saturday Night Live’ Books Bring Studio 8H to Your Living Room

Oral histories and rollicking memoirs by former “S.N.L.” cast members like Molly Shannon and Leslie Jones take you behind the scenes of the comedy juggernaut.

Truly Scary Books for Halloween and Beyond

These terrifying tales by the likes of Stephen King and Shirley Jackson are more than good reads: They’ll freak you out, too.

Take Me Into the Ballgame

In Kwame Alexander’s new verse novel and Karen L. Swanson’s nonfiction picture book, Black girls pursue their dreams of playing big-league baseball.

7 New Books We Recommend This Week

Suggested reading from critics and editors at The New York Times.

4 New Novels Brimming With Historical Drama

In the hands of skilled novelists, the stories of an heiress, a prime minister and a literary mystery woman are brought to life.

Children’s Books About Elections That Might Inspire Grown-Ups, Too

How do you explain the democratic process to future voters? Start with these lively picture books and compelling histories.

The Copycats Who Made Some of the Biggest Video Games in the World

Jason Schreier’s “Play Nice” tells the story of Blizzard Entertainment from its fratty, debauched ’90s heyday to the height of its corporate glut.

All Wars Are Political. Bad Strategy Makes Them Even More So.

The follies of violence and rhetoric in the Vietnam War and World War II have a lot of lessons for the leaders of Israel, Iran and the next American president.

Marie Curie: Mentor to Women or Martyr to Science?

In a new biography, Dava Sobel focuses not just on the legendary physicist and chemist, but on the 45 women who worked in her lab.

Jami Attenberg Can’t Wait to Find a Book She’s Inscribed at a Yard Sale

“I am kind of living for that moment,” says the prolific writer. “Who will betray me first?” Her new novel is “A Reason to See You Again.”

Inside Biden’s ‘War’ Room: Heads of State and Heads of Hair

Bob Woodward doesn’t know which story he wants to tell in his latest presidential chronicle.

Thomas Rockwell, 91, Dies; Taught Children ‘How to Eat Fried Worms’

His father, Norman Rockwell, depicted his childhood on covers of The Saturday Evening Post. The worms came later.

Can a Start-Up Help Authors Get Paid by A.I. Companies?

Created by Humans, a company that aims to help writers license their works for use by A.I. companies, has struck a partnership with the Authors Guild.

Lily Ebert, Holocaust Survivor, Author and TikTok Star, Dies at 100

She survived Auschwitz, wrote a best-selling memoir, “Lily’s Promise,” and spoke to a following of 2 million fans on TikTok.

What Good Is Great Literature?

As the Nobel Committee gets ready to admit a new writer into the pantheon, our critic asks: Is greatness overrated?

How a ‘National Family Secret in France’ Inspired Her Novel

Cécile Desprairies’s novel, ‘The Propagandist,’ was also inspired by her mother, who made art and slogans for Vichy France and its Nazi leaders.

Misreading the Moment, a Bra Empire Goes Bust

In “Selling Sexy,” two veteran fashion journalists examine how Victoria’s Secret fell from grace.

In ‘The Witches of El Paso,’ Magic Is a Blessing and a Curse

In this family saga, a floundering lawyer must tap into her supernatural heritage to help her family in the past and present.

An Exquisite Queer Odyssey by a Literary Master

In Alan Hollinghurst’s new novel, “Our Evenings,” a Burmese English actor grapples with race and ambition, sexuality and love in a bigoted world.

Exposing the Violence of Empire in the Novels It Left Behind

For her new book, “Salvage,” the Trinidadian-born writer Dionne Brand rereads classic English novels, teasing out evidence of the ravages of colonialism.

What Does Utopia Look Like for Black Americans?

Aaron Robertson’s grandparents had a farm in Promise Land, Tenn. In a new book, he explores the history and meaning of such utopian communities for African Americans.

Removing Books From Libraries Often Takes Debate. But There’s a Quieter Way.

Weeding, or culling old, damaged or outdated books, is standard practice in libraries. But in some cases it is being used to remove books because of the viewpoint they express.

A Patchwork Satire of Ivory Coast, Pre- and Post-Independence

“Comrade Papa” is told from the perspective of two European arrivals to the West African country, nearly a century apart.

How Book Bans Happen Under the Radar

Thousands of books have been publicly challenged and removed from libraries in the past couple of years. Elizabeth Harris, who covers books and the publishing industry for The New York Times, explains how books are being pulled from libraries in a quiet process called weeding. Weeding normally allows librarians to keep collections current, but some lawsuits argue that it has been used instead to remove books for content about racism, sexuality and gender.

Lisa Marie Presley Makes Her Voice Heard, Once and For All

In a new memoir, “From Here to the Great Unknown,” Elvis Presley’s daughter and granddaughter take turns exploring a messy legacy.

Lore Segal, Mordant Novelist of Émigré Life, Dies at 96

Transported to safe haven in England as a Jewish child in 1938, she explored themes of displacement with penetrating wit in autobiographical fiction like “Other People’s Houses.”

