The Typewriter and the Guillotine: An American Journalist, a German Serial Killer, and Paris on the Eve of WWII by Mark Braude (Grand Central Publishing). Reviewed by Bob Duffy. “Flanner is covering the spectacle onsite, following up on the assignment she’s had for at least part of Weidmann’s trial. In Braude’s retelling — beyond these climactic moments in the condemned man’s legal dénouement — there’s no evidence that the pair had ever crossed paths before then. So, the author appears to be using Flanner and Weidmann for counterpoint in a broader portrait of 1930s France, loosely interweaving their respective activities during the decade-and-a-half between Flanner’s arrival in Paris and the Nazis’ 1940 takeover of the country.”

The Wall Dancers: Searching for Freedom and Connection on the Chinese Internet by Yi-Ling Liu (Knopf). Reviewed by William Rice. “Liu seeks to add some illuminating grey to typical black-and-white Western thinking about China. Automatically labeling outspoken Chinese voices as either ‘dissident’ or ‘apologist,’ as belonging to a ‘victim’ or an ‘oppressor,’ she believes, fails to capture the nuanced lived experience of the speakers.”

Eleanor: A 200-Mile Walk in Search of England’s Lost Queen by Alice Loxton (Macmillan). Reviewed by Anne Cassidy. “Loxton pulls out all the stops to make history come alive, including by offering vivid descriptions, imaginary interviews, and lots of photos. (Not for nothing does she have over 3 million social-media followers.) But the history she presents is also meticulously researched and thoroughly inhabited. She takes a stone-carving class to enhance her appreciation of medieval masonry and checks in with a funeral director to understand the embalming techniques that made it possible for Eleanor’s body to withstand such a long journey.”

Heap Earth Upon It: A Novel by Chloe Michelle Howarth (Melville House). Reviewed by Madeleine de Visé. “The O’Learys have chosen Ballycrea seemingly at random, traveling away from their old home rather than toward a new one. As readers, we understand they are fleeing a tragic event that haunts their waking lives. Someone has died — a mysterious ‘you’ to whom each chapter is addressed, elegantly placing the novel in the second person. The mystery is such a slow burn that I didn’t realize it was unfolding until halfway through; until that point, I’d assumed this was a gothic love story. Frankly, I had to discover for myself how flawed these characters are in order to grasp that their relationships are far from romantic.”

The Revolutionists: The Story of the Extremists Who Hijacked the 1970s by Jason Burke (Knopf). Reviewed by C.B. Santore. “In the book, Burke unmasks the balaclava-clad individuals who perpetuated a spate of violence from 1967 to 1983. We learn about their backgrounds, see how they perceived the world, follow the paths they traveled, and hear about the people they met and how they learned from them. We find out where they trained and become acquainted with their likes and dislikes, even how they dressed.”

Don’t miss another excellent book review, author interview, or feature! Subscribe to our free newsletter and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, Bluesky, and LinkedIn. Advertise with us here.