All Book Reviews
'Mary McCarthy: The Complete Fiction' may startle youThe genius of Mary McCarthy's fiction, writes Melissa H. Pierson, is that she lets no one off the hook.
'The House of Government' is packed with a fascinating tangle of true, uniquely Russian storiesThe book's title is an actual place: a vast apartment building – built in 1931 for the new Communist ruling elite – standing on an embankment in the Moscow River, just opposite the Kremlin.
'Wild Things' is a delicious dive into the world of children's litBruce Handy’s brief but deeply satisfying survey of children’s literature marries curiosity, humor, and downright excitement.
'From Holmes to Sherlock' celebrates the versatility of one of fiction's most beloved charactersMattias Boström's terrific new book traces the Sherlock Holmes story from Doyle's original inspiration and on, up through Benedict Cumberbatch.
'Rescued from ISIS' recounts a father's harrowing journey to save his sonIn his memoir, writer Dimitri Bontinck describes his odyssey into the heart of ISIS territory to rescue his son.
'Home Fire' is an exquisite modern tragedy about families caught between religion, politicsKamila Shamsie uses a conflict zone to explore combustible human relationships.
'Do Not Become Alarmed' finds suspense on a luxurious Christmas cruiseIn Maile Meloy's new novel, a carefully controlled vacation gives way to crisis, and reveals the thin membrane that surrounds a 'predictable' life.
'Morningstar' shows how the books she read shaped a young woman's lifeAnn Hood's memoir about reading as a form of self-discovery is fast-paced and beguiling.
'The Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway' reveals much – maybe too muchThe inclusion of early drafts of Hemingway stories sometimes detracts from the pleasure of the finished product.
How woolly mammoth bones baffled previous generationsJohn McKay, author of 'Discovering the Mammoth,' talks about the theories that earlier generations developed in their struggle to understand woolly mammoth bones.
'The Arena' explores America's stadiums and their relation to the national character'The Arena' is fun because of the author’s wit and style – a kind of gonzo/embedded journalism hybrid.
'Notes on a Foreign Country' is an American's struggle to understand her country's relation to the worldJournalist Suzy Hansen wonders how she, an Ivy League-educated journalist, could have been so ignorant of the extent of the US's role in remaking the post-World War II world.
'Grocery' is Michael Ruhlman's exploration of the grocery store as an idea and institutionConsider, says Ruhlman, the most compelling evidence of a civilization's evolutionary leap: the grocery store....
'Sour Heart' author Jenny Zhang illuminates the immigrant's struggles to belongZhang makes her fiction debut with a collection of seven loosely linked stories highlighting the Chinese-American immigrant experience.
'The Cooking Gene' views the African-American experience through its foodCulinary historian Michael W. Twitty manages to document one of America's foundational food cultures in a book that is also moving and deeply personal.
'The Darkening Web' warns of destruction through cyber meansThe implication throughout the book couldn't be clearer: In cyber warfare, there are no civilians.
'The Library of Fates' has clever mythology, delicious languageAditi Khorana's young adult novel sets up a stunning premise but falters en route to conclusion.
'When the English Fall' envisions the Amish as society's post-apocalyptic saviorsA gentle concern imbues this contemplative novel which imagines the rest of the society turning to the Amish when the power grid fails.
'The Netanyahu Years' portrays a divisive, oddly compelling world leaderThis is the kind of caustic and extremely topical biography that readers would expect to come from a working journalist rather than a professional historian.
'Refuge' is the story of an Iranian family in search of homeDina Nayeri’s sophomore novel, 'Refuge,' tells a tale of migration and dislocation.
