A Warlord’s Memoir Is Surprisingly Modern and Charming, When It’s Not Gruesome

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“The Babur Nama” is the autobiography of the polymathic founder of the Mughal dynasty.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/30/books/review-babur-nama.html

Book Review: ‘Black Futures,’ by Kimberly Drew and Jenna Wortham

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In “Black Futures,” Kimberly Drew and Jenna Wortham compile a nonlinear, multimedia compendium to inspire readers of all races to fight for racial justice.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/30/books/review/black-futures-kimberly-drew-jenna-wortham.html

Things To Do At Home

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This week, listen to the music of Billie Holiday, attend a fashion workshop or get your tarot cards read.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/28/at-home/thins-to-do-this-week.html

Malgré l’affaire Matzneff, le milieu littéraire reste muré dans l’entre-soi

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Le scandale autour de l’écrivain pédophile a levé le voile sur l’hermétisme du monde de l’édition en France, où les prix s’attribuent souvent entre amis.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/fr/2020/11/28/world/europe/Renaudot-prix-litteraires-matzneff.html

Pedophile Scandal Can’t Crack the Closed Circles of Literary France

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The scandal surrounding the writer Gabriel Matzneff was not limited to his pedophilia. It also opened a window on the entrenched and clubby nature of many of France’s elite institutions.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/28/world/europe/france-literary-prizes-matzneff.html

Talking About the 10 Best Books of 2020

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On a special episode of the podcast, taped live, editors from The New York Times Book Review discuss this year’s outstanding fiction and nonfiction.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/27/books/review/podcast-10-best-books-2020.html

Her Antenna Is Tuned to the Quietest Voices

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Yu Miri won a National Book Award for “Tokyo Ueno Station,” a novel whose main character is the ghost of a homeless construction worker.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/27/books/yu-miri-tokyo-ueno-station.html

Gift Books for Children (That Adults Will Also Love)

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Upside-down fairy tales, a neon periodic table, the art of Ramona Quimby and more.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/27/books/review/childrens-holiday-gift-books.html

‘Black Beauty’ Review: A Melodrama in Need of Rougher Edges

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Set in the present day, this adaptation of the classic children’s novel forgets why the story of a horse surviving the maliciousness of humans has endured for so long.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/27/movies/black-beauty-review.html

Crisscrossing the Country on Highways Big and Small

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In “The National Road,” Tom Zoellner set out to discover what connects us as Americans at a time when divisions run deep.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/26/books/review/tom-zoellner-national-road.html

11 New Books We Recommend This Week

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

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/26/books/review/11-new-books-we-recommend-this-week.html

Best Art Books of 2020

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The art critics of The Times select their favorites from this year’s crop of art books.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/26/arts/design/best-art-books-2020.html

Why This Billionaire Will Never Leave New York

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For the cosmetics mogul and philanthropist Leonard Lauder, the city, with its museums, public transit and parks, is an explorer’s delight.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/26/nyregion/leonard-lauder.html

Claudia Rankine Wishes More Writers Thought About Whiteness

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“Racist ideas continue to shape our consciousness.”

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/26/books/review/claudia-rankine-by-the-book-interview.html

In “This Is Your Time,” Ruby Bridges Urges a New Generation to Keep Fighting

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The trailblazer’s best seller is intended for a middle grade audience, but her message of persistence is relevant to people of all ages.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/25/books/review/ruby-bridges-this-is-your-time.html

New in Paperback: ‘Invisible Americans’ and ‘Hunter’s Moon’

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Six new paperbacks to check out this week.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/25/books/review/new-paperbacks.html

Walt Whitman, Parenting Books and Other Letters to the Editor

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Readers respond to recent issues of the Sunday Book Review.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/25/books/review/walt-whitman-parenting-books-and-other-letters-to-the-editor.html

Assaults and Occupations in Wartime

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Two new books look at men in battle and civilians under occupation.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/25/books/review/james-holland-sicily-43-donald-johnson-occupied-america.html

A Poet Who Mesmerizes by Zigs and Zags, Hopping From Idea to Idea

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In “That Was Now, This Is Then,” the Pulitzer-winning poet Vijay Seshadri invites readers into his coiling, conversational thought process.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/25/books/review/vijay-seshadri-that-was-now-this-is-then-poems.html

What if There Were a Worst-Seller List?

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The graphic novelist Ben Katchor imagines what it would take to put together a weekly list of the least appealing books.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/25/books/what-if-there-were-a-worst-seller-list.html

‘The Glorious American Essay,’ From Benjamin Franklin to Zadie Smith

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This anthology, edited by Phillip Lopate, offers a selection of 100 essays from colonial times to the present, about a wide range of philosophical and practical subjects.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/25/books/review-glorious-american-essay-phillip-lopate.html

6 Books for Thinking, Drinking and Changing the World

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2020 has been a year for new and up-to-date studies of wine regions, as well as grim accounts of sexual degradation in the hospitality industry.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/25/dining/drinks/best-wine-books.html

Penguin Random House to Buy Simon & Schuster

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ViacomCBS agreed to sell the 96-year-old company in a deal that potentially creates a megapublisher.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/25/books/simon-schuster-penguin-random-house.html

7 New Books to Watch For in December

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There’s a new novel from Jane Smiley and biographies of the English suffragist Sylvia Pankhurst and Louise Fitzhugh, the creator of “Harriet the Spy.”

