How a mysterious illness broke apart a family
In “Forces of Nature,” Gina DeMillo Wagner writes about growing up in the shadow of her brother’s illness.
By Courtney Tenz
For adventure fans, a rollicking true tale on the high seas
Set in the 19th-century Falkland Islands, “Left for Dead” recounts a fateful encounter between an American vessel, a shipwrecked British brig and a British warship.
By Dennis Drabelle
Cancer stalked his family. It took years to find the culprit.
In “A Fatal Inheritance,” Lawrence Ingrassia weaves together personal history and scientific discovery.
By Laurie McGinley
How ‘Scarface’ started slow but conquered the world
In “The World Is Yours,” critic Glenn Kenny writes about the making of a remake starring Al Pacino.
By Philip Booth
A Black conservative reflects on his past, shocking behavior and all
In “Late Admissions,” the economist, social critic and podcast host Glenn Loury recounts his eminent career and his ideological journeys.
By John McMillian
Kristi Noem’s dog killing is pure Southern gothic
A literary critic’s take on the South Dakota governor’s memoir, “No Going Back.”
By Ron Charles
Vietnam tore two families apart. This fast-paced narrative explores why.
In “Diplomats at War,” Charles Trueheart delves into the story of his father and godfather — diplomats and friends who parted ways after a fateful policy decision.
By Andrew Meier
Doris Kearns Goodwin’s up-close view of JFK and LBJ
In “An Unfinished Love Story,” Goodwin writes about her marriage to Richard Goodwin and the couple’s prolonged debate about the legacies of LBJ and JFK.
By Charles Kaiser
Punk pioneer Kathleen Hanna recalls the dark side of the music scene
“Rebel Girl,” the new memoir by the Bikini Kill frontwoman and reluctant leader of the Riot Grrrl movement, is stoic and empathetic in equal measure.
By Allison Stewart
Joseph Epstein, conservative provocateur, tells his life story in full
In two new books, the longtime essayist and culture warrior shows off his wry observations about himself and the world
By Michael Dirda
A writer explores the complexities of her interracial relationship
Nina Sharma contemplates the power of Black and Brown love in her essay collection “The Way You Make Me Feel.”
By Meena Venkataramanan
Tell us, Tom Selleck: Who are you, really?
The 79-year-old actor opens up — kind of — in his memoir, “You Never Know.”
By Sibbie O'Sullivan
Why we can’t manage to work for less than 40 hours a week
Historian Gary S. Cross explores how leisure gave shape to the way we labor in “Free Time: The History of an Elusive Ideal.”
By Brian O'Connor
What the final trials of Nazis teach us about guilt and memory
In “Final Verdict,” Tobias Buck examines how thinking has evolved about who was culpable — in both the moral and legal sense — for the Holocaust.
By Emily Tamkin
A deep dive into one of science’s great unknowns: Extraterrestrial life
Lisa Kaltenegger’s “Alien Earths” describes intriguing and potentially habitable worlds that have only recently been discovered around distant stars.
By Joel Achenbach
Brittney Griner’s ordeal riveted the nation. Now she tells her own story.
The WNBA star’s book, ‘Coming Home,’ delves into the dehumanizing indignities she suffered after being arrested in Russia and held prisoner for 10 months.
By Frances Stead Sellers
Nellie Bowles thinks you should outgrow progressivism
In ‘Morning After the Revolution,’ the former New York Times reporter takes aim at the supposed excesses of today’s left
By Becca Rothfeld
For better and worse, two 18th-century scientists shaped how we see nature
“Every Living Thing,” by Jason Roberts, explains and evaluates the work of the 18th-century biologists Carl Linnaeus and Comte de Buffon.
By Michael Dirda
John James Audubon was flawed. Should he get credit for his good work?
A new book, “The Birds That Audubon Missed” by Kenn Kaufman, delves into the controversies dividing the birding world.
By Christian Cooper
Do you worry that you worry too much? Don’t, you’re just human.
In his new book, Samir Chopra says that anxiety is a way of honoring who and what we are
By Becca Rothfeld