Since his debut with “The Final Passage” four decades ago, Caryl Phillips has built a reputation as a renowned chronicler of the immigrant experience. His impressive body of work has spanned centuries, traversed the places he has called home — St. Kitts, Britain and now the United States — and centered around characters that are all too ...Read more

How well do any of us know our parents?

It’s an elusive question. Most of us spend lots of time with them but certain parts of their lives are generally (and understandably) off-limits. How much is shared with the kids varies widely from family to family. All of that fits perfectly with Anita Desai’s elusive novella “Rosarita,” in which...Read more

It’s a glorious time of the year if you’re obsessed with fictional serial killers (as I am). Detective Alex Cross (played brilliantly by Aldis Hodge) chases a charming one in the new series “Cross” (streaming on Prime), and in two out of the three of my recent favorites, serial killers run the show.

“Head Cases,” by John McMahon, is...Read more

Penn classics professor Emily Wilson is back in the spotlight, thanks in part to Christopher Nolan.

The Oppenheimer director recently announced an adaptation of The Odyssey as his next project, prompting a deluge of reactions on social media, from newcomers googling the ancient Greek text to literature nerds disparaging anyone unfamiliar with ...Read more

Maybe you received a book store gift card over the holiday season? Maybe you’re looking for ideas on how to spend it?

Read on, to learn about some exciting titles that will show up in stores and on library shelves in the next month, including a true crime investigation and, first up, the latest twistathon from British novelist Alice Feeney. ...Read more

Maybe you received a book store gift card over the holiday season? Maybe you’re looking for ideas on how to spend it?

Read on, to learn about some exciting titles that will show up in stores and on library shelves in the next month, including a true crime investigation and, first up, the latest twistathon from British novelist Alice Feeney. ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS -- Joyce Kilmer famously wrote, “I think that I shall never see/A poem lovely as a tree.” Well, south Minneapolis has a tree that Kilmer would go nuts for.

It’s the Little Free Poet Tree, located in front of Davin Haukebo-Bol’s home at 4026 3rd Av. S. Affixed to an oak in the boulevard is a small, windowed box that contains ...Read more

Ian Rankin is the best-selling author of the Inspector Rebus mysteries and other books. A multiple-award winner, the Edinburgh-based novelist has received an OBE and knighthood for his service to literature.

Early one morning while traveling in Paris recently, Rankin took the Q&A and shared a wealth of book recommendations and more.

Q. ...Read more

Eddie Winston is 90, but for all practical purposes he is more like 17. Like a teenager, he’s gregarious, gangly but strong (few 90-year-olds can sit in the grass for a picnic lunch and then hop up again no problem) and — most importantly — he has yet to enjoy his first kiss.

This unlikely but delightful character is at the heart of ...Read more

The me of 20 months ago, before I became the interim books editor, would be shocked at some things the current me does.

I never used to read more than one book at a time, for instance. I used to always finish books. And there was a time when I could walk from my living room to my kitchen without plowing into multiple stacks of books. But those ...Read more

A black-and-white photograph of a young girl. Her hair has been roughly shaved. She has a bruise under her lower lip. She is wearing a striped concentration camp uniform. On the shirt, her number is discernible: 26947. Photographer Wilhelm Brasse’s camera doesn’t lie: His subject stares straight ahead, not with indifference or defiance but ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — Light reading takes a vacation this holiday season with “The Vegas Book.”

Written by historian, frequent Las Vegas visitor and accomplished poker player Joris Dekkers, this chronicle of several of Las Vegas’ founding legends weighs in at 18 pounds. Its 450 pages are dedicated to nearly 30 extensive interviews of Las Vegas ...Read more

In “Didion & Babitz,” author Lili Anolik opens with some advice: “Reader, Don’t be a baby.”

It’s an apt warning for readers who might consider themselves Joan Didion and/or Eve Babitz aficionados. While their most ardent fans — Sixties counterculture devotees and literary It-girl wannabes (of which I am both) — know the lore, ...Read more

Sonja Trom Eayrs, a Twin Cities attorney, grew up on a farm outside Blooming Prairie, Minnesota. A decade ago, Eayrs started waging a litigation campaign in Dodge County to compel local governments to enforce the rules against the growth of massive hog operations.

While small victories in court were ultimately swallowed on appeal, Eayrs has now...Read more

The problem with Richard Schoch’s “How Sondheim Can Change Your Life” is its title. Other than that, it is a valuable addition to the library of any fan of musical theater and certainly every Stephen Sondheim fanatic.

The book’s premise is that “a prolonged encounter with [his work] will reveal predicaments — and the paths out of ...Read more

Why are the holidays such a popular time to bump someone off?

Fictionally speaking, December may be the most murder-y time of the year. Eventually, most popular mystery writers — from classic practitioners such as Agatha Christie (”Hercule Poirot’s Christmas”) to contemporary writers such as Peter Swanson (”The Christmas Guest”) —...Read more

Here are the bestsellers for the week that ended Saturday, Dec. 14, compiled from data from independent and chain bookstores, book wholesalers and independent distributors nationwide, powered by Circana BookScan © 2024 Circana.

(Reprinted from Publishers Weekly, published by PWxyz LLC. © 2024, PWxyz LLC.)

HARDCOVER FICTION

1. "James: A ...Read more