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/25/books/december-books.html

Why Harry Truman Matters Today

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Joe Scarborough’s “Saving Freedom” recalls how politicians in 1947 took the lead in fighting isolationism and redefining America’s role in the world.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/24/books/review/saving-freedom-joe-scarborough-truman.html

‘The Last American Aristocrat: The Brilliant Life and Improbable Education of Henry Adams,’ by David S. Brown: An Excerpt

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An excerpt from “The Last American Aristocrat: The Brilliant Life and Improbable Education of Henry Adams,” by David S. Brown

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/24/books/review/the-last-american-aristocrat-the-brilliant-life-and-improbable-education-of-henry-adams-by-david-s-brown-an-excerpt.html

Around the World at Home Series Lets Readers Explore Cultures

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A new series, Around the World at Home, lets readers channel the spirit of a faraway place without hopping on a flight.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/24/insider/world-at-home.html

Three New Books That Stare Up at the Stars

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From the secret lives of planets to the mysteries contained in meteors, a look at books that explore the vast and fascinating cosmos.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/24/books/review/the-human-cosmos-jo-merchant-the-secret-lives-of-planets-paul-murdin-meteorite-tim-gregory.html

Queer Exile: Three Novels About Émigrés, Lovers and Family

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“The Thirty Names of Night,” “You Exist Too Much” and “A Country for Dying” feature characters who leave home and long for new identities.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/24/books/review/joukhadar-arafat-taia.html

Studies of Darkness and Disguise at the Movies

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In Ed Park’s Graphic Content column, he looks at two new graphic novels: Katriona Chapman’s “Breakwater” and Pat Dorian’s “Lon Chaney Speaks.”

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/24/books/review/breakwater-katriona-chapman-lon-chaney-speaks-pat-dorian.html

In a Gentrifying Seattle, a Queer Activist Works to Blur Borders

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“The Freezer Door,” by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore, reflects on the boundaries of gender and queerness, and the frustrating limitations of language.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/24/books/review/mattilda-bernstein-sycamore-freezer-door.html

The Brilliant, Bitter, Unlikable Scion of an American Political Dynasty

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“The Last American Aristocrat,” by David S. Brown, relates the incident-filled life of Henry Adams, the Gilded Age intellectual and historian who witnessed much of the 19th century from his privileged perch.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/24/books/review/the-last-american-aristocrat-henry-adams-david-s-brown.html

New & Noteworthy Poetry, From Eavan Boland to the African-American Canon

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A selection of recent poetry titles; plus, a peek at what our colleagues around the newsroom are reading.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/24/books/review/new-this-week.html

Remembering the Enslaved Who Sued for Freedom Before the Civil War

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In “A Question of Freedom,” the historian William G. Thomas III writes about families who pursued more than a thousand freedom suits, a number of them successful.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/24/books/review-question-of-freedom-families-challenged-slavery-william-thomas.html

When A.I. Falls in Love

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The Times asked GPT-3 to tell us a little about itself and its romantic life.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/24/science/artificial-intelligence-gpt3-writing-love.html

‘Hillbilly Elegy’ Review: I Remember Mamaw

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Glenn Close and Amy Adams star in Ron Howard’s Hollywoodized version of J.D. Vance’s best seller.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/23/movies/hillbilly-elegy-review.html

Do You Have a Conflict of Interest? This Robotic Assistant May Find It First

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They can’t detect all conflicts, but new computer programs serve as guard rails when scientists and publishers fail to self-police.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/23/science/conflict-of-interest-ai.html

The 10 Best Books of 2020

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The editors of The Times Book Review choose the best fiction and nonfiction titles this year.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/23/books/review/best-books.html

A Wild, Caustic Satire Packed With the Absurd

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Guillermo Stitch’s novel “Lake of Urine” is full of bristly characters and bizarre incidents.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/23/books/review-lake-of-urine-guillermo-stitch.html

A Wild, Caustic Satire Packed With the Absurd

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Guillermo Stitch’s novel “Lake of Urine” is full of bristly characters and bizarre incidents.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/23/books/review-lake-of-urine-guillermo-stitch.html

Things To Do At Home

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Spend this holiday week experimenting with turkey bones, painting botanical art or running a virtual race.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/21/at-home/things-to-do-this-week.html

Jan Morris, a Distinctive Guide Who Took Readers Around the World

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Morris, who died on Friday at 94, was an inveterate traveler who wrote acclaimed books about Venice, Hong Kong, New York and many other places.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/21/books/jan-morris-appraisal.html

An Eco-Fable From the Author of ‘The Magicians’

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In Lev Grossman’s first middle grade novel, “The Silver Arrow,” a magic steam train ride with talking animals gives a young girl a sense of purpose.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/21/books/review/lev-grossman-the-silver-arrow.html

What if Peter Rabbit and Mr. McGregor Had Joined Forces?

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In “Alice’s Farm,” a brave cottontail and her brother secretly help a city family succeed at farming to save their bunny habitat from developers.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/21/books/review/alices-farm-a-rabbits-tale-maryrose-wood.html

Presidential Memoirs Don’t Always Take This Long to Write

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Barack Obama’s new book, “A Promised Land,” arrived nearly four years after he left the White House. A look at how he and other presidents approached their memoirs offers some clues about the timing.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/21/books/barack-obama-promised-land-presidential-memoirs.html

Fred Hills, Editor of Nabokov and Many Others, Dies at 85

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A longtime editor at Simon & Schuster, he brought to market both commercial hits and literary prizewinners and edited more than 50 New York Times best sellers.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/20/books/fred-hills-dead.html

The 10 Best Books Through Time

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A look at our picks from the past 16 years.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/article/top-book-lists.html

Joy Williams and Her Unique Views of America

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A.O. Scott talks about Williams’s fiction, and Nicholas Christakis discusses his new book about the coronavirus, “Apollo’s Arrow.”

