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Wednesday November 25, 2020

In 'Ghostways,' A Trip To Two Well-Traveled Places Reminds Of Things That Are Lost

Ghostways: Two Journeys in Unquiet Places, by Robert Macfarlane, Stanley Donwood (illustrator) and Dan Richards W. W. Norton & Company hide caption

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W. W. Norton & Company

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Book Reviews

In 'Ghostways,' A Trip To Two Well-Traveled Places Reminds Of Things That Are Lost

November 25, 2020 • Ghostways is an examination of grief as a landscape that moves on without us — and the fragility of the green world we're longing to go back to post-pandemic.

Monday March 2, 2020

'The Mirror & The Light' Is A Triumphant End To A Spellbinding Story

Petra Mayer/NPR

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Book Reviews

'The Mirror & The Light' Is A Triumphant End To A Spellbinding Story

March 2, 2020 • In this new novel, Hilary Mantel brings her award-winning trilogy on the life of Tudor politician Thomas Cromwell to an end. And even though readers know how this story will end, it's still gripping.

Friday November 22, 2019

Centuries Of Debutantes Dish About Being Put On Display In 'The Season'

The Season: A Social History of the Debutante, by Kristen Richardson W. W. Norton & Company hide caption

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W. W. Norton & Company

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Centuries Of Debutantes Dish About Being Put On Display In 'The Season'

November 22, 2019 • Kristen Richardson traces the history of the practice, with firsthand accounts from diaries and letters, finding political strife, social upheaval and machinations to keep out so-called undesirables.

Friday November 1, 2019

'On The Backs Of Tortoises' Challenges Us To Consider How Much Of Life Is Intertwined

A giant tortoise on Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos Islands. Education Images/Universal Image hide caption

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Education Images/Universal Image

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'On The Backs Of Tortoises' Challenges Us To Consider How Much Of Life Is Intertwined

November 1, 2019 • Nominally an environmental and social history of the Galápagos Islands, it lays bare the entangled issues confronting us as we attempt conservation efforts while facing a sweeping ecological crisis.

Monday October 28, 2019

Blending Memoir And Reporting, 'The In-Betweens' Exposes An Otherworldly Community

The In-Betweens: The Spiritualists, Mediums, and Legends of Camp Etna, by Mira Ptacin Liveright hide caption

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Liveright

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Blending Memoir And Reporting, 'The In-Betweens' Exposes An Otherworldly Community

October 28, 2019 • Mira Ptacin spends time at Camp Etna and finds herself believing, at least, in the ideals of Spiritualism — emphasizing kindness, the importance of intuition, and the power of the unseen.

Sunday October 20, 2019

In 'The Less People Know About Us' A Mysterious Identity Theft Hits Close To Home

The Less People Know About Us: A Mystery of Betrayal, Family Secrets, and Stolen Identity, Axton Betz-Hamilton Grand Central Publishing hide caption

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Grand Central Publishing

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In 'The Less People Know About Us' A Mysterious Identity Theft Hits Close To Home

October 20, 2019 • Axton Betz-Hamilton was 12 when her family's mail began disappearing. Her memoir details what follows and, when she discovers the culprit, the painful process of collecting the pieces of her past.

Friday October 18, 2019

Show People: A History of the Film Star, by Michael Newton Reaktion Books hide caption

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Reaktion Books

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Movies Cast A Spell In 'Show People'

October 18, 2019 • Author Michael Newton waxes rhapsodic in his new book about a century of acting, with a special fondness for performances about performance; it's taken for granted how much we love movies.

Wednesday August 21, 2019

'Floating Coast' Reads Like A Eulogy To The Natural World — With A Sliver Of Hope

Floating Coast: An Environmental History of the Bering Strait, by Bathsheba Demuth Patrick Jarenwattananon/NPR hide caption

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Patrick Jarenwattananon/NPR

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'Floating Coast' Reads Like A Eulogy To The Natural World — With A Sliver Of Hope

August 21, 2019 • The triumph of this book is how Bathsheba Demuth pulls seemingly disparate threads together into a net of actions and consequences from which the whales, the Yupik, and our children can't escape.

Wednesday June 19, 2019

'Reviving Ophelia,' Cultural Touchstone On Teen Girls, Updates After 25 Years

Reviving Ophelia has been updated by Mary Pipher and her daughter Sara 25 years after it was first published. Klaus Vedfelt/Getty Images hide caption

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Klaus Vedfelt/Getty Images

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'Reviving Ophelia,' Cultural Touchstone On Teen Girls, Updates After 25 Years

June 19, 2019 • The new edition is in some ways like the retelling of a familiar tale for a new generation; but parts of the discussion that the book first inspired have moved beyond what an update can encompass.

Thursday June 6, 2019

'The Plaza' Is A Nostalgic Look At The History Of New York's Most Famous Hotel

A file photo of The Plaza Hotel. George Marks/Getty Images hide caption

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George Marks/Getty Images

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'The Plaza' Is A Nostalgic Look At The History Of New York's Most Famous Hotel

June 6, 2019 • Julie Satow's book reads like the biography of a distant relative as much as the history of a landmark building; the author argues that no other building so directly reflects the city itself.

Friday April 19, 2019

'Ungovernable' Brings Up Grim Realities Of Victorian Child Rearing

Ungovernable: The Victorian Parent's Guide to Raising Flawless Children, by Therese Oneill NPR hide caption

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NPR

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'Ungovernable' Brings Up Grim Realities Of Victorian Child Rearing

April 19, 2019 • Therese Oneill's new book presents plenty of suitably eyebrow-raising excerpts, but amid the snark at parenthood past and present, there are some unavoidable issues that come at a fraught time.

Thursday April 11, 2019

Virginia Hall, The Subject Of 'A Woman Of No Importance,' Was Anything But

A Woman Of No Importance, by Sonia Purnell Viking hide caption

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Viking

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Virginia Hall, The Subject Of 'A Woman Of No Importance,' Was Anything But

April 11, 2019 • A very smooth read about a rocky life, Sonia Purnell's biography of the masterful WWII spy is a reminder of what can be done with a few brave people — and a little resistance.

Thursday March 21, 2019

Beth Novey/NPR

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'The True Queen' Casts A Pleasant Spell

March 21, 2019 • Zen Cho's followup to her Regency fantasy of manners Sorceror to the Crown builds solidly on the world she's invented, mixing historical froth with real substance.

Wednesday March 20, 2019

In 'Horizon,' Considering All That Is Connected

Horizon, by Barry Lopez Deckle Edge hide caption

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Deckle Edge

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In 'Horizon,' Considering All That Is Connected

March 20, 2019 • Barry Lopez's new book is a biography and a portrait of some of the world's most delicate places, but at heart it's a contemplation of the belief that the way forward is compassionately, and together.

Tuesday February 26, 2019

'The Raven Tower' Rises From Shakespearean Foundations

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'The Raven Tower' Rises From Shakespearean Foundations

February 26, 2019 • Ann Leckie's new fantasy novel is packed with family intrigue, throne-room maneuvering and nods to Hamlet in its story of a son who comes home to find his father missing and his uncle in power.

Friday December 7, 2018

'Mary Queen Of Scots' Is A Case Study On How Political, Human Narratives Get Crafted

Engraving from 1885 featuring Mary Queen of Scots who was the Queen of Scotland. She lived from 1542 until 1587. traveler1116/Getty Images hide caption

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traveler1116/Getty Images