Tag: Books and Beyond

The Book Report: Ron Charles’ picks from 2025

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By Washington Post book critic Ron Charles

2025 offered a feast of great books. To help build your never-ending reading list, here are five titles we particularly enjoyed over the past 12 months:

Simon & Schuster

Lucas Schaefer’s debut novel, “The Slip” (Simon & Schuster), won this year’s Kirkus Prize for Fiction. The story takes place in and around a boxing gym in Austin, Texas, where two lonely teenagers are eager to remake their identities wherever that might lead them.

This sweaty comic masterpiece tackles our most pressing social debates, and delivers a knockout.

Read an excerpt: “The Slip” by Lucas Schaefer

“The Slip” by Lucas Schaefer (Simon & Schuster), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org

lucasschaefer.com

Sourcebooks Landmark

Susie Dent’s debut novel, “Guilty by Definition” (‎Sourcebooks Landmark), introduces a dictionary editor in Oxford who begins receiving strange messages about her sister’s long-ago disappearance.

As she follows these clues, she is led into literary puzzles and unresolved parts of her past. Readers who savor wordplay as much as suspense should look up this clever mystery.

Read an excerpt: “Guilty by Definition” by Susie Dent

“Guilty by Definition” by Susie Dent (‎Sourcebooks Landmark), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org

Susie Dent on Instagram

Riverhead Books

“Black Moses: A Saga of Ambition and the Fight for a Black State” (Riverhead Books), by Caleb Gayle, traces the rise of Edward McCabe through Kansas and the Oklahoma Territory as Black migrants pursued land, safety and power in the Jim Crow era.

Confronting hostile politics and violent resistance, McCabe fought for community and self-determination, and Gayle lays out this charged landscape to reveal a crucial but long-obscured chapter in the struggle for freedom.

Read an excerpt: “Black Moses” by Caleb Gayle

“Black Moses: A Saga of Ambition and the Fight for a Black State” by Caleb Gayle (Riverhead Books), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org

calebgayle.com (Official site)

Knopf

Karen Russell’s “The Antidote” (Knopf) is a dazzlingly original novel that hovers between fable and history.

This wild tempest of a tale set in Depression-era Nebraska follows a prairie witch and a high school girl swept up into a tumultuous western epic about the tragedies and ambitions of Manifest Destiny.

Read an excerpt: “The Antidote” by Karen Russell

“The Antidote” by Karen Russell (Knopf), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org

karenrussellauthor.com

Crown

Rick Atkinson’s “The Fate of the Day: The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777-1780” (Crown), the second book in his planned trilogy, delivers a chronicle of the American Revolution with irresistible narrative drive.

Moving between battles and diplomacy, he brings Washington, Franklin and their rivals to life while tracing the nation’s fight for independence. The result is an immersive work of history just in time for America’s 250th anniversary.

Read an excerpt: “The Fate of the Day” by Rick Atkinson

“The Fate of the Day: The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777-1780 (Volume Two of the Revolution Trilogy)” by Rick Atkinson (Crown), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org

Historian Rick Atkinson (Official site)

Rick Atkinson on how the U.S. Army was born – and a free nation realized (“Sunday Morning”)

That’s it for the Book Report. It’s been great fun to talk to you about good books over the past year. Here’s to many more in 2026.

I’m Ron Charles. Until next time, read on!

For more info:

For more reading recommendations, check out our library of previous Book Report features from Ron Charles:

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December 28, 2025
The Book Report: Ron Charles’ latest picks (Nov. 2)

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By Washington Post book critic Ron Charles

As autumn blows in, here are four fascinating new books — including one work of history that’s wilder than fiction.

Pegasus

Caroline Lea’s “Love, Sex, and Frankenstein” is a gripping reimagining of how young Mary Shelley created her classic novel.

Lea brings to life that dark summer on Lake Geneva with Lord Byron and her lover, Percy Shelley, in 1816. It’s a feverish mix of jealousy, genius, and gothic electricity.

