All articles tagged with #books
Barbara Kingsolver’s new novel, 'Partita,' explores the tension between rural conservatism and urban idealism through a pianist’s past. Critics are divided: some praise its emotional depth, while others criticize its lack of political nuance.
Author Rachel Reid is touring for the deluxe edition of 'Heated Rivalry' while preparing for the release of her new novel, 'Unrivaled,' in June 2027. Filming for the show's second season is currently underway, based primarily on her 2022 sequel 'The Long Game.' Reid has expanded the roles of supporting characters like Scott Hunter and Yuna in the new book, noting that the show's massive popularity has increased fan interest in minor characters such as Luca Haas. She describes the transition to high-profile visibility as challenging but is excited about the continued expansion of the franchise.
David Byrne has released 'Sleeping Beauties: Why Good Ideas Go Dormant and How They Wake Up,' a book exploring why significant concepts in science, art, and history often face initial rejection or are forgotten before eventually being rediscovered. Byrne argues that this dormancy is a natural part of an idea's life cycle, citing examples ranging from the heliocentric model to the reissue of experimental music. The book follows his 2021 work 'A History of the World (in Dingbats)' and coincides with a busy period of touring and film projects.
John Green returns with his first adult novel, Hollywood, Ending, about two aspiring actors in a buzzworthy Warhol biopic whose off-screen romance forces them to navigate fame and the attention economy, paired with a Q&A that reveals Green’s personal quirks and tastes alongside light internet-culture notes.
The 2026 National Book Award longlist for Fiction has been announced, featuring ten titles (including Paradiso 17 and Python’s Kiss) from a mix of debut authors and established names, selected by a panel of judges ahead of the November ceremony with $10,000 awarded to each winner.
Guardian tech writers assemble a must-read AI reading list to cut through hype and fear, pairing industry-focused works (Empire of AI, Project Maven, Hyperscale, Your Face Belongs to Us, The AI Con) with deep-context and fiction to explain the politics, surveillance, and environmental impacts of AI, helping readers understand where the technology is headed and who it affects.
A round-up of 30 fall book releases across fiction and nonfiction, spanning historical novels like Agrippa and The Pirate Queen, thrillers and mystery titles such as The Disappearers, literary fiction, memoirs, and science/nonfiction works, with releases scheduled from September through November.
Slate’s Scaachi Koul reviews Jon Ronson’s The Castle: Adventures in a World of Unraveling Men, which follows a Connecticut castle built to host a haremlike plan and chronicles the manosphere. Ronson interviews the castle’s principal and those around him to examine male shame, purpose, and the broader cultural pull of online fame, arguing that men are adrift as women assume greater economic power. The book blends suspense with reportage and humor, not as a how-to but as a warning about a culture in flux—while offering glimmers of hope in places like UFC culture and moments of vulnerability that complicate the narrative. The piece emphasizes the grotesque images the castle evokes and notes that, despite occasional optimism, the overall trajectory remains troubling for gender relations.
Colorado author Peter Heller says he didn’t make The Dog Stars movie and supports the filmmakers, even as Ridley Scott’s adaptation posts a box-office shortfall (about $30 million worldwide on a $110 million budget). He has seen the film seven times and believes the project has expanded readership for the book and boosted sales of his other titles, while posters and promotions highlighted the literary source.
The New York Times previews 29 nonfiction titles for this fall, promising a mix of stranger-than-fiction Cold War thrillers, explorations into hip-hop and AI, and memoirs from Francis Fukuyama and Sylvester Stallone, alongside other history, culture, and technology deep-dives.
Slate’s culture review characterizes The Most Dangerous Game as a shallow, highly readable dystopian tale that doubles as a window into MrBeast’s worldview, emphasizing money and spectacle over literary depth, with modest preorder momentum despite a high-profile $1 million giveaway promo.
Time Out New York highlights 24 fall releases Goodreads flags as highly anticipated, spanning contemporary and historical fiction, mystery and thrillers, sci‑fi and fantasy, romance and YA, plus notable nonfiction. Highlights include The Pirate Queen by Ariel Lawhon; Taipei Story by R.F. Kuang; Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel by Lucy Foley; The French Illusion by John Grisham; The Witch by Freida McFadden; Under Story by Chloe Benjamin; Dead Beat by Leigh Bardugo; Kiss Slay Replay by Rachel Harrison; The Witches of Cambridge by Alice Hoffman; Nightjars by Michael Wehunt; Hawk & Sparrow by Ayana Gray; The Sixth Faction by Veronica Roth; The Last King of Faerie by Cassandra Clare; and nonfiction picks such as Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea by Emily Wilson and The American Way of Killing by Malcolm Gladwell—selected from early reviews and readers’ Want to Read shelves to forecast the season’s buzziest titles.
A Book Gossip reprint of Marlon James’s interview discusses his Jamaica-set novel The Disappearers, a polyphonic gay revenge thriller about eight actors who face a deadly attack before a performance, with James highlighting themes of authenticity, artistic freedom, and survival, while also sharing personal writing habits, influences, and playful book-gossip insights.
Google’s Gemini Notebook now supports Expert Intelligence, pulling information from books you’ve purchased in Google Play Books so you can ask questions, generate plans and infographics, and even view full book text within the app; initial support covers over 100,000 titles from major publishers, with authors creating “Featured Notebooks,” and safeguards keep non-purchasers from accessing full text. Google plans to expand Expert Intelligence to scholarly articles and other content and to bring the feature to AI Mode in Search and the Gemini app.
Vulture’s Emma Alpern argues Rachel Cusk’s Life of M is largely plotless and overlithe in its sheen, centering on a Natalie Portman–like celebrity whose fame distorts reality. The narration alternates between M’s inner drift and a vaguely ‘we’ observer, producing a tone that’s entertainingly acerbic but ultimately tedious, with occasional flashes of the sharpness that distinguished Cusk’s Outline trilogy. The piece notes that the most compelling moment comes when the author finally confronts the actress in a tense late scene, briefly injecting heat and suggesting what makes Cusk’s work provocative even as the novel otherwise lingers in abstraction.