Book Review: ‘EMPIRE OF SKULLS’ by Paul Stob
Historian Paul Stob’s new book, *Empire of Skulls*, chronicles the rise of phrenology in mid‑19th‑century America. The work spotlights the Fowler family, whose clinics in New York turned skull‑measuring into a popular self‑help service. A highlighted case follows a blacksmith’s apprentice who, after a phrenological reading, secured 33 patents and built a workforce of 500. Stob argues that the era’s obsession with self‑improvement foreshadows today’s personal‑development market.
Book Review: ‘The Monuments of Paris,’ by Violaine Huisman
Violaine Huisman’s latest novel, The Monuments of Paris, shifts her autobiographical lens from mother to father, tracing the lives of her dad Denis and grandfather Georges against a backdrop of exile, love affairs, and family ambition. Set in the summer...
How Authors and Readers Feel About the ‘Shy Girl’ Cancellation
A major publishing controversy erupted after Hachette pulled Mia Ballard's horror novel "Shy Girl" in the United States and United Kingdom, citing evidence that the book was partially generated by artificial intelligence. The cancellation sparked alarm among writers, leading debut...
Book Review: ‘When Tomorrow Burns,’ by Tae Keller
Newbery‑winning author Tae Keller’s latest novel, When Tomorrow Burns, follows seventh‑graders Nomi, Arthur and Violet as Seattle’s wildfire smoke looms over their friendship. The story mixes a fantastical talking tree with real‑world pressures of post‑COVID anxiety, bullying and a proto‑fascist...
Best Alien Books by Octavia E. Butler, Ted Chiang and More
The New York Times piece curates a short list of standout science‑fiction novels that use alien encounters to explore deep social and philosophical questions. It highlights Octavia E. Butler’s *Dawn*, where post‑apocalyptic humans grapple with the Oankali’s drive to hybridize, and Peter Watts’s...
Books Our Editors Loved This Week
The New York Times released its weekly Editors’ Choice list on April 9, 2026, highlighting nine newly published titles across genres. Among them, Patrick Radden Keefe’s true‑crime narrative "London Falling" recounts a teenager’s fatal plunge and the violent, greedy underworld...
The Hit Erotica Writers Outwitting Nigeria’s Religious Censors
Northern Nigeria’s burgeoning Hausa erotica scene has moved from paper to WhatsApp, letting writers like Fauziyya Tasiu Umar (Oum Hairan) sidestep Sharia‑based censors. Authors release free chapters in women‑only groups and lock the next installment behind a paywall of 300 naira (≈$0.20)...
Poetry Review: ‘Creature Feature,’ by Dean Young
Dean Young’s posthumous collection *Creature Feature* showcases his signature surreal, reckless verse, reflecting the chaotic attention economy of the digital age. The review highlights Young’s lifelong embrace of imperfection, noting his prolific output from the late 1980s through a heart‑transplant‑inspired...
Peter Schrag Dies at 94; Wrote of Dangers of California’s Populist Streak
Peter Schrag, longtime Sacramento Bee opinion editor and author of the 1998 book "Paradise Lost," died at 94. His book warned that California’s prolific voter‑initiative process empowers older, wealthier voters while marginalizing working‑class and minority communities. Schrag argued this dynamic...
Book Review: ‘The Ending Writes Itself,’ by Evelyn Clarke
Evelyn Clarke’s debut novel, *The Ending Writes Itself*, is a collaborative thriller by bestselling author V.E. Schwab and screenwriter Cat Clarke. Set on a secluded Scottish island, seven writers are invited by the reclusive literary titan Arthur Fletch, only to discover...
Book Review: ‘Hexes of the Deadwood Forest,’ by Agnieszka Szpila
Polish author Agnieszka Szpila’s "Hexes of the Deadwood Forest" has been released in English for the first time, translating a 2022 bestseller that sparked a stage adaptation in Warsaw. The novel mixes ecofeminist critique with explicit, surreal sexual encounters involving...
Book Review: ‘American Fantasy,’ by Emma Straub
Emma Straul’s sixth novel, *American Fantasy*, follows a four‑day cruise populated by 2,172 passengers, 1,500 crew members, and the aging members of fictional 1980s boy band Boy Talk. The story blends fan‑con vibes with adult summer‑camp antics, offering nostalgic pop‑culture...
