All Book Reviews
'Dead Wake' sketches the sinking of the Lusitania in full context, color, detailDid Churchill want the ship sunk? Erik Larson revives the mysteries and what-ifs surrounding the 1915 tragedy.
'Going Into the City' tells the story of 'the Dean of American Rock Critics'Village Voice critic Robert Christgau earns high marks for his frank look at the challenges and joys of self-assessment.
'Midnight in the Century' vividly evokes a slice of Soviet historyHow a writer鈥檚 true-life tussle with Stalin鈥檚 police became a rich novel of exile and resistance.
'Roosevelt and Stalin' details the surprisingly warm relationship of an unlikely duoHow FDR and Stalin forged a bond that helped to shape history.
'A Spool of Blue Thread' gives fans one more reason to love Anne TylerThree generations of an ordinary yet idiosyncratic family, an old house in Baltimore 鈥� Tyler's latest novel is more of the same, in the best possible way.
10 best books of March: the Monitor's picks Here are the 10 new March releases Monitor book critics liked best.
'The Buried Giant' 鈥� the much anticipated seventh novel of Kazuo Ishiguro 鈥� does not disappointIshiguro turns to 11th-century England for his latest exploration of love, desire, and memory.
'Frog' is Mo Yan's neatly crafted critique of today's ChinaA Nobel Prize laureate sets his sights on the birth rate, poverty, and 'unraveling of the social fabric' in rising China.
'Washington's Revolution' is an engrossing, accurate, and occasionally original biography of America's founding fatherWas America鈥檚 first president a mystery of subtle self-presentation 鈥� or just a shrewd politician?
'Ten Million Aliens' celebrates earth's remarkable abundance of perfectly evolved animalsFlying mice, jewel-toned flatworms, giant snails, and microscopic bear-shaped invertebrates all play starring roles in nature writer Simon Barnes's engaging book.
'Discontent and its Civilizations' highlights the intertwined Pakistani, British, and American roots of Mohsin HamidIn 36 nonfiction essays, Pakistani novelist Mohsin Hamid offers readers a chance to 'hang out' and deepen their relationship with him.
'Funny Girl' by Nick Hornby recreates 1960s London with warmth and generosityHornby travels to the 1960s with a novel that explores the purpose of popular entertainment.
'Empire's Crossroads' offers a rich and thorough history of the CaribbeanFrom colonialism to the present day, academic Carrie Gibson traces the history of the Caribbean in a highly detailed and very readable narrative.
'It's What I Do' tracks the life of a photographer working in the world's most dangerous spotsPhotojournalist Lynsey Addario's action-packed memoir raises questions of ethics, motivation, and intention.
'Sapiens' is a provocative, illuminating account of 70,000 years of human historyIsraeli historian Yuval Noah Harari argues that 'progress' has not necessarily increased the happiness of the species of homo sapiens.
'The Monopolists' tells the surprising story behind America's favorite board gameHow a vessel for liberal ideas became a board game craze.
'Lincoln's Greatest Case' showcases the impressive legal skills of America's 16th presidentOne lawyer who worked with Lincoln warned that anyone who underestimated him would 'very soon wake [up] with his back in a ditch.'
'Madison's Gift' vividly recounts the many accomplishments of America's fourth presidentJames Madison's career is considered through the lens of his relationship with five historic figures: Washington, Jefferson, Hamilton, Monroe, and 鈥� of course 鈥� Dolly Madison.
'Mr. and Mrs. Disraeli' chronicles an unusual 19th-century love story'Young Romantics' author and scholar Daisy Hay offers an intriguing portrait of the 33-year union of Mary Anne Lewis (n茅e Evans) and the Victorian prime minister and novelist Benjamin Disraeli.
'The Book of Love' is Roger Rosenblatt's mediation on affection in all its formsDespite the presence of the occasional gem, most of 'The Book of Love' reads like an unfinished manuscript.