Timed perfectly with Guillermo del Toro’s new film about “Frankenstein,” Lea’s novel captures the thunder and thrill of a young woman awakening to her own awesome power.

READ AN EXCERPT: “Love, Sex, and Frankenstein”

“Love, Sex, and Frankenstein” by Caroline Lea (Pegasus), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org

carolineleawriter.com

MCD

With his new novel, “The Wayfinder,” Pulitzer Prize-winner Adam Johnson delivers an epic set almost a thousand years ago in Polynesia.

The story follows a bold young woman and two sons of a king through storms, myths, and an empire on the brink of chaos.

Layered with legend and political intrigue, Johnson’s dazzling adventure feels both ancient and modern — a meditation on storytelling, survival, and the fragile state of the natural world.

READ AN EXCERPT: “The Wayfinder” by Adam Johnson

“The Wayfinder” by Adam Johnson (MCD), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org

Knopf

“A Guardian and a Thief,” by Megha Majumdar, takes place in India, in a climate-ravaged city of the near future. One morning, a mother preparing to move her family to America awakens to discover that a starving young man has stolen all their passports — plunging her into seven days of desperation and moral reckoning.

A finalist for a National Book Award, this taut, breathless novel offers a searing story about scarcity, privilege, and the costs of hope.

READ AN EXCERPT: “A Guardian and a Thief” by Megha Majumdar

“A Guardian and a Thief” by Megha Majumdar (Knopf), in Hardcover, Large Print Trade Paperback, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org

meghamajumdar.com

Viking

Andrew Ross Sorkin’s new book, “1929: Inside the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History – and How It Shattered a Nation,” looks back almost a century to the nation’s most infamous market collapse.

Through the lives of financiers and speculators, Sorkin recreates the panic and the mania that swept across Wall Street. It’s a gripping, cinematic account of greed and illusion, and a timely reminder of how quickly exuberance can turn to catastrophe.

READ AN EXCERPT: “1929” by Andrew Ross Sorkin

“1929: Inside the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History – and How It Shattered a Nation” by Andrew Ross Sorkin (Viking), in Hardcover, Large Print Trade Paperback, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org

Andrew Ross Sorkin (Bio Site)

That’s it for the Book Report. For these and other suggestions about what to read this fall, talk with your local bookseller or librarian.

I’m Ron Charles. Until next time, read on!

For more info:

Produced by Robin Sanders and Cameron Jimenez. Editor: Chad Cardin.

For more reading recommendations, check out our library of previous Book Report features from Ron Charles:

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November 2, 2025
The Book Report: New books for fall (Aug. 31)

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By Washington Post book critic Ron Charles

With the fall season gearing up, here are some of the biggest titles we’re looking forward to reading in September:

Doubleday

Dan Brown, creator of “The Da Vinci Code,” is roaring back with his sixth thriller about Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon. In “The Secret of Secrets” (Doubleday), a brilliant scientist is about to publish a revolutionary book about the nature of human consciousness, but nefarious powers will stop at nothing to kill her book – and anyone who stands in their way.

“The Secret of Secrets” by Dan Brown (Doubleday), in Hardcover, Large Print Trade Paperback, eBook and Audio formats, available September 9 via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org

danbrown.com

Knopf

Excitement is rising on both sides of the Atlantic for a novel called “What We Can Know” (Knopf) by Ian McEwan, one of Britain’s finest living writers. What we can know so far is that this is a story set in the recent past, and a century into the future involving a lost poem – and a shocking twist.

“What We Can Know” by Ian McEwan (Knopf), in Hardcover, Large Print Trade Paperback, eBook and Audio formats, available September 23 via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org

ianmcewan.com

Novelist Ian McEwan: Writing is “a way of being” (“Sunday Morning”)

Grove Press

Lily King is one of my favorite novelists, and her upcoming book, “Heart the Lover” (Grove Press), sounds delightful. It’s about a young woman drawn into a complicated friendship with two male classmates in college. Years later, she has to consider how those friendships and her youthful decisions still shape her life.

