News & Reviews

A tender love story and meditation on Blackness and masculinity set in contemporary London. Told in the second person with a lyrical prose that reads like water, Nelson questions what it means to be

I LOVED this book — funny, smart, and strangely moving. Set in ancient Syracuse but written with a modern, Irish street wit, it follows two unemployed potters who decide to put on a Greek

Hard New World: Our Post-American Future; Quarterly Essay 98 by Hugh White Generally speaking Americans no longer want to bear the economic costs of being the world’s policeman, believing their security is not at

Daughters of the Bamboo Grove: From China to America, A True Story of Abduction, Adoption and Separated Twins. A tour de force, in writing and reporting. As part of China’s one-child policy, a baby

The Director by Daniel Kehlmann Daniel Kehlmann’s historical fiction novel, The Director, delves into the life of legendary filmmaker G.W. Pabst. Known for his socially conscious and sexually frank silent movies, Pabst directed Greta

  Our Book of the Month is A Beautiful Family by Jennifer Trevelyn. It’s a sensational debut, completely absorbing. “I’ve been telling everyone: You simply must read it. . .it is that good,” says Literary Critic Caroline

Culture | Forged in blood The friendship of a Chilean dictator and a Nazi war criminal Philippe Sands traces the connections between Augusto Pinochet and Walter Rauff in his new book Sitting, not in

Peter Craven, The Weekend Australian. 17 May 2025 It’s five years since I reviewed Philippe Sands’s The Ratline but it stays in the mind as few books can. It’s the story of Otto von

Dear Newsletter Reader, Thank you for voting for your favourite book from our First Quarter Bestsellers. By clicking on the book of your choice in our Newsletter you have generated one vote for that

Dear Members of Ray’s Unofficial Book Club, Greetings from New York. I know you want an analysis of how the Trump world looks up close. Let me just say that in a recent NYT

We are delighted to be part of Book People. © Nielsen BookScan for the week ending April 19, 2025 Sunrise on the Reaping (The Hunger Games) Collins,Suzanne 2. The Let Them Theory Mel Robbins

We are delighted to be a part of the inaugural Global Book Crawl – a worldwide event for booklovers to support and celebrate their independent bookstores! There are a great prizes and beautiful totes

  “A personal memoir, a piece of historical detective work and a gripping courtroom drama unite in 38 Londres Street” Renowned author and lawyer Philippe Sands joins us from the UK, discussing a shocking

A talented seamstress weaves her way through the social (& gender) divides of 1900’s Italy. Pitzorno is a prolific fiction writer in her homeland, & this easy novel reads like a short story collection,

Isobel, a privileged property development heiress, couldn’t have less in common with Meg, a desperate, down on her luck journalist, but a well timed, mysteriously gifted DNA test could change all that. A classic

A rich, delightful thriller, another Emma Donoghue gem. Read the right clock at the station, set at different times, to get on board the Paris Express at the end of the 19th Century. Meet

MAY BOOK OF THE MONTH A small book, intensely descriptive and beautifully researched.  It will shock when we finally realise we are so teeny-tiny, living on an incredible planet in the infinite vastness of

A beautifully crafted historical novel that transports readers to 17th-century Venice. Orsola, a young woman defies convention to carve out her place in a male-dominated world. Immersive and rich in detail. — Julia

38 Londres Street — in pursuit of Pinochet and a Nazi war criminal Philippe Sands tells the story of his part in attempts to extradite the Chilean dictator and trace his ties to an

The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins and Sawyer Robbins Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy Quarterly Essay 97: Losing It: Can We Stop Violence Against Women and Children? Orbital by Samantha Harvey Memorial