Books

Irish novelist Colm Tóibín (Brooklyn, Long Island, The Master, The Magician) is also an acclaimed short-story writer, and he’s returned with a collection whose stories range across place and time—from contemporary to historical. Many of the stories in The News From Dublin follow characters in extreme situations. In “The Journey to Galway,” a mother has

While we humans are yawning as the sky brightens, or sighing as the world grows dark, what’s happening outside during these transitional times of day? As author Marcie Flinchum Atkins reveals in her immersive, poetic When Twilight Comes: The Animals and Plants That Bring Dawn and Dusk to Life, crepuscular creatures are busily foraging, hunting,

The Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich Like A Far-flung Life, Pulitzer Prize-winner Louise Erdrich’s The Plague of Doves explores sprawling consequences that unfold from a single event: In this case, the 1911 massacre of a white family outside the town of Pluto, North Dakota, which spurs a mob of local white men to incorrectly

Robert Frost was Vermont’s first poet laureate, appointed to the position in 1961. While the official task of a poet laureate is to promote the reading and writing of poetry across their state, the work produced by appointees often serves the additional purpose of documenting the ineffability of a place and time in a way

Celebrate Earth Day with this bounty of beautifully written and illustrated picture books that encourage readers to connect with and protect our planet. Originally published here.

Maggie went to bed in Austin, Texas, but woke up in Kair Toren, the setting of her favorite (but sadly unfinished) fantasy series. It’s a world where life is held cheaply and violence abounds, but Maggie almost immediately realizes she can’t be killed when she bounces back from what was most definitely a drowning. A

Nijigahara Holograph Mythical and harrowing, Inio Asano’s incomparably daring Nijigahara Holograph unfolds like a transcendent dream. In a small Japanese town plagued by a mysterious profusion of butterflies, fifth grader Arié Kimura’s classmates push her down a well in an attempt to appease a monster rumored to dwell in the tunnel behind the elementary school. Arié

An inquisitive, courageous little girl narrates Haven Iverson’s Into the Wilderness, wherein she describes her family’s annual hiking trips to “mountains upon mountains, forests that tangle their way up ridges, and rivers that rush to pools of stillness.” An author’s note explains that the book’s terrain is inspired by both Colorado’s Mount Zirkel Wilderness, where

Is there such a thing as a charming thriller centered on Jack the Ripper? Indeed, there is: A. Rae Dunlap’s The Dreadfuls features a young protagonist who finds herself all but imprisoned in the Whitechapel Hall Reform School just as the infamous serial killer begins his slaughter. Fans of Dunlap’s well-received debut, The Resurrectionist—a gothic

“You don’t really have any friends, do you, Dad?” Andrew McCarthy’s son asks him one day, and McCarthy pauses. Seemingly without much further planning, the actor and author sends a flurry of texts, proposing adventures and visits. Soon, he hits the road. This time, he’s not traversing Spain’s Camino de Santiago with his son (Walking

Drawing on conversations and voicemails, as well as interviews with author Larry McMurtry’s family and friends, New York Times journalist David Streitfeld delivers a sprawling yet captivating portrait of his longtime friend in Western Star: The Life and Legends of Larry McMurtry.  Intercutting biographical details with in-depth analyses of McMurtry’s novels, nonfiction and screenplays, Streitfeld

In While We’re Here, the prolific duo of Anne Wynter (Everybody in the Red Brick Building, Nell Plants a Tree) and Micha Archer (Wonder Walkers, Daniel Finds a Poem) combine talents to create a lively celebration of the joys of slowing down, seizing the moment and breathing in the beauty of your surroundings—a much needed,

Maggie Smith’s newest poetry collection (and her 11th book overall) is a contemplation of the big questions: What does it mean to be an eternal being in a body that can—and will—fail in the end? What really happens after we die, and if we got to choose our afterlives, what would they be? In the

Asako Yuzuki (Butter) exposes how the pressure to conform can push women toward manipulation, obsession and emotional collapse in Hooked, translated by Polly Barton. At 30 years old, Eriko checks all the status boxes for life in affluent Setagaya, a neighborhood in Tokyo. She holds a good job in fish import and export at a

