‘The Story of Ferdinand,’ by Munro Leaf and Robert Lawson, Turns 90
In 1936 Viking Press released Munro Leaf’s children’s book The Story of Ferdinand, illustrated by Robert Lawson, which quickly became a bestseller, briefly outselling Gone With the Wind. The gentle bull’s refusal to fight sparked controversy, leading to bans by Franco’s Spain and Nazi Germany while earning praise from figures like Gandhi and the Roosevelts. To mark its 90th anniversary, the Eric Carle Museum opened an exhibition featuring manuscripts, original sketches, and international editions. The story’s legacy endures through Disney’s award‑winning short, toys, board games, and continuous global print runs.
Alan Gribben, Twain Scholar Who Excised Slur From ‘Huck Finn,’ Dies at 84
Alan Gribben, a leading Mark Twain scholar, died at 84 from pancreatic cancer. He gained notoriety for replacing the racial slur "nigger" with "slave" in new editions of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Gribben’s revisions...
Book Review: ‘Stolen Revolution,’ by Yeganeh Torbati and Bozorgmehr Sharafedin
In "Stolen Revolution," journalists Yeganeh Torbati and Bozorgmehr Sharafedin deliver a meticulously reported chronicle of Iran’s half‑century of protest movements, from the early 20th‑century constitutional push to the 1979 overthrow of the Shah and the subsequent crackdown on dissent. The...
Book Review: ‘The Fire Agent,’ by David Baerwald
David Baerwald’s debut novel, The Fire Agent, dramatizes his grandfather’s life as a German‑Jewish spy who traverses Europe and Japan during the rise of fascism. The story follows Ernst, a multilingual cultural chameleon, from Frankfurt to Milan and then Tokyo,...
Book Review: ‘Whistler,’ by Ann Patchett
Ann Patchett’s tenth novel, Whistler, follows Daphne as a chance encounter at New York’s Metropolitan Museum leads her husband to reveal a man who is actually her long‑absent stepfather, Eddie Triplett. The story weaves a Hitchcock‑style mystery with a decades‑old...
Book Review: ‘Rabbit, Fox, Tar,’ by P.C. Verrone
P.C. Verrone’s debut novel “Rabbit, Fox, Tar” reclaims the Black folklore behind Joel Chandler Harris’s Uncle Remus by recasting its trickster figures in a contemporary Midwestern setting. The story follows Baby, a dark‑skinned woman, and the political rivalry between Black councilman...
Book Review: ‘Girl’s Girl,’ by Sonia Feldman
Sonia Feldman’s debut novel *Girl’s Girl* follows three 15‑year‑old friends in a humid Ohio summer as they navigate queer desire, friendship, and the performative pressures of social media. The narrative intertwines selfie culture, video‑game metaphors and raw sexual exploration to...
Book Club: Let’s Talk About ‘Transcription,’ by Ben Lerner
Ben Lerner’s 130‑page novel *Transcription* unspools in three parts, beginning with an unnamed narrator who pretends to record a conversation with his 90‑year‑old mentor, Thomas. After Thomas’s death, the narrator reveals the interview was reconstructed, igniting controversy at a Madrid...
Books Our Editors Loved This Week
The New York Times Book Review’s weekly roundup spotlights David Sedaris’s latest collection, “The Land and Its People.” The essays blend his trademark off‑kilter humor with a tender look at aging, caregiving, and everyday absurdities. Critics note Sedaris’s ability to knit present experiences to past memories, creating...
Book Review: ‘Stalin’s Apostles,’ by Antonia Senior
Antonia Senior's new book "Stalin’s Apostles" reexamines the Cambridge Five, arguing their espionage was crucial to Stalin’s post‑war empire building and highlighting the human cost in Eastern Europe. Drawing on recently declassified archives from Albania and Lithuania, Senior portrays the...
Poetry Review: ‘Killing Spree,’ by Jorie Graham
Jorie Graham’s new collection, Killing Spree, her 16th book, confronts the disintegration of the 1968‑era utopian promise. At 76, the Pulitzer‑Prize poet uses fragmented, dash‑laden verses and experimental typography to evoke a sense of vertigo and stalled futurism. The work...
Why Is TikTok in This Book From 2006?
Publishers are increasingly modernizing middle‑grade and YA novels by swapping dated cultural markers—like the 2006 Fear Factor reference in Sara Shepard’s *Pretty Little Liars*—for current platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and contemporary artists. The practice, known as modernization, differs from...
Book Review: ‘The Midnight Train,’ by Matt Haig
Matt Haig’s new novel, The Midnight Train, returns to the “alternate‑life” formula that made The Midnight Library a two‑year bestseller. The story follows 81‑year‑old bookseller Wilbur Budd on a magical train that revisits pivotal moments of his past, guided by the wise conductor...
Book Review: ‘America, U.S.A.,’ by Eddie S. Glaude Jr.
Eddie Glaude Jr.’s new book, *America, U.S.A.: How Race Shadows the Nation’s Anniversaries*, argues that U.S. milestone celebrations consistently obscure racial injustice. He traces how the 1876 centennial, the 150th anniversary, and the 1976 bicentennial each served to mute Black...
Summer’s Best Beach Reads
Elisabeth Egan curates a summer beach‑read list featuring three new novels slated for release in June 2026. Bobby Finger’s "We Are Gathered Here Today" (June 16) mixes wedding drama with sharp humor, while Courtney Maum’s "Alan Opts Out" (June 2) satirizes affluent social climbing....