## Metadata - Author: [[https://www.nytimes.com/by/the-new-york-times-books-staff]] - Full Title: 100 Notable Books of 2023 - Category: #articles - Summary: The content below is fiction, but some of it could not be imported from the original document. - URL: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/11/21/books/notable-books.html ## Full Document Some content could not be imported from the original document. [View content ↗](about:blank) ### 100 Notable Books of 2023 Each year, we pore over thousands of new books, seeking out the best novels, memoirs, biographies, poetry collections, stories and more. Here are the standouts, selected by the staff of The New York Times Book Review. Chosen by the staff of The New York Times Book Review Nov. 21, 2023 Fiction | Nonfiction  #### fiction historical fiction [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/24/books/review/selby-wynn-schwartz-after-sappho.html) ##### [After Sappho](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/24/books/review/selby-wynn-schwartz-after-sappho.html) by Selby Wynn Schwartz Inspired by Sappho’s work, Schwartz’s debut novel offers an alternate history of creativity at the turn of the 20th century, one that centers queer women artists, writers and intellectuals who refused to accept society’s boundaries. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=After+Sappho&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/after-sappho-selby-wynn-schwartz/1141471464?ean=9781324092315&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9781324092315)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/after-sappho-a-novel/id6442958564?at=10lIEQ) Southern thriller [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/02/books/review/sa-cosby-all-the-sinners-bleed.html) ##### [All the Sinners Bleed](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/02/books/review/sa-cosby-all-the-sinners-bleed.html) by S.A. Cosby In his earlier thrillers, Cosby worked the outlaw side of the crime genre. In his new one — about a Black sheriff in a rural Southern town, searching for a serial killer who tortures Black children — he’s written a crackling good police procedural. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/All-Sinners-Bleed-S-Cosby/dp/1250831911/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=All+the+Sinners+Bleed&qid=1698243370&s=books&sr=1-1)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/all-the-sinners-bleed-s-a-cosby/1141976494?ean=9781250831910&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9781250831910)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/all-the-sinners-bleed/id6443545158?at=10lIEQ) family saga [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/12/books/review/the-bee-sting-paul-murray.html) ##### [The Bee Sting](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/12/books/review/the-bee-sting-paul-murray.html) by Paul Murray In Murray’s boisterous tragicomic novel, a once wealthy Irish family struggles with both the aftermath of the 2008 financial crash and their own inner demons. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/Bee-Sting-Novel-Paul-Murray/dp/0374600309/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=The+Bee+Sting&qid=1698258858&s=books&sr=1-1)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-bee-sting-paul-murray/1142038727?ean=9780374600303&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780374600303)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-bee-sting/id6443361779?at=10lIEQ) experimental fiction [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/20/books/catherine-lacey-biography-of-x.html) ##### [Biography of X](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/20/books/catherine-lacey-biography-of-x.html) by Catherine Lacey Lacey rewrites 20th-century U.S. history through the audacious fictional life story of X, a polarizing female performance artist who made her way from the South to New York City’s downtown art scene. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Biography+of+X&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/biography-of-x-catherine-lacey/1141344287?ean=9780374606176&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780374606176)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/biography-of-x/id1623195578?at=10lIEQ) climate fiction [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/13/books/eleanor-catton-birnam-wood.html) ##### [Birnam Wood](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/13/books/eleanor-catton-birnam-wood.html) by Eleanor Catton In this action-packed novel from a Booker Prize winner, a collective of activist gardeners crosses paths with a billionaire doomsday prepper on land they each want for different purposes. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/Birnam-Wood-Novel-Eleanor-Catton/dp/0374110336/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Birnam+Wood&qid=1698259211&s=books&sr=1-1)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/birnam-wood-eleanor-catton/1141344040?ean=9780374718015&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780374110338)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/birnam-wood/id1623195626?at=10lIEQ) experimental fiction [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/09/books/review/blackouts-justin-torres.html) ##### [Blackouts](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/09/books/review/blackouts-justin-torres.html) by Justin Torres This lyrical, genre-defying novel — winner of the 2023 National Book Award — explores what it means to be erased and how to persist after being wiped away. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Blackouts&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/blackouts-justin-torres/1142827173?ean=9780374293574&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780374293574)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/blackouts/id6445340225?at=10lIEQ) thriller [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/19/books/review/bright-young-women-jessica-knoll.html) ##### [Bright Young Women](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/19/books/review/bright-young-women-jessica-knoll.html) by Jessica Knoll In her third and most assured novel, Knoll shifts readers’ attention away from a notorious serial killer, Ted Bundy, and onto the lives — and deaths — of the women he killed. Perhaps for the first time in fiction, Knoll pooh-poohs Bundy's much ballyhooed intelligence, celebrating the promise and perspicacity of his victims instead. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Bright+Young+Women&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/bright-young-women-jessica-knoll/1143030136?ean=9781501153228&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9781501153228)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/bright-young-women/id6445637341?at=10lIEQ) literary dystopia [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/28/books/chain-gang-all-stars-nana-kwame-adjei-brenyah.html) ##### [Chain-Gang All-Stars](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/28/books/chain-gang-all-stars-nana-kwame-adjei-brenyah.html) by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah This satire — in which prison inmates duel on TV for a chance at freedom — makes readers complicit with the bloodthirsty fans sitting ringside. The fight scenes are so well written they demonstrate how easy it might be to accept a world this sick. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Chain-Gang+All-Stars&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/chain-gang-all-stars-nana-kwame-adjei-brenyah/1140824021?ean=9780593317334&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780593317334&ref=&source=IndieBound&title=Chain+Gang+All+Stars%3A+A+Novel)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/chain-gang-all-stars/id6443087933?at=10lIEQ) historical fiction family saga [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/02/books/review/covenant-of-water-abraham-verghese.html) ##### [The Covenant of Water](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/02/books/review/covenant-of-water-abraham-verghese.html) by Abraham Verghese Verghese’s first novel since “Cutting for Stone” follows generations of a family across 77 years in southwestern India as they contend with political strife and other troubles — capped by a shocking discovery made by the matriarch’s granddaughter, a doctor. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/Covenant-Water-Abraham-Verghese/dp/0802162177/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=The+Covenant+of+Water&qid=1698260891&s=books&sr=1-1)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/covenant-of-water-abraham-verghese/1142363849?ean=9780802162175&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780802162175)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-covenant-of-water-oprahs-book-club/id6443923854?at=10lIEQ) crime [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/13/books/review/crook-manifesto-colson-whitehead.html) ##### [Crook Manifesto](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/13/books/review/crook-manifesto-colson-whitehead.html) by Colson Whitehead Returning to the world of his novel “Harlem Shuffle,” Whitehead again uses a crime story to illuminate a singular neighborhood at a tipping point — here, Harlem in the 1970s. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/Crook-Manifesto-Novel-Colson-Whitehead/dp/0385545150/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Crook+Manifesto&qid=1698261032&s=books&sr=1-1)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/crook-manifesto-colson-whitehead/1142464437?ean=9780385545150&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780385545150)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/crook-manifesto/id6443909397?at=10lIEQ) climate fiction [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/10/books/review/stephen-markley-deluge.html) ##### [The Deluge](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/10/books/review/stephen-markley-deluge.html) by Stephen Markley Markley’s second novel confronts the scale and gravity of climate change, tracking a cadre of scientists and activists from the gathering storm of the Obama years to the super-typhoons of future decades. Immersive and ambitious, the book shows the range of its author’s gifts: polyphonic narration, silken sentences and elaborate world-building. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=The+Deluge&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-deluge-stephen-markley/1141352495?ean=9781982123093&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9781982123093)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-deluge/id6442981800?at=10lIEQ) psychological fiction [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/07/books/review/maylis-de-kerangal-eastbound.html) ##### [Eastbound](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/07/books/review/maylis-de-kerangal-eastbound.html) by Maylis de Kerangal In de Kerangal’s brief, lyrical novel, translated by Jessica Moore, a young Russian soldier on a trans-Siberian train decides to desert and turns to a civilian passenger, a Frenchwoman, for help. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/Eastbound-Maylis-Kerangal/dp/1953861504/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Eastbound&qid=1698260671&s=books&sr=1-1)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/eastbound-maylis-de-kerangal/1141756729?ean=9781953861504&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9781953861504)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/eastbound/id6443138772?at=10lIEQ) fantasy romance [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/24/books/review/new-romance-novels.html) ##### [Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/24/books/review/new-romance-novels.html) by Heather Fawcett The world-building in tale of a woman documenting a new kind of faerie is exquisite, and the characters are just as textured and richly drawn. This is the kind of folkloric fantasy that remembers the old, blood-ribboned source material about sacrifices and stolen children, but adds a modern gloss. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/Emily-Wildes-Encyclopaedia-Faeries-Wilde/dp/059350013X)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/emily-wildes-encyclopaedia-of-faeries-heather-fawcett/1141241292)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780593500132)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/emily-wildes-encyclopaedia-of-faeries/id1614947544?at=10lIEQ) psychological fiction [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/31/books/review/isabella-hammad-enter-ghost.html) ##### [Enter Ghost](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/31/books/review/isabella-hammad-enter-ghost.html) by Isabella Hammad In Hammad’s second novel, a British Palestinian actor returns to her hometown in Israel to recover from a breakup and spend time with her family. Instead, she’s talked into joining a staging of “Hamlet” in the West Bank, where she has a political awakening. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Enter+Ghost&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/enter-ghost-isabella-hammad/1142562161?ean=9780802162380&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780802162380)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/enter-ghost/id6444014886?at=10lIEQ) historical fiction [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/13/books/review/forbidden-notebook-alba-de-cespedes.html) ##### [Forbidden Notebook](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/13/books/review/forbidden-notebook-alba-de-cespedes.html) by Alba de Céspedes A best-selling novelist and prominent anti-Fascist in her native Italy, de Céspedes has lately fallen into unjust obscurity. Translated by Ann Goldstein, this elegant novel from the 1950s tells the story of a married mother, Valeria, whose life is transformed when she begins keeping a secret diary. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Forbidden+Notebook&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-forbidden-notebook-alba-de-c-spedes/1141365312?ean=9781662601392&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9781662601392)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/forbidden-notebook/id1619720725?at=10lIEQ) historical fiction [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/28/books/review/zadie-smith-the-fraud.html) ##### [The Fraud](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/28/books/review/zadie-smith-the-fraud.html) by Zadie Smith Based on a celebrated 19th-century trial in which the defendant was accused of impersonating a nobleman, Smith’s novel offers a vast panoply of London and the English countryside, and successfully locates the social controversies of an era in a handful of characters. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/Fraud-Novel-Zadie-Smith/dp/0525558969/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=The+Fraud&qid=1698259549&s=books&sr=1-1)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-fraud-zadie-smith/1142804236?ean=9780525558965&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780525558965)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-fraud/id6444967656?at=10lIEQ) poetry [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/07/books/review/monica-youn-from-from-poems.html) ##### [From From](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/07/books/review/monica-youn-from-from-poems.html) by Monica Youn In her fourth book of verse, a svelte, intrepid foray into American racism, Youn turns a knowing eye on society’s love-hate relationship with what it sees as the “other.” [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=From+From%3A+Poems&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/from-from-monica-youn/1141344086?ean=9781644452219&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9781644452219)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/author/monica-youn/id555344649?at=10lIEQ) graphic novel horror  ##### A Guest in the House by Emily Carroll After a lonely young woman marries a mild-mannered widower and moves into his home, she begins to wonder how his first wife actually died. This graphic novel alternates between black-and-white and overwhelming colors as it explores the mundane and the horrific. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/125025552X?tag=NYTBSREV)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-guest-in-the-house-emily-carroll/1141804978)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9781250255525)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/a-guest-in-the-house/id6468881299?at=10lIEQ) literary fiction mystery [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/06/books/review/the-heaven-and-earth-grocery-store-james-mcbride.html) ##### [The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/06/books/review/the-heaven-and-earth-grocery-store-james-mcbride.html) by James McBride McBride’s latest, an intimate, big-hearted tale of community, opens with a human skeleton found in a well in the 1970s, and then flashes back to the past, to the ’20s and ’30s, to explore the town’s Black, Jewish and immigrant history. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=The+Heaven+%26+Earth+Grocery+Store&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-heaven-earth-grocery-store-james-mcbride/1142821692?ean=9780593422946&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780593422946)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-heaven-earth-grocery-store/id6445046432?at=10lIEQ) family saga [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/11/books/review/hello-beautiful-ann-napolitano.html) ##### [Hello Beautiful](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/11/books/review/hello-beautiful-ann-napolitano.html) by Ann Napolitano In her radiant fourth novel, Napolitano puts a fresh spin on the classic tale of four sisters and the man who joins their family. Take “Little Women,” move it to modern-day Chicago, add more intrigue, lots of basketball and a different kind of boy next door and you’ve got the bones of this thoroughly original story. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Hello+Beautiful&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hello-beautiful-ann-napolitano/1141888934?ean=9780593243732&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780593243732)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/hello-beautiful-oprahs-book-club/id6443221770?at=10lIEQ) historical fiction [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/28/books/review/a-history-of-burning-janika-oza.html) ##### [A History of Burning](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/28/books/review/a-history-of-burning-janika-oza.html) by Janika Oza This remarkable debut novel tells the story of an extended Indo-Ugandan family that is displaced, settled and displaced again. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=A+History+of+Burning&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-history-of-burning-janika-oza/1142157104?ean=9781538724248&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9781538724248)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/a-history-of-burning/id6443359865?at=10lIEQ) horror-tinged thriller [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/01/books/review/stephen-king-holly.html) ##### [Holly](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/01/books/review/stephen-king-holly.html) by Stephen King The scrappy private detective Holly Gibney (who appeared in “The Outsider” and several other novels) returns, this time taking on a missing-persons case that — in typical King fashion — unfolds into a tale of Dickensian proportions. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Holly&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/holly-stephen-king/1142967024?ean=9781668016138&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9781668016138)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/holly/id6445489654?at=10lIEQ) family saga [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/12/books/review/a-house-for-alice-diana-evans.html) ##### [A House for Alice](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/12/books/review/a-house-for-alice-diana-evans.html) by Diana Evans This polyphonic novel traces one family’s reckoning after the patriarch dies in a fire, as his widow, a Nigerian immigrant, considers returning to her home country and the entire family re-examines the circumstances of their lives. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/House-Alice-Novel-Diana-Evans/dp/0593701089/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=A+House+for+Alice&qid=1698261349&s=books&sr=1-1)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-house-for-alice-diana-evans/1143089839?ean=9780593701089&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.orga/3546/9780593701089)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/a-house-for-alice/id6445857664?at=10lIEQ) very famous poem [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/23/books/review/iliad-homer-emily-wilson.html) ##### [The Iliad](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/23/books/review/iliad-homer-emily-wilson.html) by Homer Emily Wilson’s propulsive new translation of the “Iliad” is buoyant and expressive; she wants this version to be read aloud, and it would certainly be fun to perform. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/Iliad-Homer/dp/1324001801/ref=sr_1_1?crid=121DXRZDFI2GF&keywords=the+iliad+translated+by+emily+wilson&qid=1700163552=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-iliad-homer/1143278097?ean=9781324001805&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9781324001805)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-iliad/id6445799194?at=10lIEQ) fantasy [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/26/books/review/new-science-fiction-fantasy-books.html) ##### [Ink Blood Sister Scribe](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/26/books/review/new-science-fiction-fantasy-books.html) by Emma Törzs The sisters in Törzs's delightful debut have been raised to protect a collection of magic books that allow their keepers to do incredible things. Their story accelerates like a fugue, ably conducted to a tender conclusion. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/Ink-Blood-Sister-Scribe-Novel/dp/0063253461)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/ink-blood-sister-scribe-emma-t-rzs/1142334209)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780063253469)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/ink-blood-sister-scribe/id6443540648?at=10lIEQ) historical fiction [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/29/books/review/kairos-jenny-erpenbeck.html) ##### [Kairos](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/29/books/review/kairos-jenny-erpenbeck.html) by Jenny Erpenbeck This tale of a torrid, yearslong relationship between a young woman and a much older married man — translated from the German by Michael Hofmann — is both profound and moving. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Kairos&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/kairos-jenny-erpenbeck/1142507712?ean=9780811229340&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780811229340)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/kairos/id1561332925?at=10lIEQ) historical fiction [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/18/books/review/kantika-elizabeth-graver.html) ##### [Kantika](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/18/books/review/kantika-elizabeth-graver.html) by Elizabeth Graver Inspired by the life of Graver’s maternal grandmother, this exquisitely imagined family saga spans cultures and continents as it traces the migrations of a Sephardic Jewish girl from turn-of-the-20th-century Constantinople to Barcelona, Havana and, finally, Queens, N.Y. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Kantika&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/kantika-elizabeth-graver/1141318096?ean=9781250869845&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9781250869845)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/kantika/id1624500183?at=10lIEQ) climate fiction [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/21/books/review/c-pam-zhang-land-of-milk-and-honey.html) ##### [Land of Milk and Honey](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/21/books/review/c-pam-zhang-land-of-milk-and-honey.html) by C Pam Zhang Zhang’s lush, keenly intelligent novel follows a chef who’s hired to cook for an “elite research community” in the Italian Alps, in a not-so-distant future where industrial-agricultural experiments in America’s heartland have blanketed the globe in a crop-smothering smog. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Land+of+Milk+and+Honey&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/land-of-milk-and-honey-c-pam-zhang/1143022798?ean=9780593538241&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780593538241)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/land-of-milk-and-honey/id6445623706?at=10lIEQ) horror historical fiction [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/26/books/review/victor-lavalle-lone-women.html) ##### [Lone Women](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/26/books/review/victor-lavalle-lone-women.html) by Victor LaValle The year is 1915, and the narrator of LaValle’s horror-tinged western has arrived in Montana to cultivate an unforgiving homestead. She’s looking for a fresh start as a single Black woman in a sparsely populated state, but the locked trunk she has in stow holds a terrifying secret. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Lone+Women&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/lone-women-victor-lavalle/1141679689?ean=9780525512080&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780525512080)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/lone-women/id6443011478?at=10lIEQ) graphic novel [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/02/books/review/daniel-clowes-monica.html) ##### [Monica](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/02/books/review/daniel-clowes-monica.html) by Daniel Clowes In Clowes’s luminous new work, the titular character, abandoned by her mother as a child, endures a life of calamities before resolving to learn about her origins and track down her parents. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Monica&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/monica-daniel-clowes/1143190385?ean=9781683968825&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9781683968825) coming-of-age mystery [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/26/books/review/mohamed-mbougar-sarr-most-secret-memory-of-men.html) ##### [The Most Secret Memory of Men](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/26/books/review/mohamed-mbougar-sarr-most-secret-memory-of-men.html) by Mohamed Mbougar Sarr Based on a true story and translated by Lara Vergnaud, Sarr’s novel — about a Senegalese writer brought low by a plagiarism scandal — asks sharp questions about the state of African literature in the West. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=The+Most+Secret+Memory+of+Men&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-most-secret-memory-of-men-mohamed-mbougar-sarr/1143085968?ean=9781635423273&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9781635423273)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-most-secret-memory-of-men/id6445290476?at=10lIEQ) dystopia social satire [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/14/books/review/gabriel-bump-new-naturals.html) ##### [The New Naturals](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/14/books/review/gabriel-bump-new-naturals.html) by Gabriel Bump In Bump’s engrossing new novel, a young Black couple, mourning the loss of their newborn daughter and disillusioned with the world, start a utopian society — but tensions both internal and external soon threaten their dreams. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/New-Naturals-Gabriel-Bump/dp/1616208805?&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-new-naturals-gabriel-bump/1143170675?ean=9781616208806&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9781616208806)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-new-naturals/id6446078442?at=10lIEQ) historical fiction [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/19/books/review/daniel-mason-north-woods.html) ##### [North Woods](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/19/books/review/daniel-mason-north-woods.html) by Daniel Mason Mason’s novel looks at the occupants of a single house in Massachusetts over several centuries, from colonial times to present day. An apple farmer, an abolitionist, a wealthy manufacturer: The book follows these lives and many others, with detours into natural history and crime reportage. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/North-Woods-Novel-Daniel-Mason/dp/0593597036/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=North+Woods&qid=1698261511&s=books&sr=1-1)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/north-woods-daniel-mason/1142833884?ean=9780593597033&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780593597033)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/north-woods/id6445081713?at=10lIEQ) historical fiction [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/11/books/review/juan-gomez-barcena-not-even-the-dead.html) ##### [Not Even the Dead](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/11/books/review/juan-gomez-barcena-not-even-the-dead.html) by Juan Gómez Bárcena An ex-conquistador in Spanish-ruled, 16th-century Mexico is asked to hunt down an Indigenous prophet in this novel by a leading writer in Spain, splendidly translated by Katie Whittemore. The epic search stretches across much of the continent and, as the author bends time and history, lasts centuries. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Not+Even+the+Dead&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/not-even-the-dead-juan-gom-z-barcena/1141123029?ean=9781948830676&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9781948830676)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/not-even-the-dead/id6445393805?at=10lIEQ) psychological fiction [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/18/books/review/the-nursery-szilvia-molnar.html) ##### [The Nursery](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/18/books/review/the-nursery-szilvia-molnar.html) by Szilvia Molnar “I used to be a translator and now I am a milk bar.” So begins Molnar’s brilliant novel about a new mother falling apart within the four walls of her apartment. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=The+Nursery&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-nursery-szilvia-molnar/1141679686?ean=9780593316849&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780593316849)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-nursery/id6443011192?at=10lIEQ) horror [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/09/books/review/our-share-of-night-mariana-enriquez.html) ##### [Our Share of Night](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/09/books/review/our-share-of-night-mariana-enriquez.html) by Mariana Enriquez This dazzling, epic narrative, translated from the Spanish by Megan McDowell, is a bewitching brew of mystery and myth, peopled by mediums who can summon “the Darkness” for a secret society of wealthy occultists seeking to preserve consciousness after death. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Our+Share+of+Night&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/our-share-of-night-mariana-enriquez/1141448974?ean=9780451495143&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780451495143)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/our-share-of-night/id1623027254?at=10lIEQ) wealthy family saga [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/03/books/review/pineapple-street-jenny-jackson.html) ##### [Pineapple Street](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/03/books/review/pineapple-street-jenny-jackson.html) by Jenny Jackson Jackson’s smart, dishy debut novel embeds readers in an upper-crust Brooklyn Heights family — its real estate, its secrets, its just-like-you-and-me problems. Does money buy happiness? “Pineapple Street” asks a better question: Does it buy honesty? [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Pineapple+Street&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/pineapple-street-jenny-jackson/1144270089?ean=9780593490693&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780593490693)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/pineapple-street/id6442954179?at=10lIEQ) horror [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/27/books/review/the-reformatory-tananarive-due.html) ##### [The Reformatory](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/27/books/review/the-reformatory-tananarive-due.html) by Tananarive Due Due’s latest — about a Black boy, Robert, who is wrongfully sentenced to a fictionalized version of Florida’s infamous and brutal Dozier School — is both an incisive examination of the lingering traumas of racism and a gripping, ghost-filled horror novel. “The novel’s extended, layered denouement is so heart-smashingly good, it made me late for work,” Randy Boyagoda wrote in his review. “I couldn’t stop reading.” [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/gp/search?index=books&tag=NYTBSREV-20&field-keywords=The+Reformatory+)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-reformatory-tananarive-due/1142483982)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9781982188344)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-reformatory/id6443780951?at=10lIEQ) fantasy  ##### The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera Trained to kill by his mother and able to see demons, the protagonist of Chandrasekera’s stunning and lyrical novel flees his destiny as an assassin and winds up in a politically volatile metropolis. