Noir, particularly the American variety, still endures as a potent lens on contemporary society. And whether the tone is dark or light, crime fiction as a whole still has the power to move scores of readers. Read more
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From witch stories to near-future noir, here are the year’s 10 best speculative books. Read more
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John Nichols, who launched his literary career in his mid-20s with a pair of tragicomic novels but became best known for evoking New Mexico’s small towns and rural landscapes in books including “The Milagro Beanfield War,” was found dead Nov. 27 at his home in Taos, N.M. He was 83. Read more
For decades, Juan Rulfo’s novel, “Pedro Páramo,” has cast an uncanny spell on writers. A new translation may bring it broader appeal. Read more
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A wildly prolific son of Texas, McMurtry was a tangle of contradictions. Here’s where to start. Read more
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We hope that this list will help you find your next favorite listen. Below, you’ll find AudioFile’s picks for the Best Audiobooks of 2023 in nine categories. Thank you to all of the authors, narrators, producers, and publishers who filled our year with good listening. Read more
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One might expect that an author who teaches philosophy at the University of London would be on the stuffy side, but Roache, host of the Academic Perfectionist podcast, is anything but dull. Her book is a lively examination of swearing in all its forms, and although it is often humorous, Roache also has serious points to make. Swearing is sometimes meant to be offensive, but much depends on the context. It can signal solidarity within a group or class, be used to emphasize a point and denote surprise, and have a cathartic quality that prevents disputes from escalating to violence. Read more
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The poets’ fellowship, which was founded in 1996, has worked with poets who have gone on to win many of the genre’s most important accolades. Read more
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The judges for the prestigious award were not unanimous in their decision to select this novel, which depicts an Ireland descending into totalitarianism. Read more
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Historical fiction is suddenly everywhere. It’s on the bestseller list, in college classrooms, and probably on the lap of the woman sitting next to you on the train. A genre that at one point felt maligned and boring—neither serious nor sought after—has undergone a full-on transformation. In just the past few months, some of the most anticipated new releases by contemporary literature’s most beloved authors have been historical, including Lauren Groff’s The Vaster Wilds, Zadie Smith’s The Fraud, James McBride’s The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, and Jesmyn Ward’s Let Us Descend. Read more
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