The Latest

He ran the morgue on 9/11. The job took years.

He ran the morgue on 9/11. The job took years.

On the morning of September 11, 2001, Shiya Ribowsky walked to work. It was a beautiful day, and he was in no hurry. As director of identifications at New York City’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME), he knew death keeps its own schedule. Then the first plane struck...

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SCIENCE FICTION

MYSTERIES & THRILLERS

The Lincoln Lawyer takes AI to court

The Lincoln Lawyer takes AI to court

As I write, more than 20 lawsuits have been filed against the company OpenAI over the alleged misbehavior of its chatbot, ChatGPT. (I could find none against Anthropic's Claude.) Doubtless, more will surface as time goes on, especially in the face of fast-growing reports that...

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NONFICTION

He ran the morgue on 9/11. The job took years.

He ran the morgue on 9/11. The job took years.

On the morning of September 11, 2001, Shiya Ribowsky walked to work. It was a beautiful day, and he was in no hurry. As director of identifications at New York City’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME), he knew death keeps its own schedule. Then the first plane struck...

read more

Popular Fiction

Laughs in sci-fi? P. G. Wodehouse did humor better.

Laughs in sci-fi? P. G. Wodehouse did humor better.

The legendary English humorist Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse (1881-1975), known to readers as P. G., wrote about 100 books in a career that spanned much of the 20th century. His output included 71 novels, 24 collections of short stories, 42 plays, three memoirs, and a lot...

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Explore My “BEST OF the category” selections

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE BOOK?

When people ask me that question, I never know what to say. In a lifetime of reading, I’ve read many thousands of books. And I’ve reviewed well over 2,000 of them on this site. Picking just one as a “favorite,” or even a handful of them, makes no sense to me.

The problem is, I read for many different reasons. Perhaps you do, too. And I read many different sorts of books. Mysteries and thrillers. Popular fiction, especially historical fiction. Science fiction. And nonfiction, history in particular. You’ll find hundreds of reviews in every one of those categories on this site.

Check out our rotating random selection here, culled from throughout this site.

Happy reading!

 

Cover image of "Hold Your Breath, China,"

Beijing’s smog becomes a sensitive political issue for Inspector Chen

Through the rapidly industrializing nations of eastern and southern Asia, air pollution has become a major issue. For example, air pollution in India is estimated to kill some two million people a year. It's most intense in Delhi, the capital. And when Xi Jinping took the reins of the Chinese...
The Black Dahlia murder is the centerpiece of this novel.

A classic crime novel about LA’s unsolved Black Dahlia murder

No history of Los Angeles is complete without at least a passing reference to the Black Dahlia murder in 1947, when a young woman named Elizabeth Short was brutally tortured, murdered, and mutilated. The case dominated the press for weeks and left a lasting imprint on the city's image of itself. A...
Russia Without Putin explains why the Russian oligarchy is hostile.

Why is the Russian oligarchy hostile to the West?

In his new book, Russia Without Putin, Tony Wood tries to make the case that "too much attention has been paid to the man, and not enough to the system over which he presides." It's an intriguing claim, but Wood doesn't quite pull it off. The book consists of six chapters and an epilogue. And...
Cover image of "Jefferson's Second Revolution," a book about the election of 1800, when the US stood on the brink of civil war

America’s first existential election

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes Three times in US history a presidential election has brought the nation to the brink of civil war. In 2020, when Donald Trump attempted to remain in office after losing by seven million votes. In 1860, when the election of Abraham Lincoln actually did trigger the...
Cover image of "The One Device," a book about the world's most profitable product

The iPhone: the world’s most profitable product?

Other Silicon Valley observers have written about the development of the iPhone—but it's unlikely that anyone else has delved as deeply into the subject as Brian Merchant . . . or will ever do so in the future, for that matter. Merchant's brilliant new book, The One Device: The Secret History of...
Cover image of "A Spy Among Friends" a book about Kim Philby

Was Kim Philby the greatest spy ever?

Mention his name in the halls of the CIA or MI6, and you'll get a decidedly frosty reaction. Your reception at the successor to the KGB will be quite different. You can guess whose side he was on. Estimated reading time: 4 minutes Kim Philby is indisputably one of the most successful spies whose...
Is The Burning Room by Michael Connelly the best Harry Bosch novel?

Michael Connelly’s best Harry Bosch novel?

Welcome to Los Angeles, and be sure to pronounce that name correctly, the Spanish way more and more people do in the increasingly diverse Southland of California. In Harry Bosch's world, as in reality today, perps, victims, and cops alike are increasingly likely to be Latino. Joining Detective...
Cover image of "Beirut Station," a novel about living a double life

A compelling spy novel about living a double life

We all have secrets. . . Secrets are a part of our lives and the lives of literature’s great characters. But spies operate in a more complex world of secrets—things they hide from family, from friends, and from themselves. I found the double lives of spies as a compelling premise to explore.” And...
Cover image of "The Verdict," an English courtroom drama

A fascinating English courtroom drama

It's 2011. David Cameron lives at 10 Downing Street, the recession is still in full swing, and London is simultaneously preparing for the 2012 Summer Olympics and the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. This all takes place in the background of Nick Stone's excellent English...
Cover image of "The Way of the Bear,"

Fossil hunters in Utah threaten Navajo police

When Tony Hillerman died at the age of 83 in 2008, he left behind an extensive literary legacy that included the 18 books in his award-series of Navajo detective novels. The Leaphorn and Chee books won him plaudits throughout the world and made him a wealthy man. Five years later, his daughter,...

My Most Popular Reviews

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Mal Warwick - Book Reviews

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