Recent Reviews
‘The Start of Everything,’ by Emily Winslow
Three detectives struggle to solve the murder of a young woman in England.
Novelist as pen pal
“Selected Letters of William Styron” is full of literary gossip and stylish prose.
King Arthur returns, in strange literary guises
The legendary monarch resurfaces in an exceedingly dry literary thriller and a gory poem.
More adventures from Alexander McCall Smith
In “Unusual Uses for Olive Oil,” Professor Dr. Dr. Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld returns.
‘Navigating Early,’ by Clare Vanderpool
A wilderness journey becomes a way through guilt and grief, too.
A complicated trip but worthwhile trip
REVIEW | In Will Self’s nonlinear “Umbrella,” a comatose woman is revived 50 years after World War I.
A crime-solving Greek god
The latest in Anne Zouroudi’s Greek mystery series finds Hermes confronting a case of violent envy.
‘The Last Empress’ leads readers on shrouded paths of old China
Da Chen’s new novel ventures into the sexual depravity of the Imperial Court in late 19th-century China.
Poet explores a stark, lonely universe
REVIEW | Covering a half century, Louise Gluck’s new book contains poetry from 11 of her collections.
A tale of two fathers
Robert Gottlieb’s “Great Expectations: The Sons and Daughters of Charles Dickens.”
‘A Possible Life,’ by Sebastian Faulks
Ron Charles reviewed five powerful stories from the 19th through 21st centuries.
‘Friendkeeping’: A perfect gift for women under 45
This “field guide to the people you love, hate and can’t live without” deals only with the first half of life.
‘Stalin’s Barber’ cuts close to madness
In Paul M. Levitt’s irreverent epic, a decent man only wants to give a good shave, but could he murder Stalin?
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Mo Yan, China’s new Nobel laureate, publishes meaty new novel
“POW!” is a vibrant, funny story about those who eat meat and those who don’t.
The desert and the oasis
“In the House of the Interpreter” is the second volume of Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s memoir of his life in Kenya.
Sunday reviews
“The Girl Who Fell to Earth”
Sophia al-Maria describes growing up with a Muslim father and a Rockette mother
Seeing what isn’t there
In “Hallucinations,” Oliver Sacks reveals the experiences and causes of hallucinatory moments.
Do animals talk?
In “Chasing Doctor Dolittle,” Con Slobodchikoff argues that animals talk to each other and to us.
Staggering out of World War II and into the Cold War
In “Six Months in 1945,” Michael Dobbs charts the crumbling relations between the U.S. and Soviet Union
Out of the closet, entering the unkown
In “Oddly Normal” John Schwartz comes to grips with his teenage son’s sexuality.
Movies, magic and family
In “The Entertainer,” Margaret Talbot recalls her father, Lyle, a forgotten actor of cinema’s golden age.
Elusive and legendary Apache leader
In “Geronimo,” Robert M. Ultey pieces together the exploits of the brutal and devious war leader.
The movie buff’s guide to movies
REVIEW | In The Big Screen,” film critic David Thomson watches the movies from their rise to corrosion.
The Jews who avoided the concentration camps
In “Isaac’s Army” Matthew Brzezinski uncovers stories of Jews who resisted in the Warsaw Ghetto.
History’s most versatile instrument
In “The Violin,” David Schoenbaum has written a grand, epical survey of the instrument.
The most perilous year of the Civil War
In “Rise to Greatness,” David Von Drehle tells a gripping tale of Lincoln’s challenges in 1862.
Portraits of Jewish sports figures
David Remnick, Steven Pinker and others give their take on 50 Jewish sports figures
Why did James Joyce go nearly blind and Emily Bronte stick to routines?
In “Shakespeare’s Tremor and Orwell’s Cought, John Ross explains famous writers’ maladies.
Frontier justice in 20th Century Virginia
“Shotgun Justice” follows Virginia lawman Crandal Mackey’s campaign to clean up old time Alexandria
Adventures in America’s family farms
In “Harvest” Richard Horan works on 10 farms from Maine to California and paints modern agrarian life.
Washington Post Bestsellers Dec. 30
The books Washington has been reading
Ron Charles
King Arthur returns, in strange literary guises
The legendary monarch resurfaces in an exceedingly dry literary thriller and a gory poem.
Ron Charles
‘A Possible Life,’ by Sebastian Faulks
Ron Charles reviewed five powerful stories from the 19th through 21st centuries.
Ron Charles
Oprah’s latest pick is ‘The Twelve Tribes of Hattie,’ by Ayana Mathis
A moving debut novel about a struggling mother and her family in Philadelphia.
Michael Dirda
Novelist as pen pal
“Selected Letters of William Styron” is full of literary gossip and stylish prose.
Michael Dirda
A tale of two fathers
Robert Gottlieb’s “Great Expectations: The Sons and Daughters of Charles Dickens.”
Michael Dirda
“The Fairies Return”
The collection, originally published in 1934, offers reimagined versions of 14 famous fairy tales.
Jonathan Yardley
The best books of the year
Washington Post book critic Jonathan Yardley gives his best reads of the year.
Jonathan Yardley
“A Wicked War”
Amy S. Greenberg examines how the Mexican War altered the livesof Henry Clay, James K. Polk and Abraham Lincoln
Literary Calendar
Going Out Guide: Upcoming events
Get the latest on readings, signings and author appearances in the D.C. area.
Best books of 2011
Elsewhere in Entertainment
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