Book Review: Word by Word
/A new book assembles and studies the scattered writings of American slaves
Read MoreBook Review: The Invention of Nature
/The great German naturalist Alexander von Humboldt was fascinated by all of the natural world, and his work in studying it and writing about it has shaped our understanding ever since
Read MoreBook Review: Black Earth
/A harrowing and contentious new assessment of the Nazi war on the Jews of Europe.
Read MoreTwelve Days of Terror!
/Our book today is Twelve Days of Terror, Richard Fernicola’s 2001 history of the famous series of shark attacks that happened at the Jersey Shore in 1916, when four people were killed in July by a shark – probably a single shark, probably a bull shark, since it was able to travel up-river quite a […]
Read MoreBook Review: I Can Give You Anything But Love
/A witty, unsparing memoir from author and critic Gary Indiana
Read MoreBook Review: A Clue to the Exit
/A sarcastic screenwriter learns he has only six months to live in this reprinted novel from Edward St. Aubyn from 2000
Read MoreBook Review: The Desert and the Blade
/In the latest chapter of S. M. Stirling's "Emberverse" series, two courageous women embark on a quest for a supernatural sword
Read MoreBook Review: Sorcerer to the Crown
/In Zen Cho's exuberant debut, the magic of Napoleonic-era England is slowly dwindling, and it's up to the Sorcerer Royal to figure out why
Read MoreBook Review: Snowden
/The life of infamous NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden, in comic book form
Read MoreBook Review: Self and Soul
/A spirited defense of humanist intangibles in a culture obsessed with material gain
Read MoreBook Review: A River Runs Again
/The huge environmental problems facing India form the backdrop for Meera Subramanian's fantastic first book
Read MoreBook Review: The Gates of Evangeline
/A mother grieving the loss of her own son investigates the 30-year-old disappearance of a powerful Southern family's little boy in this haunting debut
Read More“I am eager to play chess – I have mastered nine skills”
/At the beginning of the 19th century, a small trove of elaboratedly carved chess pieces was uncovered on a remote beach - a lively new book traces the history and strange charisma of the Lewis chessmen.
Read MoreBook Review: Mycroft Holmes
/A debut adventure starring the smarter older brother of Sherlock Holmes
Read MoreBook Review: Chasing the Phoenix
/Michael Swanwick's terrific new novel features a con artist and a genetically modified dog-man seeking riches and power in a post-post-apocalyptic China
Read MoreBook Review: Agents of Empire
/In the continents-spanning 16th-century clash between Venice and the Ottoman Empire, a crucial role was played by Albania - and by two families at the heart of events
Read MoreBook Review: The Automobile Club of Egypt
/The celebrated author of "The Yacoubian Building" returns with another panoramic look at life in modern Egypt during a pivotal era
Read MoreBook Review: The Daughters
/In Adrienne Celt's remarkably rich debut novel, an opera singer is worried that the birth of her daughter has robbed her of her singing voice
Read MoreBook Review: The Trials
/In the wake of professional betrayal and global catastrophe, the heroes of Linda Nagata's "Red" Trilogy are confronted by a new threat as the series barrels on
Read MoreBook Review: Death in Florence
/At the end of the 14th century, Lorenzo de' Medici and the friar Savonarola began a series of clashes in palace and pulpit that would end up altering the course of the city's history. A lively new book tells the story.
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