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/20/books/review/podcast-joy-williams-ao-scott-apollos-arrow-coronavirus-nicholas-christakis.html

Tracey Davis, Chronicler of Ups and Downs With Her Famous Father, Dies at 59

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In two books, she described Sammy Davis Jr.’s negligent parenting but also celebrated the intimate moments she shared with him toward the end of his life.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/20/books/tracey-davis-dead.html

Trying to Keep It Together in Zoom School

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When a children’s book tour goes virtual, high jinks ensure.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/20/books/trying-to-keep-it-together-in-zoom-school.html

Jan Morris, Celebrated Writer of Place and History, Is Dead at 94

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In more than four dozen books, Morris explored foreign lands, her own Britain and her experience as a transgender woman.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/20/books/jan-morris-dead.html

New in Paperback: ‘The Grammarians’ and ‘Edison’

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Six new paperbacks to check out this week.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/20/books/review/new-paperbacks.html

England’s Greatest Novelist and Other Letters to the Editor

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Readers respond to recent issues of the Sunday Book Review.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/20/books/review/englands-greatest-novelist-and-other-letters-to-the-editor.html

12 New Books We Recommend This Week

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

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/19/books/review/12-new-books-we-recommend-this-week.html

Jan Myrdal, Swedish Author and Provocateur, Dies at 93

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His father and mother were both Nobel Prize winners. His most famous book was about how badly they treated him.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/19/world/europe/jan-myrdal-dead.html

Booker Prize 2020: Douglas Stuart Wins for 'Shuggie Bain'

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The autobiographical novel, about the lonely gay son of an alcoholic mother in 1980s Scotland, was one of four debut books in this year’s shortlist.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/19/books/booker-prize-winner-douglas-stuart-shuggie-bain.html

A Lifelong Rock Critic Goes Back to the Actual Classics

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In “A Sound Mind,” the British journalist Paul Morley discovers the wonders of classical music.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/19/books/review/paul-morley-a-sound-mind.html

Poem: A Yearning to Wrinkle

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Even our clothes suffer when they're stuck at home. In this poem, a shirt dreams of the wider world.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/19/magazine/poem-a-yearning-to-wrinkle.html

The Classic Novel That Robert Macfarlane Just Couldn’t Finish

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“Wild landscapes, weird nature, science fiction — this really should be my jam. But no.”

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/19/books/review/robert-macfarlane-by-the-book-interview.html

Now More Than Ever, Brandon Stanton Makes People Feel Less Alone

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The creator of Humans of New York went global in his new best seller. Now that we have to stay local, his perspective is more galvanizing than ever.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/19/books/review/brandon-stanton-humans.html

2020 National Book Award Winners: Full List

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The nonfiction prize went to Les Payne and Tamara Payne for “The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X.” The crime novelist Walter Mosley received a lifetime achievement award.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/18/books/national-book-awards-winners.html

White House Sought Suit Against Omarosa Manigault Newman After News of Her Memoir

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A day after the 2018 announcement that she had written a negative book about President Trump, the White House escalated an unrelated dispute by referring it to the Justice Department.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/18/us/politics/omarosa-justice-department.html

‘Funeral Diva,’ a Mix of Memoir and Poetry, Stirs the Body and Mind

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Pamela Sneed’s book powerfully recalls the contributions and leadership of lesbians during the height of the AIDS crisis.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/18/books/review-funeral-diva-pamela-sneed.html

Jill Paton Walsh, Multigenerational Writer, Dies at 83

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Her books for young readers had won acclaim when, in 1994, one for adults made the Booker Prize shortlist — but only after she had resorted to publishing it herself.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/18/books/jill-paton-walsh-dead.html

‘Between the World and Me’: From Page to Stage to Screen

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An all-star cast came together, remotely and in socially distanced shoots, to turn Ta-Nehisi Coates’s memoir into a vivid amalgam of art, music and performance for HBO.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/18/arts/television/between-the-world-and-me-hbo.html

A Trump Memoir Would Sell. Will Publishers Buy It?

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Some publishing executives worry their authors and staff might rebel, but they say their bigger concern would be ensuring that the book is accurate.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/18/books/trump-memoir-publishers.html

The Wild, Rangy, Unclassifiable Delights of Joy Williams’s Fiction

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In the third installment of “The Americans,” his series on overlooked or under-read writers, A.O. Scott considers the idiosyncratic originality of an author whose influences extend from Hawthorne to Carver but whose imagination is wholly her own.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/18/books/the-wild-rangy-unclassifiable-delights-of-joy-williamss-fiction.html

How Richard Linklater’s ‘Dazed and Confused’ Came to Exist

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Patton Oswalt reviews “Alright, Alright, Alright,” an oral history by Melissa Maerz.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/18/books/review/alright-alright-alright-dazed-and-confused-melissa-maerz.html

Characters Protesting the Times, When the Real Problem Is Time Itself

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In Charles Baxter’s new novel, “The Sun Collective,” an aging couple‘s search for their missing son leads them to a quasi-anarchist group.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/17/books/review/charles-baxter-sun-collective.html

New & Noteworthy Audiobooks, From Rebel Girls to Rachel Bloom

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A selection of recent audiobooks of interest; plus, a peek at what our colleagues around the newsroom are reading.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/17/books/review/new-this-week.html

In This Debut Novel, a Chinese Immigrant Keeps His Sleepwalking Sister’s Secrets

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Simon Han’s “Nights When Nothing Happened” exposes the tedium and tension of life as a foreigner in America.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/17/books/review/nights-when-nothing-happened-simon-han.html

Book Review: ‘V2,’ by Robert Harris

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“V2,” Robert Harris’s new World War II novel, follows a German engineer of the feared rockets and a British woman sent to stop them.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/17/books/review/robert-harris-v2.html

‘Harry Potter’ and the Prisoners of Quarantine

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On TikTok, Gen Z “Harry Potter” fans edit themselves into the movies in a quest for escapism, representation and community.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/17/movies/harry-potter-tiktok.html

