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Book Reviews

This cover image released by Berkley shows "Funny Story" by Emily Henry. (Berkley via AP)

Book Review: Emily Henry is still the modern-day rom-com queen with ‘Funny Story’

“Funny Story” isn’t a funny story at all, but it is a good one. It starts with dueling breakups that have rocked the two main characters’ worlds and forced them to bond over their shared broken hearts.

This image released by St. Martin's Publishing Group shows "Nothing But the Bones" by Brian Panowich. (St. Martin's Publishing Group via AP)

Book Review: ‘Nothing But the Bones’ is a compelling noir novel at a breakneck pace

This book cover image released by Doubleday shows "The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook" by Hampton Sides. (Doubleday via AP)

Book Review: Hampton Sides revisits Captain James Cook, a divisive figure in the South Pacific

This book cover image released by Penguin Random House shows "There's Going to Be Trouble" by Jen Silverman. Penguin Random House via AP)

Book Review: Jen Silverman’s gripping second novel explores the long afterlife of political violence

This cover image released by Flatiron shows "The Black Girl Survives in This One" horror stories edited by Desiree S. Evans and Saraciea J. Fennell. (Flatiron via AP)

Book Review: Short story anthology ‘The Black Girl Survives in This One’ challenges the horror canon

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This image released by William Morrow shows "City in Ruins" by Don Winslow. (William Morrow via AP)

Book Review: ‘City of Ruins’ completes a masterful Don Winslow trilogy

As “City in Ruins” opens, former mobster Danny Ryan is a silent partner in two Las Vegas casinos. He is fabulously rich but wants more. Why?

This image released by Holt shows "Glorious Exploits" by Ferdia Lennon. (Holt via AP)

Book Review: ‘Glorious Exploits’ turns classical history into an endearing comedy about tragedy

Best friends Lampo and Gelon are potters by trade, but in their souls they’re poets. It’s 412 B.C. and the ancient city of Syracuse doesn’t know what hit it when these two hatch up the best worst idea: They’ll put on a play using the Athenian prisoners of war who are starving to death down in the ro

This cover image released by Columbia University Press shows "Newshawks in Berlin: The Associated Press and Nazi Germany" by Larry Heinzerling and Randy Herschaft, with Ann Cooper. (Columbia University Press via AP)

Book Review: ‘Newshawks in Berlin’ illustrates tough choices news organizations face in wartime

“Newshawks in Berlin: The Associated Press and Nazi Germany” explores the challenges the world’s largest news organization faced in its coverage of World War II.

Book Review: Debut novel `Headshot’ gives us head shots of the psyches of teenage girl boxers

Rita Bullwinkel’s debut novel “Headshot” takes place in a rundown gym in Nevada, where eight teenage girls are competing in the final rounds of a youth boxing championship.

This cover image released by Hogarth shows "Great Expectations" by Vinson Cunningham. (Hogarth via AP)

Book Review: A coming-of-age story of a young Black man who works for an Obama-adjacent candidate

Vinson Cunningham’s day job is writing theater reviews for the New Yorker magazine. Now he has published his first novel, “Great Expectations.”

This cover image released by Farrar, Straus and Giroux shows "Feeding Ghosts" by Tessa Hulls. (Farrar, Straus and Giroux via AP)

Book Review: Tessa Hulls feeds her family’s ghosts by bringing them to light in rich graphic memoir

When Tessa Hulls sets out to tell her family’s story, she’s feeding their ghosts in the best way she’s learned how: by pulling them into the light.

This cover image released by Crown shows "Means of Control" by Byron Tau. (Crown via AP)

Book Review: ‘Means of Control’ charts the disturbing rise of a secretive US surveillance regime

In the book “Means of Control,” former Wall Street Journal reporter Byron Tau exposes in disturbing detail how private Beltway contractors have grown a secretive surveillance regime, AP technology reporter Frank Bajak writes.

This cover image released by Tin House Books shows "The Woman in the Sable Coat" by Elizabeth Brooks. (Tin House Books via AP)

Book Review: Elizabeth Brooks’ Austen-esque WWII novel has romance, betrayal and a touch of macabre

In a chance meeting in 1934, Nina invites the Nicholsons to dinner. She’s 14, trying on womanhood for the first time, and quickly becomes smitten with Guy Nicholson.

