Books Briefing
Our culture editors’ weekly guide to the best in books. Sign up for the newsletter here.
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Frederic Lewis / Getty The Books Briefing: Murder, They Wrote
Crime fiction is having a moment right now: Your weekly guide to the best in books
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Bettmann / Getty The Books Briefing: Presidential Biographies—And Presidential Mythologies
Books that influence how complicated political figures are remembered: Your weekly guide to the best in books
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Elliott Erwitt / Magnum The Books Briefing: Humor, Mined From the Absurd
Times are dark. Laughter can provide a respite: Your weekly guide to the best in books
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Viviane Moos / Corbis / Getty The Books Briefing: The Propulsive Power of Desire
Lustful monologues, youthful longings, and “unruly appetites”: Your weekly guide to the best in books
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The Books Briefing: The Best Books of 2020
Our favorite titles from a year that has highlighted the particularities of that thing called reading: Your weekly guide to the best in books
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The Books Briefing: The Novel Life of Jesus Christ
Why the enigmatic character of Christ sparks the imagination of religious and nonreligious writers alike: Your weekly guide to the best in books
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Alex Webb / Magnum The Books Briefing: What Stories About Immigration Reveal About America
The beauty of fragmented, incomplete narratives: Your weekly guide to the best in books
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Robert Alexander / Archive Photos / Getty The Books Briefing: Reimagining Womanhood
Writers who expanded the definitions of femininity: Your weekly guide to the best in books
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Bettmann/Getty The Books Briefing: How to Tell the Story of a Family
Feuding brothers, possessive aunts, and honest discussions: Your weekly guide to the best in books
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Werner Bischof/Magnum The Books Briefing: How Literature Helps Us Grieve
Mourning in poetry, memoirs, and fiction: Your weekly guide to the best in books
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Illustrated by Georges de Feure/DeAgostini/Getty The Books Briefing: Read to Find Focus, Even During a Pandemic
Suggestions for a wandering mind: Your weekly guide to the best in books
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Melissa Lyttle / Redux The Books Briefing: When Poets Write Novels
A background in poetry can enrich the process of writing fiction: Your weekly guide to the best in books
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James Keyser / The LIFE Images Collection / … The Books Briefing: How Horror Stories Empower Kids
Gruesome novels and chilling tales about ghoulish monsters and other dangers: Your weekly guide to the best in books
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Jack Delano / Library of Congress The Books Briefing: Can Democracy Survive Without Journalism?
Journalism faces existential challenges in a polarized society and the digital age: Your weekly guide to the best in books
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Interim Archives / Getty The Books Briefing: The Writers Whom History Forgot
Beloved but overlooked works from the past provide a rich source of reading material: Your weekly guide to the best in books
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Getty Images The Books Briefing: British Invasion
Sex, drugs, and rock and roll: Your weekly guide to the best in books
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Samuel Corum / Getty The Books Briefing: The Lives Behind the Legal Decisions
What Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s fandom knew: Your weekly guide to the best in books
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Stephen Maturen / Getty Images The Books Briefing: How to Remake America
A look at the country's profound fractures and what it might take to mend them: Your weekly guide to the best in books
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Carlo Allegri / Reuters The Books Briefing: Stories From America’s Prisons
Books written by incarcerated writers raise vital questions about how we can build a more just society: Your weekly guide to the best in books
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Marvel / The Atlantic The Books Briefing: Imagining Black Futures
Afrofuturism draws from the history of the African diaspora to imagine liberatory possibilities for the future: Your weekly guide to the best in books
