Book News
Literature Lives in Lightness

Times like these remind us how glad we are to be independent.

Beyond The Book
Our 7 Most Favorable Reviews in January 2026

We came, we read, we gushed.

    Black Dahlia: Murder, Monsters, and Madness in Midcentury Hollywood

    Book Review

    Black Dahlia: Murder, Monsters, and Madness in Midcentury Hollywood

    By William J. Mann

    A stellar recounting of the grisly, 80-year-old cold case.

    Podcast

    Podcast: Philip Taubman

    An occasional series in which writers speak for themselves.

    Washington, DC

    Book Review

    The Final Score

    By Don Winslow

    The Final Score

    The expert crime writer offers six riveting, not-quite-novella-length tales.

    Beyond The Book

    Our 5 Most Popular Posts: January 2026

    We love every piece we run. There are no winners or losers. But all kidding aside, here are January’s winners.

    Book Review

    The Oak and the Larch: A Forest History of Russia and Its Empires

    How the country’s relationship to its trees shaped its place in the world.

    Book Review

    One Aladdin Two Lamps

    By Jeanette Winterson

    One Aladdin Two Lamps

    A mesmerizing treatise on better living inspired by an ancient Arabic tale.

    Book Review

    Righteous Strife

    By Richard Carwardine

    Righteous Strife

    Was Abe’s spiritual transformation an honest one?