NYT Books

As Michelle T. King demonstrates in this moving and ambitious biography, Fu Pei-mei was far more than “the Julia Child of Chinese cooking.”

An anxious artist’s road trip stops short for a torrid affair at a tired motel. In “All Fours,” the desire for change is familiar. How to satisfy it isn’t.

In Kimberly King Parsons’s witty, profane novel, “We Were the Universe,” a young mother seeks to salve a profound loss.

In her intimate memoir, “Rebel Girl,” the punk-rock heroine Kathleen Hanna recalls a life of trauma, triumph and riot grrrl rebellion.

An entertaining new history by Steven Johnson explores an explosive moment when terror and nascent surveillance collided.

Jessica Shattuck’s “Last House” dips into the cultural intrigues of 20th-century America, but keeps its nose surprisingly clean.

Inspired by her own family’s past, Claire Messud’s “This Strange Eventful History” unfolds over seven decades and two wars.

For 15 years, French viewers watched Mr. Pivot on his weekly show, “Apostrophes,” to decide what to read next.

It’s called The Lynx, after the wildcat native to the state. “We wanted something a little fierce,” she said.

For The Book Review Podcast’s May book club, we’ll talk about “James,” Percival Everett’s radical reimagining of “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.”