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Pope Francis, first Latin American pontiff, dies at 88
Penguin to publish ‘classic’ Roald Dahl books after backlash
LONDON — Publisher Penguin Random House announced Friday it will publish “classic” unexpurgated versions of Roald Dahl’s children’s novels after it received criticism for cuts and rewrites that were intended to make the books suitable for modern readers. Along with the new editions, the company said 17 of Dahl’s books...
Dr. Seuss’ ‘How the Grinch stole Christmas!’ gets a sequel
BOSTON — Dr. Seuss fans might find their hearts growing three sizes this coming holiday season with the release of a sequel to the 1957 classic children’s book “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” The new book picks up one year after the original, and like the first, teaches a valuable...
Critics reject changes to Roald Dahl books as censorship
LONDON — Critics are accusing the British publisher of Roald Dahl’s classic children’s books of censorship after it removed colorful language from works such as “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and “Matilda” to make them more acceptable to modern readers. A review of new editions of Dahl’s books now available...
Review: Thunberg aims to educate with ‘The Climate Book’
“The Climate Book,” by Greta Thunberg (Penguin Press) Skipping school to sit outside the Swedish Parliament in 2018 with a sign reading “School Strike for Climate” at the age of 15, Greta Thunberg promised she would never stop calling out leaders and governments for refusing to take strong enough actions...
Florida school district pulls children’s book about Roberto Clemente off shelves
A large Florida school district has pulled an illustrated children’s biography of Pittsburgh Pirates legend Roberto Clemente off its shelves to determine whether it is “developmentally appropriate for student use.” Duval County Public Schools, which includes the city of Jacksonville, said in a news release it is “taking further steps...
From ‘Blacula’ to ‘Get Out,’ the evolution of Black horror films
“The Black Guy Dies First: Black Horror Cinema from Fodder to Oscar” by Robin R. Means Coleman’s and Mark H. Harris; Gallery/Saga Press (327 pages, $27.99) If you want to survive a horror movie, there are a few things to remember. Always make sure your phone is charged. Avoid abandoned...
Streisand memoir ‘My Name is Barbra’ coming Nov. 7
NEW YORK — Barbra Streisand’s very long and very long-awaited memoir, a project she has talked about for years, is coming out this fall. Viking, a Penguin Random House imprint, will release “My Name is Barbra” on Nov. 7. Her memoir, fitting for a superstar of the grandest ambitions, is...
Salman Rushdie gives 1st interview since 2022 stabbing
NEW YORK — Months after being stabbed repeatedly as he prepared to give a lecture, Salman Rushdie is blind in his right eye, struggles to write and, at times, has “frightening” nightmares. But, he said during his first interview since the attack, he still has a feeling of gratitude. “Well,...
‘Tiger Mom’ Amy Chua writes first novel, ‘The Golden Gate’
NEW YORK — Amy Chua, the Yale Law School professor and author sometimes known as “Tiger Mom,” has written her first novel. “The Golden Gate,” a murder mystery centered around a wealthy family in Berkeley, California in 1944, will come out Sept. 19. Chua said in a statement released Monday...
Book Review: ‘Looking for Jane’ is gripping, historical, relevant
Gripping from the moment it begins, Heather Marshall’s novel “Looking for Jane” is getting a well-deserved re-release to hit the post-Roe v. Wade United States market. The story kicks off with a striking prologue: A letter informing Nancy that she was adopted is misdelivered, then misplaced. Years later, when Angela...
Julie Andrews teams with daughter on new picture book
NEW YORK — The latest picture book collaboration between Julie Andrews and daughter Emma Walton Hamilton was inspired by an unusual musical performance in Spain. Abrams Children’s Books announced Monday that “The Enchanted Symphony” will be published Sept. 12. Andrews and Walton Hamilton thought of the book during the first...
Review: Making of ‘The Way We Were’ is a rich, gossipy tale
“The Way They Were: How Epic Battles and Bruised Egos Brought a Classic Hollywood Love Story to the Screen” by Robert Hofler (Citadel) Most people seem to like their screen romances a little on the sad side. When the American Film Institute listed its top romantic movies, the first four...