Read an excerpt: “Heart the Lover” by Lily King

“Heart the Lover” by Lily King (Grove Press), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, available September 30 via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org

lilykingbooks.com

Scribner

The Booker Prize-winning novelist Arundhati Roy is about to publish her first memoir: “Mother Mary Comes to Me” (Scribner) promises to take us back to her early life in India, her tumultuous relationship with her mother, and other events that shaped the mind of this powerful writer and activist.

Read an excerpt: “Mother Mary Comes to Me” by Arundhati Roy

“Mother Mary Comes to Me” by Arundhati Roy (Scribner), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, available September 2 via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org

Liveright

At this moment of intense political division, Jill Lepore’s “We the People” (Liveright) couldn’t be more timely. The Harvard professor and New Yorker magazine writer presents a history of the U.S. Constitution that explores the ongoing struggle to amend the document and keep it a living framework for an evolving nation.

“We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution” by Jill Lepore (Liveright), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, available September 16 via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org

Jill Lepore, The New Yorker

HarperOne

For the millions of fans feeling “endless love” for Lionel Richie, his upcoming memoir, “Truly” (HarperOne) will be a must-read. The legendary singer, songwriter and record producer reportedly opens up about his winding, sometimes painful journey from a shy kid to an award-winning entertainer celebrated around the world.

“Truly” by Lionel Richie (HarperOne), in Hardcover, Large Print Trade Paperback, eBook and Audio formats, available September 30 via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org

lionelrichie.com

Lionel Richie: A life written in song (“Sunday Morning”)

Lionel Richie on the continuing power of “We Are the World” (“Sunday Morning”)

That’s it for the Book Report. For these and other suggestions about what to read this fall, talk with your local bookseller or librarian.

I’m Ron Charles. Until next time, read on!

For more info:

Produced by Robin Sanders and Lucie Kirk. Editor: Emanuele Secci.

For more reading recommendations, check out these previous Book Report features from Ron Charles:

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August 31, 2025
The Book Report: Washington Post critic Ron Charles (July 14)

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By Washington Post book critic Ron Charles

Here are four new books to take on vacation or just kick back with at home.

Pantheon

Fifteen years ago, American readers went wild for an unlikely bestseller by Joseph O’Neill called “Netherland,” about a Dutchman in New York who becomes a cricket enthusiast.

Well, O’Neill is back on the field again with “Godwin” (Pantheon), about a writer who becomes involved in a bizarre scheme to find an African boy who may be the next international soccer star.

Millions of dollars are on the line. But while your eye follows the ball, O’Neill takes some brilliant shots at the exploitation of immigrants and the forces shaping our global economy.

Read an excerpt: “Godwin” by James O’Neill

“Godwin” by Joseph O’Neill (Pantheon), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org

Doubleday

Claire Lombardo’s new novel, “Same As It Ever Was” (Doubleday), follows the long, complicated life of a woman who wonders if motherhood is really for her.

When we first meet Julia, she’s got a devoted husband and a bright little boy, but she’s so desperately unhappy that she almost throws it all away. Two decades later, another crisis threatens to disrupt Julia’s hard-won equilibrium. But maybe now she’s wiser and a little kinder to herself.

This is a big novel, full of wit and heart, and perfect for your next book club.

Read an excerpt: “Same As It Ever Was” by Claire Lombardo

“Same As It Ever Was” by Claire Lombardo (Doubleday), in Hardcover, Large Print Trade Paperback, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org

clairelombardo.com

Hogarth

A grizzly roams through the pages of Julia Phillips’ new novel, “Bear” (Hogarth). The story is about two poor sisters struggling to take care of their dying mother on an island off the coast of Washington state.

The younger sister, Sam, just can’t wait to get away and start a new life. But her older sister falls under the spell of a bear that’s been seen wandering the forest near their home. What would Sam do to save her sister? What would she destroy?

This is a hypnotic, tense story, with the woodland scent of a dark fairy tale.

Read an excerpt: “Bear” by Julia Phillips

“Bear” by Julia Phillips (Hogarth), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org

juliaphillipswrites.com

Penguin

After she escaped slavery in 1849, Harriet Tubman became a legendary abolitionist who led scores of enslaved people to freedom on the Underground Railroad.

