All Books
- Why Camille Dungy can’t separate her garden from Black history
In “Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden,” readers glean not only gardening tips but observations about history, Black culture, and parenting.
- Why Camille Dungy can’t separate her garden from Black history
In “Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden,” readers glean not only gardening tips but observations about history, Black culture, and parenting.
- Aiding the Allied war effort, one donut at a time
Luis Alberto Urrea’s latest novel “Good Night, Irene” honors the Clubmobile Corps, popularly known as the Donut Dollies, who supported the morale of soldiers during World War II.
- Equality, justice, and freedom animate the 10 best books of May
A comprehensive MLK biography, along with a history of the Civil Rights Movement, provide heft to the 10 best books of May.
- ‘The End of Drum-Time’ weaves a poignant tale of clashing cultures
Set in 19th-century Scandinavia, “The End of Drum-Time” pits the indigenous Sámi people against European settlers trying to impose their religion and values.
- How Black people were left behind in Civil War-era Boston
Abolitionists’ “soaring rhetoric of freedom and equality” didn’t match the reality for Black workers struggling to earn a livelihood.
- Today is Malcolm X Day. Why don’t we celebrate him like King?
A recent debunking of Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous criticism of Malcolm X offers an opportunity to consider the mission they shared.
- A daring escape: How an American banker rescued 113 Vietnamese civilians
Ralph White was given a daunting mission: To save scores of Vietnamese civilians during the war. He reflects on his trials and triumph in a new book, “Getting out of Saigon.”
- Julia Child, Jane Austen, and sleuths of a certain age
In need of some armchair travel? Curl up with spring’s new mysteries where adventure abounds in San Francisco, Paris, and England.
- ‘Curveball’: When spiritual skepticism leads to sturdier faith
When his long-held religious assumptions no longer held up, Peter Enns took a deep dive into Christianity. He surfaced with a more expansive faith, chronicled in “Curveball: When Your Faith Takes Turns You Never Saw Coming.”
- Nyani Nkrumah on racism: ‘It’s so difficult to break these chains’
Nyani Nkrumah explores racism and colorism in her debut novel, “Wade in the Water.” Her findings upend traditional thinking on the topic.
- How an MIT scientist paved the way for women in science
In 1999, women in science celebrated a major victory when MIT admitted to gender discrimination and became a pacesetter for equality. Kate Zernike recounts the inspiring story in, “The Exceptions: Nancy Hopkins, MIT, and the Fight for Women in Science.”
- How virtuosos are made: Behind the mystery of mastery
By trying to learn to draw, dance, and drive, New Yorker Editor Adam Gopnik unlocks the secret to learning, and mastering, a new skill in “The Real Work: On the Mystery of Mastery.”
- Matthew Desmond has a message: US poverty is immoral
Why does the richest country in the world have so much poverty? Matthew Desmond argues that ending poverty in the United States is a moral choice.
- Romance author Emily Henry: Rom-com ‘helps you believe in life again’
Romance novels are often denigrated, but author Emily Henry makes a case for a genre based on hope. She says, “It’s something that ... helps you believe in life again.”
- 10 best books of April: The courage to look under the surface
The reading life is an inspired one. And this month’s books bring empathy, courage, insight, and a new work highlighting an extraordinary life that should never have been forgotten.
- Are you there book lovers? It’s me, Margaret.
What makes a young adult novel that deals honestly with puberty endure across generations of women?
- With April showers, poetry flowers: Three vibrant collections
Celebrate National Poetry Month with three vibrant new books of poems that broaden and deepen the landscape of poetry.
- Reviving woolly mammoths and a mom’s relationship with her daughters
Women in science are trending in fiction as well as nonfiction. In the novel “The Last Animal,” a paleobiologist and her teenage daughters travel to Siberia to revive woolly mammoths.
- National Poetry Month: This library quenches the thirst for verse
National Poetry Month comes once a year, but the Sims Poetry Library in diverse South Los Angeles provides access to the joy of verse every day.