NYT Books

Caitlin Mullen drew on eerie expeditions to the Pine Barrens for her new mystery novel, “Heather.”

Ellie Gottheimer and Larra Mullin, who met when their fathers were in Congress, make a case for bipartisanship in a picture book about dogs working together.

The market for the epic poem is as crowded as a certain Ithacan palace, and publishers have had to get crafty to attract readers to their editions.

Gary Stewart spent a few years on top, but was largely forgotten after his tragic death in 2003. Now a new generation is rediscovering the onetime “king of honky-tonk.”

A new collection of the famous graphic designer Seymour Chwast’s work for children “unearths a cache of lost treasures.”

For the comedian Alison Leiby, talking about her choice to be child-free is more polarizing to audiences than anything else.

First, a primer from the author of “Circe,” Madeline Miller. Then, A.O. Scott on all the genres inside the 3,000-year-old poem.

Mendel Uminer faced a crisis when his landlord objected to the 10,000 volumes in his New York studio apartment.

On “Tony Brown’s Journal,” he interviewed guests like Jesse Jackson and Lena Horne, and made programming decisions by asking himself, “Will it help Black people?”

Sarah Weinman on “Heather,” by Caitlin Mullen, and three more new books.