Do You Know These Books That Were Adapted Into Broadway Flops?

Popular literature has often been the source of a big-budget musical, but not every show is a hit. Can you identify these five short-lived productions?

Scoops, Dupes and Kooks: A History of The New York Post

A new book chronicles the last 50 years of a notorious American tabloid.

How Oct. 7 Upended One Man’s Diary

In “Diary of a Crisis,” Saul Friedländer takes the violence and upheaval in Israel day by day.

Reckoning With Israel’s Past Is Hard. The Present Is Harder.

An Oct. 7 survival memoir and a chronicle of theft in 1948 grapple with the history of a war-torn region.

What’s a ‘Slaveroad’? A Bridge Across Oceans and Generations.

John Edgar Wideman’s new book connects reflections on his own life to imaginative studies of historical figures.

Robert Coover, Inventive Novelist in Iconoclastic Era, Dies at 92

Once called “probably the funniest and most malicious” of the postmodernists, his books reflected a career-long interest in reimagining folk stories, fairy tales and political myths.

Freeports, Free Zones and Other Places With Perks — for the Rich

In “The Hidden Globe,” the journalist Atossa Araxia Abrahamian examines the rise of spaces where wealthy countries and companies bend rules and regulations to their advantage.

From Melania Trump: Modeling, Motherhood and a Brazen Whitewash of a Presidency

Slim and full of obfuscations, her memoir touches on business ventures and raising her son, but barely grapples with the mysteries of her marriage.

2 Books About Old Flames

Stephen McCauley’s novel about ex-spouses reuniting, in a sense; Jim Shepard’s noir about a fateful hit-and-run.

Jean Hanff Korelitz on ‘The Sequel’

The writer discusses her follow-up to her best-selling 2021 novel “The Plot.”

Bring Up the Bodies in 4 New Crime Novels

Our crime columnist on books by Kate Atkinson, Nicholas Meyer, Marcie R. Rendon and Nilanjana Roy.

How John Lewis Became a Moral Force in America

In his new biography, David Greenberg tells the full story of the civil rights hero who became a long-serving U.S. representative.

5 Picture Books About Space, From the Sublime to the Silly

Works by Ada Limón and Peter Sís, Randy Cecil, Lucy Ruth Cummins and more depict the poetry, wonder and droll humor inspired by the great beyond.

Once More Unto the Breach: A New Take on Henry V Showcases His Contradictions

In a comprehensive biography, the historian Dan Jones tries to reconcile the hero of legend with the complicated young monarch of reality.

8 New Books We Recommend This Week

Suggested reading from critics and editors at The New York Times.

3 Poets Who See Society Freaking Out, and Respond in Kind

New collections from Alexandra Teague, Daniel Borzutzky and August Kleinzahler tap into a strain of cultural anxiety.

She Was Diagnosed With Brain Cancer, Then Wrote a Rom-Com About It

Sophie Kinsella, the author of “Confessions of a Shopaholic,” packs love, laughter and a harrowing real-life health ordeal into a 133-page novella.

Love Netflix’s ‘Heartstopper’? You’ll Love These Charming Books, Too.

Earnest love stories by Rainbow Rowell, TJ Klune and Talia Hibbert will tug at your heartstrings while grappling with real, often dark, issues.

Kate McKinnon Is Fascinated by Neurobiology. And Verbs.

In “The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science,” the former “S.N.L.” star “wanted to create a mad scientist whose highest goal was to respect and protect nature.”

R.L. Stine’s Favorite Halloween Books Will Give Your Kids Goosebumps

As spooky season approaches, the master of children’s horror recommends creepy-crawly classics and modern thrills for young readers.

Read Your Way Around Hawaii

To read Hawaii is to understand that much of it will never be accessible to the masses. The writer Megan Kamalei Kakimoto recommends books that illuminate the islands’ rich history and storytelling spirit.

Ella Leffland, Novelist Drawn to Portraying Outsiders, Dies at 92

Her work often drew from her upbringing in California amid World War II, such as her intricate novel about the Nazi leader Hermann Goering.

A 64-Year-Old Literary Agent and TikTok Star Adds ‘Novelist’ to Her Résumé

Betsy Lerner has spent decades in the publishing industry. Writing her first novel, “Shred Sisters,” unlocked a completely new side to her creativity.

Here Are the Finalists for the 2024 National Book Award

Percival Everett’s “James,” Salman Rushdie’s “Knife” and Diane Seuss’ “Modern Poetry” are among the honorees. Winners will be announced next month.

The Love Affair Annie Ernaux Captured in Words and on Film

In 2003 the Nobel laureate had a torrid romance with Marc Marie, a French acquaintance. In “The Use of Photography,” they deliver a vivid chronicle of their relationship in photos and essays.

Karl Ove Knausgaard Reprises a Dark Tale, and Lays It On Thick

The third novel in the author’s Morning Star series considers how the extreme can engulf the everyday.