This cover image released by Viking shows "The Hunter" by Tana French. (Viking via AP)

Book Review: ‘The Hunter’ is a dark and lyrical tale of revenge, friendship and loyalty in collision

Trey Reddy, a teenage girl in a remote Irish village, blames her neighbors for the unsolved murder of her brother. She also despises her father for abandoning her.

This cover image released by Minotaur shows "The Rumor Game" by Thomas Mullen. (Minotaur via AP)

Book Review: Thomas Mullen’s portrayal of a divided nation in 1943 draws parallels to today

In 1943, as American soldiers confront a German Army in North Africa, the city of Boston is rife with antisemitic rumors, and support for the war is not universal.

This cover image released by Flatiron shows "The Bad Ones" by Melissa Albert. (Flatiron via AP)

Book Review: Melissa Albert’s ‘The Bad Ones’ is a gripping story of friendship and the supernatural

Four people have disappeared in a single night, and Nora’s best friend, Becca, is one of them. If they weren’t three months into a huge fight, maybe Nora would be able to parse out the clues Becca left for her.

This cover image released by Putnam shows "This Disaster Loves You" by Richard Roper. (Putnam via AP)

Book Review: Richard Roper charms and surprises with ’This Disaster Loves You’

Richard Roper, whose debut novel “Something to Live For,” featured a British sad-sack rediscovering his true self, returns with “This Disaster Loves You,” which Associated Press review Rob Merrill writes, is “about another man whose story is not quite what it seems.”

This cover image released by HarperCollins shows "Fourteen Days," edited by Margaret Atwood and Douglas Preston. (HarperCollins via AP)

Book Review: New collaborative novel ‘Fourteen Days’ proves the pandemic couldn’t curb creativity

Almost four years since COVID-19 became a household term, a new work of fiction proves that even a global pandemic can’t curb creativity, writes Rob Merrill in his Associated Press review of “Fourteen Days.”

This cover image released by Mulholland shows "Owning Up" by George Pelecanos. (Mulholland Books via AP)

Book Review: George Pelecanos’ ‘Owning Up’ has elegant prose and well-drawn characters

George Pelecanos has produced fine crime novels about Washington, D.C., and written for critically-acclaimed television shows including “The Wire.”

This cover image released by Mindy's Book Studio shows "Almost Surely Dead" by Amina Akhtar. (Mindy's Book Studio via AP)

Book Review: ‘Almost Surely Dead’ is a smart supernatural thriller for a stormy night

Dunia Ahmed disappeared over a year ago. But before she vanished, weird things were happening, including multiple attempts on her life.

This cover image released by G.P Putnam's Sons shows "Clover Hendry's Day Off" by Beth Morrey. (G.P Putnam's Sons via AP)

Book Review: ‘Clover Hendry’s Day Off’ is an infectious, Ferris Bueller-inspired 24-hour adventure

What starts as a normal Thursday quickly transforms into, well, not a normal Thursday. “Clover Hendry’s Day Off” by Beth Morrey is a Ferris Bueller-inspired 24-hour adventure in which one 40-something pushover of a working mom says to heck with it: Today, Clover Hendry is living life for herself for

This cover image released by Putnam shows "Come and Get It" by Kiley Reid. (Putnam via AP)

Book Review: ‘Come and Get It’ takes readers back to school, blending gossip with weightier themes

Kiley Reid burst on the scene in 2019 with “Such a Fun Age,” which was longlisted for the Booker Prize.

This cover image released by Knopf shows "Martyr!" by Kaveh Akbar. (Knopf via AP)

Book Review: Iranian-born Kaveh Akbar pens an unforgettable portrait of the poet as a young man

Kaveh Akbar is an up-and-coming young poet who has won numerous awards for poems that explore themes of spirituality and addiction.

This image released by Routledge shows "Out of Hiding, Extremist White Supremacy and How it Can Be Stopped" by Kathleen M. Blee, Robert Futrell and Pete Simi. (Routledge via AP)

Book Review: Scholars analyze extremist white supremacy’s grip on U.S. politics and culture

Three sociologists who have studied racist movements in the U.S. for decades chronicle in “Out of Hiding, Extremist White Supremacy and How It Can Be Stopped” the history of U.S. white supremacy from the Ku Klux Klan to today’s far-right groups that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

This cover image released by Bloomsbury shows "Sugar, Baby" by Celine Saintclare. (Bloomsbury via AP)

Book Review: ‘Sugar, Baby’ is a train wreck with no consequences that you can’t help but read

Agnes Green in the novel “Sugar, Baby” has been an outsider her whole life, with her strict conservative Christian upbringing directly at odds with her desire for romance, sex and parties.

