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THE JOY OF SNACKING

Opening and closing with scenes from a gig as a 33-year-old burlesque dancer, Campbell shows off her experience as a stand-up comic with a quip-laden narrative in which she chronicles both her youth as a picky eater from childhood through college and a yearslong, riotously contentious, on-again, off-again relationship with a sometimes pushy, sometimes disturbingly […]

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FIGHT LIKE HELL

In his debut memoir, the author, a former Arizona state representative, recounts the highlights and low points of an eventful life, including his wife Rhonda’s battle with breast cancer and his own nightmarish experience with Covid-19. Sierra describes himself as a classic “retail politician,” someone who regularly cuts ribbons or appears in parades. “I like […]

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LOOK OUT

The late philosopher Roland Barthes had a fear of heights and a hatred of mountains. Had he been around to read McPherson’s book, he might have reconsidered: Seeing from up high can yield awe, and while “awe often carries an undercurrent of fear,” it can provoke some, if you will, elevated thoughts. It can also […]

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THE ANTHONY BOURDAIN READER

Bourdain, notes editor Witherspoon, “had wanted to be a writer all his life.” His fame as the host of several television travel series, she adds, was accidental: The gigs were someone else’s idea, but as long as he got to write, it was fine. Some of the pieces assembled here are near-transcripts from those shows, […]

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THE REMBRANDT HEIST

Amore, co-author of Stealing Rembrandts (2011) and head of security at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, here describes the colorful life of Myles Connor, a rock musician who turned to a life of crime throughout New England in the 1960s and ’70s. The author details many of Connor’s early exploits, including impersonating an […]

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THE SHATTERED STAR

Although he hasn’t seen his spacefaring military father (who may or may not be dead) in years, Kael Vallen wants to follow in his footsteps—and does just that when he turns 18.As a recruit in the God Ruler’s forces, Kael dreams of sharing the transcendent light of the Starlit Covenant with what he sees as […]

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TINA

Off the grid, in the jungles of Koh Samui, the author runs Happy Doggo Land, a sanctuary that delivers nutritious meals to street dogs, sterilizes as many dogs as possible, and finds homes for rehabilitated dogs. With humor, heart, and delightful photos, Harbison shares their stories. There’s Buster, a neglected pitbull described by the owner […]

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AND THEN THERE WAS YOU

Chloe Fairway feels like things couldn’t get worse. At 31, she’s living with her parents in the London suburbs, working as an assistant rather than a screenwriter, and stuck in the dating trenches. But then an old colleague recommends a mysterious dating service called Perfect Partners. Chloe figures it can’t hurt to try, so she […]

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THIS YEAR

Too often, lyrics collections can be little more than keepsakes for fans, easily thrown together and presented without any context or new material. That was never going to be the case for Darnielle—the indie folk musician has always had a strong literary bent, as evidenced by his three well-received novels, Wolf in White Van (2014), […]

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A GRAVE DECEPTION

Actually, Kate, who’s married to DCI Tom Mallory, has two, possibly three murders to solve: two in the present, the other from the 14th century. An archeological dig has discovered a woman so well-preserved that the searchers can tell that her eyes were blue. Kate and her colleague, Ivor Tweedy, have been asked to examine […]