Margaret Atwood’s new “Book of Lives” is subtitled “a memoir of sorts” — and in fact, it’s a venerable sort, a cradle-to-rocking-chair telling of a celebrated life.

Today, most books of this type are produced by movie stars or musicians, while literary memoirs tend to focus on one particularly dramatic or entertaining passage: ...Read more

Are dictionaries going the way of dodos, pocket calculators and civil discourse?

Some dictionaries are still printed but, increasingly, the reference books have moved online. And, as Stefan Fatsis describes it in “Unabridged” — his lively history of dictionaries that also looks at how they reflect and ratify changes in our language — ...Read more

Two new collections, “Night Watch” by Kevin Young and “Startlement: New and Selected Poems” by Ada Limón, showcase strikingly different voices in contemporary poetry.

Young, poetry editor for the New Yorker and former director of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, always surprises. His tone shifts ...Read more

Oliver Wang, a sociology professor and author at Cal State Long Beach, spent years griping to his friends about the lack of Asian American representation in Southern California’s car history.

“I was talking to an old friend,” Wang began during a recent Zoom interview. “And he said to me, ‘Oliver, you’ve been complaining that there�...Read more

The first step was easy.

A book editor, impressed by Jeff Chang‘s acclaimed 2005 cultural history of hip-hop, “Can’t Stop Won’t Stop,” asked if he’d consider writing a book on Bruce Lee, the martial arts icon and movie star.

The next 99 steps? Well, that’s something altogether different.

The editor who’d pitched the biography ...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- Dr. Roy Meals, a longtime hand surgeon, likes to move his feet. He has climbed mountains and he has run three marathons.

But when he shared his latest scheme with his wife a couple of years ago, she had a quick take.

"You're nuts," she said.

Maybe so. He was closing in on 80, and his plan was to grab his trekking poles and take...Read more

Here are the bestsellers for the week that ended Saturday, Oct. 25, compiled from data from independent and chain bookstores, book wholesalers and independent distributors nationwide, powered by Circana BookScan © 2025 Circana.

(Reprinted from Publishers Weekly, published by PWxyz LLC. © 2025, PWxyz LLC.)

HARDCOVER FICTION

1. "The Widow: A ...Read more

Bookstores and libraries will undergo big changes in November.

There are always new books hitting shelves, of course, but the first couple weeks of November are unusually jammed with big-name authors such as Patti Smith (the “Just Kids” writer has another memoir, “Bread of Angels”), Nate Berkus (the designer wrote “Foundations,” ...Read more

On a Friday evening in July 1925, about 30 people crowded into a basement on West 88th Street in Manhattan for a presentation by Mrs. Cecil Cook, a spirit medium.

A pan of water and two silver trumpets were placed on a table beside her. After collecting a $1 donation from each member of the audience and leading them in a hymn, Cook turned off ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Don’t even think about calling Ghostbusters.

Consumers have rarely been so eager to hang with supernatural spirits, as well as monsters, psychopaths, zombies and demons. Local experts think people turn to fake fears as an escape from mounting nightmares in real life.

“Horror is super hot right now,” said St. Paul-based ...Read more

How does one respond to grief? In Jade Chang’s sophomore novel, “What a Time to Be Alive,” the answer is, at least, creative: become an influencer and start paying off your student loans.

Lola Treasure Gold, Chang’s spirited protagonist, leads an unremarkable life. In her early 30s, Lola is saddled with debt and unresolved questions ...Read more

Would the “Golden Bachelor” who dumped Minneapolis fitness instructor Leslie Fhima on national TV do things differently, if he could do them over again? In a word: Yes.

“I have a couple regrets and, you being in Minneapolis, Leslie is top of mind in the things I regret, things I’d have done differently,” said Turner by phone in mid-...Read more

Reading “Bone Valley” is like devouring a novel from John Grisham, except every word is true.

A true crime page-turner, “Bone Valley” is by Gilbert King, who won a Pulitzer Prize for “Devil in the Grove,” about an early legal case in the career of future Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall. “Devil” is outstanding but “Bone...Read more

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Nearly 15 years ago, actor Charlie Sheen went on his “Torpedo of Truth” tour to tell the world what really happened after being fired from “Two and a Half Men,” but his substance abuse, not the truth, torpedoed that tour.

Now, after maintaining his sobriety since December 2017, Sheen is back on the road to once again...Read more

There are many books in the production offices of Judd Apatow — bookshelves full of books in rooms full of bookshelves. All sorts of books. Biographies, photo books, children's books, essays, stories. Has he read them? "So little," he says. "But as long you buy them, that's 90% of it. As long as I have a lot of books, I'm immortal — you can'...Read more

It’s dark outside, and teenager Casey Becker is home alone, making popcorn on the stove and preparing to pop a scary movie into the VCR while she waits for the arrival of her boyfriend, Steve.

The teen, portrayed by actress Drew Barrymore, picks up the phone and hears a deep, ominous voice on the other end.

It’s one of the most chilling ...Read more

A new expanded edition of Maia Kobabe's award-winning graphic memoir "Gender Queer" will be released next year.

Oni Press has announced that "Gender Queer: The Annotated Edition" will be available in May. The special hardcover edition of the seminal LGBTQ+ coming of age memoir includes commentary by Kobabe as well as other comic creators and ...Read more