‘Oak Flat: A Fight for Sacred Land in the American West,’ by Lauren Redniss: An Excerpt

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An excerpt from “Oak Flat: A Fight for Sacred Land in the American West,” by Lauren Redniss

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/17/books/review/oak-flat-a-fight-for-sacred-land-in-the-american-west-by-lauren-redniss-an-excerpt.html

‘The Nine Lives of Pakistan: Dispatches From a Precarious State,’ by Declan Walsh: An Excerpt

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An excerpt from “The Nine Lives of Pakistan: Dispatches From a Precarious State,” by Declan Walsh

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/17/books/review/the-nine-lives-of-pakistan-dispatches-from-a-precarious-state-by-declan-walsh-an-excerpt.html

Essay Collections on Home, Culture and Everything in Between

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“Maybe the People Would Be the Times,” “The Age of Skin,” “Mobile Home” and “The Best of Brevity” break down a complicated world.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/17/books/review/sante-ugresic-harlan-brevity.html

Dissecting Black Love, White Tears and Racialized Sexual Panic

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Three new books on race and relationships explore how white attitudes about sex and emotions have shaped our history.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/17/books/review/white-fright-jane-dailey-white-tears-brown-scars-ruby-hamad.html

An Epic Week for the Books Desk

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In the coming days, the team will cover two major awards and reveal two year-end lists. There’s also a certain presidential memoir coming out. Two editors discuss an industry that hasn’t slowed down.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/17/insider/books-desk-lists.html

In the Caribbean and Beyond, Aunties Are So Much More Than Just Family

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In Alecia McKenzie’s new novel, “A Million Aunties,” a Black painter seeks solace from personal tragedy in the arms of his Jamaican community.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/17/books/review/a-million-aunties-alecia-mckenzie.html

Book Review: ‘Oak Flat,’ by Lauren Redniss

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In her latest work of graphic nonfiction, Lauren Redniss recounts what happened when a copper mining company decided to develop an Arizona tribe’s sacred land.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/17/books/review/oak-flat-lauren-redniss.html

Book Review: ‘The Nine Lives of Pakistan,’ by Declan Walsh

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In “The Nine Lives of Pakistan,” Declan Walsh, a foreign correspondent for The Times, profiles some of the country’s powerful and contentious figures and investigates why his work eventually got him kicked out.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/17/books/review/the-nine-lives-of-pakistan-declan-walsh.html

How the Problem of ‘Waste’ Affects the Rural Poor

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Catherine Coleman Flowers’s memoir chronicles her advocacy for improved sanitation systems in rural America and her own education as an activist.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/17/books/review/waste-catherine-coleman-flowers.html

A Writer Owes His Liberty to His Mother’s Surrender of Her Own

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Ismail Kadare’s autobiographical novel “The Doll” is part remembrance, part detective story about how his mother shaped his own life.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/17/books/review/ismail-kadare-doll.html

The Deadliness of the 2014 Ebola Outbreak Was Not Inevitable

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In “Fevers, Feuds, and Diamonds,” the public health expert Paul Farmer examines the structural and historical inequalities that led to Ebola’s devastating toll.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/17/books/review/fevers-feuds-and-diamonds-paul-farmer.html

Book Review: ‘The Moth and the Mountain,’ by Ed Caesar

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“The Moth and the Mountain,” by Ed Caesar, recounts the unlikely story of a man who dreamed of being the first person to ascend Mount Everest.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/17/books/review/the-moth-and-the-mountain-ed-caesar.html

Book Review: ‘The Orchard,’ by David Hopen

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In David Hopen’s debut novel, “The Orchard,” faith gets put to the test as a boy comes of age.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/17/books/review/the-orchard-david-hopen.html

The Director André Gregory Has Written a Memoir, but He Says He Hasn’t

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In “This Is Not My Memoir,” the co-star of “My Dinner With André” remembers his many theatrical provocations.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/17/books/review/this-is-not-my-memoir-andre-gregory.html

A Climate-Crisis Novel Offers True-to-Life Snapshots of Survival

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“Stillicide,” a novel by Cynan Jones, imagines a world where an extended drought has transformed daily life.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/17/books/review/cynan-jones-stillicide.html

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp Bids for Simon & Schuster

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A sale of the venerable publisher of Stephen King and Hillary Clinton could fetch $1.7 billion and rev up consolidation in book publishing.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/17/business/media/rupert-murdoch-news-corp-simon-schuster.html

Enslaved, Terrorized, Disenfranchised: Black Americans Still Found Ways to Change America

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Two new works of history, “South to Freedom,” by Alice L. Baumgartner, and “The Kidnapping Club,” by Jonathan Daniel Wells, show how the actions of Black Americans have long influenced national politics.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/16/books/review/south-to-freedom-alice-baumgartner-the-kidnapping-club-jonathan-daniel-wells.html

Rachel Bloom’s Life Is an Open Book

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The star and co-creator of “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” wryly explores adolescent angst, adult trauma and musical theater in a new memoir, “I Want to Be Where the Normal People Are.”

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/16/books/rachel-bloom-i-want-to-be-where-the-normal-people-are.html

Jacques Pépin and the Art of Making the Most of It

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“Jacques Pépin Quick & Simple,” an updated cookbook, offers useful lessons in economy for trying times.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/16/books/review-jacques-pepin-quick-simple-cookbook.html

After a Writing Break, She Returned as a Booker Finalist

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Tsitsi Dangarembga’s debut novel, “Nervous Conditions,” made her part of the African literary canon. Decades later, “This Mournable Body” has made her a contender for one of the world’s top book prizes.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/15/books/tsitsi-dangarembga-this-mournable-body.html

Readers Have Been Eagerly Waiting for Barack Obama’s New Memoir. Struggling Booksellers Have, Too.

