All Book Reviews
'The Ever After of Ashwin Rao' explores grief that lingers long after the bombing of an airlinerAlmost two decades after his sister and her two children die in a terrorist attack, an academic goes looking for answers.
'Under the Same Sky' vividly describes a North Korean's incredible journey to the USJoseph Kim found his way from hunger and chaos in North Korea to life as a college student in New York City.
'Finders Keepers': Stephen King strikes again with great suspenseStephen King's latest revisits the mysterious story of the obsessive relationship between reader and writer.
'The Wrath & the Dawn' scores with a highly engaging retelling of 'One Thousand and One Nights'Can 'One Thousand and One Nights' really be made over into a love story? Renée Ahdieh has a good time trying.
'The Fishermen' is an arresting tale of a Nigerian family's struggle for sanityChigozie Obioma's powerful family story of prophecy, tragedy, and madness is also an homage to a Nigerian masterwork.
'Stalin's Daughter' is a poignant look at the struggles of a dictator's offspringWhat if your father were one of the world's bloodiest dictators? Svetlana Alliluyeva (nee Stalina) wrestled with this fate throughout her life.
'The Fellowship' follows C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and friends through their defense of fantasyThis valuable group biography tells the story of the Inklings, the mid-20th century group of Oxford fantasists, scholars, and poets fascinated by religion, poetry, mythology, and magic.
'The Meursault Investigation' cleverly builds on 'The Stranger' by CamusThe events of 'The Stranger' are revisited, seen through the eyes of the brother of the once anonymous victim.
'Something Must Be Done about Prince Edward County' tells a horrific story of racism and US public schoolsA reporter born and bred in Virginia looks back on the racially divided schools of her childhood and asks: "What was wrong with my hometown?"
'Dreams of Earth and Sky' draws intriguing lines between philosophy and scienceAt age 91, a master physicist shares his wisdom, and the burning questions he still ponders.
'The Green Road' paints a luminous portrait of an Irish matriarchWith wonderful skill, Booker Prize winner Anne Enright returns to the theme of the Irish family, this one headed by the long-suffering, strong-willed Rosaleen Madigan.
'The Jefferson Rule' argues against mythologizing America's Founding FathersHistorian David Sehat makes a strong case that forefather worship has had a pernicious effect on American politics.
'A God in Ruins' is Kate Atkinson's brilliant follow-up to 'Life After Life'Atkinson has a written what looks like a big, old-fashioned book – but watch out for the trickery.
'Reagan' by H.W. Brands notes Reagan's failings, yet insists on his greatnessA new biography posits Reagan as one of the two most important figures in 20th-century American politics.
'Man in Profile' is a splendid new biography of fabled New Yorker writer Joseph MitchellThomas Kunkel offers a portrait of a writer who specialized in finding great characters, real and imagined.
'Broadcast Hysteria' sheds new light on Orson Welles' 'War of the Worlds'What was truly hysterical, suggests this well researched book, was the way real reporters blew the impact of the broadcast out of proportion.
'The Last Bookaneer' is a literary thriller starring 19th-century book thieves"The Last Bookaneer" is essentially a heist caper, following literary thieves in pursuit of Robert Louis Stevenson’s unpublished last novel.
'1920' is the lively, readable biography of a seminal year1920 was the year that America 'flourished almost by default; it was rich and on the verge of growing richer than any other nation in history.'
'The Children's Crusade' explores the dynamics of a California family with an unhappy motherAnn Packer's gift for parsing complicated families all come to the fore in her latest novel.
'Ashley's War' shares the untold stories of women in combatJournalist Gayle Tzemach Lemmon follows the Cultural Support Team – a group of women supporting America's special operation forces in Afghanistan – through both the heaven and hell of battle.