When a National Hero of Mexico Was a Nobody in New Orleans

Yuri Herrera’s novel “Season of the Swamp” portrays the antebellum South through the eyes of a humbled leader in exile.

If You Liked the Plot in ‘The Plot,’ Then You’ll Love Its Sequel, ‘The Sequel’

Jean Hanff Korelitz follows her hit thriller with the related tale of a novelist hounded by anonymous threats. But this writer aggressively aims to turn the page.

In This Nuclear Family, Mental Illness Leads to a Meltdown

Betsy Lerner’s assured first novel, “Shred Sisters,” maps the effects of a daughter’s volatility on her parents and younger sister.

Can You Uncover the 13 Book Titles Hidden in This Text Puzzle?

The 1970s were known for their fashion, political turmoil, pop culture and a lot of significant books. See if you can spot popular fiction and nonfiction works of the era lurking in this short passage.

Michel Houellebecq’s Outlook for an Ailing France: C’est Fini

In what the author says is his last novel, both a family and a society are on the verge of collapse.

Will the Real Midwest Please Stand Up?

The vice-presidential debate, pitting Senator JD Vance of Ohio against Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, shines the spotlight on a complicated region.

The Mexican Novelist Who Found Himself in New Orleans

Much of Yuri Herrera’s work has focused on Mexican social realities. In “Season of the Swamp” he turns his attention to the uniquely American city that has been his home for 13 years.

The Magnificently Weird Fiction of Yoko Tawada

The Japanese author, frequently mentioned as a possible Nobel laureate, has a new novel, the second in her “Scattered All Over the Earth” trilogy.

The Novelist Who Foresaw the ‘Big One’ for Florida’s Gulf Coast

John D. MacDonald was eerily prescient about the risks of human-driven climate disasters in the region.

Ta-Nehisi Coates Returns to the Political Fray, Calling Out Injustice

“The Message” marks his re-entry as a public intellectual determined to wield his moral authority, especially regarding Israel and the occupied territories.

Is Malcolm Gladwell Out of Ideas?

In “Revenge of the Tipping Point,” the best-selling author looks back at his old theories.

Ta-Nehisi Coates on Why Not Everyone Will Love His New Book

In “The Message,” Coates grapples with questions about which stories are told, and how, through his visits to Senegal, South Carolina and the West Bank.

They Have a Sacred Pact With a Bog. It Might Be a Curse.

In “The Bog Wife,” a West Virginia family must reckon with secrets, betrayals and the destruction of their legacy when a supernatural covenant that protected them begins to falter.

Molly Recommends Small Takes on Big Ideas, and a Novel of Sisterhood

James Richardson’s aphorisms; Nora Lange’s novel “Us Fools”

Ina Garten’s Memoir of Fortune, Work and Being Obsessed With Her Husband

In “Be Ready When the Luck Happens,” the TV cooking icon asks, “How easy is that?” The answer? Not very.

4 New Horror Books Filled With Eldritch Terrors and Other Frights

Our columnist reviews September’s new horror releases.

In a White Gated Community, the Only Black Couple Wind Up Dead

The protagonist of Rivers Solomon’s novel “Model Home” has tried to outrun childhood trauma, but their ghosts lure them right back.

Race, Class, Land and a Teenage Love Triangle

In Louise Erdrich’s new novel, “The Mighty Red,” a high school jock proposes to the Ojibwe daughter of a woman who works for his family’s sugar farm.

Why Jackson Pollock Owed Everything to Claude Monet

A new biography of the French Impressionist argues that Monet himself owed everything to the three most important women in his life.

Iconic New York City Novels

September marks the 50th anniversary of “The Power Broker,” Robert Caro’s biography of Robert Moses. Leah Greenblatt, an editor at The New York Times Book Review, recommends some of her other favorite New York City books.

Book Club: Let’s Talk About ‘The Hypocrite’

Jo Hamya’s novel tells the story of the fraught relationship between a self-absorbed British writer and his playwright daughter.

Neil King Jr., Who Wrote of a Long Walk of ‘Renewal,’ Dies at 65

His book, “American Ramble,” lyrically recounted a 330-mile trek from Washington, D.C., to New York City while he was in remission from cancer.

‘Intermezzo’ Book Club Conversation Space: Chat About Sally Rooney’s Other Books

Looking to discuss Sally Rooney’s previous books? Chat about them here.

‘Intermezzo’ Book Club Conversation Space: Spoiler Chat

Want to discuss spoilers related to our October book club selection, “Intermezzo,” by Sally Rooney? Post them here.

‘Intermezzo’ Book Club Conversation Space: Main Discussion

Discuss our October book club selection, “Intermezzo,” by Sally Rooney, with the Book Review.

Learn More About ‘Intermezzo’

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Before You Get Started

Here’s what to know about joining the discussion, including important dates and information on our various conversation spaces.

‘Intermezzo’ Book Club Conversation Space: Book Pairing Recommendations

Share recommendations of books you think would pair well with our October book club selection, “Intermezzo,” by Sally Rooney.