Book Review: ‘Corto Maltese,’ by Hugo Pratt
Fantagraphics has released a new English edition of Hugo Pratt’s 1967 graphic novel collection, “Fable of Venice and Other Adventures,” reviving five classic Corto Maltese stories. The volume reintroduces the swashbuckling anti‑hero sailor amid wartime backdrops, while the review underscores...
Book Review: ‘The Oyster Diaries,’ by Nancy Lemann
Nancy Lemann’s novel *The Oyster Diaries* follows a well‑born New Orleans native who returns home only to feel like an outsider, using the city’s sensory overload as a backdrop. The review situates Lemann’s work within a literary lineage that includes Whitman,...
Book Review: ‘Here Where We Live Is Our Country,’ by Molly Crabapple
Molly Crabapple’s new book, *Here Where We Live Is Our Country*, revives the forgotten history of the early‑20th‑century Jewish Labor Bund, a socialist movement that rejected Zionism and championed Jewish cultural autonomy across the diaspora. The Bund built a robust...
Book Review: ‘Yesteryear,’ by Caro Claire Burke
Caro Claire Burke’s debut novel *Yesteryear* delves into the glossy yet unsettling world of a tradwife influencer who curates a perfect‑looking family life on social media while hiding deep personal and ethical cracks. The protagonist, Natalie Heller Mills, runs a retro‑styled...
The Month’s Best New Thriller Books
Sarah Lyall’s April 4, 2026 column spotlights Taylor Brown’s new thriller Wolvers, published by St. Martin’s for $29. The novel follows an assassin hired by a right‑wing militia to eliminate a government‑protected she‑wolf in the American Southwest, weaving perspectives of the killer, a local rancher,...
Meet the ‘Literary King of Tulsa’ (Before He Moves to Seattle)
Jeff Martin founded the nonprofit Magic City Books in Tulsa in 2017, turning a modest corner shop into a cultural hub that hosts over 100 author events and six reading groups each year. Martin, who also serves as director of...
Books Our Editors Loved This Week
The New York Times Book Review released its weekly "5 New Books We Love" list on April 2, 2026, highlighting a curated selection of recent titles across literary fiction, nonfiction, thrillers, romance, and mystery. The editors emphasize the ability for...
Terry Tempest Williams on Thoreau, Erdrich and Other Favorite Writers
Terry Tempest Williams, celebrated environmental writer, discusses her literary life in a candid interview, highlighting her upcoming book “The Glorians: Visitations From the Holy Ordinary.” She recounts a childhood gift—a Roger Tory Peterson bird field guide—that sparked her nature curiosity,...
Book Review: ‘This Land Is Your Land,’ by Beverly Gage
Beverly Gage’s new book *This Land Is Your Land* chronicles a two‑year road trip to roughly 300 historic sites, focusing on 13 pivotal moments in American history as the nation approaches its 250th anniversary. The narrative blends personal observation with...
Book Review: ‘Son of Nobody,’ by Yann Martel
Yann Martel’s new novel *Son of Nobody* revisits the Trojan War by foregrounding voices traditionally sidelined in classical epics. The review places the book within a decade‑long surge of “classical fan fiction” that reimagines ancient myths through contemporary, often feminist,...
Book Review: ‘A Good Person,’ by Kirsten King
Kirsten King’s debut novel *A Good Person* follows Lillian, a 29‑year‑old Boston marketer whose bitter breakup spirals into a hex‑driven murder mystery. The narrative blends dark comedy, magic‑realist revenge, and a satirical portrait of millennial office culture. King’s prose is...
Book Review: ‘The Witch,’ by Marie NDiaye
Marie NDiaye’s novel *The Witch*, originally published in France three decades ago, follows Lucie, a suburban housewife who discovers she possesses a modest, inherited witchcraft. The story portrays her struggle to wield this power amid a hostile husband, indifferent daughters,...
Doctors Believed Woody Brown Would Never Understand Language. He’s Publishing a Novel.
Woody Brown, diagnosed with severe autism as a toddler, has published his debut novel *Upward Bound*. Doctors once claimed he could not process language, but his mother’s use of a letter‑board enabled him to communicate and craft stories from a...
