Books

The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World (12 hours) begins with a perilous escape attempt from Auschwitz and expands into a larger story about Rudolf Vrba, one of the first Jewish people to escape from the notorious concentration camp.  British author Jonathan Freedland (known for both his thrillers

Whether we’re consciously aware of it, most of us have some sort of bookish goals and/or habit. These can range from wanting to read more, to read more diversely, or finally start trying to make a dent in an established TBR pile. Whatever the goals are, they’re there. I know I’ve mentioned some of mine

If anyone needs a course in anger management it’s Frankie Morgan, the main character in Canadian author Hannah Mary McKinnon’s latest standalone thriller. Frankie’s trigger temper has been causing her problems both personally and professionally, and anger is one of the main themes of The Revenge List. The novel may be set in Portland, Maine

For My First Popsicle: An Anthology of Food and Feelings (7 hours), actor Zosia Mamet (“Girls,” “The Flight Attendant”) has gathered a who’s-who of creative folks, including fellow actors like Busy Philipps, musicians like Patti Smith, writers like David Sedaris and chefs like Kwame Onwuachi. Each contributed an essay about food or a food-related memory,

I’m a fierce defender of the idea that books don’t have to be hard to be good. I understand writers might prefer to take a deep literary approach when working on their manuscripts, but being hard to read doesn’t always reflect a more meaningful work of literature or worthy read. In certain circumstances, especially in

It’s pure madness that people are still moving to picturesque country villages in search of rest and relaxation when they or someone they know is far more likely to be murdered and/or accused of murder. At least, that’s what cosy crime fiction will lead you to believe. For her part, Tess Feather is clearly no

There’s wit, honesty and insight in Madly, Deeply (19.5 hours), a collection of Alan Rickman’s succinct yet keenly observant diary entries spanning 1993 to 2015. The late actor’s journals reveal a palpable lack of pretentiousness and a go-with-the-flow attitude (even after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer), as well as a compelling contrast between his two

The book lovers of Southern noir have been waiting for arrives in two weeks! We think All the Sinners Bleed by SA Cosby is going to storm up the bestseller lists in both the UK and the US, and everywhere else too. That’s our lead title in today’s column but if it’s not your thing

The Washington Post released their analysis of book challenges they had obtained from PEN America researcher Tasslyn Magnusson. These 1,065 challenges, which were filed during the 2021-2022 school year, extended over 153 school districts and 37 states, and totaled 2,506 pages. They also tended to target books with similar content, specifically LGBTQ+ topics. While a

Detective Inspector Strafford and Doctor Quirke return in The Lock-Up, the third instalment of John Banville’s crime duo series. The story picks up where April in Spain finished and deals with the murder of a young Jewish woman, Rosa Jacobs, in Dublin in the 1950s. The 27-year-old postgraduate history student is discovered dead in one

One moment married couple Nicole and Tom Booth are living the good life, free from the cares of the world – wealthy, happy and living in a dream home. The next, Tom is dead and it’s no accident. This is murder and it’s the crime that propels English author Gilly Macmillan‘s eighth thriller, The Fall,

The tag ‘psychological thriller’ is loosely attached to so many crime novels these days, but Elle Marr is an American author who really does delve deeply into the psychology of her characters and how it affects their behaviour. This could be one of the reasons her books have become Amazon bestsellers. In March 2023, her

Horace Manning is a sinister madman. He is also a scientific genius. This combination of characteristics provides an indication of danger from the outset of Billie Houston’s Twice Round the Clock, although surprisingly, despite an atmosphere of evil hanging around him like a fog of stale tobacco smoke, Manning turns out to be the victim

When I realized my childhood Barnes & Noble was closing, I was devastated. I’m an indie bookstore lover, but growing up, there were no indie bookstores in my town: only one gorgeous, cozy Barnes & Noble. We went to book clubs there as kids, met there as teens basically every Friday night, studied for the

The new historical mystery The Tumbling Girl by Bridget Walsh blends murderous deeds with a healthy dose of romance between an unlikely pair of investigators. Set in the Victorian era, Walsh’s novel effectively evokes the sights, smells and sounds of 1870s London, while believably capturing the social class distinctions of the day. Minnie Ward is

The Color Purple by Alice Walker was published in 1982, winning the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction for that year. In 1985, it was adapted into a movie starring Whoopi Goldberg directed by Steven Spielberg. In 2005, it was also adapted into a musical. The 2015-2017 revival won a

Translated by Megan E Turney — From Ruth Galloway to Eve Ronin, if there’s one thing readers can’t complain about in recent years it’s a lack of strong female protagonists in crime novels. Now, debut Danish author Jenny Lund Madsen introduces Hannah Krause-Bendix, who is perhaps more she-devil than shero. Hannah is a Copenhagen-based literary

Separated from the US mainland by thousands of miles of ocean, and with its own identity and culture, the state of Hawai’i is an intriguing setting for crime novels. It can be a wild and mysterious place, isolated and with ancient myths and legends. A former lawyer, Robert McCaw is a crime author who is

Looking for the perfect reading program for the kids in your life? Want to feel a wave of nostalgia as you do? Then look no further than the Pizza Hut BOOK IT! Program, now enrolling for both Camp BOOK IT! and the 2023-2024 school year. The programs are free to join. Camp BOOK IT! is

Why do I pay attention to AAPI Heritage Month? As a school librarian, I spend a lot of time thinking about the diversity of my collection. I’m a white woman working in a school where white kids are a slight minority. I know that my ingrained racism keeps me from selecting books that are appropriate

Steadily, quietly, with the stealth of an MI5 agent, you could say, James Wolff has been building his reputation as a creator of spy stories that are grounded and intelligent, with a little wit and quite a bit of compassion too. How does espionage – normally regarded as another world by most of us –

The publishing industry has shaken off its pandemic slumber and this summer is going to be hot for crime fiction readers. There are so many strong late-May releases that we couldn’t keep our selection down to five and so this week our news column brings you eight new titles to choose from. They include two

From Scooby Doo to Sherlock Hound, Kommissar Rex to The Littlest Hobo, canines are no strangers to the fictional crime-solving business. It’s no surprise really, given dogs’ uncanny ability to sniff their way into trouble at every turn, and it’s equally unsurprising that a number of the delightful floof balls are now taking the cosy

This Is the First Book I Will Read to You Start off on the proverbial right foot with This Is the First Book I Will Read to You, in which a father celebrates the joys of reading with his newborn child. “I’ll be nervous,” he admits, “to share this moment that only you and I

A couple of weeks back, I shared a roundup of pending legislation across several states and at the national level which would ensure the right to read. There is another bill worth highlighting during this legislative session that is making positive progress in Connecticut. Senate Bill 2, called the Act Concerning the Mental, Physical, and

Sister of Mine is a psychological thriller that explores the relationship between Hattie and Penny Grayson – sisters whose bond will be tested to the limit by the threat of having their deepest, darkest secret exposed. This is Petrou’s debut novel, first published by No Exit Press in 2019 and now reissued by Verve Books

The Killers of the Flower Moon trailer was released today. Martin Scorsese’s highly anticipated new movie is based on the book by the same name that shows how the Osage Nation — who were the richest people per capita in the world in the ’20s — were slowly killed off. Leonardo DiCaprio plays Ernest Burkhart,

James Wolff writes a different kind of spy novel. His British intelligence agents are renegades. Jonas Worth and August Drummond, the protagonists of Beside the Syrian Sea and How to Betray Your Country, respectively, both found themselves at odds with their bureaucracies. Wolff’s storytelling skills are such that you adopt these oddball characters and want