Juan Vidal

Anti-racist reading lists are making the rounds right now — and they can be useful if people do the work of reading. But critic Juan Vidal suggests you look closer to home, to your own bookshelf.

Mathias Énard's novel — newly translated from French — imagines what would have happened if Michelangelo had accepted an offer from the Ottoman ruler to design a bridge across the Golden Horn.

Marcia Douglas's new book imagines a resurrected Bob Marley, living in a clock tower and conversing with spirits — but Douglas also honors and elevates the voices of the women in Marley's orbit.

The Bible's famous verse and chapter structure is relatively recent — and surprisingly unpopular. And a new version out now aims to make it more approachable by structuring it like any other book.

Ana Simo's brash and unsettling debut novel straddles the line between pulp noir and slapstick; it's the story of a struggling writer who decides that murder is the cure for her decade-long block.

Small publishers and big indie powerhouses alike showcased international voices this year — we pick out a few of our favorites, from a bitter marriage drama to the memoirs of a polar bear family.

Jack London died 100 years ago this week, worn out from drink, disease and overwork — but he left behind a prolific body of work that considers the vast scope of human experience and suffering.

Ernest Hemingway's masterful first novel came out 90 years ago today; the story of aimless American expatriates drinking, fighting and falling in and out of love is regarded as one of his best works.

Juan Gabriel Vásquez's new novel centers on a respected and feared political cartoonist whose past comes back to haunt him after he receives a threatening letter. It's a powerful, concentrated work.

If you're tired of political competition, there's always athletic competition. And if your team stinks, we can offer sympathy and a selection of the year's best books about sports to ease the sting.