Books/Poetry

Lizzie Stark is the author of "Egg: A Dozen Ovatures." (Courtesy the publishers; photo by J.R. Blackwell)

A new essay collection highlights surprising relationships between humans and eggs

Book critic Michael Patrick Brady says Lizzie Stark's "Egg: A Dozen Ovatures" enlights, entertains and serves as a reminder that even the most mundane objects may contain multitudes.

Tara Conklin delivers a satire of small-town life in new novel 'Community Board'

Conklin's latest work is set in a fictional town in western Massachusetts where online message boards have replaced gossipy sewing circles and snooping neighbors employ drones to do their dirty...

7 books to add to your reading list this spring

Book critic Christian Burno curated a list of fresh reads to hold you over until summer.

Julie Carrick Dalton's 'The Last Beekeeper' is a hopeful, post-apocalyptic thriller

The bestselling author's new book is many novels in one: a thriller, a reflection on the relationship between humans and nature, and a tale of a young woman’s quest for...

'All That Is Mine I Carry With Me' is an uneven but haunting whodunit based in Newton

The best-selling author of "Defending Jacob" and former assistant district attorney for Middlesex County is out with another mystery set in the Boston area.

Celebrating 25 years of the Lizard Lounge Poetry Jam and the man who started it all

Jazz musician Jeff Robinson founded the poetry jam in 1998 as a way to perform. Over the years, he became a host, a slam master for competition, and the person...

New anthology explores the rich diversity of American English

For his new anthology, “The People’s Tongue: Americans and the English Language,” author, editor and Amherst College professor Ilan Stavans collected perspectives from 74 writers throughout American history to create...

Arts & Culture

Feb 14, 2023

Martin Puchner's "Culture: The Story of Us from Cave Art to K-Pop is available Feb. 7. (Courtesy W.W. Norton and Johannes Marburg)

Martin Puchner's 'Culture: The Story of Us, from Cave Art to K-Pop' is a love letter to the humanities

Martin Puchner, a Harvard professor, found himself unable to articulate a defense or even a definition of "the humanities." So he searched for an answer, one that he hoped would...

Arts & Culture

Feb 6, 2023

Arts and culture fellow Lauren Williams highlights books about the right to choose and our reality without it.. (Courtesy the book publishers)

The WBUR Read-In: 50 years after Roe

Arts and culture fellow Lauren Williams recommends three books about the right to choose and our reality without it.

Arts & Culture

Jan 25, 2023

The WBUR Read-In: Time and transformation

Arts and culture fellow Lauren Williams recommends three books looking at the passage of time, memories and self-reflection.

Arts & Culture

Jan 11, 2023

Literature critic Christian Burno recommends seven books to read this winter. (Courtesy the publishers)

7 books to take into hibernation this winter

Book critic Christian Burno has conjured up a list of works that’ll help you escape the long winter months ahead.

Arts & Culture

Jan 10, 2023

Laura Zigman's latest novel, 'Small World,' is available January 10. (Courtesy Adrianne Mathiowetz and Ecco)

In novel 'Small World,' two adult sisters in Cambridge revisit their troubled childhood

After decades apart, two recently divorced sisters try to forge a new understanding about the difficult childhood they shared and the sister that they lost.

Arts & Culture

Jan 9, 2023

A photo from a previous Moby-Dick Marathon with a reader reciting the sermon of "Father Mapple." (Courtesy New Bedford Whaling Museum)

'Moby-Dick' super fans return to New Bedford for annual marathon

The 25-hour reading of Herman Melville's seafaring tome returns in person to the New Bedford Whaling Museum for the first time since the pandemic began.

Arts & Culture

Jan 6, 2023

"Isabella Stewart Gardner: A Life" is available Nov. 29. (Courtesy Princeton University Press)

New biography wrestles with Isabella Stewart Gardner's contradicting complexities

Diana Seave Greenwald and Nathaniel Silver, two curators at the the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum, have a new biography out about the woman who "by design, made herself a mystery.”

Arts & Culture

Nov 28, 2022

Left, the cover of Quentin Tarantino's first nonfiction book, "Cinema Speculation." (Courtesy Harper Collins) Right, Quentin Tarantino attends the close encounter red carpet during the 16th Rome Film Fest 2021. (Daniele Venturelli/WireImage)

A film critic reflects on Quentin Tarantino's film reflections

The director's book "Cinema Speculation" is basically "everything you’d hoped for and everything you’d feared from a book of movie reviews by the former video store clerk who grew up...

Arts & Culture

Nov 16, 2022

The WBUR Read-In: Life online

Arts and culture fellow Lauren Williams recommends three books about how our lives have been impacted by the internet.

Arts & Culture

Nov 2, 2022

Author Peter Bebergal with his father's reel-to-reel recorder. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

A 'gonzo journalist of the occult' hunts for the ghosts in our machines

While researching his latest book on technology and the supernatural, Cambridge's Peter Bebergal set out to commune with the other side. What he discovered gave him chills.

Arts & Culture

06:34Oct 31, 2022

"The Grand Affair: John Singer Sargent in His World" is available Nov. 1. (Courtesy Lisa Abitbol and Macmillan Publishers)

John Singer Sargent biography sifts through the artist's life and explores the heart of his genius

In “The Grand Affair: John Singer Sargent in His World,” Fisher provides a comprehensive and engaging biography of the artist, from his peripatetic youth traveling throughout Europe to his final...

Arts & Culture

Oct 31, 2022

The WBUR Read-In: Borders and belonging

Arts and culture fellow Lauren Williams recommends three books on borders and belonging.

Arts & Culture

Oct 19, 2022

"A Dead Name That Learned How to Live," by poet and photographer Golden, published in August. (Courtesy Golden)

Poet Golden's debut collection explores family history and personal identity

In August, Golden released their debut poetry collection “A Dead Name That Learned How to Live," a culmination of work they’ve written over the last four years living in Boston...

Arts & Culture

Oct 14, 2022

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A new essay collection highlights surprising relationships between humans and eggs

Tara Conklin delivers a satire of small-town life in new novel 'Community Board'

7 books to add to your reading list this spring

Julie Carrick Dalton's 'The Last Beekeeper' is a hopeful, post-apocalyptic thriller

'All That Is Mine I Carry With Me' is an uneven but haunting whodunit based in Newton

Celebrating 25 years of the Lizard Lounge Poetry Jam and the man who started it all

New anthology explores the rich diversity of American English

Martin Puchner's 'Culture: The Story of Us, from Cave Art to K-Pop' is a love letter to the humanities

The WBUR Read-In: 50 years after Roe

The WBUR Read-In: Time and transformation

7 books to take into hibernation this winter

In novel 'Small World,' two adult sisters in Cambridge revisit their troubled childhood

'Moby-Dick' super fans return to New Bedford for annual marathon

New biography wrestles with Isabella Stewart Gardner's contradicting complexities

A film critic reflects on Quentin Tarantino's film reflections

The WBUR Read-In: Life online

A 'gonzo journalist of the occult' hunts for the ghosts in our machines

John Singer Sargent biography sifts through the artist's life and explores the heart of his genius

The WBUR Read-In: Borders and belonging

Poet Golden's debut collection explores family history and personal identity