Category Archives: Reviews

The New York Times Book Review – December 29, 2024

THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW (December 29, 2024): The latest issue features…

The Novel About U.S. Politics So Outrageous It Nearly Wasn’t Published

Robert Coover’s “The Public Burning” was met with bafflement and awe when it appeared in 1977. Reality has finally caught up to his masterpiece.

The Hottest Trend in Publishing: Books You Can Judge by Their Cover

Elaborately designed books with patterned edges and other effects started as a trend in romance and fantasy, and have now spread throughout the publishing industry.

Marvel Comics as Penguin Classics? Elda Rotor Heard a ‘Hell Yeah’

“I get real geek joy out of learning something new,” says the imprint’s vice president and publisher. She’s proud to have broadened the definition of a classic during her tenure.

Smithsonian Magazine – January 2025 Preview

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SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE (December 30, 2024): The latest issue features ‘In Search of the World’s Smallest Monkey’ – A journey into Ecuador’s remote forests to spy on adorable, and suprisingly chatty, pygmy marmosets.

Seventy-Seven Fascinating Finds Revealed in 2024, From a Mysterious ‘Anomaly’ Near the Great Pyramid of Giza to a Missing Portrait of Henry VIII

How an Experiment to Amplify Light in Hospital Operating Rooms Led to the Accidental Invention of the Snow Globe

The origins of the decoration lie in Vienna’s 17th district, where the inventor’s descendants are still making them for collectors around the world

The New York Times Magazine – Dec. 29, 2024

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The New York Times Magazine – The 12.29.24 Issue features The Lives They Lived: remembering some of the artists, innovators and thinkers we lost in the past year.

In Search of Loved Ones, Syrian Women Face Horror of Assad’s Regime

In Syria, women begin picking up the pieces of a broken nation.

The Lives They Lived

Remembering some of the artists, innovators and thinkers we lost in the past year.

The Best Friends They Left Behind

The beloved pets of some of the notable people we lost this year.

The New York Review Of Books – January 16, 2025

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THE NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS (December 26, 2024): The latest issue features…

Rebels Without a Cause

In Sam Gold’s Romeo + Juliet, the lovers’ headlong rush into marriage is in tension throughout with the surprising regression to childhood that characterizes so much of the production.

Romeo + Juliet – a play by William Shakespeare, directed by Sam Gold, at Circle in the Square, New York City, October 24, 2024–February 16, 2025

Joy and Apprehension in Syria

There is widespread relief after Assad’s fall, though no one is more aware than Syrians themselves of the dangers and challenges that await them.

Evolution in the Dock

In her new book, Brenda Wineapple brings to life one of the most inflamed chapters in the history of America’s culture wars: the Scopes trial of 1925.

Keeping the Faith: God, Democracy, and the Trial That Riveted a Nation by Brenda Wineapple

Hoover Institution: Best Books On Politics In 2024

Hoover Year in Review Books

Hoover Institution (December 22, 2024): The depth of Hoover’s scholarship is reflected in the numerous books published by our fellows on a broad variety of topics and issues.

The Boiling Moat: Urgent Steps to Defend Taiwan

Boiling Moat by Matt Pottinger


Edited by Matt Pottinger (Hoover Institution Press) Publication Date: July 1, 2024

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has openly expressed his intention to annex Taiwan to mainland China, even threatening the use of force. An invasion or blockade of Taiwan by Chinese forces would be catastrophic, with severe consequences for democracies worldwide. In The Boiling Moat, Matt Pottinger and a team of scholars and distinguished military and political leaders urgently outline practical steps for deterrence.

the full proceedings from this conference—the presentations, responses, and discussions. In it, participants debate the meaning of getting monetary policy “back on track,” the significance of recent bank failures, and how to improve forecasting and oversight.

The End of Everything: How Wars Descend into Annihilation

The End of Everything: How Wars Descend into Annihilation


By Victor Davis Hanson (Basic Books)
Publication Date: May 7, 2024

In The End of Everything, military historian Victor Davis Hanson narrates a series of sieges and sackings that span centuries, from the age of antiquity to the conquest of the New World, to show how societies descend into barbarism and obliteration. In the stories of Thebes, Carthage, Constantinople, and Tenochtitlan, he depicts war’s drama, violence, and folly. Highlighting the naivete that plagued the vanquished and the wrath that justified mass slaughter, Hanson delivers a sobering call to contemporary readers to heed the lessons of obliteration lest we blunder into catastrophe once again.

