Marceline Loridan-Ivens' memoir "But You Did Not Come Back" is an intimate letter to her father, who died in Auschwitz. It's brief -- only 100 pages -- and deeply moving.
Category: Literature
48 people, 48 agents of uncertainty
"Constellation" is a brief, fictionalized true story about the Air France F-BAZN Lockheed Constellation airplane that crashed into a mountain in the Azores archipelago on October 28, 1949. This captivating novel is more than a retelling of an aviation event. Here's why.
French lessons with extraterrestrials
I've always wanted to be fluent in French, so when Lauren Collins released her memoir about marrying a Frenchman and learning his native language, I jumped in to read it. Here are some thoughts about Collins' "When in French: Love in a Second Language" and my ongoing struggle with French lessons.
The 2016 Short List for Britain’s Top Novel
This year's Man Booker Prize finalists are an intriguing lot. They include a lurid crime story and an epic family saga. Here is a list of the six contenders, with summaries of what they're about. All are available in the United States.
Which one Faulkner novel should you read?
William Faulkner wrote 19 novels. Among them -- and the one everyone typically selects when they decide, for the first time, to read a Faulkner book -- is "The Sound and the Fury." But that may not be the best choice.
A bibliomaniac’s burden
I became determined in my need to find the right reading copy of Pat Barker's World War I novel, "Regeneration." Here's what happened that afternoon.
Eudora Welty & Larry McMurtry
There are so many wonderful books published in the past, waiting to be read. Here are two I indulged in these recent weeks, plus a link to a list of "21 Books You've Been Meaning to Read."
Good books coming in August
Three novels to browse and then look forward to next month.
Blockbuster sales for this crime novel
"Six Four" is being hailed by critics for its complexity and insight into Japanese media, police and government culture and corruption. Readers have shot sales figures into the stratosphere. It's a unique novel for ambitious, patient and demanding readers.
2016 International Award Winners
Award-winning novels don't often equate to page-turners, but they do point us in the direction of fine literature. These winners of recent international fiction awards tell stories about family tragedy, a South Korean woman's obsession with vegetarianism and crime in Ireland's post-crash society. Here are the book titles and more of what each is about.
Charlotte Salomon: “It is my whole life”
David Foenkinos has written a novel that's as compelling for its style as it is for the story. The new novel is a multiple award-winner and massive bestseller in France, recounting the life and work of German artist Charlotte Salomon during World War II. Foenkinos' obsession with the subject and the way he writes the story make it a stand-out.
For the woman in the back row
She asked me for a book recommendation, and I didn't give the best answer. Here's why that happened, and the book recommendations I wish I'd given.
The best in mystery fiction
It never fails. The annual Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Allan Poe Awards bring to the forefront not-to-miss, stay-up-all-night mystery novels. Here are the three that won in the categories of Best Novel, Best First Novel by an American Author and Best Paperback Original for 2016.
Is this author a somebody?
Rob Spillman's memoir "All Tomorrow's Parties" about his rebellious pursuit of artistic authenticity yields an inviting although shallow story.
An unlikely sleuth working 1843 NYC
Mention the name Walt Whitman in literary circles and his poetry immediately comes to mind, such as "Song of Myself" and "I Sing the Body Electric" and "O Captain! My Captain!," let alone "Leaves of Grass." He's one of the greatest 19th century American poets. But a protagonist in a murder mystery? You got it.
The Longest Chapter 