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BOOK BANNING

Libraries face increased attempts to ban books

As right-wing organizations mobilize to restrict access to titles they consider offensive, librarians in Rhode Island and around the country are finding themselves on the front lines of First Amendment freedoms.
Bibliophiles

Joshua Bennett on reading ‘to pursue astonishment’

In his new book, “The Study of Human Life,” Joshua Bennett blends poetry and speculative fiction to reimagine the world as it is and envision a world that could be. Bennett is the author of two previous poetry collections and one book of criticism. He talked with us about what he's reading, and why.
Related Reading

Two books on pandemic parenting

These stories will surprise few mothers, or really anyone, who made it through the first two years of the COVID-19 crisis in one piece. For those willing to revisit it, the strain of the lockdown springs back to appalling life in books from a parent's point of view.
BOOK REVIEW

Making sense of life after loss

In Namwali Serpell’s new novel, “The Furrows: An Elegy,” the protagonist explains, “My little brother died when I was twelve. He was seven.” The preceding and subsequent chapters iterate, extend, and embellish this two-sentence mourning song, sending readers drifting further away from the facts-of-the-matter and deeper into the jagged contours of her pain.
BOOK REVIEW

Players only love you when they’re playing

No man is an island, not even a loner who has dodged commitment for all of his 40 years. Such a man is at the center of Laura Warrell’s moody and musical debut novel “Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm.” Like the title, taken from a Jelly Roll Morton description of how jazz should be played, it's a mix of familiar refrains and extemporization.
NEW ENGLAND LITERARY NEWS

Two exhibits at the Katherine Small Gallery and exploring T. S. Eliot at the Cape Ann Museum

All the news of a bookish bent from around the region. Plus three new titles to look out for, and a bookseller recommendation.

Here are the 20 new books we’re most excited to read this fall

As the summer of 2022 winds down, our attention turns to the books of fall. Here’s our list of 20 titles — from novels to memoirs, histories to biographies — you may want to check out.

Latest Headlines in Books

STORY BEHIND THE BOOK

Peniel Joseph examines eras of change in ‘The Third Reconstruction’

‘This is such a rough period for people who believe in democracy and justice and equality,’ says the historian. ‘But you have to find hope.’

BOOKINGS

Author readings around Boston Sept. 25-Oct. 1

All author appearances are virtual and free unless otherwise noted.

BOOKS

Local bestsellers for the week ended Sept. 18

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

Poet T.S. Eliot’s Gloucester connection

A new show at the Cape Ann Museum looks at the poet and his time on the North Shore.

Spotify launches audiobook store with some 300,000 titles

Spotify on Tuesday announced its long-rumored audiobook initiative, launching a store that includes more than 300,000 titles.

It’s Banned Books Week — and these bookstores are hiding challenged books for their readers to find

Participating stores will hide plastic-wrapped copies of their favorite banned and challenged books in what the organizers call the “first annual Cape and Islands Banned Books Hunt.”

BOOK REVIEW

Getting to the heart of the matter

In its emotional heft and honesty, its ability to go fearlessly to the darkest places, its pellucid empathy and its spot-on rendering of the pandemic experience for both individuals and the country, this is perhaps the best of the four marvelous novels Strout has written featuring Lucy Barton.

BOOK REVIEW

Can women plus law save us?

Dahlia Lithwick profiles some female lawyers in the trenches.