Category: New Books

Posted on by

Much More Than Muffins: The Women Scientists Who Invented Home Ec

Women trained in home economics wrote recipes for food manufacturers, invented clothing care labels and defined the federal poverty line. They set nutritional standards, demonstrated electrical appliances to rural residents, designed clothing patterns for female defense workers and pioneered radio programming. They served as military dietitians and endured captivity as prisoners of war. One of their number, Bea Finkelstein, developed food for the Project Mercury astronauts. Read more

(We earn a small commission if you click above and buy the book at Bookshop.org)

Posted on by

‘The Haunting of Alma Fielding’ Is a Ghost Story — and a Tale of Power and Fear

Summerscale’s writing is so inviting, the historical details folded into the narrative so well, that The Haunting of Alma Fielding reads like a novel you don’t want to put down. (The book design is also superb, the typeface somehow evoking something old and mysterious while also being easy on the eyes.) Best of all, it offers a variety of possibilities without definitively landing on one single answer; the book recognizes that, sometimes, the answer to the question “Was it real or was it fake?” is simply “Yes.” Read more

(We earn a small commission if you click above and buy the book at Bookshop.org)

Posted on by

Jhumpa Lahiri developed her voice for new novel ‘Whereabouts’ by first writing it in Italian

Writing is delicate work, perhaps doubly so when you are writing in a language that is not your native tongue. But Jhumpa Lahiri is no ordinary writer, and her latest novel, “Whereabouts” – an English translation of a story she originally wrote and published in Italian – requires the sort of deft hand so few can properly wield without it becoming boring and unobservant. Read more

(We earn a small commission if you click above and buy the book at Bookshop.org)

Posted on by

A Man Named Doll by Jonathan Ames

…Ames delivers an old-school L.A. crime novel that evokes Chandler with maybe an aftertaste of Bukowski. Readers expecting action won’t be let down, and the sparkling yet unpretentious language gives the whole an extra kick. Recommend to noir fans, action fans, anyone who likes a good read. Read more

(We earn a small commission if you click above and buy the book at Bookshop.org)