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BOOK REVIEW

In widowhood, making sense of a turbulent marriage

Soon after writer Rebecca Woolf’s husband, Hal, was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer, he told her “Bec, you have to write this book…. The true story.” The result is a chronicle of love and hate and loss.
Bibliophiles

Reading everything from Dr. Seuss to books about war

Kirk Wallace Johnson’s new book “The Fishermen and the Dragon: Fear, Greed, and a Fight for Justice on the Gulf Coast” tells in dramatic detail a forgotten story of xenophobia, white supremacy, climate change, and corporate negligence. Johnson is also the author of “The Feather Thief." He talked with us about what he's been reading lately.
BOOK REVIEW

One apartment building holds many stories

The rent is about to go up for the tenants of Banneker Terrace, and for the low-income residents of this Harlem high-rise, the increase spells disaster. In Sidik Fofona's debut, "Stories From the Tenants Downstairs," everyone has a voice.
New England Literary News

Poetry on death and grief, some vintage sci-fi, and a look at New England’s notable women

A roundup of all the bookish news from around the region, plus a look at new titles and a bookseller's recommendation.
BOOK REVIEW

Can America recover from addiction?

When Beth Macy sounded the alarm on America’s opioid crisis in her best-selling 2018 book, “Dopesick,” the situation was dire. Four years later, it’s only gotten worse.
STORY BEHIND THE BOOK

Writer-illustrator Maddie Frost draws on her love of animals and ’90s cartoons

"I have yet to author a human book," said Frost, whose seventh picture book is "Iguana Be a Dragon."

Latest Headlines in Books

BOOKINGS

Author readings around Boston Aug. 14-20

All author appearances are virtual and free unless otherwise noted.

BOOKS

Local bestsellers for the week ended Aug. 7

Based on reporting from the independent booksellers of the New England Independent Booksellers Association and IndieBound.

Raymond Briggs, who drew a wordless ‘Snowman,’ dies at 88

“The books are funny, and the books are also sad,” Nicolette Jones, who wrote the biography “Raymond Briggs” (2020), said. “And he walks this incredible tightrope between those two things.”

Meng Jin’s ‘Self-Portrait with Ghost’ explores dignity, joy and the present through short stories

The author will appear with fellow writer Taymour Soomro at Harvard Book Store on Thursday.

‘He truly was an American treasure.’ Luminaries react to death of historian David McCullough

Academics, authors, and officials on Monday posted tributes to best-selling author and award-winning historian David McCullough, who died Sunday at his home in Hingham.

BOOK REVIEW

Higher education, riding for a fall

Higher education — the crown jewel of postwar America, its growth powered by the GI Bill, the rush for credentials, the notion that a college degree is a ladder of social mobility, and the glamour of tailgate Saturdays outside the stadium — is in deep trouble, argues a new book. It's worth paying heed.

BIBLIOPHILES

Anthony Marra on reading mysteries and historical fiction

It’s been nearly ten years since Anthony Marra’s last novel. Much of that interim was devoted to researching Hollywood, Italy, and World War II in order to write his new novel “Mercury Pictures Presents,” which follows the highs and lows of a young Italian movie producer. He talked with us about what he's been reading lately.

BOOK REVIEW

Mohsin Hamid’s new novel imagines white men changing color

In Hamid’s “The Last White Man,” a man named Anders wakes up to darkened pigmentation, followed swiftly by others who turn “a deep undeniable brown.” His country (by which we mean white people), grows zealously protective of a whiter shade of pale.