The Women Who Made MoMA

A new book pays tribute to the female investors, curators, collectors and more without whom the Museum of Modern Art in New York likely would not exist.

21 New Books Coming in October

Novels by Karl Ove Knausgaard and Jean Hanff Korelitz; nonfiction by Ina Garten, Alexei Navalny and Ta-Nehisi Coates; Sapphic horror and more.

How Tolkien and Lewis Re-enchanted a War-Weary World

A graphic novel makes a powerful case that if these two men had never met, 20th-century pop culture might have taken an entirely different course.

How a Book About Gloves Inspired a Masterpiece by Philip Roth

For years, Roth couldn’t get beyond the premise for his novel “American Pastoral.” Then he stumbled on a copy of “Shtetl in the Adirondacks: The Story of Gloversville and Its Jews.” The rest is literary history.

7 New Books We Recommend This Week

Suggested reading from critics and editors at The New York Times.

Loved ‘Nobody Wants This’? You’ll Want These Romance Books

These novels feature cross-cultural connections, charming banter and plenty of heart.

Richard Osman Has a (Tiny) Bone to Pick With John Grisham

In “We Solve Murders,” the author of the hugely popular Thursday Murder Club series introduces a new set of crime solvers.

A ‘Health Resort Horror Story’ From a Nobel Laureate

In a new novel by Olga Tokarczuk, guests at a mountain retreat face a dark and cryptic threat.

At Book Release Parties, Fans Go Loony for Rooney

Sally Rooney lovers reveled, played trivia and took part in raffles to celebrate the Irish novelist’s new book, “Intermezzo.”

This Crime Novelist Spins Murder Mysteries Out of Emails, Memos and Texts

After years of this-and-that jobs, Janice Hallett began to write a novel: “What do I have to lose?” Now a widely celebrated voice in crime fiction, she just launched her fifth book, “The Examiner.”

3 Fizzy New Romance Novels

Our columnist on new books by Casey McQuiston, Erin Langston and Erica Ridley.

What Are People Saying About the New Sally Rooney Book?

“Intermezzo,” the Irish novelist’s fourth novel, is one of this fall’s most anticipated books.

The ‘Library Rats’ Who Helped Win World War II

In her lively “Book and Dagger,” the historian Elyse Graham rescues a cast of scholar-spies from obscurity.

What if Jurors Could See Life Through the Defendants’ Eyes?

Jesse Ball’s Kafkaesque novel imagines a legal system that deploys a shockingly personal device.

For Fredric Jameson, Marxist Criticism Was a Labor of Love

The literary critic, who died on Sunday at age 90, believed that reading was the path to revolution.

Fredric Jameson, Critic Who Linked Literature to Capitalism, Dies at 90

Among the world’s leading academic critics, he brought his analytical rigor to topics as diverse as German opera and sci-fi movies.

Do You Know These Villains of Classic British Literature?

Antagonists, antiheroes and just plain evil characters can really stick with you. See how many you remember from five time-honored novels.

New State Laws Are Fueling a Surge in Book Bans

Two reports from advocacy groups show that book banning continues at higher rates than before the pandemic. Newly implemented state laws are impacting the numbers this year.

Sally Rooney, Heart on Her Sleeve, Writes a Weeper

Her new novel, “Intermezzo,” considers love in its various permutations.

First He Spoke for the Trees; Now He Speaks for the Sea

The wonders of the ocean and the terrors of A.I. meet in Richard Powers’s new novel, which considers the future of an environmentally challenged Polynesian island.

What Happened When an Ohio Megachurch Decided to Tackle Racism

In “Undivided,” the political scientist Hahrie Han follows members of a mostly white congregation that resolved to fight bias and promote racial justice.

2 Books for a Real-Life ‘Brilliant Friend’

Adventures in Russian literature; a novel of domestic discontent.

This Family Is Miserable. You Should Meet Them Anyway.

The domestic drama runs high in “A Reason to See You Again,” Jami Attenberg’s latest novel.

Nelson DeMille, Blockbuster Author Who Thrilled Millions, Dies at 81

In best seller after best seller, world-weary investigators tackled military malfeasance and Russian spies, cracking jokes and beers to the delight of legions of devoted fans.

A Look Ahead at Autumn’s Big Books

The season’s most anticipated titles include new fiction from Sally Rooney, Richard Powers, Jean Hanff Korelitz and more, plus celebrity memoirs by Al Pacino, Cher and Ina Garten.

When the Only Screens Were Big

A massive, two-volume coffee table book revisits the heyday of classic Hollywood glamour as seen in Life magazine.

Remember ‘Frindle’? Andrew Clements Had a Sequel Up His Sleeve.

More than 25 years later, the pen of another name meets a new generation of wordsmiths.

7 New Books We Recommend This Week

Suggested reading from critics and editors at The New York Times.

The Author of ‘Impossible Creatures’ Tucks Big Ideas in Tales of Wonder

Katherine Rundell said children can handle hefty themes, but finds it “bad manners to offer a child a story and give them just a moral.”