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“A Promised Land” is a potential lifeline for booksellers whose sales have plummeted during the pandemic.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/15/books/barack-obama-promised-land-memoir-publishing-bookstores.html

In ‘A Promised Land,’ Barack Obama Thinks — and Thinks Some More — Over His First Term

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The former president recounts his political ascent and offers close-up views of the major issues he faced during his first years in the White House.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/15/books/review-barack-obama-promised-land-memoir.html

Things To Do At Home

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Spend the week getting swept up in classic dance, admiring a sloth or listening to Soccer Mommy.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/14/at-home/things-to-do-this-week.html

A Girl Raised in Isolation Stumbles on an Exit

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“Cleo Porter and the Body Electric,” a lighthearted adventure written before the pandemic, imagines a post-virus world eerily like the one we now inhabit.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/14/books/review/cleo-porter-and-the-body-electric-jake-burt.html

Razzle Dazzle, Part 2: Broadway Triumphs Again

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Michael Riedel’s “Singular Sensation” tracks the blockbuster successes of the 1990s.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/14/books/review/singular-sensation-the-triumph-of-broadway-michael-riedel.html

Undreamed Waters, Unexpected Shores

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Two remarkable new picture books about ships that pass in the night.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/13/books/review/the-wanderer-peter-van-den-ende.html

David Byrne on Turning ‘American Utopia’ Into a Book

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Byrne talks about his work with the artist Maira Kalman on his latest book, and Brittany K. Barnett discusses “A Knock at Midnight.”

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/13/books/review/podcast-david-byrne-american-utopia-brittany-barnett-knock-at-midnight.html

Spare a Thought for the Indies

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Independent bookstores have suffered in Covid times. Here’s a few of the more famous ones and how they're faring.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/13/books/spare-a-thought-for-the-indies.html

When It Comes to Living With Uncertainty, Michael J. Fox Is a Pro

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In his fourth memoir, “No Time Like the Future,” the actor and activist opens up about his newfound, uniquely upbeat brand of pessimism.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/13/books/michael-j-fox-no-time-like-the-future.html

Using the Bible in an Apocalypse and Other Letters to the Editor

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Readers respond to recent issues of the Sunday Book Review.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/13/books/review/using-the-bible-in-an-apocalypse-and-other-letters-to-the-editor.html

New in Paperback:

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Six new paperbacks to check out this week.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/13/books/review/new-paperbacks.html

Considering Malcolm X and the Perfect Black Man

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Michael P. Jeffries reviews Les Payne and Tamara Payne’s book, “The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X,” in this week’s issue. In 1992, Michael Eric Dyson wrote for the Book Review about a select group of books that examine Malcolm X’s life.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/13/books/review/considering-malcolm-x-and-the-perfect-black-man.html

Young Adult Debuts

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Coming-of-age stories from four first-time novelists.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/13/books/review/young-adult-crossover-debut-fiction.html

Into the Woods

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In Gavriel Savit’s “The Way Back,” a National Book Award finalist, two children leave their shtetl and venture to the Far Country.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/13/books/review/the-way-back-gavriel-savit.html

What are the 10 Best Books of 2020? You Can Find Out First.

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Join The Times for a live virtual announcement of this year’s 10 Best Books list, featuring a celebrity guest.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/12/books/best-books-live-event.html

9 New Books We Recommend This Week

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

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/12/books/review/9-new-books-we-recommend-this-week.html

Newton’s 'Principia' Had a Surprisingly Wide Audience, Historians Find

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The discovery suggests that “Principia” had a stronger impact on Enlightenment science than previous research suggested.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/12/science/isaac-newton-principia.html

Michael Connelly’s Mickey Haller Is Back. This Time He’s the Suspect.

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In “The Law of Innocence,” someone has planted a corpse in the trunk of the snazzy lawyer’s famous Lincoln Town Car.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/12/books/review/michael-connelly-law-of-innocence-crime-fiction.html

Book Review: ‘A Promised Land,’ by Barack Obama

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This first volume of the former president’s memoirs brims with warmth, humor and introspection.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/12/books/review/barack-obama-a-promised-land.html

The ‘Detective Work’ Behind a War Novel

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Maaza Mengiste spent years on “The Shadow King,” not only writing but also learning Italian, living in Rome and amassing an archive of historical photography that informed her book.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/12/books/maaza-mengiste-the-shadow-king-photography.html

Christie Tate Wrote a Best Seller About Group Therapy. Fellow Members Approved.

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She tried her hand at fiction, to no avail. So she wrote a memoir about a circle of strangers instead.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/12/books/review/christie-tate-group.html

Where Does Our Consciousness Overlap With an Octopus’s?

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In “Metazoa,” Peter Godfrey-Smith explores the ocean depths to illuminate how the minds of animals work.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/12/books/review/metazoa-peter-godfrey-smith.html

How ‘Catcher in the Rye’ Influenced Lenny Kravitz’s Memoir

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“It helped me reshuffle things in my head and how I wanted to speak.”

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/12/books/review/lenny-kravitz-by-the-book-interview.html

Natan Zach, Blunt and Cherished Israeli Poet, Dies at 89

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Mr. Zach chafed at the formal structures and opaque Hebrew of poetry in the young Jewish state, and wrote in a looser and more direct language.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/11/books/natan-zach-dead.html

‘I am My Own Subject’: Celia Paul on Lucian Freud, Motherhood and a Life in Art

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In her mesmerizing “Self-Portrait,” Paul recounts her fraught relationship with Freud and the challenges of realizing her artistic ambitions.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/11/books/review-self-portrait-celia-paul.html

They Are Also 2 Wild and Crazy Guys

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Steve Martin wanted to make cartoons, but he can only draw stick figures. He teamed up with the illustrator Harry Bliss, and the result is their new book, “A Wealth of Pigeons.”