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/Saint-Bright-Doors-Vajra-Chandrasekera/dp/1250847389)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-saint-of-bright-doors-vajra-chandrasekera/1141976468)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9781250847386)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-saint-of-bright-doors/id6443283676?at=10lIEQ) experimental fiction [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/02/books/review/same-bed-different-dreams-ed-park.html) ##### [Same Bed Different Dreams](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/02/books/review/same-bed-different-dreams-ed-park.html) by Ed Park Double agents, sinister corporations, slasher films, U.F.O.s — Park’s long-awaited second novel is packed to the gills with creative elements that enliven his acerbic, comedic and lyrical odyssey into Korean history and American paranoia. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/gp/search?index=books&tag=NYTBSREV-20&field-keywords=Same+Bed+Different+Dreams+)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/same-bed-different-dreams-ed-park/1143044415?ean=9780812998979&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780812998979)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/same-bed-different-dreams/id6445657898?at=10lIEQ) psychological fiction [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/13/books/review/take-what-you-need-idra-novey.html) ##### [Take What You Need](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/13/books/review/take-what-you-need-idra-novey.html) by Idra Novey This elegant novel resonates with implication beyond the taut contours of its central story line. In Novey’s deft hands, the complex relationship between a young woman and her former stepmother hints at the manifold divisions within America itself. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Take+What+You+Need&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/take-what-you-need-idra-novey/1141658728?ean=9780593652855&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780593652855)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/take-what-you-need/id6442988883?at=10lIEQ) historical fiction [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/24/books/review/this-other-eden-paul-harding.html) ##### [This Other Eden](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/24/books/review/this-other-eden-paul-harding.html) by Paul Harding In his latest novel, inspired by the true story of a devastating 1912 eviction in Maine that displaced an entire mixed-race fishing community, Harding turns that history into a lyrical tale about the fictional Apple Island on the cusp of destruction. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=This+Other+Eden&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/this-other-eden-paul-harding/1141471394)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9781324036296)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/this-other-eden-a-novel/id6442958700?at=10lIEQ) family saga [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/30/books/review/ann-patchett-tom-lake.html) ##### [Tom Lake](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/30/books/review/ann-patchett-tom-lake.html) by Ann Patchett Locked down on the family’s northern Michigan cherry orchard, three sisters and their mother, a former actress whose long-ago summer fling went on to become a movie star, reflect on love and regret in Patchett’s quiet and reassuring Chekhovian novel. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Tom+Lake&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tom-lake-ann-patchett/1142598430?ean=9780063327528&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780063327528)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/tom-lake/id6444101327?at=10lIEQ) historical fiction [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/25/books/review/ayana-mathis-the-unsettled.html) ##### [The Unsettled](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/25/books/review/ayana-mathis-the-unsettled.html) by Ayana Mathis This novel follows three generations across time and place: a young mother trying to create a home for herself and her son in 1980s Philadelphia, and her mother, who is trying to save their Alabama hometown from white supremacists seeking to displace her from her land. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/gp/search?index=books&tag=NYTBSREV-20&field-keywords=The+Unsettled+)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-unsettled-ayana-mathis/1142907945?ean=9780525519935&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780525519935)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/bo/book/the-unsettled/id6445290667?at=10lIEQ) historical fantasy [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/01/books/review/salman-rushdie-victory-city.html) ##### [Victory City](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/01/books/review/salman-rushdie-victory-city.html) by Salman Rushdie Rushdie’s new novel recounts the long life of Pampa Kampana, who creates an empire from magic seeds in 14th-century India. Her world is one of peace, where men and women are equal and all faiths welcome, but the story Rushdie tells is of a state that forever fails to live up to its ideals. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Victory+City&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/victory-city-salman-rushdie/1141448924?ean=9780593243398&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780593243398)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/victory-city/id1623026467?at=10lIEQ) romance [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/23/books/review/new-romance-books.html) ##### [We Could Be So Good](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/23/books/review/new-romance-books.html) by Cat Sebastian This queer midcentury romance — about reporters who meet at work, become friends, move in together and fall in love — lingers on small, everyday acts like bringing home flowers with the groceries, things that loom large because they’re how we connect with others. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/We-Could-Be-So-Good/dp/0063272768)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/we-could-be-so-good-cat-sebastian/1142168942?ean=9780063272767)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780063272767)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/no/book/we-could-be-so-good/id6445162853?at=10lIEQ) coming-of-age [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/07/books/review/western-lane-chetna-maroo.html) ##### [Western Lane](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/07/books/review/western-lane-chetna-maroo.html) by Chetna Maroo In this polished and disciplined debut novel, an 11-year-old Jain girl in London who has just lost her mother turns her attention to the game of squash — which in Maroo’s graceful telling becomes a way into the girl’s grief. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Unscripted%3A+The+Epic+Battle+for+a+Media+Empire+and+the+Redstone+Family+Legacy&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/unscripted-james-b-stewart/1141470457?ean=9781984879424&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9781984879424)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/unscripted/id1624319892?at=10lIEQ) short stories [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/31/books/review/witness-jamel-brinkley.html) ##### [Witness](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/31/books/review/witness-jamel-brinkley.html) by Jamel Brinkley Set in Brooklyn, and featuring animal rescue workers, florists, volunteers, ghosts and UPS workers, Brinkley’s new collection meditates on what it means to see and be seen. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Witness&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/witness-jamel-brinkley/1142038829?ean=9780374607036&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780374607036)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/author/jamel-brinkley/id1286733509?at=10lIEQ) a story of obsession [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/14/books/esther-yi-y-n.html) ##### [Y/N](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/14/books/esther-yi-y-n.html) by Esther Yi In this weird and wondrous novel, a bored young woman in thrall to a boy band buys a one-way ticket to Seoul. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Y%2FN&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/y-n-esther-yi/1141470436?ean=9781662601538&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9781662601538)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/y-n/id1624319876?at=10lIEQ) satire [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/16/books/review/yellowface-rf-kuang.html) ##### [Yellowface](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/16/books/review/yellowface-rf-kuang.html) by R.F. Kuang Kuang’s first foray outside of the fantasy genre is a breezy and propulsive tale about a white woman who achieves tremendous literary success by stealing a manuscript from a recently deceased Asian friend and passing it off as her own. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Yellowface&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/yellowface-r-f-kuang/1142006137?ean=9780063250833&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780063250833)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/yellowface/id6443285815?at=10lIEQ)  #### nonfiction U.S. history [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/28/books/review/the-272-rachel-swarns.html) ##### [The 272](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/28/books/review/the-272-rachel-swarns.html) by Rachel L. Swarns Building on her groundbreaking work for The Times, Swarns fashions a complex portrait of 19th-century American Catholicism through the story of the nearly 300 people enslaved on Jesuit plantations who were sold in 1838 to save Georgetown University from ruin. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=The+272%3A+The+Families+Who+Were+Enslaved+and+Sold+to+Build+the+American+Catholic+Church&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-272-rachel-swarns/1142787345?ean=9780399590863&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780399590863)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-272/id6443367501?at=10lIEQ) biography true crime [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/02/books/review/anansis-gold-yepoka-yeebo.html) ##### [Anansi’s Gold](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/02/books/review/anansis-gold-yepoka-yeebo.html) by Yepoka Yeebo Yeebo, a journalist, tracks down the elusive story of John Ackah Blay-Miezah, who revolutionized the “advance fee” scam (say, a Nigerian prince wants to wire you money), and contextualizes it within a Ghana — and a world — that allowed him to thrive. