Books

Unlike many academic tomes, Jennifer Cobbina's book doesn't presume prior knowledge; it establishes historical and cultural context for the distrust many African Americans feel toward law enforcement.

Jordi Puntí's new short story collection is full of men living on the edge — almost always because they've put themselves there. They're maddening characters, and Puntí regards them with sympathy.

Whether you're extremely online or still confused by how a simple period can be interpreted as passive-aggressive, linguist Gretchen McCulloch has a guide to how our on-screen speech is morphing.

Molly Mendoza's loopy new graphic novel isn't quite a young adult book, or a book for grownups, either. But it is a trippy visual experience, and Mendoza's art is gorgeous even when the story is thin.

The Strand Magazine is publishing a short story by John Steinbeck that until now was only published in French. David Greene learns more from Andrew Gulli, The Strand's managing editor.

Patrick Coleman's novel follows a former pastor, now working as a security guard, who gets caught up in a noirish adventure after one of his coworkers is murdered, but it's much more than a whodunit.

Lippman's latest novel, Lady in the Lake, was inspired by two real-life Baltimore disappearances in the 1960s. She says Trump's recent tweets show a "basic disrespect" for the residents of her city.

If author Dale Beran is to be believed, all the world's an Internet forum. His new book offers an overview of Internet culture and explores the mindset and techniques of early Internet trolls.

Even if we weren't in need of another road-trippy-addiction memoir, Peter Kaldheim's book recounts his very human efforts to swim to shore with compassion and gratitude.

Sarah Parcak has found that studying the rise and fall of civilizations has given her hope, or at least some hope. Her new book is called Archaeology from Space: How The Future Shapes Our Past.

The decline of Earth's insect population may have serious consequences for humans, says scientist Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson. Insects are the world's janitors, as well as pollinators and a food source.

Sarah Elaine Smith's debut novel, about a girl from an impoverished, broken family who impersonates a missing neighbor in order to get motherly attention, is otherworldly in its beauty and power.