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/11/books/steve-martin-harry-bliss-wealth-of-pigeons.html

How Rose Dugdale Went From British Debutante to I.R.A. ‘Freedom Fighter’

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In “The Woman Who Stole Vermeer,” Anthony M. Amore recounts the social history that led to the biggest female-led art heist ever committed.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/11/books/review/the-woman-who-stole-vermeer-anthony-m-amore.html

New & Noteworthy, From Fake News to American Essays

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A selection of recent books of interest; plus, a peek at what our colleagues around the newsroom are reading.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/10/books/review/new-this-week.html

A Monumental and Rapturous New Anthology of Black American Poetry

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“African American Poetry: 250 Years of Struggle & Song,” edited by Kevin Young, contains an overwhelming amount of variety and history.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/10/books/review-african-american-poetry-250-years-kevin-young.html

Authoritarians From Mussolini to Trump

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Ruth Ben-Ghiat’s “Strongmen” examines a long list of tyrants in the modern era.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/10/books/review/strongmen-ruth-ben-ghiat.html

‘The Arrest,’ by Jonathan Lethem: An Excerpt

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An excerpt from “The Arrest,” by Jonathan Lethem

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/10/books/review/the-arrest-by-jonathan-lethem-an-excerpt.html

‘Lightning Flowers: My Journey to Uncover the Cost of Saving a Life,’ by Katherine E. Standefer: An Excerpt

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An excerpt from “Lightning Flowers: My Journey to Uncover the Cost of Saving a Life,” by Katherine E. Standefer

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/10/books/review/lightning-flowers-my-journey-to-uncover-the-cost-of-saving-a-life-by-katherine-e-standefer-an-excerpt.html

‘Loved and Wanted: A Memoir of Choice, Children, and Womanhood,’ by Christa Parravani: An Excerpt

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An excerpt from “Loved and Wanted: A Memoir of Choice, Children, and Womanhood,” by Christa Parravani

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/10/books/review/loved-and-wanted-a-memoir-of-choice-children-and-womanhood-by-christa-parravani-an-excerpt.html

In the Trenches of World War I, a Bloody Ritual Fueled by Guilt

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David Diop’s novel “At Night All Blood Is Black” follows an African soldier fighting for the French as he sinks deeper into psychological horror.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/10/books/review/david-diop-night-blood-black.html

This Medical Memoir Reads Like a Detective Story

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A young woman’s diagnosis is only the beginning of the mystery in “Lightning Flowers.” As Katherine E. Standefer tried to make sense of her heart condition, her conscience sent her on a trip across the world.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/10/books/katherine-standefer-lightning-flowers.html

New Story Collections Reconsider History and Upend Tradition

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The authors of “The Office of Historical Corrections,” “Igifu,” “Where the Wild Ladies Are” and “A Sense of the Whole” would like to revise the record.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/10/books/review/danielle-evans-office-historical-corrections.html

Book Review: ‘Metropolis,’ by Ben Wilson

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"Metropolis,” by Ben Wilson, examines the history of civilizations and the “connective tissue” that makes them thrive.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/10/books/review/ben-wilson-metropolis.html

Book Review: ‘Cobble Hill,’ by Cecily von Ziegesar

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In “Cobble Hill,” Cecily von Ziegesar visits a wealthy pocket of a trendy borough.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/10/books/review/cecily-von-ziegesar-cobble-hill.html

Who Was Pappy Van Winkle and Why Does His Whiskey Cost So Much?

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Wright Thompson’s “Pappyland” goes deep into Kentucky’s bourbon culture through a history of one of its prominent producer families.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/10/books/review/pappyland-wright-thompson.html

Book Review: ‘Loved and Wanted,’ by Christa Parravani

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In “Loved and Wanted,” Christa Parravani gets real about abortion access in West Virginia.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/10/books/review/christa-parravani-loved-and-wanted.html

For Ideologues in Silicon Valley, Everything Is Just Right

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In Jonas Lüscher’s novel “Kraft,” a debt-ridden professor in a failing marriage tries to make a philosophical case for optimism.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/10/books/review/jonas-luscher-kraft.html

The Human Ingenuity That Gave Us Nice Threads

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In “The Fabric of Civilization,” the journalist and author Virginia Postrel recounts the evolution of textile production across cultures and centuries.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/10/books/review/the-fabric-of-civilization-virginia-postrel.html

What America Owes to the Greeks and Romans

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Thomas E. Ricks’s “First Principles” examines what the founders learned from ancient texts and how that affected the future of the country.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/10/books/review/first-principles-thomas-e-ricks.html

Jonathan Sacks, the U.K.’s Inclusive Former Chief Rabbi, Dies at 72

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In writings and media appearances, he took a universalist view of religion in a multicultural world — a stance that could get him in hot water with conservatives.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/09/world/europe/jonathan-sacks-dead.html

Book Review: ‘The Arrest,’ by Jonathan Lethem

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In Lethem’s new novel, “The Arrest,” a visitor upends the pastoral, postapocalyptic lives of a farming community in Maine.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/09/books/review/jonathan-lethem-arrest.html

‘The Power of Adrienne Rich’ Captures a Forceful and Complicated Poet

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Hilary Holladay’s biography examines the upbringing, poems, and political and sexual awakenings of the vital and influential writer.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/09/books/review-power-of-adrienne-rich-biography-hilary-holladay.html

Along the Seine, Booksellers Try to Hold Off an Unhappy Ending

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The coronavirus lockdowns have taken a steep toll on Paris’s “bouquinistes,” whose bookstalls stretch for miles along the Seine. “We are barely making enough to eat.”