Book Review: ‘The Confessions of Samuel Pepys,’ by Guy De La Bédoyère
Guy de la Bédoyère’s new biography, *The Confessions of Samuel Pepys*, revives the 17th‑century diarist’s vivid, unvarnished voice. Pepys, a senior navy administrator, chronicled nine tumultuous years—including the Restoration, the 1665 plague, and the Great Fire—producing over a million words...
‘The Wild Party’ Is a Vivacious Play That Started as a Scandalous Poem
Joseph Moncure March’s 1926 narrative poem “The Wild Party,” notorious for its explicit depictions of sex, drugs, and violence, was banned in 1928 but has endured as a cultural touchstone. Over the decades it has been republished, illustrated, and adapted...
Book Review: ‘Transcription,’ by Ben Lerner
Ben Lerner’s latest work, the novella Transcription, arrives as a thin, iPad‑sized meditation on the blurred line between human hearing and digital recording. The unnamed narrator’s obsession with eavesdropping frames a broader inquiry into how technology both sustains and stultifies everyday...
Overlooked No More: Gertrude Chandler Warner, Author of ‘The Boxcar Children’
Gertrude Chandler Warner, the creator of the beloved "The Boxbox Children" series, is being honored after decades of obscurity. Her original 19 books, plus more than 200 ghost‑written titles, have sold over 80 million copies worldwide and remain in print. The...
Book Review: ‘The Keeper,’ by Tana French
Tana French’s latest novel, “The Keeper,” caps her Ardnakelty trilogy, following retired Chicago detective Cal Hooper as he confronts escalating violence in a remote Irish village. The story culminates in a tense, storm‑laden showdown where Lena Dunne, armed with a shotgun,...
Coleman Barks, Who Popularized the Islamic Poet Rumi in the West, Dies at 88
Coleman Barks, the American poet who died on Feb. 23 at age 88, reshaped the U.S. literary landscape by translating the 13th‑century Persian mystic Rumi into modern free verse. Though he never learned Persian, Barks reworked existing translations into more accessible...
Want More ‘Love Story’? Read These Books Inspired by the Kennedys and ’90s New York.
Elizabeth Beller’s biography "Once Upon a Time" offers an intimate portrait of Carolyn Bessette, the late wife of John F. Kennedy Jr., and serves as the foundation for the hit TV series "Love Story." The book, published by Simon &...
Book Club: Read ‘The Renovation,’ by Kenan Orhan, With the Book Review
Kenan Orhan’s latest novel, “The Renovation,” follows Dilara, a Turkish exile in Italy, whose bathroom remodel morphs into Istanbul’s Silivri Prison. The surreal premise serves as a conduit for exploring exile, political repression, and her father’s Alzheimer’s decline. The Book...
This Month”s Best New Historical Fiction Books
The New York Times Book Review highlights two standout historical‑fiction releases. Devon Jersick’s debut, Luminous Bodies, dramatizes Marie Curie’s scientific triumphs and turbulent love affairs through a bold first‑person voice. Eleanor Shearer’s Fireflies in Winter transports readers to late‑18th‑century Nova...
Han Kang Among National Book Critics Circle Award Winners
Han Kang received the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction for her novel “We Do Not Part,” a translation about the Jeju uprising’s trauma. This marks only the third time a translated work has won the fiction prize in...
8 Thriller Books About Housewives Getting Revenge
New York Times columnist Elizabeth Arnott curates a list of eight thriller novels that center on housewives turning to vengeance, highlighting the resurgence of domestic‑revenge narratives. The piece spotlights Gillian Flynn’s *Gone Girl* as the archetype, noting its unreliable‑narrator twist and...
A Free Home for San Francisco Artists, From Dave Eggers and Friends
Writer Dave Eggers discovered a vacant 100,000‑square‑foot warehouse at Pier 29 and, with artist JD Beltran, launched Art + Water, a free‑tuition apprenticeship studio program slated to open this fall. The initiative will provide year‑long studio space at no cost to 30 local...
