All Book Reviews
In the novel ‘Emily’s House,’ the Dickinsons’ Irish maid speaks her mindAmy Belding Brown’s historic novel “Emily’s House” sheds light on Emily Dickinson and her family, through the observations of their Irish maid.
Why the Rosetta stone initially stumped linguistsWhile the stone’s discovery was monumental, it originally provided linguists with more questions than answers.
Jane Goodall finds reasons for hope for the planet’s survivalThe primatologist and climate activist Jane Goodall counts on human ingenuity and nature’s resilience in “The Book of Hope.”
A love of Black literature animates every pageFarah Jasmine Griffin’s "Read Until You Understand" is an exercise of mercy in a fragmented world.
Set among the stacks: Four enchanting novels for bibliophilesA quartet of library novels celebrates discoveries among the stacks, as well as adventure, an antidote to loneliness, and finding one’s community.
Mary Beth Meehan’s photos dissolve distances between peopleIn the book “Seeing Silicon Valley: Life Inside a Fraying America,” Mary Beth Meehan’s photographs cross divides – of haves and have-nots.
Alexander Vindman’s faith in democracy remains intactIn the memoir “Here, Right Matters,” Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman defends his decision to report President Trump’s call with Ukraine.
Cosmic puzzle-pieces come together in masterly ‘Cloud Cuckoo Land’Anthony Doerr, author of “All the Light We Cannot See,” plots a tale that soars across centuries in “Cloud Cuckoo Land.”
‘How do I love thee?’ A Victorian-era poet finds liberation.Fiona Sampson unfolds the story of how Elizabeth Barrett Browning freed herself from constraints and found her poetic voice in “Two-Way Mirror.”
Warmhearted ‘All the Lonely People’ strikes at isolationNovelist Mike Gayle’s protagonist, an older Jamaican immigrant in England, steps out of his solitude and onto a path of friendship.
A leader of the civil rights movement that you’ve never heard ofFannie Lou Hamer, a Mississippi farmworker, emerged as an eloquent leader in the fight for voting rights and for integrating the Democratic Party.
‘Graceland, At Last’ unfolds a Southerner’s wise and hopeful essaysNew York Times columnist Margaret Renkl looks forward to the day when the South “will finally live up to the promise of its own good heart.”
The novels have it: September sparkles with literary gemsSeptember marks the return of the literary novel, with sublime fiction from authors such as Colson Whitehead and Anthony Doerr.
From terrorism to heroism: Books on 9/11 offer perspective, graceTwenty years on, Americans are still coming to grips with 9/11. Six books provide valuable insights on what happened, and why.
‘The Magician’ unwraps the life of literary giant Thomas MannColm Tóibín peels back Thomas Mann’s life, from his family to his closeted sexuality to Germany’s descent into Nazism in “The Magician.”
How the American Revolution played in British drawing roomsIn “The Howe Dynasty,” historian Julie Flavell explores the lives of two famed commanders fighting the Americans, told through the letters of their eldest sister.
Can humans and animals be friends? ‘Fox & I’ raises the question.Catherine Raven couldn’t explain why a fox started visiting her cabin every day. But she ventures to wonder if they developed a friendship.
Life in wartime: Women dominate a quartet of World War II novelsThe 4 best recent novels set during World War II show the ingenuity of women who put everything on the line to defeat the Nazis.
Carry the summer into fall with the 10 best books of AugustThe 10 best books of August provide a bridge into fall reading, with a mix of clever novels, satisfying memoirs, and two revealing biographies.
Afghanistan’s first female pilot paid a steep price for the freedom to flyNow in exile, Niloofar Rahmani writes of her journey to become the Afghanistan’s first female pilot in the memoir, “Open Skies.”
