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Book Review

Highlights

  1. 100 Notable Books of 2024

    Here are the year’s notable fiction, poetry and nonfiction, chosen by the staff of The New York Times Book Review.

     By The New York Times Books Staff

    CreditRicardo Tomás
    2. Nonfiction

      Angela Merkel Tells Us What She Really Thinks

      In her memoir, the former German chancellor reflects on her political rise and defends her record as the outlook for her country turns grim.

       By Elisabeth Zerofsky

      Chancellor Angela Merkel onstage in Berlin with the shadows of her fellow cabinet members in 2005.
      Chancellor Angela Merkel onstage in Berlin with the shadows of her fellow cabinet members in 2005.
      CreditMichael Hanschke/European Pressphoto Agency

  1. A Nobel Laureate’s Journals Offer Much Color but Little Drama

    Orhan Pamuk’s illustrated notebooks lead us to the great writer’s mind, then ask us to remain outside.

     By Dwight Garner

    CreditOrhan Pamuk
    Nonfiction

  2. Loathe Thy Neighbor, at Least in These 4 Crime Novels

    Our critic on November’s best new books.

     By Sarah Weinman

    CreditPablo Amargo
    Crime & Mystery

  3. 10 Picture Books That Help Kids (and Adults) Celebrate Gratitude

    Stories of giving and of appreciating everyday wonders will warm hearts and teach valuable lessons this holiday season.

     By Jennifer Hubert Swan

    CreditLorraine Nam
    Children’s Books

  4. A Long-Held Secret Is Now Public. Will It Alter Cormac McCarthy’s Legacy?

    Revelations about a relationship between the author and a girl who was 16 when they met shocked readers, but not scholars of his work. Now there’s a debate about how much she influenced his writing.

     By Alexandra Alter and Elisabeth Egan

    Cormac McCarthy was reserved, and remained so after winning a National Book Award for “All the Pretty Horses” and a Pulitzer Prize for “The Road.” Revelations this week offer a window into his private life.
    CreditGilles Peress/Magnum Photos

  5. Let Us Help You Find Your Next Book

    Reading picks from Book Review editors, guaranteed to suit any mood.

     By The New York Times Books Staff

    CreditThe New York Times

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Books of the Times

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  1. Shopping and Shame Share the Shelves in ‘American Bulk’

    In an eye-opening collection, Emily Mester considers why she, and we, seek satisfaction by obsessively choosing, buying and rating the objects we desire.

     By Alexandra Jacobs

    “The American Dream, as we know it, is abundance,” writes Emily Mester. “But it is an equally American dream to be able to abandon, drop everything, to jettison, without guilt, anything that weighs you down.”
    CreditBrittainy Newman/The New York Times

  2. The Bataclan Terrorists’ Trial: 10 Months of Horror and Pity

    For his latest book, the French writer Emmanuel Carrère sat in a Parisian courthouse, absorbing grueling testimony about the 2015 massacre at the concert hall and other venues in the city.

     By Jennifer Szalai

    French police officers stand in front of the Bataclan concert hall in Paris, a site of the 2015 terrorist massacre.
    CreditPool photo by Thomas Samson

  3. In a No-Nonsense Memoir, Cher Traces the Path to Stardom, With and Without Sonny

    The first volume of her frank autobiography is a testament to resilience, chronicling a grim childhood and relationships with controlling men.

     By Alexandra Jacobs

    Cher, at 20, in 1966, the year after she and Sonny Bono released their hit song “I Got You Babe.”
    CreditDezo Hoffman/Shutterstock

  4. The Needy Genius Who Understood the Cosmos (People, Not So Much)

    “The Impossible Man,” by Patchen Barss, depicts the British mathematical physicist and Nobelist Sir Roger Penrose in all his iconoclastic complexity.

     By Jennifer Szalai

    Roger Penrose at Oxford University in 1982.
    CreditAlan Hillyer, via Associated Press

  5. In This Tokyo Rock Novel, the Cool Kids Are Not All Right

    “Set My Heart on Fire” follows a young woman through a world of drugs, music and highly conditional relationships.

     By Molly Young

    CreditChau Luong
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  8. The Comedy of Pain, and Korean Food

    The comedian Youngmi Mayer is fearless on TikTok, about her Korean American identity and foodie culture. In a new memoir, she explains laughing while crying.

    By Melena Ryzik

     
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