NYT Books

“The Troublemaker” is a brisk account of the life and work of Jimmy Lai, the media mogul and democracy activist currently on trial for national security offenses.

Like Max and Madeline, this boy and girl keep faith with the intangible treasures of their imaginations.

Leanne Morgan went from helping her husband sell mobile homes to sudden success in her 50s.

In “Ira Gershwin: A Life in Words,” Michael Owen offers a sympathetic portrait of the lyricist, overshadowed in a life that had him tending the legacy of his younger sibling George.

In Ella Baxter’s novel “Woo Woo,” a feminist performance artist starts to question herself on the eve of a provocative solo exhibition.

In “Poet, Mystic, Widow, Wife” the historian Hetta Howes seeks to relate to figures of the past.

The protagonists of “A Day With Mousse,” “Little Shrew” and “Lone Wolf Goes to School” feel happiest on their own.

In “The Icon and the Idealist,” Stephanie Gorton tells the story of two women who fought a patriarchal system — and each other.

Lydia Reeder’s “The Cure for Women” tells the story of the remarkable Dr. Mary Putnam Jacobi.

In “The Rest Is Memory,” Lily Tuck imagines the life of a Polish teenager during the Holocaust.