Recent Reviews
Fiction: ‘Hild,’ by Nicola Griffith
A new novel with a title character based on St. Hilda of Whitby introduces a new sort of female hero.
Lincoln: foreign-policy president
Kevin Peraino argues that Lincoln is one of America’s great foreign policy presidents
The complicated role of contractors in U.S. wars
‘Civilian Warriors’ is Erik Prince’s account of the rise, fall and resurrection of Blackwater USA
Born to be bad or good?
In ‘Just Babies’ psychologist Paul Bloom examines whether babies know good from evil
‘The Art of Rube Goldberg,’ selected by Jennifer George
The great artist’s work from his high school newspaper to his Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoons.
Nonfiction: ‘The Cool School,’ edited by Glenn O’Brien
A new anthology from the Library of America explores the slippery concept of coolness.
‘Tennyson: To Strive, To Seek, To Find,’ by John Batchelor
Admirers of the great poet’s words will enjoy learning more about his work and his world.
Poetry: ‘Go giants’ by Nick Laird
Laird is part of the younger generation of Irish poets reviving traditional forms.
Book World: ‘The Empty Chair’ and ‘Vatican Waltz’
Bruce Wagner and Roland Merullo present two very different novels on the challenges of spiritual devotion.
Fay Weldon remembers life upstairs and downstairs
With “The New Countess,” she completes a trilogy set at the opening of the 20th century.
Partly to mostly funny: interview with author of new weather joke book
Where do meteorologists go for happy hour? The IsoBar! Learn about a new compilation of jokes about the weather...
Biography: ‘Bach,’ by John Eliot Gardiner
REVIEW: Does a listener need to share Bach’s faith to truly enjoy and be moved by this glorious music?
Book World: ‘Lighthouse Island’ by Paulette Jiles
In this bleak future, water is strictly rationed and society completely controlled.
Janet Dailey, popular romance writer, dies at 69
Mrs. Dailey provided lusty escape for millions of readers and became one of the top authors of her genre.
Fiction: ‘Stella Bain,’ by Anita Shreve
An injured nurse in World War I can’t remember her name — or the treachery that sent her to Europe.
Mathematics and Homer Simpson
Simon Singh, a writer of popular books on math, uses the TV show “The Simpsons” to explain the subject
The hidden driver of excellence
In “Focus,” Daniel Goleman looks at the process through which one “tunes in.”
Man who taught us how to win friends and influence people
“Self-Help Messiah” is a biography of Dale Carnegie, who taught millions to better themselves.
Biography: ‘The Rise and Times of Charlie Parker’
In “Kansas City Lightning,” Stanley Crouch brings the great jazz musician alive.
‘The First Phone Call From Heaven,’ by Mitch Albom
Readers might want to hang up on this sappy tale of dead relatives reaching out and touching someone.
Tech giants battle for the world
‘Dogfight’ goes inside the Apple vs. Google showdown, while ‘Jony Ive’ profiles Apple’s chief designer.
The egos and nerds behind Twitter’s success
“Hatching Twitter” tells the story of the company’s scheming founders.
‘The Annotated Christmas Carol,’ by Charles Dickens
This year, try reading the classic tale of Ebenezer Scrooge instead of watching it on TV.
The 12 books of Christmas
The holidays inspire all kinds of stories — from murder to lost puppies.
Fiction: ‘The Apartment,’ by Greg Baxter
A depressed Iraq War vet looks for an apartment — and a plot.
‘The Mushroom Hunters,’ by Langdon Cook
At its strongest, book illuminates a little-known but vigorously contested patch of gastronomic turf.
The historical roots of partisan fights
An interview with Yuval Levin, author of ‘The Great Debate: Edmund Burke, Thomas Paine, and the Birth of Right and Left’.
A back story that comes with great expectations
Ronald Frame’s “Havisham” details the origin of a famed Dickens’ character, then retells the tale.
Fiction: ‘Bellman & Black,’ by Diane Setterfield
The author of “The Thirteenth Tale” is back with a dark story of retribution.
A balloon-eyed view of the world from the first to dare it
Richard Holmes profiles the quirky pioneers of hot-air ballooning in “Falling Upwards.”
Got a strategy? Well, good luck with that.
Lawrence Freedman asks if humans are architects of their own fate or flotsam in a sea of circumstance
Two visions for the newly minted United States
The intellectual clash between Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton shaped a newborn nation
A revolution in knowledge from Columbus to Darwin
Joyce Appleby looks at how the Age of Discovery brought Europe from medieval serfdom to the modern age
The women of Nazi Germany
In Hitler’s Germany thousands of women were transformed into mass murderers
Unsung pleasure of advancing age
“The Nostalgia Factory” is a tribute to reminiscence, one of old age’s great glories.
A daughter of empire
Lady Pamela Hicks reflects on her aristocratic life as the youngest daughter of Lord Louis Mountbatten
‘The Leonard Bernstein Letters’
No book has so delightfully captured the man’s energy and intellect.
Washington Post Bestsellers Dec. 22
The books Washington has been reading.
Washington: From cover to cover
From novels to history to cooking and ghost stories, Post editors and critics offer introduction to capital.
Book World: ‘The Empty Chair’ and ‘Vatican Waltz’
Bruce Wagner and Roland Merullo present two very different novels on the challenges of spiritual devotion.
Fiction: ‘The Apartment,’ by Greg Baxter
A depressed Iraq War vet looks for an apartment — and a plot.
More erratic than erotic: Suri takes bad sex prize in stride
The Maryland novelist says the provocative scene judges mocked isn’t so absurd in context.
‘Tennyson: To Strive, To Seek, To Find,’ by John Batchelor
Admirers of the great poet’s words will enjoy learning more about his work and his world.
‘The Annotated Christmas Carol,’ by Charles Dickens
This year, try reading the classic tale of Ebenezer Scrooge instead of watching it on TV.
‘Ten Thousand Stories’
“An Ever-Changing Tale of Tragic Happenings,” by Matthew Swanson and Robbi Behr.
Short and strange: The Post’s list of best books for 2013
Our book critic’s favorite reads for 2013 skews in favor of British and Irish writers
London and Paris: Through the best and worst of times
“Tales of Two Cities” is a provocative examination of the relationship between London and Paris.
Nora Ephron reflects
“The Most of Nora Ephron” collects essays by the late, great American writer.
Literary Calendar
Going Out Guide: Upcoming events
Get the latest on readings, signings and author appearances in the D.C. area.
Elsewhere in Entertainment
The Post Most: Entertainment
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'Porgy and Bess' at National Theatre: Respectful and genuinely thrilling -
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HBO's 'Life According to Sam': When a mom's research might be the key to her son's survival -
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Best audiobooks of 2013 -
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Notable nonfiction of 2013 -
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'Noises Off' actors get most things right, even as the characters they play in the farce don't
