How America Became Addicted to Exercise

In “Fit Nation,” Natalia Mehlman Petrzela charts the evolution of our national attitudes toward fitness.

By YASMINE ALSAYYAD | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

A Very Young Gymnast

In “Winterland,” Rae Meadows’s fifth novel, an 8-year-old from Siberia gets the nod to train with elite athletes in the U.S.S.R.

BY MEGAN ABBOTT | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Walkers in the City

During the pandemic, the New York Times architecture critic, Michael Kimmelman, toured parts of New York on foot with architects, urban planners and other experts. His book “The Intimate City” is a record of what they saw.

BY ROBERT SULLIVAN | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Where Words Fail, Humor Glimmers

In his memoir, “A Heart That Works,” Rob Delaney recalls the unthinkable — his son’s death — with honesty and levity.

BY MARY LAURA PHILPOTT | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

From Marguerite Duras, an Uncovered Tale of Young Womanhood

“The Easy Life,” the author’s second novel, is translated into English for the first time.

BY ALEXANDRA JACOBS | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

With ‘Last Day in Lagos,’ Marilyn Nance Gathers a Diaspora

Over a month spent at FESTAC ’77, the photographer captured the intimacy of Pan-African celebration.

BY CALEB AZUMAH NELSON | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

9 New Books We Recommend This Week

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

Editors' Choice | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Douglas Brinkley Would Like to Invite Thoreau to Dinner

The historian, whose new book is “Silent Spring Revolution,” would also invite E.O. Wilson and Rachel Carson: “We could talk about the 11,000 bird species the Cornell Lab of Ornithology is helping to conserve in the face of climate change.”

Unknown Author | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Write Every Day? Tracy Deonn Recommends Thinking Instead.

Before she put pen to paper — or fingers to keyboard — this fantasy novelist spent a long time getting to know her protagonist.

BY ELISABETH EGAN | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Avatars, Doubles, Multitudes: These Novels Explore Divided Selves

New books by N.K. Jemisin, H.A. Clarke, Nathan Tavares and Isaac Fellman.

BY AMAL EL-MOHTAR | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

6 New Paperbacks to Read This Week

This week’s roundup includes short stories by Joyce Carol Oates, an essay collection by Lydia Davis and more.

BY MIGUEL SALAZAR | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Kathy Acker, Drawn to the Margins, Pushed Literature’s Boundaries

“Eat Your Mind,” a new biography by Jason McBride, surveys her life and art.

BY DWIGHT GARNER | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Keep Baking That Sourdough, and Change the World

Lockdown has reminded David Sax that “The Future Is Analog.” At least for people a lot like him.

BY ALEXANDRA JACOBS | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

6 New Paperbacks to Read This Week

Including titles by Ann Patchett, Mario Vargas Llosa and more.

BY MIGUEL SALAZAR | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

The Family That Cooks Together Publishes a Best Seller

The Leung family teamed up to write “The Woks of Life,” a compendium of recipes for Chinese dishes.

By ELISABETH EGAN | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

What Books Does Haruki Murakami Find Disappointing? His Own.

“The books I try not to pick up, and don’t want to read, are ones I wrote myself and published in the past,” says the Japanese writer, whose new book is “Novelist as a Vocation.” “Though it does make me want to do better with my next work.”

Unknown Author | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Imani Perry Wins National Book Award for ‘South to America’

Tess Gunty received the fiction prize for her debut, “The Rabbit Hutch.” Art Spiegelman, the author of “Maus,” received a lifetime achievement award.

BY ELIZABETH A. HARRIS | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

They Thought They Were Invisible. They Were Wrong.

Andy Greenberg’s “Tracers in the Dark” chronicles the hunt for crypto-criminals.

BY MARK GIMEIN | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Newly Published, From Redefining Forgiveness to Portable Magic

A selection of recently published books.

Unknown Author | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

A Survival Guide for the End of the World

In Ewan Morrison’s new novel, “How to Survive Everything,” a teenager is abducted to a pandemic survivalist colony that’s trying to prepare for an impending apocalypse.

BY BEN H. WINTERS | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Loyal to God and Trump, Mike Pence Defends His Record

In “So Help Me God,” the former vice president looks back on his career with one eye on where it might be headed.

BY JENNIFER SZALAI | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Yet Another Serving From the Royals Banquet

Rushed into print, Andrew Morton’s “The Queen: Her Life” is a thorough biography without much new to say.

BY ALEXANDRA JACOBS | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

To Paulina Porizkova, Betrayal Is More Than Skin Deep

In her memoir, “No Filter,” the supermodel opens up about her marriage — and the unwelcome surprise that surfaced after her husband’s death.

BY MICHELLE RUIZ | NYTimes Books | Disclosure