Book Reviews

Book Review: ‘Dinosaurs at the Dinner Party’ transports readers to world changed by fossil finds

Edward Dolnick offers a history of the first dinosaur fossil discoveries in “Dinosaurs at the Dinner Party: How an Eccentric Group of Victorians Discovered Prehistoric Creatures and Accidentally Upended the World.”

In her feminist punk music, Kathleen Hanna tells it all. In her memoir, there’s more to the story 1

Book Review: Ruth Ware’s ‘Zero Days’ lacks the urgency of her previous books

Book Review: Erudite but accessible, Megan Fernandes’ new book will turn poetry agnostics into fans

Book Review: Lorrie Moore brings her maximalist wordplay to a macabre exploration of love and death

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Book Review: Reality stranger than fiction as ‘Girls and Their Monsters’ probes mental health in US

Quadruplets born in 1930 in Lansing, Michigan, made the papers. Under the spotlight since birth, their legacy became intertwined with the history of mental health science in the United States after all four women were diagnosed with schizophrenia in their 20s.

Book Review: Lisa See’s ‘Lady Tan’s Circle of Women’ celebrates a Ming Dynasty physician

“Lady Tan’s Circle of Women,” by Lisa See (Scribner)

As she paced back and forth past a shelf filled with research books, See saw one on women’s health in Imperial China that had sat there unread for 10 years. With nothing better to do, she opened it and learned of a woman named Tan Yunxian, a brilliant but now all but forgotten doctor who at age 50 h

Book Review: A brilliant new story collection by Jolene McIlwain awaits in ‘Sidle Creek’

“Sidle Creek,” by Jolene McIlwain (Melville House)

Lately, the news out of rural Appalachia has not been good: a train derailment, toxic chemicals, the opioid epidemic, deaths of despair.

Book Review: T.C. Boyle’s dark novel ‘Blue Skies’ explores world severely impacted by climate change

“Blue Skies” by T.C. Boyle (Liveright)

There have been entire shelves of non-fiction books written about climate change. I’ve reviewed quite a few. They’re packed with truly frightening scenarios based on science.

Book Review: Savannah Bananas owner Jesse Cole writes a book about his baseball team’s origins

To say the younger Cole has taken that advice to heart is an understatement. He is, after all, the yellow tuxedo-wearing owner of the Savannah Bananas, the Georgia-based ballclub that became a national phenomenon with its unique and cheeky style of baseball.

Review: Tom Hanks’ novel shares inside look at moviemaking

Review: In ‘Homegrown,’ Jeffrey Toobin looks at far right

The bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Building that killed 168 people occurred long before 4chan, Twitter or Facebook. Instead, McVeigh and coconspirator Terry Nichols connected with extremist voices through much simpler means such as gun shows, right-wing publications and radio programs.

Review: A gutsy memoir by child of an Andy Warhol superstar

“Don’t Call Me Home,” by Alexandra Auder (Viking)

It takes guts and a sense of humor to kick off your debut memoir with an insult from Andy Warhol. “Seeing Alexandra was sad — a big rug-rat hanging off Viva — she’ll probably turn out a mess.”

Review: ‘Home for Wayward Girls’ about rising above abuse

“The Home for Wayward Girls” (Harper) by Marcia Bradley

There have been a number of recent accounts of young people, particularly young women, who were sent to schools for so-called “troubled” or “bad” kids.