Books

It may seem counterintuitive to read about music—why not just listen to your favorite song for the thousandth time? However, by learning about the people behind the instruments, you can understand not only what impacted you but also why it stirred such emotions. These books will make you want to put on a record and

New Yorker Emma is 26 years old and has been sober for a year. With her sponsor’s restrictions on dating lifted, she might be ready to meet someone, and Ben, the sweet guy in her IT department, seems too good to be true. Though Emma believes her life is definitely better now, some things remain

Lifeform (5 hours) is a collection of comedic and heartfelt personal essays from acclaimed actress and comedian Jenny Slate. These essays encompass the chaos and wonder of living during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing in particular on Slate’s experiences with romance and new parenthood. She writes with immense imagination, opening doors to rooms filled with raccoon

Natalia Shaloshvili’s Pavlo Gets the Grumps is the sweetly funny story of an eventful day in the life of a grumpy kitten and the loved ones who attempt to jolly him out of his bad mood. Will their efforts be successful? First, while she and cranky little Pavlo eat their breakfast, Mama suggests a trip

Sara always had an outsize impact on her best friend, Magda. Even after her death, Sara still manages to coerce Magda into going on a road trip. With Magda at the wheel and Sara’s ashes on the front seat, Anna Montague’s moving and surprisingly humorous debut, How Does That Make You Feel, Magda Eklund? (9

Poems inspire sharing, discussion and creativity. These collections explore a wide range of subjects, with moods from sunny to serious, and would make thoughtful gifts for babies, kids and teens alike. Originally published here.

When Abby Lai was young, she wished for a sibling to play with. Her parents granted her wish . . . four times over. Now the oldest of five, 12-year-old Abby tries to spend as much time outside her house as possible. After all, as she says in the epigraph of Chickenpox, “Younger siblings are

The wife-and-wife team of Mikaella Clements and Onjuli Datta (The View Was Exhausting) are back with Feast While You Can, a queer horror-romance about a monster that feasts on the “passion, heartbreak and mess” of life.  Angelina Sicco has lived in the small European mountain town of Cadenze for her entire life. The large Sicco

Throughout 2024, biographies consistently stole the show. From renowned authors to heads of state, game-changing activists and cultural icons, these 12 illuminating profiles delighted and inspired us. Originally published here.

Plus, a wicked holiday delight and a ripped-from-the-headlines espionage thriller in this month’s Whodunit column. Originally published here.

Dwight Garner’s The Upstairs Delicatessen: On Eating, Reading, Reading About Eating, and Eating While Reading is an irresistible blend of memoir, literary history and culinary journalism. Garner, a longtime New York Times Book Review critic who is married to chef Cree LeFavour, shares memories of meals from his Southern upbringing and food-related anecdotes from a

Each of these fabulous novels, our 19 best historical fiction titles of the year, will transport you to another time and place. Originally published here.

Dania is in prison for a murder she did not commit. She spends every day plotting her escape and listing off the people responsible for her imprisonment: Vahid, the cruel emperor; Darbaran, the loathsome head of the palace guards; and Mazin, Vahid’s ward and Dania’s ex-lover. After a failed attempt to break out, Dania is

A while back, I was chatting with a close mom friend when she referenced her first husband. “Right,” I nodded. “Your first husband.” She had a first husband? Should I have known that? Did I know that, and space out the fact somewhere between buying my tween wide-leg jeans and binging The Bear? But, no.

