How Much Do You Know About Early American Literature?

Before the Independence Day fireworks this week, try this short quiz on America’s popular books published during the country’s formative years.

J. D. Biersdorfer | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Sizzling Summer Romance Novels

Our critic on the month’s best new books.

Olivia Waite | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

A Surrealist Classic Shows Us the Uncanny in Everyday Paris

André Breton’s 1928 novel “Nadja” pays homage to a great love and to a great city.

Ben Libman | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Rod Nordland, 75, Dies; War Reporter Who Also Wrote of His Own Struggle

Motivated by the helplessness of his boyhood, he described the lives of vulnerable people in conflicts around the world and later his own terminal illness.

Alex Traub | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

A Prep School Predator Haunts Joyce Carol Oates’s New Novel

“Fox” details the devastation wrought by a manipulative English teacher who sexually abuses his students.

Owen King | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Her Job Was Real. So Why Did Her Work Feel So Fake?

Leigh Claire La Berge’s memoir looks back at her stint as a consultant for a Fortune 500 company at the turn of the millennium: “Is this how companies are put together?”

Charles Finch | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

A Laugh-Out-Loud Funny Novel About the Civil War

Dennard Dayle’s satirical new book, “How to Dodge a Cannonball,” follows a white flag-bearer pretending to be a Black soldier.

Mat Johnson | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Norma Swenson, an Author of ‘Our Bodies, Ourselves,’ Dies at 93

She was a proponent of natural childbirth when she joined the group that produced the candid guide to women’s health. It became a cultural touchstone and a global best seller.

Penelope Green | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Molly Recommends 2 Very Male New Novels

A Hungarian in London; a road trip in Canada.

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Trying to Sell a Conservative Book? Go on a Podcast.

Many of the most popular shows welcome right-wing arguments and freewheeling conversation. Publishers of other political stripes are noticing, too.

Alexandra Alter | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

In Two New Books, the Chef Definitely Recommends Something Gay

John Birdsall’s “What Is Queer Food?” and Erik Piepenburg’s “Dining Out” both seek to define the place of cuisine in queer culture, history and expression.

Lukas Volger | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

The Best Romance Novels of the Year So Far

Looking for a swoony, feel-good read? Our romance columnist will be updating this list all year.

Olivia Waite | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Serial Killers of the Pacific Northwest: Did Toxins Make Them Do It?

“Murderland,” by the Pulitzer Prize winner Caroline Fraser, considers possible links between the region’s industrial pollution and its most infamous murderers.

Timothy Egan | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

These Fantasy Novels Breathe New Life Into Old Myths

Drawing on folklore traditions from around the world, these thrilling and entertaining books put fresh spins on classic tales.

Kalyani Saxena | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Susan Choi: ‘I Feel I’ve Read Nothing but Great Books Recently’

The list includes “Heartwood,” “Other Worlds,” “The Wall” and “The Fact Checker.” Her own new novel is “Flashlight.”

Unknown Author | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

The Risky, Reality-Bending Thriller You Need This Summer

In “The Catch,” struggling twin sisters are forced to rethink their lives after the reappearance of their mother, presumed dead for decades.

Danez Smith | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

The Man Who Turned Right-Wing Politics Into Entertainment

An expansive new biography of William F. Buckley Jr. traces the eventful life of the conservative activist who intuitively grasped the media’s centrality to politics.

Jennifer Burns | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Alasdair MacIntyre, Philosopher Who Saw a ‘New Dark Ages,’ Dies at 96

A Marxist-turned-Catholic who denounced individualism, he provoked and inspired fellow thinkers and gained a degree of popularity unusual for a moral philosopher.

Alex Traub | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

These Queer Fantasy Novels Make TJ Klune Feel Seen

The author of “The House in the Cerulean Sea” recommends captivating books that cast L.G.B.T.Q. people as the heroes, the villains and everything in between.

TJ Klune | NYTimes Books | Disclosure