Perhaps not since Nathan Hill’s The Nix (2016) have we seen a debut as hugely ambitious as this one, pulling out all the stops to tell a unique version of the American story. Though there are more characters, more subplots, and just plain more than can be outlined here, the novel revolves around a miserable […]
Lewis and Richardson, both of the British Museum, were inspired to assemble this book by the BBC TV series Digging for Britain, which describes the exploits of two English hobbyists who scour the countryside with their metal detectors. Readers will not regret looking it up. Organic objects decay (mostly); stone and bone survive; metals are […]
Seven years after saving McKenzie’s life, Angela Bjork has a request. She’d like him to track down the Ankylosaurus skull valued at $6 million that was taken from a dig she was working near Powderville, Montana, before it had even been completely cleaned. Dr. Nicholas Larsen, the University of Minnesota professor who’s one of the […]
Looking for a new start after her long-term boyfriend moved to California and she was passed up for several promotions, Kriya Rajasekar accepts her boss Arthur’s invitation to follow him to a new firm, Swithin Watkins. Her optimism about the new job is short-lived, though, as she soon discovers that she’s sharing an office with […]
As Dillon’s novel opens, the lands of Maetlynd and Taldreas and other territories are still fragmented. They are reeling from a great conflict called the Reckoning, in which the powerful, mystical objects known as Tears were scattered so they could never fall into the wrong hands again. As the story begins, a man named Harglon, […]
Former classmates at St. Anthony of Padua elementary school in Springhaven, Pennsylvania, come together to organize a gathering 55 years after their graduation in 1964. The process of planning for the event brings back memories of childhood friendships, rivalries, infatuations, and heartbreaks at this Catholic institution, named after a saint who receives prayers to restore […]
In his nonfiction debut, the author analyzes the factors that destroy energy, clarity, and peace of mind for so many people. In a series of short, fast-paced chapters, River addresses a wide variety of psychological and emotional issues that people hold onto when releasing them would lead to much more happiness. Each chapter first describes […]
Editor Grisham points out that as “mankind’s first crime,” murder holds a fascination for readers that no other misdeed can match. So it’s appropriate that no less than 18 of the 20 stories include a killing, contemplated or committed. But murder is not always the main event. Often the tricky part is figuring out how […]
In this memoir that highlights the challenges and rewards of training at an older age, the author emphasizes throughout that perseverance and adaptability are essential to progress. Here, Weiss looks back on his eventful athletic journey: from tentative first races—including an early, stinging DNF (Did Not Finish) that fueled his later determination—to completing a half-marathon […]
Many kids (and adults) understandably love aquatic mammals. Delaunay presents them from the inside out, in well-organized chapters with short paragraphs covering sleep habits, habitats and migration, reproduction, and diet. Several sections are devoted to these creatures’ social structures and communication, both complex enough that scientists believe cetaceans have their own group cultures. A chapter […]