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/07/world/europe/france-paris-seine-books.html

Short Stories Need a Defender. She’s Ready.

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Danielle Evans talks about “The Office of Historical Corrections,” a “slightly weirder” book than her last, and the comfort of not being the only Black writer in the conversation.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/07/books/danielle-evans-office-of-historical-corrections.html

Book Review: ‘Kindred,’ by Rebecca Wragg Sykes

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In “Kindred,” Rebecca Wragg Sykes offers a complete new story about Neanderthals, both how they lived and how they met their end.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/07/books/review/kindred-neanderthals-rebecca-wragg-sykes.html

Marguerite Littman, the Inspiration for Holly Golightly, Dies at 90

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She knew everyone, Truman Capote said. And she drew on her friends to contribute to her efforts in the fight against AIDS.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/06/style/marguerite-littman-dead.html

8 Picture Books About Books

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From a Kabul library bus to a Colombian garbage collector’s classics to the woman who brought Ferdinand the Bull to post-World War II Germany.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/06/books/review/the-magic-bookcase-robert-ingpen.html

What’s Scarier, an Abandoned Boardinghouse or a Creepy Porcelain Doll?

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Not much frightens Marilyn Stasio — except, as she admits in her new crime fiction column, eerie old dolls.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/06/books/review/crime-fiction-charlie-donlea-suicide-house.html

The Birth of the Animal Rights Movement

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Ernest Freeberg talks about “A Traitor to His Species,” and the illustrator Christian Robinson discusses his career in picture books.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/06/books/review/podcast-traitor-to-his-species-animal-rights-ernest-freeberg-christian-robinson.html

Slumber Parties: New Picture Books for Bedtime

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Beautifully illustrated, and often as much incantation as story, these books are guaranteed to lull even the most wide-awake toddler.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/06/books/review/carson-ellis-in-the-half-room.html

Your Favorite Children’s Book Characters as Fashion Icons

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Madeline is wearing Chanel, Mary Poppins is in Burberry.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/06/books/your-favorite-childrens-book-characters-as-fashion-icons.html

Fantastic, Flavor-Filled Food Novels for Kids

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Four new books feature Taiwanese, Pakistani, Indian and Chinese families — and the tempting cuisines they cook.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/06/books/review/measuring-up-lily-lamotte-ann-xu.html

4 Books Fareed Zakaria Recommends for Today’s Political Moment

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Alexis de Tocqueville’s “Democracy in America” is on the list: “Still the best book ever written about this country.”

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/06/books/review/fareed-zakaria-by-the-book-interview.html

Jo Nesbo’s New Book Stars an Antisocial Loner. It’s Not Harry Hole.

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There’s butchery and blood aplenty in “The Kingdom,” but no sign of Nesbo’s beloved police detective — just two brothers who have been up to no good.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/06/books/review/jo-nesbo-the-kingdom.html

Megan Rapinoe Has a Lot More to Say

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Don’t expect the usual bromides about hard work and resilience in “One Life.” The soccer star’s memoir gets into her political awakening as much as it does her sports career.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/06/books/megan-rapinoe-memoir-one-life.html

Robert Gottlieb on Dickensworld — the Great Novelist’s Grand Universe

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On the 150th anniversary of Charles Dickens’s death, Robert Gottlieb considers a new book, “The Mystery of Charles Dickens,” by A.N. Wilson, and delivers his own assessment of the author’s legacy.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/06/books/review/mystery-of-charles-dickens-a-n-wilson.html

New in Paperback: ‘Interior Chinatown’ and ‘The Water Dancer’

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Six new paperbacks to check out this week.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/06/books/review/new-paperbacks.html

Revisiting Katherine Paterson on Happy Endings in Children’s Books

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In 1988, Katherine Paterson wrote in the Book Review that children need not only the happily-ever-after of fairy tales, but also “proper endings” in which “hope is a yearning, rooted in reality.”

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/06/books/review/revisiting-katherine-paterson-on-happy-endings-in-childrens-books.html

Literature as ‘Sweet and Useful’ and Other Letters to the Editor

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Readers respond to recent issues of the Sunday Book Review.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/06/books/review/literature-as-sweet-and-useful-and-other-letters-to-the-editor.html

Books for Budding Art Lovers

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New picture books explore the life of Keith Haring, the collection of the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the work of the Zhou brothers and much more.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/06/books/review/flying-paintings-the-zhou-brothers-a-story-of-revolution-and-art.html

E.S. Reddy, Who Led U.N.’s Efforts Against Apartheid, Dies at 96

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An Indian-born acolyte of Gandhi, he campaigned for boycotts, divestments and other protests against the South African government.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/05/world/africa/es-reddy-dead.html

9 New Books We Recommend This Week

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

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/05/books/review/9-new-books-we-recommend-this-week.html

Poem: Landing Here

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Who knows what will happen? Where will we land? How will we spend the winter?

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/05/magazine/poem-landing-here.html

Escape to Another Century! These Historical Novels Are Your Ticket

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First stop, Tudor England, then on to postwar Paris and turn-of-the-century Scotland. No passport required.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/05/books/review/the-glass-house-beatrice-colin.html

Timing, Patience and Wisdom Are the Secrets to Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Success

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“Braiding Sweetgrass” took seven years to land on the best-seller list. Reader enthusiasm carried it down the homestretch.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/05/books/review/robin-wall-kimmerer-braiding-sweetgrass.html

A Forgotten 1950 Classic by Ludwig Bemelmans Brings New York to Life

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As his Madeline books did for Paris, “Sunshine” captures a city’s quintessence.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/05/books/review/ludwig-bemelmans-sunshine-a-story-about-the-city-of-new-york.html

Watery Fairy Tales

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Trung Le Nguyen’s “The Magic Fish” and Jerry Pinkney’s “The Little Mermaid” recast the classics.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/04/books/review/the-little-mermaid-jerry-pinkney-the-magic-fish-trung-le-nguyen.html

What if Every Time You Tried to Talk, the Words Got Stuck?

