The Latest
The lessons we forgot from the Korean War—or never understood
Three-quarters of a century ago, the United States embarked on a war on the other side of the globe that almost never enters the consciousness of living Americans today. President Harry Truman's decision to undertake this "police action," as he termed it. proved to be a...
SCIENCE FICTION
Did the ancient Greeks make First Contact?
We humans are a race of storytellers. Over the course of the 300,000 years that we have commanded the power of speech, we have huddled in caves, sat around campfires, recited epic poems, published books, produced stage-plays, and used modern media to tell our stories. But in...
MYSTERIES & THRILLERS
Cold War intrigue turns violent. A reluctant MI6 agent is a target.
We first met Gabriel Dax in William Boyd's 2024 novel, Gabriel's Moon. Then, the itinerant travel-writer-turned-MI6-agent became ensnared in the intrigue surrounding the overthrow and murder of Patrice Lumumba, the first elected Prime Minister in the Democratic Republic of the...
NONFICTION
The lessons we forgot from the Korean War—or never understood
Three-quarters of a century ago, the United States embarked on a war on the other side of the globe that almost never enters the consciousness of living Americans today. President Harry Truman's decision to undertake this "police action," as he termed it. proved to be a...
Popular Fiction
Dystopia comes to India in this unforgettable near-future novel
The young Indo-American author Megha Majumdar made a splash with her award-winning debut, A Burning. This powerful New York Times bestseller painted a searing portrait of life in India today, with a focus on corruption, terrorism, and Hindu nationalism. Now, in her second...
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.
Look to the right for a rotating random selection culled from throughout this site.
Happy reading!
My Most Popular Reviews
10 top nonfiction books about World War II
If you've been reading my reviews for very long, you're aware that the World War II era holds special fascination for me. This might have something to do with the fact that I was born then—in fact, about six months before the USA entered the war. Or maybe it's just...
The 15 best espionage novels
Over the past decade, I’ve read and reviewed nearly 200 espionage novels (not counting a great many more I never finished). My 15 favorites—well, make that 16: I couldn't choose—are listed immediately below. Though my preliminary list included multiple titles by...
30 outstanding detective series from around the world
Here you'll find my (admittedly incomplete) guide to the most outstanding detective series set in countries all across the world. It's a work in progress. Expect to see more added here from time to time. Below I’ve listed 30 outstanding detective series set outside...
The ultimate guide to the all-time best science fiction novels
OK, I’d better qualify that headline. In this survey, I’m not including science fiction written before World War II. Or, for that matter, short stories or anthologies, comic books, or manga. And definitely not fantasy: zombies, vampires, witches, dragons, superheroes,...
Weekly book reviews to match your taste!
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Enjoy reading!
Mal Warwick
