Latest Headlines in Books
BOOKS
Local bestsellers for the week ended May 22
Based on reporting from the independent booksellers of the New England Independent Booksellers Association and IndieBound.
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: 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
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
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
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.