The New York Times

Every era gets the chronicler it deserves. Kevin Young, the poetry editor of The New Yorker, tracks the progression of bunk through the ages.

“The Midnight Line” has “more emotional heft than anything Child has written before.”

The actress and author of a thriller, “Bonfire,” can’t read on the set of “Jessica Jones”: “It is crazy exciting! But it’s not a reading environment.”

The former vice president writes about facing the death of his son Beau, deciding not to pursue a presidential run and dealing with foreign crises.

Karen Shepard’s short story collection “Kiss Me Someone” vividly demonstrates that a woman can be another woman’s worst enemy.

Thomas E. Ricks surveys 12 new books of military history.

Russell Shorto talks about “Revolution Song,” and Richard Aldous discusses his new biography of Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.

Suggested reading from critics and editors at The New York Times.

All the lists: print, e-books, fiction, nonfiction, children’s books and more.

For Olaf Olafsson, an executive at Time Warner whose fifth novel is out next month, home is the top four floors of an Upper East Side townhouse.

Three illustrators of books for young readers share their creative processes.

New memoirs on driving by a long-haul trucker, a Saudi activist and a mother trying to connect with her son.

An octopus who escapes from an aquarium, a feather searching for its bird, a cardinal trapped in a Christmas tree and more in this season’s best animal books.

Three new books by prominent cinephiles: Dave Kehr, Jim Shepard and Eric Lax.

Devin Murphy’s debut novel, “The Boat Runner,” tracks one man’s descent from his idyllic, small-town roots to the guilt-ridden life of a Nazi.

Six new paperbacks to check out this week.

Magda Szabo’s “Katalin Street” revolves around three families torn apart by what happened in Hungary during World War II.

In Nidhi Chanani’s “Pashmina,” a magical scarf helps an Indian-American girl understand the gulf between her family’s past and her own present in this captivating graphic novel.

John McPhee’s “Draft No. 4” collects eight essays that offer writing advice and take readers behind the scenes of his creative process.

In Nicola Lagioia’s thriller with social-novel ambitions, a beautiful dead woman is the key to an illicit underworld.

How much do we really know about the children in the Grimms’ fairy tales? Two authors flesh out familiar characters in revamped versions of the classics.

Readers respond to Martin Amis’s essay and expound on the roles of religion.

In which we consult the Book Review’s past to shed light on the books of the present. This week: Lemony Snicket on the importance of picture books.

Mr. Robinson’s sports biographies, which mixed careful research with personal recollections, were more realistic than reverential.

Ann Marie Fleming’s film explores the passions of a sheltered poet who travels to Shiraz, Iran, for a poetry festival.

Teenage bounty hunters in a virtual-reality world, Amazons in New York City, vicious unicorns and other good guys gone bad.

Based on an Oscar-nominated short film, “The Dam Keeper,” a richly drawn graphic novel, tells of a heroic pig who must save his village from a dark and deadly force.

Colin Meloy’s latest novel follows a wealthy, neglected boy who joins a legendary gang of child grifters. What could go wrong?

In “Fractured Continent,” William Drozdiak presents Europe from its various capitals, highlighting the difficult, new reality of the 21st century.

Did Al Gore invent the internet or not?

Jaron Lanier’s house and his new book, “Dawn of the New Everything,” are both crammed full of strange and mesmerizing stuff.

Kenneth Branagh assembles Judi Dench, Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer and others for his film remake of Agatha Christie’s mystery novel.

A study of PTSD, an account of a town in mourning after 9/11 and the story of two men connected after a tragic night.

Mice that ice-skate, kids who make a snowbear, twins who discover a winter wonderland and more in this season’s best cold-weather picture books.

Otis Kidwell Burger, 93, holds a Sunday evening poetry salon in her homey West Village townhouse, where she has lived for nearly 60 years.

“The Purloining of Prince Oleomargarine,” completed and illustrated by Erin and Philip Stead, unites old-fashioned storytelling virtues with a playful modern sensibility.

Alexis Okeowo’s book “A Moonless, Starless Sky” profiles regular people living in defiance of extremist movements across the African continent.

In new picture books from Mo Willems, Dan Santat, Lemony Snicket and others, young heroes and heroines get into — and out of — every kind of scrape

A selection of books published this week; plus, a peek at what our colleagues around the newsroom are reading.

The writer behind Ultimate Spider-Man and Jessica Jones is joining a rival comic book publisher.