DETROIT — Michigan crime reporter and editor John Counts understands rural Michiganians.

He's lived and worked all over the state covering crime, but he also fishes, hunts and plays guitar. The seasoned journalist — the son of a veteran Michigan journalist, the late Jeff Counts — is gearing up to release a book of short tales titled "Bear...Read more

Last October the bestselling author Ta-Nehisi Coates, promoting a new book with a chapter on the Israeli-Palestinian crisis, dropped by CBS for an interview in which host Tony Dokoupil blasted him with a series of questions that all but accused Coates of antisemitism.

Coates hit back with respectful rebuttals, yet the controversy quickly went ...Read more

Most fans of the Oscar telecast will tell you the best — or, at least, realest — part of the show is when the TV screen shows all five acting nominees, waiting to learn if they’ve won while working on their conciliatory, “yes, they really deserved it”/loser faces.

Daniel D’Addario’s novel, “The Talent,” lives in that moment ...Read more

I don’t know of whom I’m more jealous, Lorne Michaels or Susan Morrison. The latter’s “Lorne” is one of the best biographies I’ve ever read. It’s as though she videotaped his life and the lives of everyone he’s ever spoken to, edited out all the boring parts and left us a book rich in details and anecdotes.

Her achievement is ...Read more

Is it getting sleuthy in here?

There are a lot of mysteries on the way in March. There’s also the return of two fictional women we’d all like to have on our side if we were in the vicinity of a murder: Minnesota’s Cash Blackbear and San Francisco’s Vera Wong.

As these five much-anticipated titles reveal, March also seems to be a good ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS -- Allen Eskens was driving to a library when he came up with the idea for his new book. The main character is, not surprisingly, a librarian.

Eskens, who lives in Cleveland, Minnesota, drives to a lot of libraries so he can’t recall which one it was, other than that it was in southeast Minnesota. But he does recall his thought ...Read more

We tend to think of Jane Austen as the first great female novelist, whose originality paved the way for creative descendants to dazzle critics and readers. “Jane Austen’s Bookshelf” contends that virtually every part of that sentence is wrong.

Rebecca Romney, the author and occasional “Pawn Stars” guest who wrote “Bookshelf,” is a...Read more

At the peak of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in the Golden Age of Hollywood, audiences knew the name of the studio on the silver screen signaled something wonderful was about to begin.

“If they would go to a sneak preview, and the film would would start and it would have the MGM logo, people would applaud,” says Kenneth Turan, the longtime film ...Read more

Within a few days of each other, a few colleagues shared similar versions of this sentiment: They were looking for something to read that was not full of trauma. I get it.

Sometimes, you want to explore whatever it is that’s making things feel darker, whether it’s a string of subzero days or the state of the world, but sometimes you just ...Read more

Here are the bestsellers for the week that ended Saturday, Feb. 15, compiled from data from independent and chain bookstores, book wholesalers and independent distributors nationwide, powered by Circana BookScan © 2025 Circana.

(Reprinted from Publishers Weekly, published by PWxyz LLC. © 2025, PWxyz LLC.)

HARDCOVER FICTION

1. "Onyx Storm (...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The finalists for the 45th Los Angeles Times Book Prizes were announced Wednesday morning, recognizing a group of celebrated writers. Actor Andrew Garfield, novelist Percival Everett and author, screenwriter and TV producer Attica Locke are among the 61 nominees across more than a dozen categories honoring literary achievement....Read more

If you’re a fan of historical fiction, which half of that is most important to you: the history? Or the fiction?

It’s entertaining to encounter actual people and events in a novel, where what we already know about them can increase our curiosity and add depth to the portrait. There’s a zing of recognition and verve in great historical ...Read more

You might say that Jennifer “Jen” Pastiloff has built a thriving brand by just being herself.

I’ve known her for years and I can’t neatly wrap up her multi-hyphenated self. A few things she is: A hearing-impaired woman and deaf advocate; a yoga teacher; a TED Talk giver; a leader of writing workshops around the world; a life coach; a ...Read more

It’s February, the time of year when we could all use a little warmth and sun. And lucky us — here come both in the form of a new novel by Jojo Moyes.

“We All Live Here” is bighearted and funny, a story about mistakes, forgiveness and moving on.

Moyes is the bestselling author of “The Giver of Stars” and “Someone Else’s Shoes,�...Read more

CHICAGO — Socrates, of all the philosophers in the history of mankind, was probably the biggest pain in the ass. He believed argument itself was the core to understanding anyone, including himself. He didn’t want to convince you. He didn’t want you to agree to disagree with him. He didn’t want you to agree at all — for therein held one...Read more

In 1994, Norwegian explorer Erling Kagge completed the “Three Poles Challenge,” becoming the first person to reach the North Pole, South Pole and summit of Mount Everest on foot — without using dogs, supply drops or motorized aids.

Since then, he’s remained refreshingly curious, both physically (by traversing New York City underground) ...Read more

How do we find meaning when new boundaries are drawn between us every day?

This is a central question facing two children who find themselves on their own, fighting for survival under a surveillance state in Ali Smith’s newest, “Gliff.”

“Gliff” deals with similar themes to the four-time Booker Prize shortlisted author’s Seasonal ...Read more