American author Sigrid Nunez is best known for her novels, one of which (“The Friend”) won the 2018 National Book Award for Fiction. She also writes short fiction, some of which has been published in such periodicals as The New Yorker and The Paris Review. Nunez’s most recent book, “It Will Come Back To You,” is a collection of 13 stories, largely contemporary, although at least one is from early in her career. Many of the stories are set in Nunez’s home, New York City, alt

If you like Victorian historical fiction/romance then “A Perfect Hand” is the book for you! Ayelet Waldman has written a very clever take on the intrigue of love mixed with class consciousness, gender roles, and political climate of the era. The asides that the narrator issues to the “dear reader” make the story even more enjoyable. The year is 1879 and the main characters are Miss Alice Lockey, Lady Jemima, Mr. Smythe-Roberts, Sir Wynstowe, and Charles Wells. Alice, a youn

Master Naturalist, Besa Schweitzer, has written an interactive guidebook to native landscaping in Missouri. Her easy-to-follow planner lists garden tasks for each month of the year. The talented gardener challenges readers to help save nature by acting locally—in their own yards—by removing invasive plants and introducing native species. Besa notes that planting one tree can become a habitat for a variety of birds. An oak tree, in particular, can provide habitat for more tha

"A great thinning of the skies is underway. There are three billion fewer birds in North America than half a century ago." With this chilling observation, nature writer Robert Macfarlane and illustrator Jackie Morris introduce an imaginative, vividly illustrated collection of lyrical narratives and paintings about endangered birds. "Instead of photographs—paint. Alongside data—metaphor, story, poetry. In place of definition—relation. As well as classification—something like l

In the novel, “The Children,” by Melissa Albert, beloved children’s author, Edith Sharpe, and her infamous husband, Llewellyn, die in a fire when their children are 13 and 10. Overnight guests, including several famous actors and artists, also perish in the flames. Ennis and his sister Guinevere miraculously manage to flee as the house is consumed. They are found in a little shelter known as The Farmhouse, that they have built by themselves over the years in the fore

The earliest documented habitation of Ireland dates to millennia before the Christian era. The island has been inhabited by multiple waves of cultures including mainland Europe, the Scandinavian region, and the Vikings. Maggie O’Farrell’s recent novel, “Land,” includes references to the earliest inhabitants of the island. The book is set in the 19th century, the years that saw the great potato famine leading to the loss of 20 % of the island’s population, both to death by st

In a collection of telling essays, Evan Osnos appraises the lives of 1% of the US population known as the super wealthy. The talented author explores their obsession with $500 million yachts and bomb-proof bunkers. He discloses their political influence and the extreme measures they take to avoid paying taxes. “The Haves and Have-Yachts: Dispatches on the Ultrarich” is composed of three sections: "THE REWARDS—How to Spend It" which describes what the mega rich purchase, "TH

American author and humorist David Sedaris first came to public attention in 1992 when he read his essay Santaland Diaries on National Public Radio. He published his initial collection of essays and short stories, “Barrel Fever,” two years later. Sedaris has published more than a dozen collections since that time, the most recent being “The Land and Its People.” Throughout his career Sedaris’s work has been characterized by his eyes-wide-open observations and characterizatio

The West has drawn the attention of Americans since almost the nation's founding. The Lone Ranger, Hopalong Cassidy, and Roy Rogers introduced me to the American West. In elementary school, Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett, and Kit Carson furthered my education of this vast territory. I watched the West unfold through films starring John Wayne, Audie Murphy, Clint Eastwood, and other tough cowboys. My understanding of the West has expanded considerably as an adult, but nothing ha

Claire Fuller’s “Hunger and Thirst” is a haunting story set in one of the most traditionally threatening of places—a decaying brick bungalow with a ghostly history set outside of foggy London. The cottage is damp, dark and abandoned. The yard is overgrown with weeds, clingy vines and rotted trees. When Ursula and Vince decide to live there as squatters, they are shocked to see that the inside is full of dusty furniture, boxes of food in the pantry, closets full of clo

