Don't be quick to shy away from "The Man Who Shot Out My Eye Is Dead" because it's short stories. The collection offers a distinguished lot, full of crime and mayhem.
New this month
Here's a quick look at three books to be published in March that promise hours of good reading. Two are novels, and one is a non-fiction account of a young man who walked away from civilized life to live alone in the woods of Maine.
Books you can’t stop reading
Sometimes you just want a good literary page turner. The kind that’s got more heft to it than "Gone Girl" and gives you something to think about after you’ve breathlessly reached the end. Well, here you go.
“They think we’re different, you know.”
Most know "In the Heat of the Night" for the 1967 Academy Award-winning movie starring Sydney Poitier and Rod Steiger. The film is based on the mystery novel with the same title by John Ball, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2015. I thought it was time I read it.
Letters from bewilderment
This new collection of essays -- "The Correspondence" -- is so smartly entertaining I read many parts of it out loud to savor the enjoyment. Here's a glimpse of J. D. Daniels' debut.
The books I gave this holiday season
Here are six books I selected and wrapped with a bow to surprise and delight my friends.
He knew how to keep Christmas well
A new edition of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" stands out for its photos of the original manuscript in Dickens' handwriting. Here's a look at it, plus why I read it.
A journey home through Texas
Paulette Jiles' new novel is showing up on lists for notable and best novels of the year 2016. That's not surprising. "News of the World" perfectly captures Texas just after the Civil War, two memorable characters and Indian territory to the north in a terrific story.
Music of the Cultural Revolution
Madeleine Thien has written an absorbing epic novel about aspiring young musicians in China during the brutal, repressive reign of Chairman Mao. It's one of those stories that takes hold and becomes unforgettable. Here's more of what it's about.
When I talk to you
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.
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.
The Longest Chapter 