Oh for authors' photos that used to be on the backs of books. They were so styled and intriguing, compelling us to wonder about the person who created the book. Here are some great ones.
Finalists to talk about – and read
The Man Booker 2018 Longlist has produced a baker's dozen of novels readers can get excited about. Finally, they're back to what we want and expect.
It all starts with something simple.
Victor del Arbol's new novel "A Million Drops" is an intoxicating page-turner that knits together the crimes of darkly motivated characters. Spanning 1933 to 2002, it follows the lives of Soviet Gulag survivor Elias Gil and his children.
Living the Russian language
Laura Esther Wolfson's collected essays tell the story of her life as a translator and interpreter. They are as creative and memorable as the book's title, "For Single Mothers Working as Train Conductors."
21 good books for the summer
On the advent of the longest day of the year and the true beginning of summer, here's a list of books to cherry pick for your summer reading. They are riveting, involving, devastating or simply delightfully satisfying. But if you're looking for new releases, they're not here.
The beast in the west
"West" is a slim, first novel written with such beautiful, captivating prose it makes a memorable impression on one's reading life. Truly a one-of-kind story.
What’s your favorite book?
PBS launched The Great American Read with a list of America’s 100 favorite books compiled from a national survey. You can now vote for your favorites on the list, in this search for the best loved novel.
Get a grip and lighten up
Sloane Crosley's “Look Alive Out There” showcases this talented humorist’s ability to embrace unpredictability with wit and whimsy. The 16 new essays vary in topic and enrich us with laughter and insight.
The evolution of Dr. Francine Burk
Audrey Schulman’s new novel “Theory of Bastards” tells the story of a compelling research celebrity, the bonobos she’s observing and a catastrophic technology breakdown. An innovative story that slowly builds into an absorbing reading experience.
The art of restitution and deception
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.
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.
Why “Black Boy” still matters
Published in 1945, Richard Wright's classic childhood autobiography vividly reveals what it was like growing up black and poor in the Jim Crow South long before the Civil Rights Movement. It’s an unsentimental but moving and distressing travel back in time that should not be missed.
The power of books and giving one’s time
The beauty of this memoir lies in large part with Kuo's soul-searching about the Mississippi Delta region.
A bookshop closes
Much of my book collecting mania got spent at Acorn Bookshop that’s now going out of business. Here are a few of the treasures I found, in this tribute.
The eyes of a Texas Ranger
"Bluebird Bluebird" is Attica Locke's exciting new crime novel, the first of a proposed trilogy.
The Longest Chapter 