Recent book reviews

Kirkus Reviews / September 17

Nearly a century of German political and social shifts are translated into human experience in Sacks’ new novel, starting with a 1933 prologue introducing young Klara von Arnsberg—“Narrow all over, sharp at the edges. Hard, a little cruel”—the daughter of a wealthy industrialist family.

Kirkus Reviews / September 17

When Anna Kamoria was attending her North Carolina high school, she also trained in sword fighting and martial arts with her mother Adelyna’s “handsome, stoic” friend Derrick, and she felt different from her classmates “in a way that made it hard to relate to others.” One night, her mother was murdered by unknown assailants and Anna disappeared, only to be found back at her former home a year...

Kirkus Reviews / September 17

The single-minded Zora Ravenal joined the Crimson Army to destroy her people’s greatest enemy. The Empire doesn’t just threaten the Commonwealth; its biggest figureheads are directly responsible for Zora’s most devastating loss. To take revenge, she argues her way into becoming a Knight Mage, with the power to protect her loved ones and stand up to the Commonwealth’s most dangerous foes.

Kirkus Reviews / September 17

“This was the first photograph I ever saw of Susie. It hung in the bedroom of her little flat in Maida Vale in London, and I fell in love with it.

Kirkus Reviews / September 17

In her debut memoir, Russ interweaves memories of her childhood with an account of her relationship with her partner of 13 years. Brian, who was initially just a friend, had everything that the author coveted and did not yet have herself: confidence, sureness, and capability.

Kirkus Reviews / September 17

Three decades before The Pitt became a critical darling and a hit with viewers, another hospital-themed drama aired the first of what would become more than 300 episodes: ER , created by physician and novelist Michael Crichton, with Steven Spielberg among its producers.

Kirkus Reviews / September 17

Elspeth Blackwood and her older sister, Isla, were raised in a family of trusted healers. They live together in a cottage outside Fife with Elspeth’s 4-year-old daughter, Annabel, who’s called Anna. Anna’s father was a sailor who headed out to sea shortly after learning Elspeth was pregnant, never to be heard from again.

Kirkus Reviews / September 17

Alice Kaplan is looking forward to finishing her studies at Cornell University when her father’s sudden death forces her to stay in New York City and help her mother. Hoping to make her name as a journalist, she joins the staff of a feminist newspaper.

Kirkus Reviews / September 17

The self-declared “worst” kid in his gifted circle of friends—the one with seemingly no talent for anything except getting into trouble—has spent his final year at Jerome Marco K-8 collecting disaster stories with his Team Bomb Shelter crew: martial arts cousin Adam, science whiz Rover, statistics prodigy Sean, wheelchair-using brainy beauty Helen, bighearted athlete Charlie, and artist Jesús.

Kirkus Reviews / September 17

Interior designer Lauren Simpson and architect Mike Miller have an unforgettable encounter over the holidays when a storm strands the traveling strangers at an airport hotel and they rescue a stray dog, but circumstances keep them from exchanging contact information.

Kirkus Reviews / September 17

Why is the sky blue? The more accurate question is: Why is the sky violet? The answer: “The atmosphere scatters violet wavelengths even more than blue, just beyond what the human eyeball can see.

Kirkus Reviews / September 17

A nauseating wannabe influencer in the toxic manosphere, Brodie Hendren uses the money he makes from credit card fraud and selling Nazi memorabilia to stalk his ex-wife. Meanwhile, two thieves who became the closest thing to sister and brother in a foster family turn into adversaries of peak criminal acumen, executing competing heists for pricey collectible stamps.

Kirkus Reviews / September 17

Clad in a street-cool outfit (blue sweatpants, black T-shirt beneath a sleeveless undershirt, and a plaid shirt knotted at the waist), a golden retriever–ish pooch struts confidently center stage, demonstrating a series of dance moves. A white dog with floppy ears and tan spots, wearing leggings and shorts, waits in the wings gazing admiringly.

Kirkus Reviews / September 17

Kat, a strong-willed teenager, sees the escalation of armed conflict in real time as tanks begin rolling into town, broadcast on news channels. She heads to a community shelter as bombs start to drop. Schools close, supplies are rationed, and citizens depart by choice or force. Just as Kat’s family is attempting to leave, soldiers abduct her father.

Kirkus Reviews / September 17

When the cub first peeks out of her den, the world outside feels overwhelming. But with her mother’s gentle encouragement, she swims in icy water, dives below the surface, evades killer whales, and even briefly ventures out on her own.

Kirkus Reviews / September 17

Julie wakes one morning to the “BANG / CRASH / BOOOOM” of the Chinese opera “thundering from the TV” while Poh Poh practices her sword dancing. Julie has so many questions. Over egg tarts in Chinatown, Poh Poh spins stories of growing up in China, where Cantonese opera performers frequented her father’s tea house. When her father stopped paying her school fees—“There’s no use educating a girl.

Kirkus Reviews / September 17

Neiman, the director of an international public think tank called the Einstein Forum, continues the probing cultural critique begun in her Learning From the Germans (2019) and Left Is Not Woke (2023) .

Kirkus Reviews / September 17

An advent calendar hangs on the wall: “The doors are fun to open. What could it be?” Decorations, toys, clothes, even food. It’s always a surprise.

Kirkus Reviews / September 17

In this debut personal finance book, Herriot introduces readers to the concept of “time freedom,” the idea that wealth doesn’t mean accumulating enough money to retire early—it means securing sufficient income and savings, combined with control over work scheduling, to allow one to move between periods of work and periods of leisure instead of enduring many years of toil followed by late-in-life..

Kirkus Reviews / September 17

Nat, a little boy with light skin and brown hair, lies frustrated in his bed. No matter how hard he tries, he just cannot fall asleep. When he steps into the hallway and discovers his game controller tossed on the floor, a flashback returns him to the events of earlier that night.

Kirkus Reviews / 11:26 pm Eastern

The young Wake didn’t travel much as one of nine children, but when opportunities arose in college, he made the most of them. Many years after the travels took place, Wake brings readers the tale of his travels around the world starting in 1976, when he had his first hitchhiking adventure to Yosemite, Yellowstone, and Grand Teton National Parks.