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You don’t want to miss Mark Arsenault’s new book

It's about a former Providence Journal editor who led the effort to expose Germany's attempt to infiltrate US media during World War I, but had plenty of skeletons in his closet.

Chasing out the old horse

Inspired by Robert Mugabe’s decades long rule over Zimbabwe, “Glory” enfolds a coup orchestrated not by the people of a “government-forsaken” nation, but by military dogs trained in North Korea. Indeed the entire cast is composed of animals.

The art of listening in Susan Straight’s ‘Mecca’

For many, California exists as a dream. Beyond the myths and the illusions, for author Susan Straight, a native Californian who has never left, there are certain stories that must be told. In her ninth novel, “Mecca,” Straight draws together a diverse family — some by blood but many chosen — for a bighearted and often wrenching saga.

Reading essays to become a writer

David Wright Faladé's new historical novel “Black Cloud Rising” was inspired by a unit of recently freed or runaway slaves that rooted out the remaining Confederate soldiers along North Carolina’s Outer Banks. Faladé also wrote the nonfiction book “Fire on the Beach,” which is about a 19th-century all-Black crew in the US Coast Guard. He talked with us about his reading habits.

Baring it all

Confessional writing has gotten a bad rap in intellectual circles, seen as more suited for the diary than the bookshelf. Melissa Febos is the queen of the confessional, or rather a literary and political offshoot. In “Body Work: The Radical Power of Personal Narrative,” Febos hopes to revamp the genre’s reputation.

Really Rosie’s Place

Christine McDonnell’s new, illustrated book introduces kids to the nation’s first women-only shelter and the founder behind it

Latest Headlines in Books

Somerville-based writer and Halloween scholar Lesley Bannatyne has a new collection of short stories.

New England Literary News

News of a bookish bent from around the region. In this week's edition, we learn of new short stories from Somerville, a youth poet laureate for Boston, and a book about groundbreaking nightclub ManRay.

BOOKS
"The Paris Apartment" by Lucy Foley.

Local bestsellers

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

BOOKINGS
Seth Meyers is in conversation with Judy Blume at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at Harvard Book Store.

Author readings around Boston March 13-19

All author appearances are virtual unless otherwise noted.

Spring Arts Preview
A male dancer leaps in the air.

36 of the best arts events coming to New England this spring

This spring, look forward to Tanglewood, The Cher Show, Rodin in the US, and more can’t-miss picks in dance, fine arts, books, music, and theater.

Books about the conflict in Ukraine.

A list of books that can help you understand the crisis in Ukraine

As Russia pushes deeper into Ukraine, many are trying to understand the situation far from where it’s unfolding. These books can help.

BOOK REVIEW

Unmasking Lincoln’s assassin

Why a novel about the family of one of American history’s most famous villains, John Wilkes Booth? Is it because we live in a time with ominous parallels to the Civil War era? Or because the Booth family, of whom John Wilkes was the least dedicated actor, provides such rich material?

BIBLIOPHILES
Brad Meltzer's newest work is “The Lighting Rod."

He likes books that blur genre boundaries

One genre isn’t enough for author Brad Meltzer. In his long career, he’s written history books, children’s books, comic books and thrillers.

BOOK REVIEW
An undated file photo of American author Sylvia Plath.

Finding an old book, searching for its author

A small metal box presented to master curator Estee, a specialist in rare books, holds three notebooks, which together appear to contain the handwritten rough draft of Sylvia Plath’s sole novel, “The Bell Jar.” As posterity and commerce each make their claim on the notebooks, Estee will find herself investigating their provenance and planning for their future.