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/Anansis-Gold-Outfoxed-Washington-Swindled/dp/1635574730/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Anansi%E2%80%99s+Gold%3A+The+Man+Who+Looted+the+West%2C+Outfoxed+Washington%2C+and+Swindled+the+World&qid=1698261099&s=books&sr=1-1)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/anansis-gold-yepoka-yeebo/1139824260?ean=9781635574739&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9781635574739)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/anansis-gold/id6445166034?at=10lIEQ) arctic exploration [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/04/books/review/battle-of-ink-and-ice-darrell-hartman.html) ##### [Battle of Ink and Ice](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/04/books/review/battle-of-ink-and-ice-darrell-hartman.html) by Darrell Hartman This fast paced, true-life adventure revives the headline-grabbing debate over which explorer reached the North Pole first — and which newspaper broke the news. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Battle+of+Ink+and+Ice%3A+A+Sensational+Story+of+News+Barons%2C+North+Pole+Explorers%2C+and+the+Making+of+Modern+Media&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/battle-of-ink-and-ice-darrell-hartman/1142169536?ean=9780593297162&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780593297162)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/battle-of-ink-and-ice/id6443367671?at=10lIEQ) memoir [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/19/books/review/the-best-minds-jonathan-rosen.html) ##### [The Best Minds](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/19/books/review/the-best-minds-jonathan-rosen.html) by Jonathan Rosen A literary and compassionate examination of the porous line between brilliance and insanity, this riveting memoir traces the author’s childhood friendship and sometime rivalry with a neighbor and Yale classmate who is now in prison for murdering his girlfriend. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=The+Best+Minds%3A+A+Story+of+Friendship%2C+Madness+and+the+Tragedy+of+Good+Intentions&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-best-minds-jonathan-rosen/1141813876?ean=9781594206573&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9781594206573)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-best-minds/id6443175098?at=10lIEQ) the deep state [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/22/books/review/bottoms-up-and-the-devil-laughs-kerry-howley.html) ##### [Bottoms Up and the Devil Laughs](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/22/books/review/bottoms-up-and-the-devil-laughs-kerry-howley.html) by Kerry Howley Howley writes about the national security state and those who get entangled in it — fabulists, truth tellers, combatants, whistle-blowers. Like many of us, they have left traces of themselves in the digital ether by making a phone call, texting a friend, looking something up online. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/Bottoms-Up-Devil-Laughs-Journey/dp/0525655492/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Bottoms+Up+and+the+Devil+Laughs%3A+A+Journey+Through+the+Deep+State&qid=1698259492&s=books&sr=1-1)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/bottoms-up-and-the-devil-laughs-kerry-howley/1141937924?ean=9780525655497&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780525655497)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/bottoms-up-and-the-devil-laughs/id6443011344?at=10lIEQ) U.S. history [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/23/books/review/built-from-the-fire-victor-luckerson.html) ##### [Built From the Fire](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/23/books/review/built-from-the-fire-victor-luckerson.html) by Victor Luckerson This ambitious history, by a journalist based in Tulsa, provides an authoritative account of the prosperous Black neighborhood decimated by the city’s 1921 race massacre and a gripping portrait of the community resurrected in its aftermath. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/gp/search?index=books&tag=NYTBSREV-20&field-keywords=Built+From+the+Fire%3A+The+Epic+Story+of+Tulsa%E2%80%99s+Greenwood+District%2C+America%E2%80%99s+Black+Wall+Street+)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/built-from-the-fire-victor-luckerson/1142221197?ean=9780593134375&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780593134375)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/built-from-the-fire/id6443354328?at=10lIEQ) science investigative reporting [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/23/books/review/cobalt-red-siddharth-kara.html) ##### [Cobalt Red](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/23/books/review/cobalt-red-siddharth-kara.html) by Siddharth Kara Cobalt is essential to the tech industry, but as Kara’s harrowing account demonstrates, it comes at a high cost: Much of the mineral is mined in toxic conditions for subsistence wages in Congo — all too often, by children. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Cobalt+Red%3A+How+the+Blood+of+the+Congo+Powers+Our+Lives&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/cobalt-red-siddarth-kara/1140143306?ean=9781250284303&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9781250284303)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/cobalt-red/id1624502755?at=10lIEQ) science [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/10/books/review/crossings-ben-goldfarb.html) ##### [Crossings](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/10/books/review/crossings-ben-goldfarb.html) by Ben Goldfarb Goldfarb, an environmental journalist, crafts a fascinating and sensitive look at the costs of roads, both for wild animals and for the humans whose cities are divided by highways along racial lines. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Crossings%3A+How+Road+Ecology+Is+Shaping+the+Future+of+Our+Planet&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/crossings-ben-goldfarb/1142948847?ean=9781324005896&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9781324005896)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/crossings-how-road-ecology-is-shaping-the-future-of/id6445787424?at=10lIEQ1000) pop culture [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/23/books/review/yunte-huang-daughter-of-the-dragon.html) ##### [Daughter of the Dragon](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/23/books/review/yunte-huang-daughter-of-the-dragon.html) by Yunte Huang Huang’s new book, a biography embedded in cultural criticism, is an absorbing account of the life and times of a Chinese American starlet whose career spanned silent movies, talkies and television. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Daughter+of+the+Dragon&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/daughter-of-the-dragon-yunte-huang/1142243314?ean=9781631495809)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9781631495809)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/daughter-of-the-dragon-anna-may-wongs/id6443752890?at=10lIEQ) politics [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/07/books/review/doppelganger-naomi-klein.html) ##### [Doppelganger](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/07/books/review/doppelganger-naomi-klein.html) by Naomi Klein After she was repeatedly confused online with the feminist scholar turned anti-vaxxer Naomi Wolf, Klein turned the experience into this sober, stylish account of the lure of disdain and paranoia. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/Doppelganger-Trip-into-Mirror-World/dp/B0C5JV54C6/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Doppelganger%3A+A+Trip+Into+the+Mirror+World&qid=1698261212&s=books&sr=1-1)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/doppelganger-naomi-klein/1143495768?ean=9780374610326&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780374610326)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/doppelganger/id6448289382?at=10lIEQ) memoir [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/15/books/henry-threadgill-easily-slip-into-another-world.html) ##### [Easily Slip Into Another World](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/15/books/henry-threadgill-easily-slip-into-another-world.html) by Henry Threadgill and Brent Hayes Edwards The jazz artist Henry Threadgill’s ardent memoir ranges from his maddening wartime experiences in Vietnam to his boundary-pushing musical career. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=EASILY+SLIP+INTO+ANOTHER+WORLD%3A+A+Life+in+Music&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/easily-slip-into-another-world-henry-threadgill/1142109986?ean=9781524749071&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9781524749071)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/easily-slip-into-another-world/id6443344353?at=10lIEQ) science [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/25/books/review/the-exceptions-kate-zernike.html) ##### [The Exceptions](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/25/books/review/the-exceptions-kate-zernike.html) by Kate Zernike Zernike’s excellent and infuriating tale of the fight for fairness at M.I.T. and beyond is not merely a fast-paced account of one woman’s accomplishments but a larger history of women in STEM (or lack thereof). [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=The+Exceptions%3A+Nancy+Hopkins%2C+MIT%2C+and+the+Fight+for+Women+in+Science&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-exceptions-kate-zernike/1141652306?ean=9781982131838&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9781982131838)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-exceptions/id6442981799?at=10lIEQ) science [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/06/books/review/fire-weather-john-vaillant.html) ##### [Fire Weather](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/06/books/review/fire-weather-john-vaillant.html) by John Vaillant This timely and riveting account of the 2016 McMurray wildfire explores not just that Canadian inferno but what it bodes for the future. Vaillant has a chillingly serious message: This is the inevitable result of climate change, and it will happen again and again. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/Fire-Weather-Story-Hotter-World/dp/1524732850/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Fire+Weather%3A+A+True+Story+From+a+Hotter+World&qid=1698244964&s=books&sr=1-1)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fire-weather-john-vaillant/1142508330?ean=9781524732851&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9781524732851)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/fire-weather/id6443272438?at=10lIEQ) investigative reporting [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/20/books/review/the-great-escape-saket-soni.html) ##### [The Great Escape](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/20/books/review/the-great-escape-saket-soni.html) by Saket Soni In this gripping account, Soni, a labor organizer, details the story of several hundred Indian men lured to this country on promises of work and green cards, who ended up in semi-captivity in Mississippi until his efforts to free them. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=The+Great+Escape%3A+A+True+Story+of+Forced+Labor+and+Immigrant+Dreams+in+America&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-great-escape-saket-soni/1141589849?ean=9781643750088&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9781643750088)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-great-escape/id6443051206?at=10lIEQ) memoir philosophy [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/10/books/review/the-half-known-life-pico-iyer.html) ##### [The Half Known Life](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/10/books/review/the-half-known-life-pico-iyer.html) by Pico Iyer In talking to people the world over about what paradise means to them, Iyer provides hours of thought-provoking meditations. “Paradise becomes something different in every neighbor’s head,” he says. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=The+Half+Known+Life%3A+In+Search+of+Paradise&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-half-known-life-pico-iyer/1141345358?ean=9780593420256&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780593420256)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-half-known-life/id1618701444?at=10lIEQ) memoir [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/29/books/review/how-to-say-babylon-safiya-sinclair.html?smid=tw-nytbooks&smtyp=cur) ##### [How to Say Babylon](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/29/books/review/how-to-say-babylon-safiya-sinclair.html?smid=tw-nytbooks&smtyp=cur) by Safiya Sinclair In this breathless, scorching memoir of a girlhood spent becoming the perfect Rasta daughter and an adolescence spent becoming one of Jamaica’s most promising young poets, Montego Bay drips with as much tender sensuality and complexity as the buoyant patois of Sinclair’s parents’ banter. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=How+to+Say+Babylon%3A+A+Memoir&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/how-to-say-babylon-safiya-sinclair/1142483522?ean=9781982132330&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9781982132330)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/how-to-say-babylon/id6443781223?at=10lIEQ) philosophy history [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/29/books/review/humanly-possible-sarah-bakewell.html) ##### [Humanly Possible](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/29/books/review/humanly-possible-sarah-bakewell.html) by Sarah Bakewell In earlier books, Bakewell has written about Montaigne and the existentialists; here, she manages to wrangle seven centuries of humanist thought into a brisk narrative with characteristic wit and clarity, resisting the traps of windy abstraction and glib oversimplification. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Humanly+Possible&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/humanly-possible-sarah-bakewell/1141707910?ean=9780735223370&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780735223370)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/humanly-possible/id6443038425?at=10lIEQ) World War II [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/21/books/review/judgment-at-tokyo-gary-j-bass.html) ##### [Judgment at Tokyo](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/21/books/review/judgment-at-tokyo-gary-j-bass.html) by Gary J. Bass This comprehensive treatment of the prosecution of Japanese war crimes after World War II is an elegantly written and immersive account of a moment that shaped not just the politics of the region, but of the Cold War to come. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Judgment+at+Tokyo%3A+World+War+II+on+Trial+and+the+Making+of+Modern+Asia&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/judgment-at-tokyo-gary-j-bass/1142908050?ean=9781101947104&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9781101947104)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/judgment-at-tokyo/id6445309411?at=10lIEQ) biography [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/08/books/the-new-definitive-biography-of-martin-luther-king-jr.html) ##### [King](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/08/books/the-new-definitive-biography-of-martin-luther-king-jr.html) by Jonathan Eig The first comprehensive biography of Martin Luther King Jr. in decades, Eig’s book draws on a landslide of recently released government documents as well as letters and interviews. This is a book worthy of its subject: both an intimate study of a complex and flawed human being and a journalistic account of a civil rights titan. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=King%3A+A+Life&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/king-jonathan-eig/1142038762?ean=9780374719678&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780374719678)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/king-a-life/id6443361784?at=10lIEQ) religion politics  ##### The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory by Tim Alberta Having detailed how President Trump's rise to power occurred amid a years-long civil war within the Republican party in his 2019 book "American Carnage," Alberta, a staff writer for The Atlantic, turns his eye on another institution that has become split in two as a result of the former president: the American evangelical movement. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/Kingdom-Power-Glory-Evangelicals-Extremism/dp/006322688X?&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-kingdom-the-power-and-the-glory-tim-alberta/1143024574)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780063226883)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-kingdom-the-power-and-the-glory/id6445634752?at=10lIEQ) Middle East history  ##### The Land of Hope and Fear by Isabel Kershner Published months before the Israel-Hamas war, this book by a longtime correspondent in Jerusalem presents a complicated portrait of the many communities and faiths that constitute Israel three-quarters of a century into its existence. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/Land-Hope-Fear-Israels-Battle-ebook/dp/B0B9WLWZ6W?&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-land-of-hope-and-fear-isabel-kershner/1142014149)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9781101946763)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-land-of-hope-and-fear/id6443288328?at=10lIEQ) memoir [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/26/books/review/lilianas-invincible-summer-cristina-rivera-garza.html) ##### [Liliana’s Invincible Summer](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/26/books/review/lilianas-invincible-summer-cristina-rivera-garza.html) by Cristina Rivera Garza In 1990, Rivera Garza’s 20-year-old sister was murdered in Mexico. That case is the inspiration and launching point for this memoir, a personal and cultural look at femicide in Mexico. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/Lilianas-Invincible-Summer-Sisters-Justice/dp/0593244095/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Liliana%E2%80%99s+Invincible+Summer%3A+A+Sister%E2%80%99s+Search+for+Justice&qid=1698260959&s=books&sr=1-1)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/lilianas-invincible-summer-cristina-rivera-garza/1141634454?ean=9780593244098&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780593244098)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/lilianas-invincible-summer/id1623027304?at=10lIEQ) biography [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/07/books/review/lives-of-the-wives-carmela-ciararu.html) ##### [Lives of the Wives](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/07/books/review/lives-of-the-wives-carmela-ciararu.html) by Carmela Ciuraru The relationships at the center of Ciuraru’s lively and absorbing new literary history vary widely, but are united by questions of ego and agency, competition and resentment. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Lives+of+the+Wives%3A+Five+Literary+Marriages&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/lives-of-the-wives-carmela-ciuraru/1141450302?ean=9780062356918&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780062356918)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/lives-of-the-wives/id1286642768?at=10lIEQ) memoir [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/31/books/review/a-living-remedy-nicole-chung.html) ##### [A Living Remedy](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/31/books/review/a-living-remedy-nicole-chung.html) by Nicole Chung Chung’s powerful second memoir is a look at family, illness and grief, and the way systemic issues like access to health care, capitalism and racism exacerbate loss. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/Living-Remedy-Memoir-Nicole-Chung/dp/0063031612/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=A+Living+Remedy&qid=1698262087&s=books&sr=1-1)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-living-remedy-nicole-chung/1141997853?ean=9780063031616&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780063031616)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/a-living-remedy/id6443285918?at=10lIEQ) U.S. history [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/15/books/review/master-slave-husband-wife-ilyon-woo.html) ##### [Master Slave Husband Wife](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/15/books/review/master-slave-husband-wife-ilyon-woo.html) by Ilyon Woo Woo’s book recounts a daring feat: the successful flight north from Georgia in 1848 by an enslaved couple disguised as a sickly young white planter and his male slave. But her meticulous retelling is equally a feat — of research, storytelling, sympathy and insight. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Master+Slave+Husband+Wife%3A+An+Epic+Journey+From+Slavery+to+Freedom&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/master-slave-husband-wife-ilyon-woo/1141651889?ean=9781501191053&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9781501191053)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/master-slave-husband-wife/id6442981671?at=10lIEQ) art pop culture [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/23/books/monsters-review-claire-dederer.html) ##### [Monsters](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/23/books/monsters-review-claire-dederer.html) by Claire Dederer “Everyone alive is either canceled or about to be canceled,” writes the author of this sometimes maddening, always challenging meditation on polarizing cultural figures (Nabokov, Polanski, et al.) and the struggle to reconcile great art with the misdeeds of its creators. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/gp/search?index=books&tag=NYTBSREV-20&field-keywords=Monsters%3A+A+Fan%E2%80%99s+Dilemma+)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/monsters-claire-dederer/1141813907?ean=9780525655114&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780525655114)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/monsters/id6443174842?at=10lIEQ) memoir [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/07/books/review/barbra-streisand-memoir-my-name-is-barbra.html) ##### [My Name is Barbra](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/07/books/review/barbra-streisand-memoir-my-name-is-barbra.html) by Barbra Streisand “I’m the greatest star!” the 21-year-old actress defiantly sang in Broadway’s 1964 hit “Funny Girl.” Nearly six decades later, over 992 pages, Streisand chronicles how she delivered on that promise, a rocket ride from Brooklyn to Malibu. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=my+name+is+barbra&hvadid=616862894544&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9067609&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=30170667303948672&hvtargid=kwd-188600562&hydadcr=24658_13611734&tag=googhydr-20&ref=pd_sl_89ddgyexk5_e)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/my-name-is-barbra-barbra-streisand/1108730905)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780525429524)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/my-name-is-barbra/id6445563096?at=10lIEQ) biography [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/07/books/review/the-odyssey-of-phillis-wheatley-david-waldstreicher.html) ##### [The Odyssey of Phillis Wheatley](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/07/books/review/the-odyssey-of-phillis-wheatley-david-waldstreicher.html) by David Waldstreicher A beautiful and cogently argued biography offers a radical new vision of the life and work of colonial America’s brilliant Black female poet. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/Odyssey-Phillis-Wheatley-Journeys-Independence/dp/0809098245/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=The+Odyssey+of+Phillis+Wheatley%3A+A+Poet%E2%80%99s+Journeys+Through+American+Slavery+and+Independence&qid=1698259434&s=books&sr=1-1)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-odyssey-of-phillis-wheatley-david-waldstreicher/1141888951?ean=9780809098248&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780809098248)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-odyssey-of-phillis-wheatley/id6442800833?at=10lIEQ) sociology [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/19/books/review/ordinary-notes-christina-sharpe.html) ##### [Ordinary Notes](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/19/books/review/ordinary-notes-christina-sharpe.html) by Christina Sharpe In this volume of 248 numbered notes, Sharpe assembles memories and insights, artifacts and artworks, balancing the persistence of racism and brutality with a rich variety of Black life. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Ordinary+Notes&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/ordinary-notes-christina-sharpe/1141344290?ean=9780374604486&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780374604486)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/ordinary-notes/id1623195382?at=10lIEQ) pop culture [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/07/books/oscar-wars-academy-awards-history.html) ##### [Oscar Wars](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/07/books/oscar-wars-academy-awards-history.html) by Michael Schulman A deeply researched and compulsively readable history digs into the scandal-soaked history of the Academy Awards. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/Oscar-Wars-History-Hollywood-Sweat/dp/0062859013)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/oscar-wars-michael-schulman/1141500833)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780062859013)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/oscar-wars/id6442861392?at=10lIEQ) sociology [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/09/books/review/our-migrant-souls-hector-tobar.html) ##### [Our Migrant Souls](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/09/books/review/our-migrant-souls-hector-tobar.html) by Héctor Tobar Tobar, a longtime journalist, delivers a kaleidoscopic account of Latino American experience, dispelling stereotypes and underscoring diversity in prose that is by turns lyrical, outraged, scholarly and affectingly personal. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Our+Migrant+Souls%3A+A+Meditation+on+Race+and+the+Meanings+and+Myths+of+%E2%80%9CLatino.%E2%80%9D&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/our-migrant-souls-h-ctor-tobar/1142038835?ean=9780374609900&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780374609900)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/author/h%C3%A9ctor-tobar/id450550360?at=10lIEQ) memoir [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/06/books/review/review-elliot-page-pageboy.html) ##### [Pageboy](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/06/books/review/review-elliot-page-pageboy.html) by Elliot Page The Oscar-nominated actor offers a brutally honest account of child stardom, the pressure to conform in Hollywood and, ultimately, the announcement of his gender transition in 2020. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/Audible-Pageboy-A-Memoir/dp/B0BBKV1NPG/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Pageboy%3A+A+Memoir&qid=1698261896&s=books&sr=1-1)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/pageboy-elliot-page/1141673209?ean=9781250878359&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9781250878359)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/pageboy/id6443028255?at=10lIEQ) sociology [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/13/books/review/poverty-by-america-matthew-desmond.html) ##### [Poverty, by America](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/13/books/review/poverty-by-america-matthew-desmond.html) by Matthew Desmond The central claim of this manifesto by the Princeton sociologist is that poverty in the United States is the product not only of larger economic shifts, but of choices and actions by more fortunate Americans. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Poverty%2C+by+America&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/poverty-by-america-matthew-desmond/1141679690?ean=9780593239919&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780593239919)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/poverty-by-america/id6443011500?at=10lIEQ) U.S. history [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/23/books/review/the-rediscovery-of-america-ned-blackhawk.html) ##### [The Rediscovery of America](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/23/books/review/the-rediscovery-of-america-ned-blackhawk.html) by Ned Blackhawk This ambitious retelling of the American story, by a historian who is also a Native American, places Indigenous populations at the center, a shift in perspective that yields fresh insights and thought-provoking questions. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=The+Rediscovery+of+America%3A+Native+Peoples+and+the+Unmaking+of+U.S.+History&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-rediscovery-of-america-ned-blackhawk/1142004998?ean=9780300244052&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780300244052)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-rediscovery-of-america/id6445924421?at=10lIEQ) philosophy biography [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/30/books/review/the-rigor-of-angels-william-egginton.html) ##### [The Rigor of Angels](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/30/books/review/the-rigor-of-angels-william-egginton.html) by William Egginton Challenging, ambitious and elegant, this mind-expanding book explores nothing less than “the ultimate nature of reality” through the work of three figures: the Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges, the German quantum physicist Werner Heisenberg and the 18th-century German philosopher Immanuel Kant. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/Rigor-Angels-Heisenberg-Ultimate-Reality/dp/0593316304/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=THE+RIGOR+OF+ANGELS%3A+Borges%2C+Heisenberg%2C+Kant%2C+and+the+Ultimate+Nature+of+Reality&qid=1698261256&s=books&sr=1-1)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-rigor-of-angels-william-egginton/1142778807?ean=9780593316306&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780593316306)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-rigor-of-angels/id6444816206?at=10lIEQ) biography [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/28/books/review/schoenberg-why-he-matters-harvey-sachs.html) ##### [Schoenberg](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/28/books/review/schoenberg-why-he-matters-harvey-sachs.html) by Harvey Sachs Sachs has written well for decades about conventional classical music. This impassioned defense of Arnold Schoenberg — creator of some of the most challenging music ever — might seem surprising from him, but Schoenberg’s life was one of the 20th century’s great narratives. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Schoenberg%3A+Why+He+Matters&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/schoenberg-harvey-sachs/1142243318?ean=9781631497575&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9781631497575)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/schoenberg-why-he-matters/id6443835044?at=10lIEQ) memoir [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/21/books/review/sink-joseph-earl-thomas.html) ##### [Sink](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/21/books/review/sink-joseph-earl-thomas.html) by Joseph Earl Thomas The lush prose of this memoir perfectly suits the author’s tender, teeming boyhood imagination, in which video-game and manga characters offered more guidance than volatile adults did. Most remarkable is Thomas’s matter-of-fact depiction of the daily depredations he faced without losing his spirit or his abundant creative gifts. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/Sink-Memoir-Joseph-Earl-Thomas/dp/1538706172/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Sink%3A+A+Memoir&qid=1698260510&s=books&sr=1-1)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sink-joseph-earl-thomas/1141622545?ean=9781538706176&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9781538706176)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/sink/id6442940702?at=10lIEQ) art history [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/27/books/review/the-slip-prudence-peiffer.html) ##### [The Slip](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/27/books/review/the-slip-prudence-peiffer.html) by Prudence Peiffer From Ellsworth Kelly to Agnes Martin to Robert Indiana, a group of scrappy artists gathered in illegal studios at the tip of Lower Manhattan in the 1950s, trying to provide an answer to Abstract Expressionism. This group biography reflects the excitement of those years — and our debt to them. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=The+Slip%3A+The+New+York+City+Street+That+Changed+American+Art+Forever&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-slip-prudence-peiffer/1142598422?ean=9780063097209&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780063097209)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-slip/id6444101453?at=10lIEQ) investigative reporting [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/18/books/review/some-people-need-killing-patricia-evangelista.html) ##### [Some People Need Killing](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/18/books/review/some-people-need-killing-patricia-evangelista.html) by Patricia Evangelista In powerful, gripping prose, a Philippine journalist recounts her investigation into the campaign of extrajudicial murders under former President Rodrigo Duterte. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Some+People+Need+Killing%3A+A+Memoir+of+Murder+in+My+Country&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/some-people-need-killing-patricia-evangelista/1143287391?ean=9780593133132&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780593133132)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/some-people-need-killing/id6447044970?at=10lIEQ) art history [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/04/books/review/spoken-word-joshua-bennett.html) ##### [Spoken Word](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/04/books/review/spoken-word-joshua-bennett.html) by Joshua Bennett Bennett’s engaging history of a literary and cultural movement that took hold in many realms — including music, theater, film, television and, of course, poetry — tracks its evolution from the earliest days of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe on the Lower East Side to the first iterations of slam poetry and beyond. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Spoken+Word%3A+A+Cultural+History&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/spoken-word-joshua-bennett/1141658765?ean=9780525657019&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780525657019)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/spoken-word/id6442989033?at=10lIEQ) true crime [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/27/books/review/a-thread-of-violence-mark-oconnell.html) ##### [A Thread of Violence](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/27/books/review/a-thread-of-violence-mark-oconnell.html) by Mark O’Connell O’Connell brings literary flourish and a philosophical bent to this investigation of an infamous and confounding Irish murder case. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=A+Thread+of+Violence%3A+A+Story+of+Truth%2C+Invention%2C+and+Murder&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-thread-of-violence-mark-oconnell/1142688763?ean=9780385547628&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780385547628)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/a-thread-of-violence/id6444463185?at=10lIEQ) World War II music [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/02/books/review/times-echo-jeremy-eichler.html) ##### [Time’s Echo](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/02/books/review/times-echo-jeremy-eichler.html) by Jeremy Eichler This cultural history takes up works by Schoenberg, Britten, Shostakovich and Richard Strauss that reflect on World War II and the Holocaust, urging listeners to consider the link between music and remembrance. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/Times-Echo-Second-Holocaust-Remembrance/dp/0525521712)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/times-echo-jeremy-eichler/1142778803)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780525521716)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/times-echo/id6444816366?at=10lIEQ) politics [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/21/books/review/the-undertow-jeff-sharlet.html) ##### [The Undertow](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/21/books/review/the-undertow-jeff-sharlet.html) by Jeff Sharlet Anxious about America’s political divides, and fearful that they presage the end of the union, Sharlet spent a year speaking with conservative pastors, gun fanatics and QAnon adherents, among others. The result is an eloquent cri de coeur by a writer struggling to meet political and moral unreason with compassion and grace. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=The+Undertow%3A+Scenes+From+a+Slow+Civil+War&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-undertow-jeff-sharlet/1141471476?ean=9781324006497&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9781324006497)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-undertow-scenes-from-a-slow-civil-war/id6442958637?at=10lIEQ) media [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/10/books/review/unscripted-james-stewart-rachel-abrams.html) ##### [Unscripted](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/10/books/review/unscripted-james-stewart-rachel-abrams.html) by James B. Stewart and Rachel Abrams This jaw-dropping chronicle by two Times reporters of the final years of Sumner Redstone, the head of Paramount, is an epic tale of toxic wealth and greed populated by connivers and manipulators, not least Redstone himself. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Unscripted%3A+The+Epic+Battle+for+a+Media+Empire+and+the+Redstone+Family+Legacy&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/unscripted-james-b-stewart/1141470457?ean=9781984879424&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9781984879424)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/unscripted/id1624319892?at=10lIEQ) memoir [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/22/books/review/necessary-trouble-drew-gilpin-faust-up-home-ruth-simmons.html) ##### [Up Home](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/22/books/review/necessary-trouble-drew-gilpin-faust-up-home-ruth-simmons.html) by Ruth J. Simmons Simmons’s evocative account of her remarkable trajectory from Jim Crow Texas, where she was the youngest of 12 children in a sharecropping family, to the presidencies of Smith College and Brown University shines with tenderness and dignity. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/Up-Home-One-Girls-Journey-ebook/dp/B0B1BV2VWK)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/up-home-ruth-simmons/1141470541)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780593446003)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/up-home/id1624318738?at=10lIEQ) shipwreck! [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/14/books/review/the-wager-david-grann.html) ##### [The Wager](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/14/books/review/the-wager-david-grann.html) by David Grann After the H.M.S. Wager was shipwrecked off the coast of Patagonia in 1742, surviving crew members returned to England with dramatic — and starkly conflicting — tales about what had transpired. Grann recreates the voyage in all its enthralling horror. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/Wager-Tale-Shipwreck-Mutiny-Murder/dp/0385534264/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=The+Wager%3A+A+Tale+of+Shipwreck%2C+Mutiny+and+Murder&qid=1698259803&s=books&sr=1-1)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-wager-david-grann/1141813906?ean=9780385534260&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780385534260)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-wager/id6443175101?at=10lIEQ) memoir [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/01/books/review/waiting-to-be-arrested-at-night-tahir-hamut-izgil.html) ##### [Waiting to Be Arrested at Night](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/01/books/review/waiting-to-be-arrested-at-night-tahir-hamut-izgil.html) by Tahir Hamut Izgil Offering a rare glimpse into the life and culture of China’s brutally persecuted Muslim Uyghur minority, this eloquent memoir by a poet who escaped with his family to the United States (and translated by Joshua L. Freeman) unfolds a horror story with calm restraint. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Waiting+to+Be+Arrested+at+Night%3A+A+Uyghur+Poet%E2%80%99s+Memoir+of+China%E2%80%99s+Genocide&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/waiting-to-be-arrested-at-night-tahir-hamut-izgil/1142610549?ean=9780593491799&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780593491799)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/waiting-to-be-arrested-at-night/id6444149531?at=10lIEQ) science [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/14/books/review/what-an-owl-knows-jennifer-ackerman.html) ##### [What An Owl Knows](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/14/books/review/what-an-owl-knows-jennifer-ackerman.html) by Jennifer Ackerman There are some 260 species of owls spread across every continent except Antarctica, and in this fascinating book, Ackerman explains why the birds are both naturally wondrous and culturally significant. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=What+an+Owl+Knows%3A+The+New+Science+of+the+World%E2%80%99s+Most+Enigmatic+Birds&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/what-an-owl-knows-jennifer-ackerman/1142169518?ean=9780593298886&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780593298886)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/what-an-owl-knows/id6443367728?at=10lIEQ) biography [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/26/books/review/orwell-dj-taylor-wifedom-anna-funder.html) ##### [Wifedom](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/26/books/review/orwell-dj-taylor-wifedom-anna-funder.html) by Anna Funder Even George Orwell, whose dealings with women were often problematic, admitted that he behaved badly toward his first wife, Eileen O’Shaughnessy. This book focuses on O’Shaughnessy, and combines her story with a bravura analysis of female invisibility. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/Wifedom-Mrs-Orwells-Invisible-Life-ebook/dp/B0BF8RQZFZ)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/wifedom-anna-funder/1142307627)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9780593320686)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/wifedom/id6443397150?at=10lIEQ) U.S. history [](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/08/books/review/you-have-to-be-prepared-to-die-before-you-can-begin-to-live-paul-kix.html) ##### [You Have to Be Prepared to Die Before You Can Begin to Live](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/08/books/review/you-have-to-be-prepared-to-die-before-you-can-begin-to-live-paul-kix.html) by Paul Kix The 1963 campaign to integrate Birmingham, Ala., led to shocking brutality: youths blasted by fire hoses and set upon by snarling police dogs. Kix, a journalist, weaves those images into a harrowing narrative of a crucial juncture in the civil rights movement. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=YOU+HAVE+TO+BE+PREPARED+TO+DIE+BEFORE+YOU+CAN+BEGIN+TO+LIVE%3A+Ten+Weeks+in+Birmingham+That+Changed+America&i=stripbooks&tag=NYTBSREV-20)[Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/you-have-to-be-prepared-to-die-before-you-can-begin-to-live-paul-kix/1141976631?ean=9781250807694&st=AFF&2sid=The%20New%20York%20Times_7990613_NA&sourceId=AFFThe%20New%20York%20Times)[Local Booksellers](https://bookshop.org/a/3546/9781250807694)[Apple](https://books.apple.com/us/book/you-have-to-be-prepared-to-die-before-you-can-begin-to-live/id6445071981?at=10lIEQ) **When you purchase an independently ranked book through our site, we earn an affiliate commission.** **Illustrations by Silvia Tack.**