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A MYRIAD OF TONGUES

Everett, a professor of anthropology and psychology and author of Numbers and the Making of Us, offers an enlightening examination of human communication based on the findings of linguist fieldworkers—himself included—as well as researchers in areas such as cognitive psychology, data science, and respiratory medicine. Whereas early theories about language commonalities and evolution were largely based on languages spoken in “Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic (WEIRD) societ

THE CURSE OF EELGRASS BOG

Twelve-year-old Kess and her older brother, Oliver, have lived alone in the Unnatural History Museum ever since Mam and Da left for Antarctica on a research trip ever so long ago. Well, there’s also Shrunken Jim, a pickled, disembodied head Kess carries around in a jar, a staunch if unusual friend. Kess hopes that new exhibits will revitalize the museum, and when newcomer Lilou visits, Kess finds a partner in exploration—and what they learn in Eelgrass Bog upends everything Kess thought she kne

BOG MYRTLE

Living together in a drafty house, pale-skinned siblings Beatrice and Magnolia are opposites in many ways. Short, wide Beatrice is happy and curious, whereas lanky Magnolia is cranky and tyrannical. One day Beatrice ventures into the nearby forest and meets Bog Myrtle, a giant, gray-skinned spider woman who’s deeply committed to protecting the forest and is known for turning people into flies and eating them. She gives Beatrice some of her magic silk. With the help of the spiders that live in t

AMIL AND THE AFTER

After leaving their beloved home in Mirpur Khas, which is now part of the newly created Pakistan, 12-year-old twins Amil and Nisha are living in Bombay with their doctor father, paternal grandmother, and beloved family cook. While Amil (whose late mother was Muslim and father is Hindu) is grateful for their newfound safety, he’s haunted by memories of their flight. Nisha kept a diary during their journey, and when she suggests Amil should draw to express his feelings, he begins sketching the fa

I'LL STOP THE WORLD

Justin Warren, a disaffected student waiting for high school to end, finds himself enmeshed in hard-to-explain (and understand) circumstances in this mystery saga of time travel, adolescent heartache, and coming-of-age angst. Finding himself transported after an accident from 2023 to the year 1985, Justin is confronted with perplexing details about his complicated family history. Among the pre-millennial teens Justin meets is Rose Yin, a do-gooder and diligent student who becomes one of his few

TO THE SUCCESS OF OUR HOPELESS CAUSE

When Stalin lived, his government paid little attention to the nation’s guarantees of constitutional rights and used terror, imprisonment, and torture to curb dissent. When Stalin died in 1953, the regime was less inclined to kill its opponents. In this deeply researched history, Nathans, author of Beyond the Pale, introduces bohemian intellectual Alexander Volpin, son of the poet Sergei Esenin, who, inspired by Rosa Parks and other civil rights activists, “sought to apply modal logic to two hu

THE FOURTH TURNING IS HERE

In 1997, entrepreneur and history buff Howe published The Fourth Turning with William Strauss. In that book, they laid out a clear cyclical pattern of Anglo-American history that occurs in units of 80 to 100 years, called a saeculum, which are further divided into roughly two-decade increments called turnings. The First Turning is a High, an upbeat era of strengthening institutions and weakening individualism when a new order arises. The Second, Awakening, is a turbulent era when the new order

THE EAGLE AND THE HART

The political crisis culminating in the deposition of Richard II in 1399 by his cousin, Henry of Bolingbroke, ignited the issue of sovereign legitimacy between the houses of York and Lancaster for the next 85 years. In her probing work in four parts, with chapters titled after lines from the Shakespeare plays, Castor delves into the upbringing and character of these two very different men: Richard, the effete “spare,” becomes king at age 10 after the successive deaths of his older brother, fath

THE PERENNIALS

Guillén is a professor of management at the Wharton School, and his book 2030: How Today’s Biggest Trends Will Collide and Reshape the Future of Everything demonstrated his ability to tackle big-picture issues. Here, the author expands on themes he has touched on previously, looking at the interaction of increased longevity and accelerating technological trends. He argues that the idea of a linear life of compartmentalized stages is no longer appropriate and that concepts like retirement are no

40 DAYS IN HICKSVILLE

Fifteen-year-old Kate has just moved east across Canada to her mother’s childhood home in the small town of Clarendon, which she’s dubbed Hicksville—and she’s not happy about it. It’s just Kate and her mom, as her unstable dad is barely around. Zach Whitchurch, Kate’s neighbor and classmate, keeps riding over to her house on his John Deere lawn mower, and the two bond over their mutual interest in Kate’s paternal grandfather, who’s rumored to have killed his wife. Exploring the woods on her gra