Cardinal says book by Benedict XVI’s secretary unseemly
ROME — The archbishop of Vienna, a longtime friend and former student of Pope Benedict XVI, has confirmed that it was he who wrote a letter to his former teacher urging him to accept election as pontiff in 2005 if the votes went his way. Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn issued a...
On NBC’s ‘Today,’ Jenna Bush Hager is becoming book publishing’s best friend
Ever since the death of former First Lady Barbara Bush, her granddaughter Jenna Bush Hager has been desperate to find an unlikely family heirloom. “She had a needlepoint pillow that said, ‘Reading is sexy,’” the “Today with Hoda & Jenna” co-host recalled in a recent conversation at NBC’s studios in...
Boris Johnson signs deal for memoir of turbulent premiership
LONDON — Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has signed a deal to write a memoir of his tumultuous time in office, which began with a vow to “get Brexit done” and ended in scandal and resignation. Publisher HarperCollins said Monday that the as-yet untitled book will be a prime...
Nonfiction books to watch for in 2023
The top history, memoir and other nonfiction for the first quarter of the year. Last week we gave you a list of fiction to watch for in 2023. Now here is some good-looking nonfiction. “Rough Sleepers,” by Tracy Kidder. (Random House, Jan. 17) Kidder spent five years following a Boston...
The quest to find King Tut is detailed in new book about the storied pharaoh
“The Complete Tutankhamun: 100 Years of Discovery” by Nicholas Reeves; Thames & Hudson (464 pages, $50) Ancient Egyptians made him a god. Modern Egyptologists made him immortal. When Tutankhamun came to the throne around 1330 B.C., he still counted his age in single digits. When he died, his body weakened...
After hype, readers get hands on Prince Harry’s ‘Spare’
LONDON — After weeks of hype and days of leaks, readers got a chance to judge Prince Harry’s book for themselves when it went on sale around the world on Tuesday. The book’s publisher said “Spare” sold 400,000 copies in the U.K. in all formats — hardback, e-book and audio...
Review: Janet Malcolm’s quasi-memoir on pictures and memory
“Still Pictures: On Photography and Memory,” by Janet Malcolm (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) When Janet Malcolm died 18 months ago at 86, her New Yorker colleague Ian Frazier wrote a eulogy for the magazine noting that the famed and feared journalist had been working on a series of essays based...
Prince Harry’s book exposes grief, war, drugs, family rifts
LONDON — Bereaved boy, troubled teen, wartime soldier, unhappy royal — many facets of Prince Harry are revealed in his explosive memoir, often in eyebrow-raising detail. From accounts of cocaine use and losing his virginity to raw family rifts, “Spare” exposes deeply personal details about Harry and the wider royal...
Review: India’s Partition in deeply human debut novel
“The Book of Everlasting Things” by Aanchal Malhotra (Flatiron) Star-crossed lovers. Intoxicating scents. Old war journals containing ghosts and secrets. What more could you want in a work of historical fiction? Aanchal Malhotra’s debut novel “The Book of Everlasting Things” paints a riveting picture of the 1947 Partition of India...
2023 public domain debuts include last Sherlock Holmes work
WASHINGTON — Sherlock Holmes is finally free to the American public in 2023. The long-running contested copyright dispute over Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s tales of a whipsmart detective — which has even ensnared Enola Holmes — will finally come to an end as the 1927 copyrights expiring Jan. 1 include...
Books to look forward to in 2023
Making a January list of “books to look forward to” is a hopeless task; there will be hundreds and hundreds of books out in the new year, each of them potentially thrilling to somebody. But here’s a representative list of just a few that caught my eye. Here’s hoping all...
Review: ‘The Good Country’ revives Midwest’s history
“The Good Country: A History of the American Midwest 1800-1900” by Jon K. Lauck (The University of Oklahoma Press) Dismissed as Flyover Country. Romanticized as the Heartland. Now, historian Jon K. Lauck seeks to redefine the Midwest as “The Good Country” — a place of progress and democratic ideals —...
‘The Pittsburgh Novel’ catalogs Western Pennsylvania fiction back to the late 1700s
As a young man in the early 1960s, Peter Oresick stopped at his local library and borrowed a copy of “Request for Sherwood Anderson,” a story collection by fellow Ford City native Frank Brookhouser. In the book, he recognized settings and surnames from his hometown – and that was the...


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