Book Reviews

This month, our romance columnist Maya Rodale rounds up three historical novels featuring heroines on a mission — and love interests who'll stand up for them, no matter what troubles come.

Author Ariel Sabar explores the lives of Harvard's Karen King and of Walter Fritz, the porn producer who convinced her the papyrus fragment he gave her — "The Gospel of Jesus's Wife" — was genuine.

Alice Randall's innovative new novel chronicles the history of Black Detroit beyond Motown, and features a cast of real life artists, doctors, sports figures, activists and movers and shakers.

Before working in TV animation (Bojack Horseman, Tuca & Bertie), Lisa Hanawalt chronicled her obsessions in a funny, filthy minicomic series that's been reprinted — with a wry update.

Kids' books columnist Juanita Giles says message books are often nutritious and boring — but LeBron James's new I Promise combines beautiful art with real emotional impact that her kids loved.

M.T. Anderson's new graphic novel — with gorgeous art by Jo Rioux — adapts the old legend of the drowned city of Ys, giving it better, fuller female characters and a timely environmental message.

Marjoleine Kars recounts a tale of oppression, bloodshed, and some triumph in her previously untold account of the 1763-64 slave rebellion in Dutch Berbice, modern day Guyana.

Hill's election to Congress in 2018 seemed like a sign of progress. A year later, she resigned after admitting to an affair with a young staffer, documented by her husband, and leaked to the press.

Isabel Wilkerson's second book is a masterwork of writing — a profound achievement of scholarship and research that stands also as a triumph of both visceral storytelling and cogent analysis.

Linden A. Lewis's debut novel — first in a trilogy — mixes swashbuckling, social commentary and compelling queer characters in its tale of three warring factions in a spacefaring society.