Legs McNeil doesn't come across as sentimental. It's what happens when you've dumped out decades' worth of memories and stories as part of your life's work documenting the origins of punk rock for the better part of 50 years.

McNeil has made a career out of reliving the gritty tales of debauchery and explosive expression that gave rise to the ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Readers are so obsessed with Josh Silver's "Fruit Fly," that the buzziest book of the summer sold out across online and major book retailers last month.

The satirical literary thriller follows Mallory, a celebrated but has-been author who's had writer's block for nearly a decade. She googles "How to write a bestseller," and ...Read more

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Olivie Blake has a lot to say.

Since the author began writing, she hasn’t stopped. Blake, the pen name of Alexene Farol Follmuth, made a name for herself in 2022 when “The Atlas Six” went viral on BookTok, but the author has been self-publishing for years.

If you look at her complete body of work under both Blake and ...Read more

After appearing last year on a contentious political panel discussion in Washington, D.C., Jessica Tarlov, co-host of the the popular Fox News show "The Five," was approached by a transgender woman from Alabama.

Tarlov had said that Democratic candidates in tough races might have to concede that transgender collegiate swimmer Lia Thomas should ...Read more

Here are the bestsellers for the week that ended Saturday, Sept. 5, compiled from data from independent and chain bookstores, book wholesalers and independent distributors nationwide, powered by Circana BookScan © 2026 Circana.

(Reprinted from Publishers Weekly, published by PWxyz LLC. © 2026, PWxyz LLC.)

HARDCOVER FICTION

1. "The Knave and...Read more

Even if you aren’t heading back to school this September, you might be in need of a reading list.

And boy, do we have one this month: an enormous, mammoth, colossal list of books (and no, not a single thesaurus among them, believe it or not).

Even more than August’s picks, September’s book offerings include award-winning authors and ...Read more

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Little Free Libraries are for more than printed reading materials.

Users of the streetside stations give and receive all manner of non-reading merchandise, such as homemade trinkets, canned goods and garden seeds.

This all occurs with the blessing of the nonprofit, St. Paul-based Little Free Library.

So Abe Eyman of St. ...Read more

Shirlene Obuobi is a Ghanaian American cardiologist, cartoonist, and author of the novels “On Rotation” and “Between Friends & Lovers.”

Her new paranormal summer romance, “Die for Me,” has just been published, and she answered the Book Pages Q&A via email.

Q. Please tell readers about your new book, “Die for Me.”

“Die for...Read more

LOS ANGELES — It was 1963 and up-and-coming freelance journalist Gloria Steinem had been a working writer in New York City for roughly three years when Show magazine sent her on an undercover assignment which she was uniquely qualified for: to infiltrate Manhattan's "greatest new showbiz gimmick," The Playboy Club. She already had the beauty ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Wendell Berry, a Kentucky farmer and writer whose work advocated fiercely for working landscapes and working people, died "suddenly and peacefully" on Monday at his home in Port Royal, Kentucky, according to his family. He was 92.

His daughter, Mary Berry, confirmed his death. On Thursday, she told The Times that her father, ...Read more

Here are the bestsellers for the week that ended Saturday, Aug. 29, compiled from data from independent and chain bookstores, book wholesalers and independent distributors nationwide, powered by Circana BookScan © 2026 Circana.

(Reprinted from Publishers Weekly, published by PWxyz LLC. © 2026, PWxyz LLC.)

HARDCOVER FICTION

1. "The Calamity ...Read more

Of the millions of men and women who have made their mark here, few were as prolific and artful as Edgar Miller, even though most of you have never heard of him.

“Anyone who has explored Edgar Miller’s biography has tended to think of him as a conspicuously overlooked figure in Midwestern modern art,” write Hannah Dykstra and Jeff Kruse ...Read more

Even if you aren’t heading back to school this September, you might be in need of a reading list.

And boy, do we have one this month: an enormous, mammoth, colossal list of books (and no, not a single thesaurus among them, believe it or not).

Even more than August’s picks, September’s book offerings include award-winning authors and ...Read more

Ryan Lowell is the author of the debut novel, “Freight,” which is set in the world of the trucking business.

His fiction has appeared in “Workers Write!” and “Overtime.” He lives in South Portland with his wife and two sons.

Q. Please tell readers about your new book, “Freight.”

“Freight” is a story about several ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Emily Wilson, the classicist who in a review eviscerated Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey," isn't done with Homer's epic. She's translating the ancient Greek poem again.

"It's a complete retranslation. It's not a revision of the old version," Wilson told the Associated Press last week. "I'm about halfway through."

Wilson's 2017...Read more

Here are the bestsellers for the week that ended Saturday, Aug. 22, compiled from data from independent and chain bookstores, book wholesalers and independent distributors nationwide, powered by Circana BookScan © 2026 Circana.

(Reprinted from Publishers Weekly, published by PWxyz LLC. © 2026, PWxyz LLC.)

HARDCOVER FICTION

1. "The Poison ...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- Back in 1985 in the Soviet Union, Merryl Goldberg was interrogated by the KGB three times, briefly kidnapped by the state security agency twice and put under house arrest once.

She’ll tell you it was worth it.

Today, Goldberg lives in Carlsbad and works at California State University San Marcos, where she’s a professor of ...Read more