All Books
James Baldwin finds new generation of fansSome three decades after his passing,聽Baldwin鈥檚 books endure as part of the literary canon. He channeled a love of language into his writing, choosing prose instead of sermons, following a writer's instead of a preacher's life.聽
Lonesome highwayFor decades, leaders in the United States sought to make it easier 鈥� not harder 鈥� to travel from the US to Latin America.聽But the idea of a united hemisphere faded and was eventually lost.聽
'The Story of Britain' is an eminently readable history of the islesThe book made fine, invigorating reading two decades ago, and it still does (making room, of course, for the addition of the Brexit referendum). Author Roy Strong leads readers smoothly through rulers and epochs, with a narrative style that's happily free of a metahistorical agenda.
Glittering currents of the Ganges RiverLike all great rivers, the Ganges carries important cultural and spiritual meaning. Author Sudipta Sen illuminates the background of this sacred river, connecting it to thousands of years of Indian history.聽
'The Darkest Year' explores how Americans adapted to World War IIThe appeal of William K. Klingaman鈥檚 'The Darkest Year,'聽which uses contemporary sources to survey the national psyche in the tense months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, is in enabling readers to feel the immediacy of well-known historical events as they unfolded.
February's 10 books to break the winter doldrums
For 'Underground' author Will Hunt, darkness offers spiritual transcendenceHunt chronicles his travels in one of the quirkiest and most captivating books of the year
'From Gutenberg to Google,' how human inquiry became a networked activityAuthor Tom Wheeler chronicles how聽knowledge in the Western world was largely localized, artisanal, and intensely exclusionary until Johannes聽Gutenberg combined a suite of technological innovations to revolutionize the way books were made.
In 'On the Come Up,' an aspiring teen rapper grapples with lifeA street-smart poet-geek navigates challenges pulled from the headlines.聽
To shelve a 鈥楳ockingbird鈥�: Is it time for Scout and Atticus to retire?As society evolves, should classic novels with outdated racial and cultural references be retired 鈥� or adapted? A resurgence of interest in聽鈥楾o Kill a Mockingbird鈥櫬爄n North America brings arguments for both to the fore.
4 audiobooks with positive messages for the new yearThree novels and one nonfiction audiobook provide inspiration and hope as we ease into 2019.
'Midnight in Chernobyl' explores the world's worst nuclear disasterAdam Higginbotham's in-depth book is informed by meticulous research and first-hand accounts.
9 sports books that offer something for every fanWhether an exhaustive new profile of Babe Ruth, the reflections of basketball great Bob Cousy, or a retrospective of the heyday of women鈥檚 bike racing, there鈥檚 plenty to choose from in this grab bag of books.
In #MeToo age, can we love the art but deplore the artist?What happens to the artist as 鈥渆nfant terrible鈥� in an age of morality clauses and #MeToo? Does socially condemned behavior discredit a person鈥檚 artistic vision?
Russell Baker collapsed boundary between newspapers and literatureThe columns and memoirs by the聽former New York Times聽columnist were so celebrated that they invited readers to wonder if the mission of newsroom scribes and so-called creative artists really differed that much in the first place.聽
January鈥檚 10 books to cozy up withThis month features tales of two revolutions: a debut novel about an Iranian family in the 1970s and a nonfiction narrative about China in the 1940s, when millions left Shanghai. 聽聽
'Last Boat Out of Shanghai' has four stories at once personal and universalShanghai residents left in droves as the Communists took power in China.
Mary Oliver looked 'past reason, past the provable'The Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and essayist wrote lyrically about nature, but there's more to her work than meets the eye.聽
'Queen Victoria' paints a full portrait of a complex womanHistorian Lucy Worsley offers a lively take on one of the most influential women of the 19th century.聽
'Tombland' unearths plots and Tudor-era political intrigueC. J. Sansom's historical mystery series features lawyer Matthew Shardlake 鈥� one of the best-drawn leading characters in the entire genre.聽