NYT Books

These novels usher readers into fascinating, long-ago worlds.

Our columnist has recommendations.

Omri Boehm’s new book argues that both the left and the right must abandon divisive identity politics and embrace the transformative power of Enlightenment ideals.

“Grand Rapids,” by Natasha Stagg, is an unassuming portrait of a Midwestern teenager’s grief and transformation.

Fiction by George Saunders, Karl Ove Knausgaard and Laura Dave; a bracingly honest divorce memoir; Jennette McCurdy’s debut novel; and more.

These days, most best sellers are written by authors with household names. Not these five breakout books.

Such as: A shrewd move by George Washington. Why Gauguin wore a 10-gallon hat. And the benefits of breathing through your nose

A middle-age man fighting illness and marital woe heads west in Ben Markovits’s poignant new novel, a Booker Prize finalist.

Two novels center on small acts of valor, from a little onion’s quest to free his unjustly imprisoned father to an orphaned boy carrying messages for the French Resistance.

In a world filled with digital distractions, these shows will help you indulge, develop or rekindle a love for reading.