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BOOK REVIEW
A literary spark, dimmed too soon, in ‘Burning Boy’
Paul Auster's “Burning Boy” is thorough in its research, yet hurtles forward in its often intense, often moving enthusiasm for the subject. This is not a scholar’s biography of Stephen Crane. It is a fine novelist’s plunge into the life and mind of another artist.
STORY BEHIND THE BOOK
A writer remembers ‘the George Clooney of dogs’
What a black lab named Woodrow taught Jenna Blum about life, love.
BOOKINGS
Virtual author readings for Oct. 24-Oct. 30
All author appearances are virtual unless otherwise noted.
BOOKS
Local bestsellers for the week ending Oct. 17
Based on reporting from the independent booksellers of the New England Independent Booksellers Association and IndieBound.
SCARY READS
Juicy new mysteries and thrillers to tingle your spine this scary season
A collection of titles, most published this year, that deserve a spot in your reading pile.
BOOK REVIEW
E.O. Wilson’s wars
“Scientist,” Richard Rhodes’ biography of Wilson begins with him on his hands and knees collecting and classifying ants, many previously unknown to science, in the jungles of New Guinea. Despite the oppressive heat and mosquitoes, he’s an elated Indiana Jones of insect hunters. As fascinating as this material is, it’s all been conveyed to much better effect in Wilson’s 1994 autobiography “Naturalist.”
BIBLIOPHILES
Bryan Washington: Reading short stories and YA to get through the pandemic
Bryan Washington says one of the reasons he wrote his award-winning story collection “Lot” was that his native city, Houston, especially its more hardscrabble side, was so underrepresented in literature. Houston is also the backdrop of the young author’s much lauded debut novel, “Memorial,” which he has described as a “gay slacker dramady.” Here's what's on his reading list.
BOOK REVIEW
Tracing a post-divorce road trip in ‘Oh William!’
trout’s newest novel is the third in the Amgash series. In “Oh William!” yet another stunning achievement, Lucy Barton is now 63, a New Yorker, a widowed novelist who tries to make sense of her family, her two marriages, her past and present life. How better than to hit the road with William, her first husband?