Book Reviews

Ayşe Papatya Bucak's debut collection is full of musical, lyrical stories that occupy a dreamscape of Turkish culture, art history and surprise encounters between humans, ghosts and djinns.

Ian Urbina combines stellar investigative reporting skills and straightforward writing to convey what lies on the other side of the ocean — opposite cruise-ship vacations to beautiful beaches.

The triumph of this book is how Bathsheba Demuth pulls seemingly disparate threads together into a net of actions and consequences from which the whales, the Yupik, and our children can't escape.

With her well-researched, beautifully written book, Rachel Monroe addresses the desire to consume stories of murder and mayhem — and what it reflects about us and the world around us.

Laura Lippman's Lady in the Lake recollects Raymond Chandler's fourth Philip Marlowe novel and Ruth Ware's The Turn of the Key recalls Henry James' The Turn of the Screw. Happily, they both live up.

It's too hot to go outside, so stay put under the air conditioner with our August romance selections — three novels that prove love and happiness are out there, if you're willing to fight for them.

What happens when one person controls the fate of many? Ghastly experiments like the one Alix Nathan lays out in her new novel, about a country gentleman who aspires to scientific prominence.

Tupelo Hassman's novel about a group of teenagers at loose ends in a tiny town run by Christian fundamentalists has some dark moments, but ultimately it's as heartwarming as it is beautifully written.

Chris L. Terry draws on his own experiences for this story about an unnamed biracial man whose attempts to hold on to both his white and black identities (and his gig in a punk band) cause a crisis.