All Book Reviews
'Somme' puts a human face on a massive military catastropheAcclaimed historian Hugh Sebag-Montefiore studies the whole breadth of the Somme debacle of World War I.
'Learning to Swear in America' features lively characters, exciting astrophysicsKatie Kennedy’s firecracker novel about culture shock, astrophysics, and maybe the end of the world, is a page-turner.
'Another Brooklyn' tells of growing up female, black in 1970s BrooklynIn her trademark lyrical prose, Jacqueline Woodson reflects on the dramas and traumas of growing up in pre-gentrification Brooklyn.
'The House at the Edge of Night' makes a dreamy vacation readOn a mystic island south and east of Sicily, a spurned doctor and his family turn their home into a convivial gathering place for locals.
'To the Bright Edge of the World' hauntingly portrays Alaskan wildernessEowyn Ivey's second novel set in Alaska in 1885 follows a married couple into parallel tribulations, as he explores the wilderness and she faces a difficult pregnancy.
'How the Post Office Created America' is a love letter to an institution in perilGallagher argues that far from merely existing as an important part of American society, the post office actually shaped American history and did much to create the United States that we know today.
'The Underground Railroad' tells a disturbingly real story of slaveryNovelist Colson Whitehead depicts the perversions and horrors of slavery in 19th-century America through the story of the multiple escape attempts of a woman named Cora.
'Lions' is an evocative novel of place, set on the brooding frontierPretty Leigh Ransom and handsome Gordon Walker are in love and planning to head soon to college. But can anyone really leave a town like Lions?
'How I Became a North Korean' follows three teens fleeing a dangerous ChinaKrys Lee combines the stories of three very different characters whose lives intertwine when they ultimately need each other to survive.
'I Shot the Buddah' revisits Siri Paiboun, solving crimes in late 1970s Laos'I Shot the Buddha' has a chewy heft, in the fine tradition of its 10 siblings in the 'Siri Paiboun' series: history, geopolitics, chromatic characters, genus loci, the human condition, and the pilgrim’s progress.
'Winning Arguments' brings political rhetoric to daily lifeStanley Fish’s odd little book is not a study of rhetoric so much as a defense of his view that reality is rhetoric.
'The Return' details Hisham Matar’s quest to discover his kidnapped fatherIn 2012, Libyan novelist Hisham Matar was finally able to return to his native country to try to learn the fate of his father.
'Outrun the Moon' features a stellar YA heroine set in historic ChinatownMercy Wong, a sharp-eyed, entrepreneurial teenager wants to create a better life for her family. An earthquake crosses her plans.
'Missing, Presumed' launches a promising new detective seriesSusie Steiner describes the search for a young woman of privilege. However, damaged and wary detective Manon Bradshaw is the heart of this novel.
'The Drone Eats with Me' chronicles life under bombardment in GazaSaif's diary records life in a place where war has become 'an everyday song, forever playing in the background.'
'Homegoing' is a centuries-spanning epic of interlinked short storiesYaa Gyasi’s powerful debut novel tells the story of two sisters, and their descendants, divided by the slave trade.
'Heroes of the Frontier' is a journey without destinationIn a weirdly affecting new novel by Dave Eggers, single mom Josie takes her kids on a road trip across Alaska, bouncing from near-disaster to complete disappointment to something in between.
'Chance Developments' brings characters to life from old photographsAlexander McCall Smith creates a collection of five short stories each based on an old black-and-white photograph.
'The Mistresses of Cliveden' transports readers into multi-generational dramaNatalie Livingstone has written a marvelously readable story about centuries of life at a stately British mansion, as told through the lives of five women.
'Belgravia' transports readers into the classic conflicts of Victorian aristocracyJulian Fellowes's first serial novel – 'Belgravia' – isn’t a book with great emotional depth, but what the story lacks in nuance it makes up for in a crackling plot.
