All Book Reviews
It’s information overload with ‘The Ministry of Truth’Dorian Lynskey includes lengthy and not always relevant detail in his examination of the cultural impact of George Orwell’s ‘1984.’
Unspoken but not forgottenFamily history is reinvented and truth is mutable in Sarah Blake’s ‘The Guest Book,’ which follows three generations of a privileged East Coast clan.
‘The Parisian’ is a slow-burning treat to be savoredSet in Paris and the Ottoman Empire during World War I, Isabella Hammad's debut novel ‘The Parisian’ contemplates issues of longing and belonging.
How the (North)west was wonHistorian David McCullough’s ‘The Pioneers’ focuses on the individuals beyond the myths of settling the Northwest Territory.
‘Dutch Girl’ shows Audrey Hepburn’s wartime courageAnother side of Hepburn emerges in Robert Matzen’s book about her difficult childhood and how it shaped her as an actress and as a humanitarian.
All hail the queen of cakeMaida Heatter’s cookbook is a keeper thanks to the decadent recipes, including zingy gingerful biscotti and ethereal orange puff cake.
‘Working’ is the quintessential biographer's instruction manualPolitical biographer Robert A. Caro lays out his writing process as a memoir, revealing useful techniques and telling encounters from his career.
Author Dani Shapiro grapples with a world remade by a DNA test in 'Inheritance'Shapiro views her parents differently in light of her discovery. And her struggle is growing more common as DNA services like 23andMe become popular.
‘K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches’ is 100% in the zoneTyler Kepner loves baseball, and his book will make you love it too. His history of the game uses stories of career-making pitches as the narrative structure.
‘Save Me the Plums’ is a tantalizing insider memoirRuth Reichl, the last editor-in-chief of Condé Nast's iconic Gourmet magazine, spins a fascinating tale of her time in magazine publishing.
Her mother successfully ran numbers in 1970s DetroitBridgett Davis writes a loving tribute to her mother, a black woman with few job options who found a solution in the numbers game.
‘Shakespeare’s Library’ imagines the Bard’s bookshelvesStuart Kells explores the source materials that would have been necessary to write all those plays and poems.
The boarding school (after)lifeMichael King builds an evocative Southern landscape in his novel 'At Briarwood School for Girls,' but his powers ultimately don't extend to creating fully realized characters.
‘Love Your Enemies’ urges readers to meet vitriol with decencyArthur Brooks, a conservative policy analyst who calls the Dalai Lama a mentor, explores how a ‘culture of contempt’ is hurting America and what can be done about it.
'Solid Seasons' delves into Emerson and Thoreau's friendshipJeffrey S. Cramer combs through hundreds of letters to document the highs and lows of the two men's relationship.
‘Ten Caesars’ demystifies the pastBarry Strauss' more or less explicit model is the Roman historian Suetonius, who wrote 2000 years ago and whose book famously profiled 12 caesars instead of 10.
Young adult novel merges Chinese history with 'Snow White' fairy tale'Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix' brims with sorcerers and poisoned apples.
'Say Nothing' casts light on the bloody warfare in Northern IrelandPatrick Radden Keefe's history is packed with true crime, terrorism, grinding poverty, and rampant police and military corruption.
'The Story of Britain' is an eminently readable history of the islesThe book made fine, invigorating reading two decades ago, and it still does (making room, of course, for the addition of the Brexit referendum). Author Roy Strong leads readers smoothly through rulers and epochs, with a narrative style that's happily free of a metahistorical agenda.