Book Review: ‘The Insatiable Machine,’ by Trevor Jackson
Trevor Jackson’s *The Insatiable Machine* argues that capitalism has propelled unprecedented improvements in living standards while simultaneously driving ecological degradation. Drawing on three centuries of economic history, he portrays the Industrial Revolution as a contingent accident rather than an inevitable...
Book Review: ‘How Flowers Made Our World,’ by David George Haskell
David George Haskell’s new book, *How Flowers Made Our World*, argues that flowering plants are ecological engineers whose rapid diversification reshaped Earth’s ecosystems. He traces the “abominable mystery” of their Cretaceous explosion to genetic duplication and a feedback loop with...
Book Review: ‘The Universal Baseball Association,’ by Robert Coover
Robert Coover’s 1968 novel *The Universal Baseball Association* has been reissued by New York Review Books as a paperback priced at $18.95. The story follows an accountant who runs a tabletop baseball simulation, rolling dice to dictate a perfect game....
Book Review: ‘A Treacherous Secret Agent,’ by Marjorie Garber
Marjorie Garber’s new book *A Treacherous Secret Agent* examines how literature functioned as a covert form of resistance during the second Red Scare. By juxtaposing congressional hearings of Hallie Flanagan in 1938 and Joseph Papp in 1958 with the works of Shakespeare,...
‘Lonesome Dove,’ ‘Brokeback Mountain’ and the Power of the Book Review in the Age Before Algorithms
The New York Times essay highlights how The Washington Post’s now‑defunct Book World once acted as a cultural engine, catapulting authors like Larry McMurtry and Annie Proulx into mainstream success. By delivering thoughtful, serendipitous criticism, the section shaped literary reputations long before algorithmic feeds...
Book Review: ‘Open Space,’ by David Ariosto
David Ariosto’s new book *Open Space* offers a front‑row view of the modern space race, featuring interviews with a host of private‑sector engineers, scientists and billionaires—though not the marquee figures Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos. The narrative celebrates humanity’s engineering...
What’s It Like to Be Back in Print After 20 Years? A Bit Odd.
Nancy Lemann, who published her debut novel at 28, resurfaced in the literary spotlight after a 20‑year hiatus from print. She attended a Michael Lewis‑hosted gathering in New Orleans, mingling with veteran writers such as Walter Isaacson and Joshua Steiner. Lemann...
Brian Doherty, 57, Dies; Chronicled Libertarians and Other Outsiders
Brian Doherty, a veteran journalist and author, died at 57 after a fall in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. He spent three decades chronicling libertarians, underground comics, Burning Man and seasteading, most notably with his book *Radicals for Capitalism*. His...
Book Review: ‘Almost Life,’ by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
Kiran Millwood Hargrave’s new novel *Almost Life* follows Erica, a British aspiring writer, and Laure, a French left‑wing artist, who meet as university students in Paris in 1978 and embark on a passionate summer affair. Over the ensuing decades the...
Book Review: ‘Darkology,’ by Rhae Lynn Barnes
Rhae Lynn Barnes, a Princeton historian, releases *Darkology: Blackface and the American Way of Entertainment*, a meticulously researched volume that maps the hidden legacy of amateur minstrel shows in the United States. Drawing on two decades of fieldwork in closets, basements...
Sparkling, Stunning New Romance Books
Olivia Waite reviews Cat Sebastian’s new paperback *Star Shipped*, a contemporary romance that pairs a TV actor with an emotional‑support dachshund amid a sci‑fi backdrop. The novel explores the protagonists’ hidden mental‑illness struggles and a reluctant attraction that evolves during a...
Book Review: ‘Playmakers: The Jewish Entrepreneurs Who Created the Toy Industry in America,’ by Michael Kimmel
Playmakers by Michael Kimmel chronicles how Jewish immigrants founded and shaped the American toy industry throughout the 20th century. It follows Morris Michtom, a Minsk‑born refugee who created the first American teddy bear and launched Ideal Toy Company, alongside other...
Book Review: ‘Everybody’s Fly,’ by Fab 5 Freddy
Fab 5 Freddy’s memoir *Everybody’s Fly* chronicles his evolution from a Lower East Side scenester to a pivotal visual artist, filmmaker, and hip‑hop tastemaker. The book highlights his early immersion in iconic clubs like CBGB and Paradise Garage and his role in...