By Chris Manson The Oscars air on ABC Sunday, Feb. 9, at 7 PM. I don’t see as many movies as I used to, but I did manage to catch three of the nine Best Picture nominees—Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story, Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman, and Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood. They...
Category - Media
Alison Farrell The Hike Chronicle Books This delightful story follows three friends hiking in the woods. The labeled illustrations of the surrounding flora and fauna are captivating, and the adventure story is cute and compelling. I was especially charmed by the “notes from Wren’s sketchbook”—funny...
Elizabeth Strout Olive, Again Penguin Random House Olive, Again, the sequel to the Pulitzer Prize-winning Olive Kitteridge, is a wonderful book. I’d dare to say it’s even better than its predecessor. The stories in this lovely collection are loosely connected by setting—Crosby, Maine—and by...
Gretchen McCulloch Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language Penguin Random House Because Internet is a fascinating deep dive into how language has evolved as a result of the Internet. Author and linguist Gretchen McCulloch explains the history and cultural context of social...
Patricia Marx & Roz Chast You Can Only Yell at Me for One Thing at a Time: Rules for Couples Celadon Books The perfect Valentine’s gift for your other half— especially if you’ve been together for a stretch. Ms. Marx’s rules ring true, and the illustrations cement Ms. Chast’s reputation as one...
Lee Goldberg Lost Hills Thomas & Mercer Another must-read thriller from the prolific Mr. Goldberg. This one introduces homicide detective Eve Ronin, who investigates the grisly disappearance of a single mom and her two children while trying to earn the respect of the Los Angeles County...
Kevin Noble Maillard and Juana Martinez-Neal Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story Roaring Brook Press Fry Bread is a story told in lyrics, each verse beginning with “fry bread is…” Accompanied by beautiful illustrations, author Maillard describes the ingredients, the texture, and the taste of...
Adrienne Brodeur Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover and Me Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Wild Game is such an unbelievable tale, it’s easy to forget this book is nonfiction. In the opening pages, author Adrienne Brodeur recounts her mother Malabar waking her at 14 years old to tell her about a kiss…...
Ace Atkins Robert B. Parker’s Angel Eyes: A Spenser Novel G.P. Putnam’s Sons The latest installment finds the legendary Boston P.I. outside his usual stomping grounds, searching for a missing young woman in El Lay with an assist from his protégé Sixkill. Will Spenser triumph over Armenian mobsters...
Ann Patchett The Dutch House HarperCollins The Dutch House is a breathtakingly beautiful fairy tale-esque story about siblings Danny and Maeve. As children, their father purchases an ornate and extravagant old mansion as a surprise for their mother. The grief of having so much when others have so...