WE WHO PRODUCE PEARLS

“We who dream / mark time by the moon, / a heavenly body containing multitudes, whose many faces mirror our own.” Writing in verse, Ho notes the diversity of the Asian American community. She alludes to the many reasons that people took the risk of immigrating to America: the wounds of colonization, unfair labor practices, and dreams of opportunities. Affirming that the Asian experience is an integral part of U.S. history, she acknowledges the oppression that Asian Americans have endured, but,

THE WOOD AT MIDWINTER

In an afterword, Clarke tells readers how this story began as a BBC Radio 4 broadcast. Or, rather, she explains how her father’s neurodivergence, her beliefs about the consciousness of trees, and the music of Kate Bush begat a tale in which a young woman sees her future during a walk in a snowy forest. The author also explains how she was certain that Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell (2004) contained a footnote describing the city where her protagonist lives, but that it’s gone now—probably remo

BREAKNECK

Supreme Court Justice Charlotte Morehouse visits Alaska for a conference and is invited to stay and see some of the sights. “My idea of wild adventure is a foreign film with subtitles,” muses a nervous law clerk. “What if something were to happen?” As bad luck would have it, Russian mobster Maxim Volkov bears a deep grudge against the justice. “My plan is simple,” he says. “Kill the bitch judge who let my Nina die.” The veteran of Penal Colony Number 6 has earned his nickname, Kostolom—Bone Bre

12 MONTHS TO LIVE

All things considered, things have been going pretty well for Jane Smith. Sure, she’s twice divorced; she’s not all that close to her sister, Brigid, who also has cancer; and Rob Jacobson, the client accused of killing Mitch and Kathy Gates and their teenage daughter, Laurel, is a lying piece of trash. But Jane and her investigator, tavern owner Jimmy Cunniff, have just been asked to look again into the high-profile Carson case, involving another family of three who were shot dead some years ag

COOPERATIVE CO-PARENTING FOR SECURE KIDS

Shortly after the author separated from her partner, their 6-year-old daughter told her “I feel all alone in the woods!” That distress signal launched Smolarski, a psychotherapist, mediator, and public policy advocate, on a quest to understand what a “good two-home family” might look like and learn how to create one for her own family. In this guide to creating “a co-parenting relationship that allows your child to thrive,” she outlines three different attachment styles and how they affect fami

MY DADDY IS A COWBOY

The child, who narrates the story, kisses Abuelita goodbye. Then Daddy and the little one head to the ranch on his motorcycle. They greet their horses: a shiny black mare called Power for Daddy and a spunky brown pony named Clover for the child. They ride their horses through the quiet streets of the city, and the child relishes Daddy’s undivided attention as well as the thrill of being the only ones awake. Daddy tells stories about learning to ride as a child, and they see the city begin to wa

THE NOTEBOOK

British publisher and diarist Allen brings his love of notebooks to a lively, wide-ranging history of bound blank pages. Notebooks, he writes, “interest me as a technology that has had tangible effects on the world around us.” The author started keeping a journal in 2002: “Writing a diary made me happier; keeping things-to-do lists made me more reliable (which in turn made those around me happier), and I learned never to go to a doctor’s appointment, or a meeting of any kind, without taking not

LAWYER NATION

Since colonial days, the legal profession has been proud of “its role in the founding of the republic, the adoption of the U.S. Constitution, and the defense of democracy and the rule of law.” Today, however, the profession faces an “an existential crisis” on which “the American democratic experiment hinges,” writes law professor Brescia, author of How Cities Will Save the World. According to multiple studies, the legal system that helped create what can be called the longest-running democratic

LIBRARY GIRL

The women are friends, all single and childless (though not by choice), and each is a little quirky. By the time Essie’s 11, she’s read a great deal about the world but experienced little. Meeting G.E., a boy who looks just like her, makes her dream of being part of a large family. The two plot: Essie’s four mothers could marry the four male department store employees who are G.E.’s dads. The real outcome turns out to be slightly more complicated. The adult characters are drawn with broad, slig

LOOKING FOR THE EID MOON

Sara admires the dress she’ll wear at the upcoming Eid party, while her younger sister, Lulu, peeks out the window looking for the new crescent moon. The moon signifies major holidays in the Islamic calendar, such as the start of Eid, so Sara decides that she and Lulu will be the first to spot it. “Have fun!” Mom calls from the festively decorated living room as the sisters head outside with a flashlight, a blanket, and binoculars. The girls wait, scanning the night sky, until Mom calls them in