Now, National Book Award-winning author Tiya Miles explores the life of this remarkable woman in her book, “Night Flyer: Harriet Tubman and the Faith Dreams of a Free People” (Penguin).

In her deep examination of the world in which Tubman lived, Miles winds through the elusive history and the awesome mythology to find a real-life figure more extraordinary than we ever knew before.

Read an excerpt: “Night Flyer” by Tiya Miles

“Night Flyer: Harriet Tubman and the Faith Dreams of a Free People” by Tiya Miles (Penguin), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org

tiyamiles.com

For more suggestions on what to read, contact your librarian or local bookseller.

That’s it for the Book Report. I’m Ron Charles. Until next time, read on!

For more info:

For more reading recommendations, check out these previous Book Report features from Ron Charles:

Produced by Robin Sanders and Roman Feeser.

More

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July 14, 2024
The Book Report: Washington Post critic Ron Charles (March 17)

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By Washington Post book critic Ron Charles

This month’s books take us from pre-Civil War America to the modern-day politics, the rise of Silicon Valley, and the future of the planet.

Doubleday

For 140 years, people have been reading, praising and condemning “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” Well, get ready to see Mark Twain’s classic in a strikingly different light.

Percival Everett, the author of “Erasure” (the novel that inspired the Academy Award-winning film “American Fiction”), has just published a new book called “James” (Doubleday).

It retells “Huckleberry Finn” from the perspective of Huck’s enslaved friend, Jim. And believe me, that one change changes everything.

With this comic, sometimes terrifying story, Everett delivers a sharp satire of racism, and more than one shocking surprise.

READ AN EXCERPT: “James” by Percival Everett

“James” by Percival Everett (Doubleday), in Hardcover, Large Print Trade Paperback, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org

Also by Percival Everett: “Dr. No” (Book excerpt)

Hogarth Books

“Great Expectations” – no, not that one – is a new novel by Vinson Cunningham, a theater critic for The New Yorker. Inspired by his own experiences, it tells the story of a young man who gets a job as a fundraiser for the presidential campaign of a Black senator from Illinois. Now, the candidate is never named, but you’ll figure it out from Cunningham’s pitch-perfect descriptions.

The real subject, though, is this thoughtful narrator, raised in a Pentecostal church, looking at the candidate and his wealthy donors, and trying to figure out what kind of man he’ll become in a nation woven from money and faith.

READ AN EXCERPT: “Great Expectations” by Vinson Cunningham

“Great Expectations” by Vinson Cunningham (Hogarth), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org

Vinson Cunningham at The New Yorker

Random House

Téa Obreht has written magical tales involving tigers in the Balkans and camels in the Arizona Territory. Her new novel, “The Morningside” (Random House), is set in a future ravaged by climate change.

An 11-year-old girl named Silvia has immigrated with her mother to an island city that will remind you of New York. There they live with Silvia’s aunt who’s in charge of a once-grand high-rise apartment building.

But unable to go to school, Silvia turns her curious mind to her strange neighbors – particularly one woman who owns three unusual dogs that may turn into men during the day.

READ AN EXCERPT: “The Morningside” by Téa Obreht

“The Morningside” by Téa Obreht (Random House), in Hardcover, Large Print Trade Paperback, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org

teaobreht.com

Simon & Schuster

Kara Swisher has been chronicling the wonders and shenanigans of Silicon Valley since people were dialing up AOL to hear “You’ve got mail.”

Now, in her new memoir, “Burn Book: A Tech Love Story” (Simon & Schuster), Swisher takes us through her journey as a reporter who not only covered the rise of the Web, but became one of its leading voices – even as she became increasingly disillusioned with the arrogance of Internet billionaires and their reckless empires.

All the usual suspects are here – Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk and others – along with Swisher’s signature bravado and insightful criticism.

