Recent Reviews

Book World: Okey Ndibe’s ‘Foreign Gods, Inc.’

A cabdriver’s plot to steal a wooden idol is the focus of this novel of cultural insight and absurd comedy.

Why a man can be struck by lightning seven times

David J. Hand asks why we tend to underestimate high probabilities and overestimate low ones

George Kennan, Mr. Containment, in his own words

‘The Kennan Diaries’ reveals the self-doubts and contrarian opinions of the preeminent Cold War thinker.

The Russian murder that inspired a Pulitzer-winning novel

‘A Child of Christian Blood’ is about Mendel Beilis, whose trial inspired Bernard Malamud’s ‘The Fixer.’

Humans: destined for extinction by our own actions

Elizabeth Kolbert argues that unless humans change their ways, they will certainly cause their own demise.

The importance of everyday economic statistics

Two books look at economic indicators and how they influence the world.

Book World: Saul Austerlitz’s serious but fun ‘Sitcom’

The book provides historical and artistic context while capturing the joy of a given TV sitcom series.

I still miss my typewriter

February is Typewriter Appreciation Month

Fiction: ‘The Ghost of the Mary Celeste,’ by Valerie Martin

In 1872, a merchant ship was found abandoned at sea with no sign of struggle — then the legends began.

Expanding human survival against fatal odds

Kevin Fong’s “Extreme Medicine” explores the innovation and improvisation that keep people alive.

Need short stories? There’s an app for that.

Connu presents unknown authors recommended by famous ones.

Baltimore Children’s Bookstore wins grant from James Patterson

The bestselling novelist is giving away $1 million to support indies around the country.

Why Shakespeare WAS Shakespeare

A renowned scholar goes once more unto the breach.

‘Inside a Pearl: My Years in Paris,’ by Edmund White

A gossipy, celebrity-packed memoir about the writer’s years in France.

Mavis Gallant, short story writer, dies at 91

Canadian-born writer who lived in Paris mastered the short story.

‘A Burnable Book,’ by Bruce Holsinger

REVIEW | Geoffrey Chaucer is snared in a deadly plot against the king in a complicated historical thriller.

Fiction: ‘Mercy Snow,’ by Tiffany Baker

A deadly bus accident shatters a small New Hampshire town and leaves a horrible mystery.

Fiction: ‘A Highly Unlikely Scenario,’ by Rachel Cantor

Cantor’s dizzying fabulist debut brings to mind late Pynchon and early Firesign Theater.

New literary prize in honor of late Politics & Prose Bookstore co-owner

Washington Post writer David Finkel and novelist Anthony Marra are first winners of $5,000 awards.

BookAwardz app keeps your eye on the prize

A handy list of major literary prize winners to store on your iPhone.

Fiction: ‘The Secret of Raven Point,’ by Jennifer Vanderbes

When a girl’s brother goes missing in WWII, she enlists as a nurse to track him down.

Chris Bohjalian to help Howard Country Library raise the stacks

Fundraiser on Feb. 22 expected to collect $100,000.

‘The Girl With a Clock for a Heart,’ by Peter Swanson

Tale of a femme fatale’s bottomless deceit is a strong contender for crime fiction’s best first novel of 2014.

Two Va. professors nominated for Washington Book Prize

Two U.Va professors are among three finalists for one of the country’s most lucrative literary prizes.

One more reason to pity billionaire Tom Perkins

“Sex and the Single Zillionaire” is 99 percent boring.

Two Univ. of Virginia professors among finalists for the George Washington Book Prize

$50,000 award recognizes best work of early American history.

Simon Schama to be next guest at Hay-Adams Author Series on March 27

Washington’s most elegant literary salon.

How far are Americans willing to go to assert U.S. power?

Stephen Sestanovich discusses the U.S. tendency to assert power and pull back when the costs rise.

Concluding volume of magisterial trilogy on slavery

‘The Problem of Slavery in the Age of Emancipation’ asks what does it mean to dehumanize a human being?

The railroads that created the modern world

In “Train,” Tom Zoellner explores railways around the world, from Siberia to the Andes.

The recollections of one of the world’s great authors

In her third memoir, Penelope Lively explores memory, ‘the vapor trail without which we are undone’

Battling a physical disability with wit and tenacity

Eileen Cronin was born without legs. ‘Mermaid’ chronicles her complex personal journey

The political culture of pre-Civil War Washington

‘Washington Brotherhood’ describes the political and social life of the capital on the eve of the Civil War

Book World: ‘Roadshow!’ by Matthew Kennedy

Matthew Kennedy examines why film musicals hit a sour note in 1960s.

5 bookstores recommend 5 titles for Valentine’s Day

Looking for love between the covers -- of a book.

The man behind the NSA leaks

Luke Harding captures the drama of Edward Snowden’s deeds.

Thriller: ‘Ripper,’ by Isabel Allende

Allende sends up the mystery tradition as much as she stakes her claim to it.

The defiance of Russia’s Pussy Riot

Masha Gessen’s “Words Will Break Cement” explores the origins and goals of the punk art collective.

Tasty Valentine’s Day specials at Kramerbooks

New entries and desserts at the bookstore’s Afterwords cafe

Avoid this man on Valentine’s Day

Adelle Waldman shows us Nathaniel P. in action on Feb. 14.

Washington Post Bestsellers Feb. 23

The books Washington has been reading.

Washington: From cover to cover

Washington: From cover to cover

From novels to history to cooking and ghost stories, Post editors and critics offer introduction to capital.

Ron Charles

Ron Charles

‘A Burnable Book,’ by Bruce Holsinger

REVIEW | Geoffrey Chaucer is snared in a deadly plot against the king in a complicated historical thriller.

Ron Charles

Ron Charles

Two Va. professors nominated for Washington Book Prize

Two U.Va professors are among three finalists for one of the country’s most lucrative literary prizes.

Ron Charles

Ron Charles

Fiction: ‘The Book of Jonah,’ by Joshua Max Feldman

What could be more disruptive for a hot-shot corporate lawyer than getting a message from God?

Michael Dirda

Michael Dirda

‘Inside a Pearl: My Years in Paris,’ by Edmund White

A gossipy, celebrity-packed memoir about the writer’s years in France.

Michael Dirda

Michael Dirda

Fiction: ‘Marry Me,’ by Dan Rhodes

Super-short stories of love gone hilariously wrong.

Michael Dirda

Michael Dirda

‘The Lost Region,’ by Jon K. Lauck

A historian’s heartfelt defense of the heartland.

Jonathan Yardley

Jonathan Yardley

The Russian murder that inspired a Pulitzer-winning novel

‘A Child of Christian Blood’ is about Mendel Beilis, whose trial inspired Bernard Malamud’s ‘The Fixer.’

Jonathan Yardley

Jonathan Yardley

The railroads that created the modern world

In “Train,” Tom Zoellner explores railways around the world, from Siberia to the Andes.

Jonathan Yardley

Jonathan Yardley

Laura Lippman’s ‘After I’m Gone’

A Baltimore gambling kingpin disappears and the five women he left behind grieve.

Literary Calendar

Going Out Guide: Upcoming events

Going Out Guide: Upcoming events

Get the latest on readings, signings and author appearances in the D.C. area.