NYT Books

In Halle Butler’s new book, “Banal Nightmare,” a 30-something woman returns to her hometown to get out of a rut and reassess her life after a bad breakup.

Set among the fevered residents of a remote Australian town, Ruby Todd’s debut novel considers how grief can draw people to extreme beliefs.

Our critic traces J.D. Vance’s shift from bootstrap memoirist to vice-presidential candidate.

The good news: Our “Best Books of the 21st Century” list showed surprising affection for works in translation. But where are Sally Rooney, Ayad Akhtar and others “explaining how we live now”?

Our columnist on three riveting new reads.

A contempt for compromise. An expansive vision of executive power. Both owe much to Carl Schmitt.

She was married to John Belushi until his fatal drug overdose in 1982. She went on to celebrate his comic talent in books and a documentary.

In “Rat City,” Jon Adams and Edmund Ramsden explore the life, times and influence of the scientific Pied Piper, John Bumpass Calhoun.

On a family tour of Greece, the writer followed the small footsteps of some of ancient mythology’s biggest fans.

In a new telling of the Macedonian leader’s final years, Rachel Kousser shows what happened when dreams of conquest met reality.