All Book Reviews
'Nowhere People' profiles stateless peoples and their little-known plightPhotographer Greg Constantine's hefty 373-page book features black-and-white photos from 12 of the countries where he has worked over the years.
'Every Song Ever' is a creative listener's guide to contemporary musicNew York Times jazz critic Ben Ratliff suggests that how we listen to music might be 'every bit as important' as what the composer intended when writing it.
'The Queen of the Night' blends opera and mystery into a grandiose readLoosely inspired by the life of opera singer Jenny Lind, Chee's new novel drips with romance, betrayal, intrigue, and espionage.
'Nemesis' tells how a single drug lord came to rule RioMisha Glenny digs deep below the surface to tell a dark but riveting story.
'The Essential Goethe' offers English-language readers a major new toolThis new compilation puts before readers a smattering of just about everything Goethe wrote in his busy lifetime.
'Salt to the Sea' effectively blends World War II history with teen romanceIn this World War II story, set during the sunset hours of the terrible conflict, Ruta Sepetys effectively spins a tale that is equal parts romance, thriller, and real life dystopia.
'The Slave's Cause' is a thorough and overdue account of the abolition movement in the USManisha Sinha's comprehensive and narrative-resetting new book gives readers their fullest and most readable account of America's battle against slavery.
'In Other Words' traces Jhumpa Lahiri's love affair with the Italian language'Words' is Lahiri’s first nonfiction work, her first truly autobiographical writing.
'The Kindness of Enemies' is Caine Prize-winner Leila Aboulela’s most ambitious novel to dateA professor, her student, and his mother must learn to see beyond stereotypes.
'Why the Right Went Wrong' parses the frustration of today's GOPDionne bases his premise on the rightward shift of conservatism since the Goldwater years of the 1960s.
'The Black Calhouns': five generations of life in an African American familyHistorian Gail Lumet Buckley's new book is a cross between history and memoir, examining the African American experience through the lives of a single family.
'Trade Secrets' returns to ancient Rome with 'Philip Marlowe in a toga'This is the 17th outing for star sleuth Marcus Corvinus, a tough-talking nobleman in the Rome of the earliest Caesars.
'Empire of Imagination' is the first full biography of 'Dungeons & Dragons' creator Gary GygaxThe ironic reality is that Gary Gygax was, in many ways, the embodiment of American virtue, despite his professedly unintentional foray into fantasy gaming.
'Only the Animals' pairs critter-protagonists with literary figuresAll of these stories are narrated by the soul of an animal reporting from the afterlife, and the tales only get taller from there.
'The Firebrand and the First Lady': how two great women came togetherThis thoroughly researched book chronicles the peripatetic career of Pauli Murray and her friendship with Eleanor Roosevelt.
'Living On Paper' wonderfully displays the many faces of Iris MurdochIt is a compulsively discursive, doggedly happy Iris Murdoch who dominates 'Living on Paper' and fills it with the kind of smart, nimble-footed smalltalk that is always the principal joy of reading letter collections.
'Your Heart Is a Muscle the Size of a Fist' turns recent history into literatureSunil Yapa's fictional treatment of the 1999 WTO protests in Seattle seeks out a 'higher law' in the chaos of competing causes.
'In Europe's Shadow' is a serious yet impassioned survey of RomaniaVeteran regional specialist Robert Kaplan takes a hard-nosed yet caring view of Romania.
'Our Spoons Came from Woolworth's' is a quirky delightThe reprint of this novel gives readers a chance to discover an unpredictable English novelist who never turned away from the black comedy of life.
'The Dogs of Littlefield' is one of the funniest new books of the yearA paradisal suburb is set on its ear by a proposed dog park, with acerbic laughter as a result.
