Seven new illustrated books about watches, Hollywood costumes, wine country and magazine covers double as a short course in how to collect anything well.
Why the titles big retailers overlook are often the ones that stay on the shelf longest — and how to find them.
The picks are mostly sound, but the praise runs ahead of the argument — and a year-end list is a weaker instrument than it looks.
Long before publication day, decisions about formats, print runs, and markets have already shaped a book's chances. How the publishing process sets a book's fate in advance.
Why a tale told by someone else feels different from a tale told by nobody at all.
A solo hour with a pianist, a Congo childhood, and a novel built like a piece of music — the context behind Kingsolver's latest book event.
A DNF review can be the most honest criticism you write. It can also be the laziest. Here is how to tell the difference.
From Roman domes to modern skylines, the story of concrete is really a story about who gets to build, and what lasts.
Narration is not packaging. It is a second authorship, and it deserves its own critical standards.
The saying feels true because some patterns really do recur. The trick is telling recurrence from rhyme, and rhyme from a story we want to hear.