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Book Review

Highlights

  1. nonfiction

    Was Wallis Simpson Really a Sex-Crazed Spy?

    As Paul French argues in a new biography, the future Duchess of Windsor’s year in China was less lurid — and more interesting — than her critics knew.

     By

    The year the future Duchess of Windsor spent living in China would stoke rumors that dogged her all her life. Paul French puts a different spin on the events of 1927.
    The year the future Duchess of Windsor spent living in China would stoke rumors that dogged her all her life. Paul French puts a different spin on the events of 1927.
    CreditEverett/Shutterstock
    1. In Tumultuous Times, Readers Turn to ‘Healing Fiction’

      Cozy, whimsical novels — often featuring magical cats — that have long been popular in Japan and Korea are taking off globally. Fans say they offer comfort during a chaotic time.

       By

      Toshikazu Kawaguchi did not set out to write novels, but the success of his “Before the Coffee Gets Cold” series helped foster international interest for “healing fiction.”
      Toshikazu Kawaguchi did not set out to write novels, but the success of his “Before the Coffee Gets Cold” series helped foster international interest for “healing fiction.”
      CreditNoriko Hayashi for The New York Times
  1. She Inherited Her Family’s Mansion, the Site of Secret Traumas

    In “The Magnificent Ruins,” an Indian expatriate reunites with her estranged family after her grandfather unexpectedly made her heir to his estate.

     By

    Credit
    Fiction
  2. Dorothy Allison, Author of ‘Bastard Out of Carolina,’ Dies at 75

    She wrote lovingly and often hilariously about her harrowing childhood in a working-class Southern family, as well as about the violence and incest she suffered.

     By

    The author Dorothy Allison in 1989. She once described herself as a “cross-eyed, working-class lesbian addicted to violence, language and hope.”
    CreditJill Posener
  3. Read Your Way Through Shanghai

    Shanghai straddles the past and the future, a dizzying prism of many histories and cultures. The poet Sally Wen Mao shares books that illuminate this cosmopolitan city.

     By

    CreditRaphaelle Macaron
  4. What It’s Like to Write a New John le Carré Novel

    Nick Harkaway is an accomplished author who also happens to be le Carré’s son. In his latest book, “Karla’s Choice,” he revisits his father’s great spy protagonist, George Smiley.

     

    CreditIllustration by The New York Times: Photo: via Viking
    The Book Review Podcast
  5. How Does It Feel to Turn 100? Ask Winnie-the-Pooh

    An imagined chat with Pooh commemorates the 100th anniversary of A.A. Milne’s “When We Were Very Young.”

     By

    From “When We Were Very Young.”
    CreditErnest H. Shepard
    Children’s Books

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Books of the Times

More in Books of the Times ›
  1. The Early Loves of Oliver Sacks: Medicine, Muscles and Motorbikes

    A new collection of personal letters tracks the neurologist’s raucous self-discovery and venerable career.

     By

    Oliver Sacks received thousands of letters a year from readers. He felt compelled to reply to each one.
    CreditSara Krulwich/The New York Times
  2. Where’s Johnny? The Biography of a TV Host Whose Life Was a Closed Book.

    Johnny Carson dominated late-night television for decades, but closely guarded his privacy. Bill Zehme’s biography, “Carson the Magnificent,” tries to break through.

     By

    Johnny Carson and company. Top row, from left: Phyllis Diller around 1970; Joe Namath in 1978; Steve Martin in 1975. Middle row: David Letterman in 1991; Teri Garr in 1984; Madonna in 1987. Bottom row: Mayor John V. Lindsay in 1966; Ed McMahon (undated); Mama Cass Elliot in 1970.
    CreditNBC, via Getty Images; bottom left: Don Hogan Charles/The New York Times
  3. Piet Mondrian: An Orderly Painter, a Deeply Eccentric Man

    A new biography of one of the quintessential artists of the 20th century.

     By

    Interest in the artist Piet Mondrian’s work shows no sign of waning.
    CreditUllstein Bild via Getty Images
  4. How the Sound of Music Can Be Healing. Literally.

    Three new books make the case for music as medicine. In “The Schubert Treatment,” the most lyrical of the trio, a cellist takes us bedside with the sick and the dying.

     By

    Claire Oppert, the author of “The Schubert Treatment,” playing for a patient in the intensive care unit of a French hospital.
    CreditAlain Jocard/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
  5. In This Biography, Mitch McConnell Hates Trump but Loves Power More

    “The Price of Power,” by Michael Tackett, reveals a legislator for whom political survival has been a top priority — even when it means supporting a “sleazeball” for the presidency.

     By

    Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell at the U.S. Capitol in September 2023.
    CreditKenny Holston/The New York Times
  1. nonfiction

    Was Wallis Simpson Really a Sex-Crazed Spy?

    As Paul French argues in a new biography, the future Duchess of Windsor’s year in China was less lurid — and more interesting — than her critics knew.

    By Thessaly La Force

     
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  9. Read Your Way Through Shanghai

    Shanghai straddles the past and the future, a dizzying prism of many histories and cultures. The poet Sally Wen Mao shares books that illuminate this cosmopolitan city.

    By Sally Wen Mao

     
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