This June marks the 150th anniversary of George Armstrong Custer’s overwhelming defeat at the battle of the Little Bighorn. Tom Clavin is a New York Times reporter and prolific documenter of the post-Civil War American West. His most recent book, “Vengeance,” details the history of the U.S. government’s interactions with the Native American nations that led up to the massacre of the U.S. Army’s seventh cavalry on the banks of the river in what is now southeastern Montana. D

Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray have teamed up once again to bring to life the story of two forgotten women from history. “A Pair of Aces” refers to “the prosecutor and the madam, the unlikely pair behind the downfall of America’s most notorious mobster,” Lucky Luciano, in 1936. The first woman, Eunice Hunton Carter, is Assistant District Attorney in New York City. As the authors state, “Not only is she a woman in a man’s world, she is a colored woman, in a w

A new biography of Mary Todd Lincoln (1818-1882) reveals the often-maligned first lady as both an ambitious, astute political figure, circumscribed by the rigid expectations imposed on women of the time, and a wife and mother weighed down by unimaginable grief. Born into an elite Kentucky family, Mary grew up among the aristocrats who founded Lexington. She declared at an early age that she was destined to become the wife of a US president. Her drive to secure the White House

“Japanese Gothic,” by Kylie Lee Baker, weaves together current times and 1800’s Japan in a novel that blends horror, Japanese mythology, and ghostly apparitions that build tension and create a looming sense of dread. Lee Turner flees to his father’s house in Japan following a disaster of his own making at his college in the US. He carries with him a tragic background in which his mother disappeared when he was only 12. Lee is riddled with insecurity around his cold father

Mexican native Alvaro Enrigue is the author of six novels, three short story collections and one book of essays. He earned a Ph.D. in Latin American Literature at the University of Maryland and is currently Professor of Romance Languages and Literature at Hofstra University. His most recent novel, “Now I Surrender,” translated from Spanish by Natasha Wimmer, tells of the century-long struggle between the Chiricahua Apaches, the Mexican States of Chihuahua and Sonora, and the

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark have gone down in US history as early 19th-century explorers who undertook an arduous, 8,000-mile, 2-year expedition to find a route to the Pacific Ocean. More than 220 years later, their journey remains a captivating part of the United States’ lore. In 1803, President Jefferson purchased the Louisiana Territory from Napoleon, who was facing war with Britain. This 828,000-square-mile area, west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky

In the novel “The Astral Library,” by Kate Quinn, the main character, Alexandria (Alix) Watson, is 26-years-old and has just hit rock bottom. When Alix was 8, she was shuttled through the foster care system after her mother left her. Now Alix works three dead end jobs, can only afford to rent space on a friend’s sofa, knows that college is an impossible dream and has just had her identity stolen. Feeling low and dejected, Alix heads to her favorite place, the Boston Public

Yale Professor of American History Beverly Gage is the Pulitzer Prize winning author of “G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century.” Gage’s most recent book, “This Land Is your Land,” is the result of her attempt to summarize American history on the eve of the nation’s sesquicentennial. To accomplish this, Gage took extensive road trips, 13 in number, to locales heavily invested in the history of the country. Some of her trips visited states: Texas, Virgi

Sage political advisors encouraged him to “go slow,” but young Newsom only knew one speed. One month after his 2008 inauguration as mayor of San Francisco, 38-year-old Gavin Newsom allowed same sex couples to get married at City Hall. In 28 days, more than 4000 couples were married before the California Supreme Court stopped the ceremonies and voided the marriages. In 2015, the US Supreme Court ruled that states must allow same-sex marriages. Many barrier-breaking actions mar

Early in the morning of November 29, 2019, a young man plunged to his death from the balcony of a luxury apartment overlooking London’s Thames River. His body was not discovered until four days later, three days after his parents notified the London police that he was missing. Patrick Radden Keefe is a staff writer for The New Yorker. His recent book, “London Falling,” details the events leading up to Zac Brettler’s death and the painstaking efforts of his parents to learn t