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BOOK REVIEW

A deadly silence

A powerful mystery remains at the heart of WWII history: the role of Pope Pius XII and the Vatican in the rise and fall of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy and in the destruction of European Jewry in roundups, mass killings, and concentration camps.
RELATED READING

Three books on Stalin that shed light on Russian history

As we watch Russia's invasion of Ukraine continue its deadly march, books on Stalin can provide historical context.
BIBLIOPHILES

Toni Bentley: reading everything by Edith Wharton

Toni Bentley joined the New York City Ballet when she was 17 and began dancing for and observing the genius of George Balanchine. That experience has inspired a number of her books, including her most recent “Serenade,” which tracks the making of Balanchine’s masterpiece. She talked with us about her reading habits.
BOOK REVIEW

Seeing the subjugation of women in ‘The Foundling’

One of the most shameful battles in this war occurred in the 1920s, when eugenics — the study of breeding a better human race — enjoyed popular acceptance. Ann Leary mines her own family history for one such story.
NEW ENGLAND LITERARY NEWS

New England Literary News

News of a bookish bent from around the region. This week's installment highlights a Boston publishing house putting out Korean verse in translation, a group of writers coalescing around activism, and new awards for New England literary groups.
BOOKINGS

Author readings around Boston May 29-June 4

All author appearances are virtual and free unless otherwise noted.

Latest Headlines in Books

BOOKS
"This Time Tomorrow" by Emma Straub.

Local bestsellers for the week ended May 22

Based on reporting from the independent booksellers of the New England Independent Booksellers Association and IndieBound.

Mark Vonnegut's new book is "The Heart of Caring"

Dr. Mark Vonnegut laments the problems of today’s medical system in ‘The Heart of Caring’

“The job of the doctor is to take care of patients. We did a better job of it 40 years ago.”

STORY BEHIND THE BOOK

Feeding on fairy tales in ‘How to Be Eaten’

Maria Adelmann’s debut novel centers around five women with traumatic — and familiar — pasts.

BOOK REVIEW

‘Either/Or’: When the college novel deserves a second look

It can be difficult to find a funny and smart literary novel that’s also full of heart, but New Yorker staff writer Elif Batuman’s 2017 novel, “The Idiot,” nailed it. Can a sequel be as good?

BIBLIOPHILES
Peter Swanson is best known for his psychological suspense novels "The Kind Worth Killing" and 'Her Every Fear." His most recent novel is "Nine Lives."

Peter Swanson: reading scary books at a young age

Peter Swanson found inspiration for his new book, “Nine Lives,” in one of his all-time favorite mysteries, Agatha Christie’s classic “And Then There Were None.” Swanson talked with the Globe about what else he likes to read.

BOOK REVIEW
Author Nell Zink.

Young love is in bloom in ‘Avalon’

Bran, the narrator of Nell Zink’s new novel, wastes no time in announcing herself as something of an unreliable narrator. “I have trouble recounting my childhood in chronological order,” she confesses.

New England Literary News
Marshall Smith, founder of the Brookline Booksmith, died earlier this month at age 90.

An anthology of New England food writing, a tribute to a pathbreaking bookseller, and new poetry

A weekly roundup of all the region's best bookish news.

BOOK REVIEW
Barry Lopez in 2003 in McKenzie River, Oregon.

What Barry Lopez left us

Despite all the these accolades, Barry Lopez has not received the critical reception he truly deserves. His final collection of essays, “Embrace Fearlessly the Burning World,” should remind readers just how wide-ranging, artful, and deeply personal his writing could be.