Karl Marx, Weirder Than Ever

What good is one of the communist thinker’s most important texts to 21st-century readers?

Gillian Anderson Never Got Bored Reading Other Women’s Sexual Fantasies

Her own is among the anonymous tales included in “Want,” a new collection she has edited: “It only felt right, given I was requesting courage from everyone else.”

Elias Khoury, Master of the Modern Arabic Novel, Dies at 76

In his fiction and journalism, he sought to illustrate the story of the contemporary Middle East and his native Lebanon.

Why Is the Far Right Gaining Support Among Latino Americans?

In “Defectors,” the journalist Paola Ramos interviews MAGA supporters, Proud Boys and others to investigate a constituency long thought reliably Democratic.

Can Americans Have Democracy, Freedom and Other Nice Things?

In “On Freedom,” Timothy Snyder looks at what kinds of societies help people thrive.

How Donald Trump Learned to Pass the Buck

In “Lucky Loser,” two investigative reporters illuminate the financial chicanery and media excesses that gave us the 45th president of the United States.

Beautiful Drawings of Bodies in Crisis Fill September’s Graphic Novels

An exciting book with no words, a murder mystery, an author mocking their own pain and a poetic masterpiece highlight this month’s offerings.

Takeaways From Hillary Clinton’s New Book, ‘Something Lost, Something Gained’

In her latest memoir, Clinton takes on student protests, foreign policy and even clown school.

An Old White Billionaire Mentors a Young Black Woman in the Art of Philanthropy

In Rumaan Alam’s new novel, “Entitlement,” giving away a fortune isn’t as easy as it sounds.

The Mother of a Transgender Child Faces Her Hometown’s Hatred

In “One Day I’ll Grow Up and Be a Beautiful Woman,” Abi Maxwell struggles to raise her daughter in a New Hampshire community that refuses to accept her.

Sex, Grief and Psychoanalysis on the Rue de Belleville

Lauren Elkin’s first novel, “Scaffolding,” traces the multiple infidelities of two Parisian couples a generation apart.

Connie Chung Signed Off, but She Isn’t Done Talking

In a frank and entertaining new memoir, the TV newscaster recounts how sexism, and Dan Rather, sidelined her groundbreaking career.

Academic Plagiarism Complaint Against the Author of ‘White Fragility’ Dismissed

In a letter, the University of Washington stated that the evidence presented in the confidential complaint failed to meet the institution’s criteria for plagiarism.

Books by Rachel Kushner and Percival Everett Make Booker Prize Shortlist

For the first time in the award’s 55-year history, five of the six nominated titles are by female authors.

Do You Know Where in the World These Novels Are Set?

Try this short literary geography quiz on books with settings around the globe.

Even Losers Get Lucky Sometimes. Not in This Book.

Tony Tulathimutte’s new stories center on the young, alienated, unloved people you can’t stop watching.

First He Went After Anita Hill. Now He’s Coming for Clarence Thomas.

As a young conservative, David Brock smeared Hill, who accused the Supreme Court justice of sexual harassment. Now, in a new book, Brock is denouncing Thomas and the court’s rightward tilt — and contending with his own complicated past.

Looking for a Woman in Finance? After 200 Years, There Still Aren’t Many

In “She-Wolves,” the historian Paulina Bren recounts the uphill — and ongoing — battle of women to break into the finance industry.

Why Has ‘The Power Broker’ Had Such a Long Life?

In his biography of a city bureaucrat, Robert Caro created a lasting portrait of American corruption by turning the craft of journalism into a pursuit of high art.

He Read His Dying Mother’s Diaries, and Spun Them Into a Novel

In “Elaine,” Will Self conjures a 1950s housewife who bears a striking resemblance to the woman who raised him.

Monsters Are Everywhere in This Cozy Novel About a Haunted Neighborhood

In the journalist Dan Kois’s new book, “Hampton Heights,” a group of middle-school boys discover magic and frights in an unassuming Milwaukee enclave.

A Family History Bound to the Story of the Atomic Bomb

Richard Flanagan’s new book progresses like a nuclear chain reaction, moving from personal narrative to world events.

How a Behind-the-Scenes ‘Kingmaker’ Developed a Talent for Diplomacy

Sonia Purnell’s biography of Pamela Harriman argues that the Democratic stalwart and former ambassador was more than the men she cultivated.

Buried for Years in an Archive, a Novel by a Master of Horror Is Out

“Pay the Piper,” a manuscript by George A. Romero, the director of classics like “Night of the Living Dead,” was incomplete. Daniel Kraus, who studied Romero’s oeuvre, gave it a fitting finish.

A Midlife Transition Rattles a Suburban Family

In his memoir “Frighten the Horses,” Oliver Radclyffe recalls his gradual awakening to the sexuality and gender identity he spent 40 years denying.

Robert Caro on 50 Years of ‘The Power Broker’

The Pulitzer-winning biographer revisits his seminal 1974 life of the New York City bureaucrat Robert Moses.

