Children’s Books: Two New Novels Evoke the Past and the Future of Fantasy Stories
A.F. Harrold’s “The Song From Somewhere Else” and James Nicol’s “The Apprentice Witch” play with world-building for middle-grade readers.
The Shortlist: New Novels Depict Valiant Women of Old America
Three new novels dealing with history and heroines.
The Enthusiast: Joan Aiken’s Spinoffs and Sequels Finish the Stories Jane Austen Never Told
In five companion novels that she called her “Austen entertainments,” Aiken gave second chapters to some of Austen’s most intriguing characters.
Paperback Row: Paperback Row
Six new paperbacks to check out this week.
Otherworldly: Pirates, Drugs and Time Travel: The Best of New Science Fiction and Fantasy
N.K. Jemisin reviews new sci-fi and fantasy adventures by K.J Parker, Nicky Drayden, Brenda Cooper, and Steven R. Boyett and Ken Mitchroney.
Editors’ Choice: 10 New Books We Recommend This Week
Suggested reading from critics and editors at The New York Times.
Fiction: A Comic Novel of Infidelity Grapples With Sex and Money
Matthew Klam’s debut novel, “Who Is Rich?,” tells the tale of a conflicted adulterer.
Bookshelf: Set in New York, Fit for the Hammock
“The Gargoyle Hunters” by John Freeman Gill is one of several new books featuring New York City as a backdrop.
Newsbook: 3 Books Take a Deeper Look at the Opioid Epidemic
Two books help explain the opiate abuse crisis and how we may resolve it, while a novel shows the havoc addiction can wreak.
Truth Is A Fragmentary Thing In 'American Fire'
The rural Virginia county of Accomack was plagued by arson in the winter of 2012. The arsonist was caught, and in American Fire, Monica Hesse tries to tease out the elusive truth of why he did it.
(Image credit: Liam James Doyle/NPR)
Essay: In Jane Austen’s Pages, Death Has No Dominion
What was death to the writer who never killed off a major character? In Austen’s six novels, mortality is a more subtle matter.
By the Book: Allegra Goodman: By the Book
The author of “The Chalk Artist” admires Mary Garth in “Middlemarch”: “She is not only brave and witty, but totally sane. That’s hard to write. Madness is easy. A character with good sense is a tour de force.”
Children’s Books: Whimsical New Picture Books with a Spotlight on Wordplay
In these frisky new picture books, complex play with language sparks curiosity.
'Goodbye, Vitamin' Is Sweet — But Not Sugarcoated
Rachel Khong's first novel is a heartwarming account of family devotion and dementia — which sounds sickly, but her offbeat sensibility and flair for wordplay keep the story from becoming saccharine.
(Image credit: Liam James Doyle/NPR)
Nonfiction: A British Expat in Norway Gets Beyond the Scandinavian Stereotypes.
Robert Ferguson’s “Scandinavians: In Search of the Soul of the North” offers an engaging, layered look into a complex culture.
Children’s Books: Summer Y.A. Escapes from Sarah Dessen, Andrew McCarthy and More
The heroes of these Y.A. novels bust out and learn to love, in settings from New Jersey to Taiwan to Mars.
Nonfiction: Jane Austen’s Stuff, and What We Learn From It
In “Jane Austen at Home,” the BBC presenter Lucy Worsley traces the writer’s life through the places and possessions that mattered most to her.
Nonfiction: On Thoreau’s 200th Birthday, a New Biography Pictures Him as a Man of Principle
Asked once why he was so eternally curious, Thoreau said, “What else is there in life?” In “Henry David Thoreau: A Life,” Laura Dassow Walls explores his vision.
I, Booger: Actor Curtis Armstrong's Affable Memoir, 'Revenge Of The Nerd'
In Armstrong's autobiography, the classically trained actor humorously makes peace with the fact that the first line of his obituary will reference his nose-picking character from an '80s sex comedy.
(Image credit: Liam James Doyle/NPR)
Nonfiction: The Austen Legacy: Why and How We Love Her, What She Loved
From the role-playing of modern Janeites to the theatrical performances that inspired Austen’s own work, three books explore her roots and her legacy.
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