Mark Sarvas’s novel "Memento Park" tells the story of a Hungarian painting that was traded to the Nazis during World War II in exchange for freedom, and of its return to the rightful owner.
Category: New Books
Jon McGregor’s superb “Reservoir 13”
Truly a unique novel, one of the best I’ve read in a long time. How and why a teen-aged girl disappears becomes secondary to the impact on the nearby English village.
The eyes of a Texas Ranger
"Bluebird Bluebird" is Attica Locke's exciting new crime novel, the first of a proposed trilogy.
Top five fiction books in 2017
I cross referenced several 2017 best fiction lists. Here are the results.
Getting to know Ross Macdonald
“It’s All One Case: The Illustrated Ross Macdonald Archives” by Paul Nelson and Kevin Avery is this year’s Christmas present to myself.
The power of love and conscience
If you’re looking for a novel to get lost in or for a holiday gift, here’s a recommendation: “Paris in the Present Tense” by Mark Helprin.
Pick a country. Read the books.
The 2018 International Dublin Literary Award longlist includes 150 novels nominated by worldwide librarians. Here are reading suggestions.
Longing for the unreachable past
"Katalin Street" by Magda Szabó offers a compulsive reading experience about three families who live side by side in 1934 Budapest.
Jennifer Egan’s remarkable storytelling
"Manhattan Beach" is one of the best novels I've read in a long time. Strong characters, plot complexity and a rich, wartime setting create deeply satisfying literature.
My two favorite memoirs this year
Benjamin Taylor and Joyce Johnson lived dramatically different young lives, but their stories similarly and movingly capture two iconic times in history: the Beat Movement and November 22, 1963.
The world will not take it
Espionage, betrayal and an ill-fated romance create a thriller-like narrative in "Dinner at the Center of the Earth" by Nathan Englander.
Five books not to miss this month
These new novels (and one non-fiction book) have received starred forecasts and promise to be great reads.
What was Lizzie thinking?
Author Sarah Schmidt impeccably reimagines the Lizzie Borden double-murder case in “See What I Have Done.”
The holy grail of contentment
"A Whole Life" by Robert Seethaler tells a memorable story about a mountain man with simple needs.
What we see — and don’t see
Mary Gaitskill's new essay collection "Somebody With a Little Hammer" peels down to that core of truth we tend to overlook.
The Longest Chapter 