From lemurs to spiders, this gleeful exploration of female sexuality in the animal world overturns a host of outdated assumptions. Read more
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Category: New Books
Shifty’s Boys by Chris Offutt
Offutt has fashioned a mystery plot that’s fast-paced, efficiently plotted, atmospheric, and compelling, but what again distinguishes the book is the author’s command of and affection for the setting and the people who live there. Come for the thriller, by all means; it delivers nicely. But stay for, and linger in, the marvelous incidentals and atmospherics: arguments about mall names; lore about snakes and birds and mushrooms; descriptions of a local shade-tree tinkerer’s Slinky-like version of a perpetual motion machine … Terrific characters; taut suspense. Another winner from Offutt. Read more
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Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks
The 12 essays in this superlative collection from New Yorker staff writer Keefe reflect, as he says in his preface, his abiding preoccupations: “crime and corruption, secrets and lies, the permeable membrane separating licit and illicit worlds, the bonds of family, the power of denial.” … Every one of these selections is a journalistic gem. Immensely enjoyable writing married with fascinating subjects makes this a must-read. Read more
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The Bangalore Detectives Club
Nagendra makes her fiction debut with an exceptional series launch … By placing her intelligent and clear-eyed protagonists in the multilayered and multicultural milieu of colonial India, Nagendra, a university professor in Bangalore, imbues this mystery with a rich, edifying, and authentic feel. Read more
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The Mysterious Romance of Murder
“This is a masterwork in which Lehman’s encyclopedic knowledge of film, literature, and cultural history is synthesized by way of lively exegesis, quotes, poems (his own), catalogs, mini-biographies, and eclectic, brilliantly illuminated byways, both classical and pulp. His vivid, chromatic style is what one expects from a poet and critic of Lehman’s stature. The Mysterious Romance of Murder must take a prominent place, stylistically and critically, alongside Luc Sante’s Low Life, Julian Symons’s Bloody Murder, and Cyril Connolly’s The Unquiet Grave. As with the very best mysteries—of the heart and the intellect—you can’t put it down.” – Nicholas Christopher
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“Trust” by Hernan Diaz
For all its elegant complexity and brilliant construction, Diaz’s novel is compulsively readable, and despite taking place in the early 1900s, the plot reads like an indictment of the start of the twenty-first century with its obsession with obscure financial instruments and unhinged capital accumulation. A captivating tour de force that will astound readers with its formal invention and contemporary relevance. Read more
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How Word Puzzles Tickle the Brain and Satisfy the Soul
A.J. Jacobs on the Joy of Playing With Words. Read more
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The Man Who Invented Motion Pictures: A True Tale of Obsession, Murder, and the Movies
With a spellbinding, thriller-like presentation supported by painstaking research, Fischer puts forth evidence to try to unravel the mystery of Le Prince’s life and death. Deftly organized facts, coupled with the technical minutiae of filmmaking, reveal fascinating details of Le Prince’s life and the challenges faced in his work, while also exposing the mysterious circumstances surrounding his disappearance. Fischer’s stellar, suspenseful narrative is a work of art unto itself that finally gives Le Prince–and the impact of his often overlooked, cut-short creative genius–his due. Read more
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Inspired: Understanding Creativity by Matt Richtel
Richtel, a science reporter for the New York Times, explores the origins and outcomes of creativity in this remarkable guide … At once conversational and intellectual, Richtel’s lucid writing and intensive research showcase the many facets and manifestations of creativity. This profound and at times whimsical volume informs and inspires. Read more
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The High Sierra: A Love Story by Kim Stanley Robinson
Novelist Robinson (the Mars trilogy) vividly conveys his passion for the Sierra mountains in this enthralling blend of memoir, history, and science. Robinson first hiked in the Sierras on LSD in 1973 as a college student, an experience that sparked decades of return visits with friends and family members. Read more
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