A French Punk Feminist Takes on #MeToo and Addiction

Virginie Despentes confronts sexual politics in an epistolary novel with a stubbornly idealistic streak.

Horror That Illuminates Humanity’s True Monsters

The Argentine writer Mariana Enriquez indicts our worst offenses in 12 haunting new stories.

At 95, Jules Feiffer Tries Something New: A Graphic Novel for Young Readers

With “Amazing Grapes,” the legendary cartoonist has composed a wondrous hymn to what’s lost and found.

Pedro Almodóvar, Master of Mystifying Films, Wrote a Book He Can’t Classify

In “The Last Dream,” the Spanish director offers insights into his complicated relationship with creativity and mortality.

Tracking the French Impressionists, at Work and at War

Sebastian Smee’s “Paris in Ruins” follows the lives and careers of Manet, Degas and Berthe Morisot during the Franco-Prussian fiasco.

Mark Jury, Whose Stark Photography Captured the Vietnam War, Dies at 80

He produced an early photo book about what he called the first “rock ’n’ roll war,” documented his grandfather’s dementia and became a filmmaker.

7 New Books We Recommend This Week

Suggested reading from critics and editors at The New York Times.

‘Chaos’ Reigns!

‘Chaos’ is an unruly word for a volatile time. The election is the least of it.

Robert Caro Reflects on ‘The Power Broker’ and Its Legacy at 50

Caro’s book on Robert Moses, a city planner who reshaped New York, is also a reflection on “the dangers of unchecked power,” and remains more resonant and relevant than ever.

‘The Power Broker’ Is Finally Getting a Digital Edition. What Took So Long?

Robert Caro’s mammoth study of the urban planner Robert Moses is coming out as an e-book this month, on the 50th anniversary of the biography’s publication.

Debt Was Supposed to Cure Poverty and Help Pay for College. What Went Wrong?

Three new books examine debt’s fraught politics and history.

This Novel Has Fewer Periods Than This Headline. It’s 400 Pages Long.

Laszlo Krasznahorkai’s single-sentence tale unearths the catastrophe lurking inside the mundane.

Ketanji Brown Jackson Looks Forward to Reading Fiction Again

The Supreme Court justice has been drawn to American history and books about the “challenges and triumphs” of raising a neurodiverse child. She shares that and more in a memoir, “Lovely One.”

His Poems Are a Joy to Hear, Even When Their Meanings Aren’t Clear

In his latest collection, Paul Muldoon continues his longtime trick of marshaling obscure references into fluent, fun and rollicking lyrics.

Sex, Drugs, Raves and Heartbreak

In a new memoir, the journalist Emily Witt delivers a coolly precise chronicle of Brooklyn’s underground party scene and her romance with a fellow partygoer.

In These Four Enticing Novels, Escape Takes Many Forms

A medieval heist, a Halifax murder, a Dutch wartime winter and a daring 1939 journey to Shanghai provide egress for any taste.

The Book That Prepared This Veteran Editor for a Literary Life

A 1966 novel captures a publishing world full of chronic malcontents, strategic lunches and ideas that mattered.

Pulling Back the Silicon Curtain

Yuval Noah Harari’s study of human communication may be anything but brief, but if you can make it to the second half, you’ll be both entertained and scared.

What Makes the Far Right Tick?

In “Stolen Pride,” Arlie Russell Hochschild explores the emotional lives of Americans who vote for Donald Trump.

Liane Moriarty Has Sold 20 Million Books. She Would Rather Not Talk About It.

The author of “Big Little Lies” and several other best-sellers has a new novel, “Here One Moment.” Promoting it — doing any publicity — remains a challenge, she said.

An Unlikely Pair’s Difficult Pilgrimage From Rural Alabama to the White House

In Jamie Quatro’s Southern Gothic novel “Two-Step Devil,” a dying “Prophet” and a former sex-trafficking victim make the same journey for two very different reasons.

In Liane Moriarty’s Bustling New Novel, Fate Takes Flight

There are stakes on the plane in “Here One Moment,” the latest from the Australian fiction powerhouse.

In ‘Still Life,’ a Trans Woman’s Homecoming Is Shaped by Grief

In Katherine Packert Burke’s debut novel, a woman is haunted by change while grappling with the death of a friend.

Wander Lonely, Never Die and Other Things a Cloud Might Do

Whether as metaphors, decorations or (literal) forces of nature, clouds are everywhere in poetry.

Do You Know These Sports Books That Became Movies?

Try this short quiz about screen adaptations and the source material that inspired them.

The Endless Drama, and Tedium, of a Medical Mystery

Garth Greenwell takes on pain and illness in his new novel, “Small Rain.”

Did Ronald Reagan Pave the Way for Donald Trump?

In his new biography, Max Boot reckons with the president who was once his hero and another who led him away from the Republican Party.

She’s Rich, Beautiful and Lethal to Men

Inspired by the true story of the first woman condemned as a witch in medieval Ireland, “Bright I Burn,” by Molly Aitken, features a protagonist as dangerous as she is beguiling.

