Sunday, July 31, 2022

In ‘Yoga,’ Emmanuel Carrère Tries, Fitfully, to Capture Thought’s Flow


In his latest book, the French author celebrated for his deeply personal accounts of tragic events embraces meditation as a means of learning to write “without fabrication.” But telling the truth is complicated.


BY SHEILA GLASER | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Will the Biggest Publisher in the United States Get Even Bigger?


The Biden administration is suing to block Penguin Random House from buying Simon & Schuster. A United States District Court will decide if the sale can proceed.


BY ALEXANDRA ALTER, ELIZABETH A. HARRIS AND DAVID MCCABE | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

The Problem With Survivor Memoirs


In “Acceptance,” Emi Nietfeld pushes back against the American presumption that survival should depend on personal excellence.


BY JORDAN KISNER | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Friday, July 29, 2022

How decades of greed and bad choices left us vulnerable to a pandemic


Covid-19 deaths are a symptom of many other social ills, including inequality, federalism and factory farms, John Ehrenreich argues.


By Andy Slavitt | Washington Post Books | Disclosure

The pope who thought he could negotiate with Hitler


Using newly opened Vatican archives, David I. Kertzer presents a comprehensive account of the failures of Pope Pius XII.


By John Loughery | Washington Post Books | Disclosure

A joyful tour of French history, from main avenues to back roads


Graham Robb brings 2,000 years of French history to life, weaving in rich details and forgotten characters.


By Elaine Sciolino | Washington Post Books | Disclosure

3 new audiobooks for your summer playlist


Rosie Perez narrates Ronnie Spector’s new memoir. Also, the latest from Patrick Radden Keefe and Dan Fesperman


By Katherine A. Powers | Washington Post Books | Disclosure

Thursday, July 28, 2022

This Novelist Spun an Existential Question Into a Best Seller


In “The Measure,” Nikki Erlick shows what happens when adults across the globe are presented with the opportunity to learn when they will die.


BY ELISABETH EGAN | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

In Savannah, Spanish Moss, Tea Roses and Murder


The rot runs deep in George Dawes Green’s long-awaited fourth novel.


BY SARAH WEINMAN | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Monday, July 25, 2022

Wellness is something we all want. How has it become a luxury?


Fariha Róisín’s “Who Is Wellness For?” explores the cultural appropriation and commodification of a basic need — and how that can be changed.


By Sylvia Chan-Malik | Washington Post Books | Disclosure

For Elaine Castillo, Reading Is Politics


The essays in “How to Read Now” raise serious concerns about interpretation, inheritance and human understanding.

“White supremacy makes for terrible readers, writes Elaine Castillo in her essay collection "How to Read Now." The sentence, like the title of the book, is both a dig and a dare that blossoms into an urgent plea: "We need to change how we read." For Castillo, who was born in California to Filipino immigrants, this "we" is "generally American"; her book is aimed at the underprivileged groups who make up a sizable portion of the United States.

Read more in the article by JANE HU | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Saturday, July 23, 2022

Wednesday, July 20, 2022

Quidditch is now quadball, distancing game from J.K. Rowling, league says


Quidditch, a sport invented by Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, is rebranding as “quadball” amid controversy over the author’s comments.


By Adela Suliman | Washington Post Books | Disclosure

Washington Post hardcover bestsellers


A snapshot of popular books.


By Adela Suliman | Washington Post Books | Disclosure

How ‘Old Country’ went from a Reddit story to a novel and Netflix deal


When Matt Query began writing the horror story “My Wife and I Bought a Ranch” on Reddit's r/NoSleep, he didn't realize what it might become.


By Jess Eng | Washington Post Books | Disclosure

Glamour, Lust and Murder in the Hallowed Halls of Oxford


In Ruth Ware’s “It Girl,” a woman whose college roommate was murdered decides to reinvestigate the case.


BY SARAH LYALL | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Chance, Design and Inevitability in Three New Poetry Books



BY ELISA GABBERT | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Read Your Way Through Newfoundland


Michael Crummey, an award-winning author whose poetry and prose explore the region and its capital, St. John’s, shares book recommendations, local vocabulary and where to find a good pint.


BY MICHAEL CRUMMEY | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

In ‘The Kingdoms of Savannah,’ Oddballs Circle Around a Murder Mystery


George Dawes Green’s new novel hammers home the ugliness undergirding the city’s flowery, fashionable beauty.


BY ALEXANDRA JACOBS | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Monday, July 18, 2022

Love the Smell of Old Books? This Bookseller Would Like You to Leave.


In his grouchy, funny memoir, “A Factotum in the Book Trade,” Marius Kociejowski writes about what a good bookstore should feel like, famous customers he’s served and more.


BY DWIGHT GARNER | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Thursday, July 14, 2022

What Were People Reading in the Summer of 1972?


Fifty years ago, the book dotting every beach towel was Richard Bach’s best-selling novel, “Jonathan Livingston Seagull.”


BY TINA JORDAN | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Monday, July 11, 2022

Sunday, July 10, 2022

‘Hollywood Ending,’ a Cradle-to-Prison Biography of Harvey Weinstein

In this biography Ken Auletta looks for Weinstein’s Rosebud

In this depressing account of the former movie mogul's life, Ken Auletta looks for Weinstein's Rosebud.

By ALEXANDRA JACOBS | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

In Rust Belt Ohio, the First American Rape Case to Go Viral


In “Roll Red Roll,” Nancy Schwartzman revisits a teenage girl’s 2012 assault by high school football players, and its aftermath.


BY MOIRA DONEGAN | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Some Surprising Good News: Bookstores Are Booming and Becoming More Diverse

More than 300 bookstores have opened in the past couple of years

Over 300 bookstores have opened in the last few years, responding to a demand for "real recommendations from real people."

By ALEXANDRA ALTER and ELIZABETH A. HARRIS | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

The Many Grievances of the Broke, Tech-Averse Liberal


It’s a hard world out there for the protagonist of Teddy Wayne’s novel “The Great Man Theory.”


BY BRANDON TAYLOR | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Friday, July 8, 2022

How Could This Be Murder?


In Tom Mead’s “Death and the Conjuror,” a man is found dead in his study, his throat cut. There is no weapon in the room, and the doors are locked — from the inside.


BY SARAH WEINMAN | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Why We Need Bugs


A graphic review of two new books that explain how the world’s insects came to be in peril.


BY PETER KUPER | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Newly Published, From Banksy to Patrick Radden Keefe


A selection of books published this week.


Unknown Author | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Thursday, July 7, 2022

10 New Books We Recommend This Week

Books suggested reading by the New York Times

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

Unknown Author | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

The Outer Limits


In “The Shores of Bohemia,” John Taylor Williams explores 50 years in the iconoclastic summer colonies of Cape Cod.

By ANDREW SULLIVAN | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Here’s to Your Health


In “Doctors and Distillers,” Camper English explores the long-running interconnection between medicine and alcohol in daily life.


BY J. D. BIERSDORFER | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

The Cultural Dread of the Bad Mother


The narrator of Katixa Agirre’s “Mothers Don’t” obsesses over a distant acquaintance who murdered her two infant children.


BY CATHERINE LACEY | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

The Best Thrillers of 2025

Our columnist on the books that wowed her this year. Sarah Lyall | NYTimes Books | Disclosure