‘The Great Oom’

John Schoenherr, Children’s Book Illustrator, Dies at 74

By MARGALIT FOX

A highly regarded nature artist, Mr. Schoenherr was a a Caldecott Medal-winning illustrator who painted images for more than 40 children’s titles.

Nina Bourne Is Dead at 93; Catapulted Sales of ‘Catch-22’

By WILLIAM GRIMES

Ms. Bourne was a poet whose punchy copy made many a best seller, including the “Eloise” books and “The Chosen.”

Books of The Times

‘Beatrice and Virgil’

By YANN MARTEL
Reviewed by MICHIKO KAKUTANI

Yann Martel’s misconceived and offensive new novel parses the tragic fate of its title characters, two animals in a taxidermy shop, “through the tragic fate of Jews.”

• Excerpt

Books of The Times

‘Oprah: A Biography’

By KITTY KELLEY
Reviewed by JANET MASLIN

Kitty Kelley’s biography of Oprah Winfrey relies on her own words, but not current ones.

Sunday Routine | Isabel Allende

Nurturing Her Family and Her Tribe

By TRACEY TAYLOR

Isabel Allende always begins writing a new book on Jan. 8, a tradition that began in 1981 with a letter she wrote to her dying grandfather that would become the groundwork for her first novel, “The House of Spirits.”

Books of The Times

‘Russia Against Napoleon’

By DOMINIC LIEVEN
Reviewed by JOHN STEELE GORDON

A history of the epic French invasion of Russia and Napoleon’s undoing, told from a distinctly Russian perspective.

• Excerpt

Visual Artists to Sue Google Over Vast Library Project

By MIGUEL HELFT

The class action lawsuit asserts that a planned digital library amounts to large-scale copyright infringement.

Theater Review | 'Bellona, Destroyer of Cities'

New Kid at Large on Urban Chessboard

By CLAUDIA LA ROCCO

“Bellona, Destroyer of Cities” is Jay Scheib’s adaptation of Samuel R. Delany’s science-fiction novel “Dhalgren,” about a ravaged, metaphorical city.

• Video

‘The Bridge’

By DAVID REMNICK
Reviewed by GARRY WILLS

This study of President Obama, by the editor of The New Yorker, has many additions and corrections to make to our reading of “Dreams From My Father.”

• Profile of David Remnick

‘A Ticket to the Circus: A Memoir’

By NORRIS CHURCH MAILER
Reviewed by JENNIFER SENIOR

Norris Church Mailer describes her life with Norman, and shows what kind of woman it took to subdue him, at least partly.

• Excerpt | Profile of Norris Church Mailer | Photos

‘Anthill’

By E. O. WILSON
Reviewed by BARBARA KINGSOLVER

In his first novel, the renowned biologist E. O. Wilson writes what he knows: an Alabama boy comes of age in the thrall of ants, nature and solitude, determined to save what he loves.

• Excerpt

‘Taming the Gods’

By IAN BURUMA
Reviewed by PETER BEINART

Ian Buruma analyzes the tension between religion and democracy in Europe, America, Japan and China.

‘Why Translation Matters’

By EDITH GROSSMAN
Reviewed by RICHARD HOWARD

How the communion of writer and translator bridges generations, cultures and languages.

• Paper Cuts Blog: Questions for Edith Grossman

‘The Solitude of Prime Numbers’

By PAOLO GIORDANO
Reviewed by LIESL SCHILLINGER

A novel about a broken mathematician and a scarred skier who are whole only when they are alone.

• Excerpt

‘Even the Dogs’

By JON McGREGOR
Reviewed by FLOYD SKLOOT

Jon McGregor’s experimental third novel probes the consequences of addiction.

‘All the Whiskey in Heaven: Selected Poems’

By CHARLES BERNSTEIN
Reviewed by DAISY FRIED

The first collection of Charles Bernstein’s poems not published by a university or independent press marks a consummate outsider’s admittance to the mainstream.

Fiction Chronicle

By CASEY CEP

Novels by Anastasia Hobbet, Lori Lansens, Michael Jaime-Becerra and Alex Berenson.