Was Iraq an ‘Artificial Nation’ Created by the West? This History Says No.

A new book by the journalist Bartle Bull recounts 5,000 years of the country’s past, showing how long before colonial powers defined its borders, it was a place with a common history.

The Nicest Hostage Takers You’ll Ever Meet

In “The Siege,” Ben Macintyre gives a lesser-known Iranian hostage crisis its due.

Is Don Lemon in His Prime?

In his new memoir, the CNN veteran opens up about faith, his midlife career upheaval and that time he got into homemade laundry detergent.

She’s Been to Hell and Back. Now Comes the Reckoning.

In his new novel, Roddy Doyle revisits his character Paula Spencer, a woman managing some fraught feelings. Our reviewer had some fraught feelings of her own.

2 Books Celebrating Happy Marriages

Elizabeth Alexander and John Bayley loved their partners to the end.

Elizabeth Strout Gets the Gang Back Together for a Murder Mystery

In “Tell Me Everything,” Bob Burgess deepens his emotional connection with Lucy Barton as he defends a local man accused of killing his mother.

When a Smart House Turns Evil

In Mason Coile’s new horror novel, “William,” an intelligent robot begins to lead its feckless creator to terrible places in the name of “freedom.”

Kate Atkinson on the Return of Her Detective Hero

“Death at the Sign of the Rook” is the sixth novel in Atkinson’s Jackson Brodie mystery series. What keeps her coming back?

Huck Finn’s Love Interest Tells Her Own Story

Mary Jane never “sat right” with the award-winning scientist and memoirist Hope Jahren, so she wrote a novel about “the real redheaded one.”

6 New Books We Recommend This Week

Suggested reading from critics and editors at The New York Times.

Kamala Harris Wasn’t the First Veep to Experience a Major Vibe Shift

In “Making the Presidency,” Lindsay M. Chervinsky argues that John Adams established what it means to be America’s commander in chief.

Garth Greenwell: A Classic Can Be Both ‘Homophobic’ and ‘Lifesaving’

James Baldwin’s “Giovanni’s Room” has been meaningful for “generations of queer people (including for me),” says the novelist, who argues for “less facile” literary conversations. His new book is “Small Rain.”

After Years of Depression, a Best-Selling Author Confronts What Haunted Him

In his new novel, Matt Haig goes back to the place where he fell apart — Ibiza, Spain — and reclaims it.

The Black List Helped Reshape Hollywood. Can It Change Publishing?

Almost 20 years after Franklin Leonard created the Black List, which has helped little-known screenwriters break into Hollywood, it is expanding into fiction.

Read Your Way Through Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is a literary city: Its residents like to boast about its many bookstores and independent publishers. Samanta Schweblin suggests which books and authors to start with.

From School Librarian to Activist: ‘The Hate Level and the Vitriol Is Unreal’

Amid a surge in book bans nationwide, the librarian Amanda Jones was targeted by vicious threats. So she decided to fight back.

Can You Find the 12 Thrillers Hidden Within This Text?

The 20th-century Cold War was rife with geopolitical tension and inspired a lot of great espionage thrillers. This text puzzle challenges you to uncover the titles of a dozen novels set in and around that frosty era.

In ‘Lovely One,’ Ketanji Brown Jackson Credits the Mentors Who Lifted Her Up

The Supreme Court justice’s memoir is deeply personal and full of hope, and highlights a fairy-tale marriage to her college boyfriend.

Germany Before the Nazis: A Democracy That Didn’t Need to Fail

The Weimar Republic was a hotbed of cultural experimentation. A new history argues that its demise was not inevitable.

An Overdose Forces a Hard Look at a Family History of Addiction

In Coco Mellors’s second novel, “Blue Sisters,” three adult siblings reunite on the first anniversary of their sister’s death.

To Survive in the Future, Humanity May Need to Become Less Human

In Hiromi Kawakami’s new science fiction novel, Earth is a place of surveillance, isolation and dread. The characters (and clones) are doing their best to stay alive.

Books for Kids Starting at a New School

These 10 titles will help children of all ages navigate the anxiety, awkwardness and opportunities for growth that come with being the new kid.

Matt Haig’s New Novel Is a Love Letter Filled With Magic

In “The Life Impossible,” a 72-year-old widow tries to figure out what happened to a friend who disappeared in Ibiza.

A Smart, Sinuous Espionage Thriller Brimming With Heat

Already longlisted for the Booker Prize, Rachel Kushner’s “Creation Lake” — set in rural France — stars a ruthless American secret agent.

22 Nonfiction Books to Read This Fall

Essays by Ta-Nehisi Coates; memoirs by Alexei Navalny, Ina Garten and Cher; and dispatches from the mind of a Nobel laureate are among this season’s most anticipated offerings.

24 Works of Fiction and Poetry to Read This Fall

Check out new books by Sally Rooney, Rachel Kushner and Richard Powers, and revisit familiar worlds from Karl Ove Knausgaard, Haruki Murakami and Jeff VanderMeer.