At War with Ourselves: My Tour of Duty in the Trump White House

At War with Ourselves


By H.R. McMaster (HarperCollins Publishers)
Publication Date: August 27, 2024

At War with Ourselves is the story of helping a disruptive president drive necessary shifts in US foreign policy at a critical moment in history. H.R. McMaster entered an administration beset by conflict and the hyperpartisanship of American politics. With the candor of a soldier and the perspective of a historian, McMaster rises above the fray to lay bare the good, the bad, and the ugly of Trump’s presidency and give readers insight into what a second Trump term might look like.

Documenting Communism: The Hoover Project to Microfilm and Publish the Soviet Archives

Documenting Communism: The Hoover Project to Microfilm and Publish the Soviet Archives


By Charles G. Palm (Hoover Institution Press) Foreword by Condoleezza Rice, Introduction by Stephen Kotkin
Publication Date: June 1, 2024

In late 1991, the Soviet Union was officially dissolved. Over the next 12 years, the Hoover Institution microfilmed and published the newly opened records of the Soviet Communist Party and the Soviet State. Charles Palm, who led this mission, details how he and his colleagues secured a historic agreement with the Russian Federation, then launched and successfully carried out the joint project with the Russian State Archives and their partner, Chadwyck-Healey Ltd.

The New York Times Book Review – Dec. 22, 2024

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THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW (December 22, 2024): The latest features…

When Stephen Sondheim Transformed Theater, and Theatergoers, Forever

An incisive new book, “How Sondheim Can Change Your Life,”

The Books Readers Loved in 2024

Memorable characters, delightful nonfiction and poignant novels stuck with people across the world.

Why One of the World’s Most Elusive Writers Still Haunts Readers

Newly translated letters reveal the inner life of Paul Celan, offering clues to his enigmatic poems.

Foreign Affairs Magazine: The Best Essays Of 2024

FOREIGN AFFAIRS MAGAZINE (December 22, 2024): The top essays of the year include…

The Self-Doubting Superpower

By Fareed Zakaria

America shouldn’t give up on the world it made.

Why Gaza Matters

By Jean-Pierre Filiu

Since antiquity, the territory has shaped the quest for power in the Middle East.

Israel’s Self-Destruction

By Aluf Benn

Netanyahu, the Palestinians, and the price of neglect.

Russia Is Burning Up Its Future

By Andrei Kolesnikov

How Putin’s pursuit of power has hollowed out the country and its people.

The Trouble With “the Global South”

By Comfort Ero

What the West gets wrong about the rest.

The New York Times Magazine – Dec. 22, 2024

In this issue, Nicholas Casey and Paolo Pellegrin on the journey to receive medical treatment for Palestinians in Gaza; Jason Diamond on the dancer and choreographer Mikhail Baryshnikov; Jenna (J) Wortham on the new social media platform Bluesky; and more.

THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE (December 21, 2024): The 12,22,24 issue features ‘Escape From Gaza’…

For a Desperate Few, a Hectic Escape From Gaza

The war is nearly impossible to flee — except for a small number of sick and wounded who are offered a dramatic path to safety. By Nicholas Casey

Is Mikhail Baryshnikov the Last of the Highbrow Superstars?

Fifty years since he left the Soviet Union, he insists on using his huge fame to bring attention to difficult, esoteric art. By Jason Diamond

Another New Twitter? Good Luck With That.

Users are now flocking to Bluesky. But every social media platform becomes a wasteland in the end. By J Wortham

Finance Preview: Barron’s Magazine – Dec. 23, 2024

Magazine - Latest Issue - Barron's

BARRON’S MAGAZINE (December21, 2024): The latest issue features ‘Buy Now, Cry Later’…

She Blew Her Life Savings. How Tech Hooks Shoppers.

The rise of affiliate links, Buy Now buttons, and other technology has made it easier than ever to binge, often with dire consequences.

Sell Costco Stock. It’s No Bargain.

The company is firing on all cylinders, but its valuation has become concerning. Shares now trade for 53 times projected earnings.

Farewell to the Smooth Ride for Stocks. How to Prepare Your Portfolio for a Bumpy 2025.

Trump’s policies are a wild card for markets. Making these portfolio moves could help smooth your ride.

The Super-Rich Invest in Some Wild Things. A 20% Return Is Very Real.

Some wealthy families look elsewhere to invest as private-equity funds become too big. The strategies aren’t for the average investor.