This cover image released by Melville House shows "The Rebellious CEO: 12 Leaders Who Did It Right" by Ralph Nader. (Melville House via AP)

Book Review: Ralph Nader profiles corporate leaders he sees as role models in ‘The Rebellious CEO’

Consumer advocate Ralph Nader profiles business leaders he actually likes in “The Rebellious CEO: 12 Leaders Who Did It Right.”

This cover image released by Grand Central shows "Loaded: The Uncensored Oral History of the Velvet Underground" by Dylan Jones. (Grand Central via AP)

Book Review: The Velvet Underground’s story and afterlife told in the oral history ‘Loaded’

Veteran journalist and author Dylan Jones tells the story of the Velvet Underground in “Loaded: The Life (and Afterlife) of The Velvet Underground.”

This cover image released by Pegasus Books shows "Soldier of Destiny: Slavery, Secession, and the Redemption of Ulysses S. Grant" by John Reeves. (Pegasus Books via AP)

Book Review: ‘Soldier of Destiny’ traces Ulysses S. Grant’s complicated route before the White House

Historian John Reeves examines Ulysses S. Grant’s relationship with slavery in his new biography “Soldier of Destiny: Slavery, Secession and the Redemption of Ulysses S.

This cover image released by Simon & Schuster shows "Everywhere an Oink Oink: An Embittered, Dyspeptic, and Accurate Report of Forty Years in Hollywood” by David Mamet. (Simon & Schuster via AP)

Book Review: David Mamet screams at clouds in new collection of grievances about Hollywood

David Mamet takes on Hollywood in his new book. “Everywhere an Oink Oink: An Embittered, Dyspeptic and Accurate Report of Forty Years in Hollywood” is a collection of observations, stories and aphorisms about Hollywood from one of America’s foremost writers.

This image released by Penguin Press shows "Eyeliner: A Cultural History" by Zahra Hankir. (Penguin Press via AP)

Book Review: ‘Eyeliner’ examines the staple makeup product’s revolutionary role in global society

Zahra Hankir’s “Eyeliner: A Cultural History” takes readers on a global investigation of how the cosmetic product is used worldwide.

This cover image released by Mariner Books shows "Welcome to the O.C.: The Oral History" by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage. (Mariner Books via AP)

Book Review: ‘Welcome to The O.C.’ serves as a definitive look-back at the 20-year-old Fox drama

Twenty years after “The O.C.” debuted, Rolling Stone TV critic Alan Sepinwall is taking readers back to Newport Beach.

This cover image released by Abrams Books shows "Outrageous: A History of Showbiz and the Culture Wars" by Kliph Nesteroff. (Abrams Books via AP)

Book Review: ‘Outrageous: A History of Showbiz and the Culture Wars’ argues history repeats itself

“There is nothing new under the sun.” So goes the adage which conveys the tendency for history to repeat itself.

This cover image released by Algonquin Books shows "We Must Not Think of Ourselves" by Lauren Grodstein. (Algonquin via AP)

Book Review: Lauren Grodstein’s masterpiece of historical fiction set in Warsaw Ghetto during WWII

The Oneg Shabbat archive was a secret project of Jews imprisoned in the Warsaw Ghetto to record their histories as they awaited deportation to Nazi death camps during World War II.

This cover image released by Henry Holt shows " A True Account: Hannah Masury’s Sojourn Amongst the Pyrates" by Katherine Howe. (Henry Holt via AP)

Book Review: A dazzlingly fun historical fiction, ‘A True Account’ tests the borders of reality

Hannah Masury, for a brief time, was a pirate. At least, according to the mysterious manuscript that shows up on Professor Marian Beresford’s desk, brought by a bright-faced student excited at the possibility of finding the treasure that Hannah left behind.

This cover image released by Mad Creek Books shows "I Would Meet You Anywhere" by Susan Kiyo Ito. (Mad Creek Books via AP)

Book Review: ‘I Would Meet You Anywhere’ is a breathtaking account of an adoptee’s search for family

Susan Kiyo Ito always knew she was adopted, but uncovering her birth family became a decadeslong process marked by moments of warm connection and icy divides.