How America Won the Fashion War (or, at Least, the Sweatpants Battle)

In “Empresses of Seventh Avenue,” the fashion writer Nancy MacDonell tells the story of the New York women who created modern style.

3 Moody, Terror-Laced New Thrillers

Our columnist on new books from T.J. Newman, Andrea Mara and A.E. Gauntlett.

Some Consider Being Biracial a ‘Predicament.’ Danzy Senna Thinks It’s Hilarious.

Senna, who is mixed-race, has made a career satirizing the lives of characters like her. Her new novel takes elements from her history and twists them to the extreme.

These Two Books Ask, Was the Movie Better?

The French novel that was adapted into “Vertigo”; Cameron Crowe’s nonfiction account of a year inside a public high school.

The Constitution Is Sacred. Is It Also Dangerous?

One of the biggest threats to America’s politics might be the country’s founding document.

A Veteran Falls in Love With a Beautiful Woman, Including Her Spiraled Horn

The itinerant man in Gayl Jones’s “The Unicorn Woman” discovers his beloved as a sideshow carnival attraction.

The ‘Middle’ Is a Muddle

Everybody loves the middle class. Nobody wants to be mid, or middling. “Middle” is a tricky word.

‘The Hypocrite’ Book Club: Main Conversation

Discuss our September book club selection, “The Hypocrite,” by Jo Hamya, with the Book Review.

Learn More About the Book

Welcome to the Book Review Book Club

Join us for a conversation about “The Hypocrite,” by Jo Hamya.

‘The Hypocrite’ Book Club: Book Pairing Recommendations

Share recommendations of books you think would pair well with our September book club selection, “The Hypocrite,” by Jo Hamya.

‘The Hypocrite’ Book Club: Spoiler Chat

Want to discuss spoilers related to our September book club selection, “The Hypocrite,” by Jo Hamya? Post them here.

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Books for Kids Starting Kindergarten

Anxiety, making new friends, learning to share: These nine titles will prepare young readers for whatever their first day of school may have in store.

How Dinosaurs Rocked Victorian Society

In “Dinosaurs at the Dinner Party,” the science writer Edward Dolnick takes on the 19th-century discovery of dinosaur fossils: “What was it like to try to grapple with an idea that hadn’t occurred to anybody?”

3 New Horror Novels Full of Terrors That Are All Too Real

Our columnist reviews August’s horror releases.

Author of ‘White Fragility’ Faces Accusations of Plagiarism

A complaint filed with the University of Washington raises questions about attribution in Robin DiAngelo’s Ph.D. thesis, which was published 20 years ago.

120 Years of New York’s Subterranean Literary Muse

The subway isn't just buried in the bedrock of New York City — it's embedded within its fiction, too. These archival photographs and literary quotes transport you through time.

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Waiting, and Waiting, and More Waiting for a Lover to Leave His Wife

The Norwegian author Vigdis Hjorth’s latest novel to be translated into English, “If Only,” follows a decade-long affair between two married writers.

Beneath a Perfect, Goop-Influenced Exterior Lurks a Violent Past

In Chelsea Bieker’s new novel, “Madwoman,” a woman is no longer able to keep the demons of her childhood out of her present.

Books for Kids Starting Middle School

From a Judy Blume classic to mysteries both otherworldly and close to home, these 11 titles capture the nerve-racking first days of tweendom — and all the wonderful and terrible days that follow.

What Does It Take to Become a Prodigy Scam Artist?

In “Never Saw Me Coming,” Tanya Smith tells of her life as a young financial criminal — and the harsh prison sentence that changed everything.

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Our mystery columnist reviews books by Scott Phillips, Morgan Richter, Snowden Wright and Jamie Harrison.

H.R. McMaster Doesn’t Think Donald Trump Is Very Good at Making Deals

A new memoir by the onetime national security adviser shows how the former president’s insecurities and weaknesses harmed U.S. foreign policy.

19 New Books Coming in September

New novels by Sally Rooney and Richard Powers, a memoir by the first Black woman on the Supreme Court — and more.

The 100 Best Books of the 21st Century: A Printable List

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Isabel Wilkerson Looks Back at ‘The Warmth of Other Suns’

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Can You Guess These Novels That Originally Got Bad Times Reviews?

Some works that went on to become popular literary classics first got mixed or bad reviews. Try this short quiz to see if you recognize the novels as described by their original reviewers in The Times.

In This Fleet, Funny Novel, a Writer Makes Art and Sells Out in Hollywood

In “Colored Television,” by Danzy Senna, a struggling writer in a mixed-race family is seduced by the taste of luxury that comes with house-sitting.

Love Them or Hate Them, This Couple Reign in Russian Literature

For Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, translating together extended naturally from their relationship as husband and wife. Now, it is their life’s work.

An Impressive Monument to Christopher Isherwood, Man of Letters (and Lovers)

Though it downplays unflattering details, Katherine Bucknell’s big biography hails the 20th-century writer as an early advocate for the “chosen family.”