Kirke’s dark humor is on display as she retells stories from her childhood throughout the book. As the youngest daughter of a rock star father, Simon Kirke of Bad Company, and a clothing designer mother, Lorraine, she was transplanted from London to a WestVillage brownstone when she was 5 years old. Yet behind the cool facade, the house was crumbling.
A romcom delight (or dill-ight) in ‘Pickleballers’
In short, all you need to know is in the title, and if you didn’t like Pickleball before, you’ll either be repelled or tempted to try.
Star-crossed, time-crossed and love-crossed in ‘Homeseeking’
Those waiting to read one of the best books of 2025 don’t have to wait long. “Homeseeking,” by Karissa Chen, has arrived on the scene early — and it’s a towering achievement in storytelling.
A most literary romance
So much in life is unpredictable and readers can’t all write their own stories. Picking up a book where the ending is easily anticipated can offer something different, something relaxing. “Not in My Book” gives exactly that — a fun read with a little spice thrown in for kicks.
The Night the Sky Burned Bright (or A Southern Christmas: Fire, Feline Friends, and a Dollhouse)
When I was a child and my parents tried to ferret out which one of us was in trouble for a wrong, my dad always told me in his most stern voice not to “tell stories.” In the deep South that was a polite way of saying “don’t lie.”
A walk through the cemetery with Dickens
My mingling of Christmas with death and mysticism harkens back to my youth, when Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” was a staple in our home. On holiday breaks from school after playing outside, the sunset came devilishly early. To beat back the darkness and cold, I would lie on the living room carpet by the fireplace and read, hands propped under my chin.
Choose your own romance in Sophie Cousens’ latest comedy
To save her job — her in-office rival also wants the column — she reluctantly agrees, but with a twist: her children will choose her dates
Spooky Books for the Spooky Season
Get ready to be haunted by the creepiest new offerings and classics of Halloween-inspired literature. Here are a cauldron’s worth of books that embrace the pumpkin spice of the season and keep you on the chilliest edge of your seat!
Melissa Petro and the shame-industrial complex
Evan Friss knows your favorite bookshop
“The Bookshop,” Evan Friss’s history of the book retail business, includes the didn’t-see-that-coming tale of Judy, a 3,000-pound elephant who signed books (with a stamp that dangled from her trunk, obviously) at Marshall Field’s booming books department in 1944.