What actually makes a witch wicked? Is it the casting of spells, the use of potions, the peculiar wardrobe? Certainly, every witch worth her cauldron has all of these down pat. In her funny, breezy and charming fantasy novel, The Somewhat Wicked Witch of Brigandale, author C.M. Waggoner posits that a witch’s wickedness hinges on

Many people relish the opportunity to entertain. Sharing a love for food, conversation and friendship fosters social connections and has feel-good benefits for both the host and their guests. But let’s be honest: Playing host can also be stressful, expensive and overwhelming. Mariana Velásquez’s Revel: A Maximalist’s Guide to Having People Over aims to alleviate

There are few subjects in art history as perennial as the female body. You might think, then, that art historian Amy Dempsey’s new book The Female Body in Art would have too much ground to cover in a single volume. But her close attention to interesting details keeps the prose moving, and the inclusion of

Under the silky black surface of the ocean, orcas—known as “sea wolves”—emerge from the depths and startle nearby fishing boats. However, the real danger around Orcas Island, Washington, could very well be on land. In Stacey Lee’s haunting and gripping historical mystery, Heiress of Nowhere, readers are plunged into a layered and finely tuned thriller

Young readers who already count trees (and flowers, and animals) as friends will treasure Leave the Trees, Please. And those who haven’t yet befriended an oak, elm or willow are sure to be inspired by this moving, gorgeous ode to the trees so vital to life on Earth.  As the author, the late British poet

The action in Booker Prize-shortlisted author Mieko Kawakami’s fourth novel to be translated into English, Sisters in Yellow, centers on Hana Ito, a ’90s-era latchkey kid living in comparative poverty in Higashimurayama, a Tokyo suburb. With an absent father and a mother whose parenting style falls somewhere between detached and deranged, Hana dreams of escaping

Step into a garden. What might you find? Some gardens are carefully cultivated, with hedges that guide a visitor’s path and curated plant specimens. But a weedy garden provides a different view. In The Weedy Garden: A Happy Habitat for Wild Friends, author Margaret Renkl uses melodious phrasing to pull children and their caregivers into

Children are born with a sense of curiosity, and their instinct to explore is something that author Margaret Renkl and her brother, the illustrator Billy Renkl, have taken care to support in their own children and now their grandchildren: “What we tried to cultivate in all of them was a sense of wonder,” Billy says.

Everyone loves a podcast, and with the right hosts, production and deal, the field can be quite lucrative—and sometimes, very dangerous, to boot. What starts as a lark between two best friends quickly descends into a warped whodunit involving broken glass, torched luxury vehicles and . . . Henry Winkler’s iconic character from Happy Days.

★Better Than a Duke Charming children, deserving leads and villains in desperate need of a takedown populate the warmhearted and vastly entertaining Better Than a Duke by Suzanne Enoch. Persuaded he needs a wife, widower Beckett Raines, the Marquis of Hentrose, reaches out to an eligible miss who appears perfect for his circumstances. But then

Lindy West, Rev. James Lawson, Jeannine A. Cook and more authors bring a variety of emotions to the page this Memoir March. Originally published here.

In an opening note to readers, author Melissa Stewart and illustrator Sarah S. Brannen share their admiration for the “beauty and complexity of butterflies.” In the visual treat and researcher’s delight Monarch and Mourning Cloak: A Butterfly Journal, the duo shares with readers the lifecycles, habitats, food sources and activities of two species of butterflies

Nonesuch is set in London at the beginning of World War II—a setting that’s been captured in fiction many times, from recent novels like The Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin to classics like Graham Greene’s The Ministry of Fear. What drew you to writing about this historical moment?  I was nervous, in fact,

Contemplating why people learn to fly feels obvious to those who have done it—more Why wouldn’t you? than Why would you? It’s unlike anything else you learn to do as an Earthbound beast, and in most ways, you’re not supposed to be doing it. So why wouldn’t you put yourself in a tiny open-cockpit experimental

Ambush of the Heart From two-time Carol Award winner Mary Connealy, Ambush of the Heart is the start of an exciting Western series that captures the perils of Colorado’s frontier at the end of the 1800s through the hair-raising adventures of brave characters. When the book opens, a team of U.S. Marshals is escorting an