NYT Books

In “Dark Laboratory,” Tao Leigh Goffe traces the origins of global environmental collapse to the explorer’s conquest of the Caribbean.

Mischa Berlinski’s shrewd comic novel finds a veteran actress reconnecting with her deposed mentor while facing the challenge of playing Cleopatra.

In a vibrant collection of “essays on the future that never was,” Colette Shade takes a cold look at the cheery promise of the 2000s.

Details are in Caleb Femi’s new poetry collection, “The Wickedest.”

“Somewhere Toward Freedom” tells the story of Sherman’s March to the Sea from the perspective of the formerly enslaved.

Mike Mignola’s “Bowling With Corpses” is full of suspicious shadows and offbeat jokes.

Marcus Chown’s “A Crack in Everything” is a journey through space and time with the people studying one of the most enigmatic objects in the universe.

A new ecosystem of publishers, bookstores, literary magazines and festivals is promoting African writers and changing the stories told about the region.

As a cookbook author, TV personality and mentor, she sought to burst the chicken-fried stereotype of the South. Sometimes her life was as messy as her kitchen.

“The first album I ever bought was ‘Hunky Dory,’” said the actress and author, “and all those songs, every single one, is amazing.”