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In a new picture book, “I Talk Like a River,” the Canadian poet Jordan Scott recalls his childhood struggle with stuttering.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/04/books/review/i-talk-like-a-river-jordan-scott-sydney-smith.html

Two Middle Grade Novels Put Endangered Wildlife Front and Center

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Rosanne Parry’s “A Whale of the Wild” and Philippe Cousteau and Austin Aslan’s “The Endangereds” dive deep into the relationship between humans and nature.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/04/books/review/rosanne-parry-a-whale-of-the-wild-philippe-costeau-austin-aslan-the-endangereds.html

‘How to Make a Slave’ Offers Restless, Brilliant Thoughts About Race

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In this book of essays, a finalist for a National Book Award, Jerald Walker writes that racism is “the great American disease with which we are all afflicted.”

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/04/books/review-how-to-make-a-slave-jerald-walker.html

‘How to Make a Slave’ Offers Restless, Brilliant Thoughts About Race

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In this book of essays, a finalist for a National Book Award, Jerald Walker writes that racism is “the great American disease with which we are all afflicted.”

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/04/books/review-how-to-make-a-slave-jerald-walker.html

New Book Returns to an Irresistible Theme: the Harvard Murder

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In “We Keep the Dead Close,” Becky Cooper explores a killing she heard rumors about when she was a student, at a school where such crimes have become a rarefied literary genre.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/04/books/becky-cooper-we-keep-the-dead-close-harvard-murder.html

San Francisco Reinstates Winning Design for Maya Angelou Monument

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Last year, officials selected and then rejected Lava Thomas to design the sculpture, opening a rift between public leaders and local artists.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/03/arts/design/san-francisco-maya-angelou-monument.html

The Pandemic’s Future — and Ours

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“Apollo’s Arrow,” by Nicholas A. Christakis, looks at the coronavirus from several angles and suggests some possibilities in the months and years to come.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/03/books/review/apollos-arrow-coronavirus-nicholas-christakis.html

Watching Writers Pace the Streets, and Seeing Symptoms of Social Ills

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In “The Walker,” Matthew Beaumont profiles some of literature’s most obsessive pedestrians to analyze their troubled relationships to their eras.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/03/books/review-walker-matthew-beaumont.html

‘To Be a Man,’ by Nicole Krauss: An Excerpt

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An excerpt from “To Be a Man,” by Nicole Krauss

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/03/books/review/to-be-a-man-by-nicole-krauss-an-excerpt.html

‘White Ivy,’ by Susie Yang: An Excerpt

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An excerpt from “White Ivy,” by Susie Yang

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/03/books/review/white-ivy-by-susie-yang-an-excerpt.html

New & Noteworthy, From the Harlem Renaissance to a History of Magic

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A selection of recent titles of interest; plus, a peek at what our colleagues around the newsroom are reading.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/03/books/review/new-this-week.html

Book Review: ‘To Be a Man: Stories,’ by Nicole Krauss

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In her first collection, “To Be a Man,” characters are caught between the forces of family, faith and personal freedom.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/03/books/review/nicole-krauss-to-be-a-man.html

Her Grandmother Taught Her How to Steal. Now What?

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In her debut novel, “White Ivy,” Susie Yang explores the life of a complicated character.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/03/books/review/white-ivy-susie-yang.html

Book Review: ‘Britain at Bay,’ by Alan Allport

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Alan Allport’s “Britain at Bay” looks at the early years of World War II and has some surprising things to say about Britain’s leaders.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/03/books/review/alan-allport-britain-at-bay.html

Joan Bingham, Catalyst in a Publishing Merger, Dies at 85

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She helped produce the Grove Atlantic publishing house, then oversaw prize winners as its executive editor.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/02/books/joan-bingham-dies.html

‘The Cold Millions,’ by Jess Walter: An Excerpt

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An excerpt from “The Cold Millions,” by Jess Walter

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/02/books/review/the-cold-millions-by-jess-walter-an-excerpt.html

Book Review: ‘Collected Stories,’ by Shirley Hazzard

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The award-winning Australian-American writer’s “Collected Stories” includes pointed observations about the natural world and human nature.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/02/books/review-collected-stories-shirley-hazzard.html

Book Review: ‘The Best of Me,’ by David Sedaris

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More than any of his other collections, “The Best of Me” defines who he is and how he’s grown as a writer.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/02/books/review/david-sedaris-the-best-of-me.html

A Biting Send-Up of Race Relations — and a Tender, Funny Middle Grade Novel

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“Class Act,” the sequel to Jerry Craft’s Newbery Medal-winning “New Kid,” follows the experiences of a young Black boy at Riverdale Academy Day School.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/02/books/review/class-act-jerry-craft.html

Dreaming of the Future

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Four new picture books reassure and inspire children in times of tumult.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/02/books/review/shinsuke-yoshitake-there-must-be-more-than-that.html

Dwight Garner Shares From His Stash of Other Writers’ Words

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In an excerpt from his new book, “Garner’s Quotations: A Modern Miscellany,” the Times critic explains why he’s hoarded favorite lines for nearly 40 years and why he’s sharing some with readers now.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/01/books/review/dwight-garner-garners-quotations.html

She’s Moved From the Upper East Side to ‘Cobble Hill’

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Cecily von Ziegesar, the author of “Gossip Girl,” is going for an adult, possibly Brooklyn-based audience in her new novel, but there will still be drama.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/01/books/cecily-von-ziegesar-cobble-hill-gossip-girl.html