Martin Cruz Smith, Best-Selling Author of ‘Gorky Park,’ Dies at 82

He startled critics, readers and the book industry in 1981 with a novel set in the Soviet Union that had a flawed detective as its antihero.

Adam Nossiter | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

You Know Emerson and Thoreau. Why Not Their Female Counterparts?

In “Bright Circle,” Randall Fuller shines a light on the women behind — and before — the male philosophers of 19th-century Massachusetts.

Francesca Wade | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Jenna Bush Hager: ‘Today’ Show Co-Host, Literary Tastemaker and Now, Publisher

Nearly six years after becoming a literary heavyweight with “Read with Jenna,” she’s starting her own publishing venture with Penguin Random House.

Alexandra Alter | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Remembering When ‘the World Really Made Sense’ on the Comics Pages

Wildly popular strips like “Bloom County,” “Calvin and Hobbes,” “Cathy,” “The Far Side” “and “Doonesbury” peaked in the 1980s, but they left their mark.

Brian Raftery | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

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.

Unknown Author | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

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.

Megan Kamalei Kakimoto | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

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.

Alexandra Alter | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Betty A. Prashker, Book Publishing Pioneer, Is Dead at 99

A top editor and executive at two publishing houses, she was an advocate for other women in publishing, and for equal pay in an industry that had long been male-dominated.

Trip Gabriel | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Emily Henry on Writing Best-Sellers Without Tours and TikTok

The author of “Funny Story” churned out five consecutive No. 1 best-sellers without leaving her comfort zone. How did she pull it off?

Elisabeth Egan | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Thomas J. McCormack Dies at 92; Transformed St. Martin’s Press

He turned “an insignificant trade house” into a powerhouse, publishing best sellers like “The Silence of the Lambs” and “All Creatures Great and Small.”

Sam Roberts | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

The Author of ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ Can’t Go Home, Except in His Books

Kevin Kwan left Singapore’s opulent, status-obsessed, upper crust when he was 11. He’s still writing about it.

Elisabeth Egan | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Alta, Irreverent Feminist Poet and Small-Press Pioneer, Dies at 81

She wrote lusty work about her life. She also started what may have been America’s first feminist press, Shameless Hussy, in her garage.

Penelope Green | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Simon & Schuster Turns 100 With a New Owner and a Sense of Optimism

The milestone comes after a particularly turbulent period, when the publisher was put up for sale and bought by a private equity firm. Since then, investments have boosted morale and helped it grow.

Alexandra Alter and Elizabeth A. Harris | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Writing a Book About Grief Isn’t Always Cathartic

Sloane Crosley’s apartment was robbed. Then her friend died. The only sensible thing to do was write about how it felt — and still feels.

Elisabeth Egan | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

5 Novels About Plagiarism

With plagiarism in the news, here are five novels that show it's an engrossing plot device, too.

Wilson Wong | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Holly Jackson’s Maximization of Google Maps

In her “A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder” series and “Five Survive,” this British author makes herself at home on the East Coast.

Elisabeth Egan | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

The Fine Art of the Paperback Makeover

Redesign? Relaunch? Regret? Take a look at the ways publishers aimed to seduce new audiences by changing up the covers of notable books.

Scott Heller and Miguel Salazar | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

She ‘Review Bombed’ Other Writers. Then Her Book Got Pulled.

Cait Corrain, a debut fantasy author, admitted to creating fake accounts on Goodreads to bolster her own book and tank the ratings of others.

Alexandra Alter | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Snapshot of a Year in the Land of Best Sellers

Surprising ascensions, Hollywood migrations and daggers to the art — it’s all part of life at the top.

Elisabeth Egan | NYTimes Books | Disclosure

Bob Contant, Dedicated Bohemian Bookseller, Dies at 80

A founder of the St. Mark’s Bookshop in the East Village, he prided himself on stocking titles that were not “too popular” and stayed in business for four decades.

Sam Roberts | NYTimes Books | Disclosure