READ AN EXCERPT: “Burn Book: A Tech Love Story” by Kara Swisher

“Burn Book: A Tech Love Story” by Kara Swisher (Simon & Schuster), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org

Kara Swisher, host of the podcast On with Kara Swisher and co-host of Pivot

For more suggestions on what to read, contact your librarian or local bookseller.

That’s it for the Book Report. I’m Ron Charles. Until next time, read on!

For more info:

For more reading recommendations, check out these previous Book Report features from Ron Charles:

Produced by Robin Sanders and Roman Feeser.

More

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March 17, 2024
The Book Report: Ron Charles’ favorite novels of 2022

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By Washington Post book critic Ron Charles

Before we say good-bye to 2022, I want to look back and tell you about five of my favorite novels of this year.

HarperCollins

Barbara Kingsolver has taken Charles Dickens’ classic novel, “David Copperfield,” and transformed it into her own modern-day masterpiece.

“Demon Copperhead” is about a boy in Appalachia trying to find his way in the world while struggling with foster care and opioid addiction.

It’s as funny as it is heartbreaking, and it’s got a voice that leaps right off the page.

READ AN EXCERPT: “Demon Copperhead” by Barbara Kingsolver

“Demon Copperhead” by Barbara Kingsolver (HarperCollins), in Hardcover, Large Print, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Indiebound

barbarakingsolver.net

Grove

“Young Mungo,” by Scottish writer Douglas Stuart, is a gripping story about a sweet young man falling in love for the first time in a violently homophobic community.

To toughen him up, his alcoholic mother sends him on a camping trip with a couple of guys from her AA meeting. Unfortunately, they’re not at all what they seem, and you’ll wish you could protect Young Mungo from what’s ahead.

READ AN EXCERPT: “Young Mungo” by Douglas Stuart

“Young Mungo” by Douglas Stuart (Grove), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon and Indiebound

douglasdstuart.com

Celadon

For some sharp cultural satire, turn to “The Latecomer,” by Jean Hanff Korelitz. This is the story about wealthy triplets who hate each other, and then discover a secret about their father that reorders their lives.

Korelitz uses this witty family epic to explore modern art, liberal education, political correctness, and American spirituality, while delivering one surprise after another.

READ AN EXCERPT: “The Latecomer” by Jean Hanff Korelitz

“The Latecomer” by Jean Hanff Korelitz (Celadon Books), in Hardcover, Large Print, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Indiebound

jeanhanffkorelitz.com

Riverhead

In 2021, Abdulrazak Gurnah won the Nobel Prize, and this year he released a new novel in the United States called “Afterlives.”

Set in the early 20th century, it turns the old story of colonization on its head by pushing the Europeans into the background, and letting us follow the intersecting lives of villagers in East Africa as they struggle to survive and thrive.

READ AN EXCERPT: “Afterlives” by Abdulrazak Gurnah

“Afterlives” by Abdulrazak Gurnah (Riverhead), in Hardcover, Large Print Trade Paperback, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Indiebound

Flatiron Books

“Olga Dies Dreaming,” by Xochitl Gonzalez, is a romantic comedy about a very successful wedding planner who can’t find a partner herself.

Meanwhile, her brother is a popular Congressman, a champion for Puerto Rico, who may be slipping into a compromising position.

This is a novel about family secrets, national schemes, racial politics, and – of course – love!

READ AN EXCERPT: “Olga Dies Dreaming” by Xochitl Gonzalez

“Olga Dies Dreaming” by Xochitl Gonzalez (Flatiron Books), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon and Indiebound

xochitlgonzalez.com

There are a bunch of great new books coming up in 2023. Here are just a few I’m looking forward to:

February

“Victory City” by Salman Rushdie”

March

“Black Ball” by Theresa Runstedtler
“The White Lady” by Jacqueline Winspear

April

“Romantic Comedy” by Curtis Sittenfeld
“The Wager” by David Grann

May

“The Covenant of Water” by Abraham Verghese

June

“Be Mine” by Richard Ford

For more info:

For more reading recommendations, check out these previous Book Report features from Ron Charles:

Produced by Aria Shavelson. Editor: Ed Givnish.

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January 1, 2023