NYT Books

Rita Collins had a dream for her retirement: bringing books and people together all over the country. Behind the wheel of a van she’s making it happen.

In “Selling Opportunity,” Mary Lisa Gavenas tells the not-always-rosy story of Mary Kay, the brand — and its founder.

As these books show, the United States has long struggled to reconcile its imperial ambition with its founding ideals, prompting detractors at home and abroad.

From fashion to art, an explainer on our love of wetlands.

Even admirers admitted his densely intellectual work could be “punishing.” Still, some considered him one of England’s most important poets.

As a child, Lisa Owens aligned herself with the little ones depicted in these books; now it was the harried adults who captivated her.

“Wild Swans,” a best-selling 1991 memoir, told the story of a stoic mother holding her family together amid torture and imprisonment under Mao’s regime.

“The Things We Never Say” leaves behind Crosby, Maine, for Massachusetts, where a middle-aged history teacher discovers a long-buried family secret.

“A Rumor of War,” about his service as a Marine Corps infantry officer and published in 1977, relentlessly detailed “the things men do in war and the things war does to them.”

In “One Leg on Earth,” a young college grad’s idealistic move to Lagos turns into a nightmare.