For renowned author Amy Tan, writing fiction has historically been a refuge, a space where she can step away from her life and let her imagination run wild. But in the months leading up to the 2016 presidential election, the bestselling author of books such as The Joy Luck Club and The Bonesetter’s Daughter found

★ The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year Ally Carter does it again with the delightful The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year. An anonymous invitation lures rival mystery writers Maggie Chase and Ethan Wyatt to a secluded and nearly snowbound English mansion for Christmas. Upon arrival, they encounter a series of surprises: the identity

★ Believe          Fans of beloved hit television series Ted Lasso will delightedly embrace Believe: The Untold Story Behind Ted Lasso, the Show That Kicked Its Way Into Our Hearts. Part oral history, part cultural analysis, Believe is an entertaining and insightful behind-the-scenes tour in which New York Times television editor Jeremy Egner offers a wealth

These books are just the thing for screen buffs who want to revel in their favorite stories and auteurs, with deeply knowledgeable experts as their enthusiastic guides. 4 modern takes on the eternal quest for self-improvement Humans have been trying to improve themselves since they discovered they had selves that needed improving. As the search

In her third novel, Weike Wang follows married couple Keru and Nate on two vacations: the first on Cape Cod, the second five years later, in the Catskills. Keru, a Chinese American woman, and Nate, a white man who grew up in Appalachia, grapple not only with the usual challenges of marriage and careers, but

Robert Frost’s poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” is so well known and so often quoted that its beauty has almost become staid from overuse: It could use a refresh. In this picture book, author Richard T. Morris and illustrator Julie Rowan-Zoch have taken Frost’s words off the shelf, given them a dusting,

With nearly 50 books under his belt, beloved author and illustrator Barney Saltzberg turns his attention to canines in his latest zany offering, The Smell of Wet Dog: And Other Dog Poems and Drawings. He proclaims his love in the first poem, “I Love Dogs,” followed by the title verse, which describes their odor as

It’s not as if birth control methods weren’t used in the olden days. Condoms, pessaries and douches didn’t magically appear in the late 19th century. But something did change significantly at that time in the United States: The Comstock Act of 1873 effectively criminalized the distribution of contraceptive devices and information about their use. The

Artist and poet Douglas Florian has created numerous award-winning picture books over the years, including Dinothesaurus and Insectlopedia. A book by Florian is often destined to become part of family lore, lovingly passed down from child to child to grandchild. And that’s certainly true of his newest title, Windsongs: Poems about Weather.  Each poem in

BookPage is a recommendation guide for readers, highlighting the best new books across all genres as chosen by our editors. Starred (★) titles indicate a book that is exceptional in its genre or category. BookPage is editorially independent; any publisher-sponsored content is clearly labeled as such. Originally published here.

Tamales for Christmas transports readers right into Grandma’s kitchen, filled with warmth, comfort and creativity. . “Her kitchen is the heartbeat of our familia, loud and cramped and perfumed with delicious smells,” states the book’s narration. Grandma is based on author Stephen Briseño’s grandmother and her cooking skills, legendary among her numerous children, grandchildren and

In his 17th book of poetry, Scattered Snows, to the North, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Carl Phillips gazes both inward and outward. His work carries a signature heft, a musicality and syntax that seems to rewrite itself with each read. Phillips tangles his sentences like few other poets working today, and often, rather than untangling them,

The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World is the latest offering from botanist Robin Wall Kimmerer, an enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, one of the great Anishinaabe peoples of the Great Lakes. This slim but powerful volume continues the work of her previous books, including Gathering Moss and the New York Times

Theater kids of all ages will adore Take It From the Top, Claire Swinarski’s effervescently heartfelt and cathartic tribute to the joys and dramas that come with life in the limelight.  Each year, Eowyn and best friend Jules tread the boards at Lamplighter Lake Summer Camp for the Arts in the Wisconsin Northwoods. They instantly

Thank You, Everything is a unique picture book meant to be enjoyed over and over: It may easily become a favorite of preschoolers as well as young elementary students. One morning, a child wakes up, eats breakfast and receives a box containing a mysterious treasure map that launches a grand journey. Told with minimal prose,

“Two antique dealers discover a stash of 340 photographs at a flea market.” Thus begins Casa Susanna: The Story of the First Trans Network in the United States, 1959-1968, one of the most captivating photography books in recent memory. Casa Susanna was a secluded bit of property with a few bungalows and a barn in