All Book Reviews
'A Just and Generous Nation' casts the Civil War as a philosophical battleIf the South had won the Civil War, what would have happened to the American dream of an upwardly mobile, progressive, and middle class nation?
'A Long Walk Home' records life as Eli Reed saw itReed's photos are remarkable for their lack of judgment of the people or the situations he encountered.
'For the Record' is a cool YA sneak-peak into life on the road and on the stageCharlotte's Huang's debut young adult novel delivers a frothy yet realistic look into the life of a young musician.
'The Hired Girl' stars a plucky heroine whose writing skills save the dayReaders witness not only the protagonist's maturing thought, but also her growth as a writer.
'The Traitor's Mark' weaves a Tudor mystery from scraps of factThe historical record tells us that famous Tudor portrait painter Hans Holbein died in the autumn of 1543, possibly of the plague. But did he really?
'Leftover Women' reveals unequal shares of China’s growing wealthMao Zedong's communist party was set to modernize the rights and roles of women in China. However, within years of taking power, the party stopped its efforts – leaving Chinese women facing societal gender bias even as China rises as a dominant power.
'Tiny: Streetwise Revisited' is an evocative followup from Mary Ellen MarkThe gifted portraitist captures decades of life lived on the edges.
'Hiroji Kubota Photographer' chronicles a life of explorationHiroji Kubota made a career out of identifying with the dispossessed.
'The Crossing' teams Harry Bosch with his scruffy half-brother Mickey Haller'The Crossing' puts two popular characters – Bosch and Haller – on the same side, trying to prove a reformed gang member innocent of a high-profile murder of a suburban woman in her bed.
'To Hell and Back' chronicles Europe on the brink of annihilationKershaw is particularly good at exploring 'fascism's message of national renewal, powerfully linking fear and hope,' and the book's sections on postwar deprivations England breathe with immediacy.
'Dirt Meridian' and 'My Last Day at Seventeen'The Monitor's photo editor offers his photo book picks for 2015.
'Tom Petty' is an impossibly intimate, clear-eyed portrait of a rock godOnly a biographer who’s been in a band, and striven to make great rock music, could have written Petty’s story with such insight and familiarity.
'Unstoppable' is Bill Nye's call to action, urging us to save our planet'Unstoppable' is unapologetically science-stuffed. This is its best and worst quality.
'Reporting Always' showcases the work of New Yorker giant Lillian RossRoss prefaces this wonderful collection of her own work expressing gratitude to have had 'my little say about what I have found going on in our time.'
'The Invention of Science' tells the story of the shaping of the modern worldThe central subject of this vibrant work is not really the invention of a process but rather the invention of a principle.
'Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band 1975' shows us the Boss as he wasPhotographer Barbara Pyle captured Springsteen at a moment of transition.
'Conquerors' chronicles the fear with which Portugal shaped a global empireA fleet of Portuguese caravels first rounded the Cape of Good Hope near the southern tip of Africa in 1488. By the first decade of the 16 century the Portuguese were both trading with and terrorizing Muslims and Hindus in southern India.
'The Bazaar of Bad Dreams' is time well spent with Stephen KingKing's latest short story collection shows the Master of Horror to be at the top of his form.
'Destiny and Power' brings a gentle touch to biography of Bush 41Jon Meacham offers a surprisingly deferential biography of George Herbert Walker Bush.
'Reclaiming Conversation': what we lose when we're always onlineMIT professor Sherry Turkle is not averse to technology. But she expresses hope that society's reliance on it could be moderated a bit.
