NYT Books

Reading recommendations from critics and editors at The New York Times.

For 50 years, Patricia Finn kept to the background and told other people’s stories. Now, in “The Golden Boy,” she’s finally telling one of her own.

In M.L. Stedman’s new novel, “A Far-Flung Life,” the beauty and breadth of her setting stand in counterpoint to the horrors of the human lives playing out upon it.

“Backstitch,” a novel by Marian Mitchell Donahue, examines the stark contrast between public talent and private troubles.

In “El Paso,” Jazmine Ulloa paints her hometown as a microcosm for all that is good and bad about the United States.

Our columnist on the month’s best new mysteries.

Jesse Appell left everything behind to pursue a comedy career in China, where Western-style club comedy was just finding its footing.

In Maria Stepanova’s novel “The Disappearing Act,” an accidental stopover in a foreign town leads to personal change.

James Cahill’s “The Violet Hour” contrasts the artifice of blue-chip modern art with the messy personal lives of the people who create and consume it.

These 13 bloodthirsty tales will keep you up at night with clever thrills and heart-pounding action.