There is an intimacy to reading: it’s just us and the author; our subjective response and their generous, imaginative understanding of a world that we share but may struggle to articulate. Yet for book lovers, there are moments beyond that connection, beyond the private joy of reading. We find and build community in bookstores and libraries, at book clubs and festivals. The New York Times Book Review has been loved for generations for bringing solitary readers into one another’s orbit. In this live event, Daily Books editor John Williams and a selection of Book Festival guests, including Paul Mendez and Maaza Mengiste, will relish that tradition, coming together to discuss their work, and how they’re trying to make sense of the mess we’re in. They’ll talk about what they’re reading and recommending, from books for comfort to works that have made them change their minds. In the words of Maurice Sendak, ‘That is part of the beauty of all literature. You discover that your longings are universal longings, that you’re not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong.’
Browse all the books from events in The New York Times Series here
A raw, essential and revelatory coming-of-age narrative from a thrilling new voice in queer black fiction, with shades of James Baldwin, Kei Miller and Moonlight. RAINBOW MILK is Dialogue's lead debut for 2020.
Recommended by Genevieve Fay, our Communities Programme Officer - Having recently been shortlisted for the Booker Prize, it is no wonder that many people, including First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, are reaching for a copy of Shuggie Bain. Douglas Stuart has written this powerful debut novel drawing on his own life experiences. Set in 1980s Glasgow, which seems to be unravelling under the weight of its own identity crisis, families struggle with unemployment, crushing poverty, and the waves of addiction that are engulfing much of the city. It is a book of both sadness and beauty, a chronicle of memorable characters, their defiance and hope in the face of the grim realities of life and survival.
An utterly captivating novel about female strength. Set during Mussolini's 1935 invasion of Ethiopia, The Shadow King casts a light on the women soldiers written out of African history
A parent's guide to raising a lifelong reader, packed with practical ideas for engaging children of all ages in books, plus wonderful lists of books, arranged by age and subject matter, will keep the shelves stocked and young readers' interests high from birth through teens.
Disappearing Earth is a beautiful evocation of a place and people as they search for two lost girls - heralding the arrival of a stunning new literary novelist.
From an award-winning science fiction writer (whose short story 'The Story of Your Life' was the basis for the Academy Award-nominated movie Arrival), the long-awaited second collection of stunningly original, humane, and already celebrated short stories.
SHORTLISTED FOR THE RATHBONES FOLIO PRIZE 2020 LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2019 LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2019 The moving, powerful and urgent English-language debut from one of the brightest young stars in world literature
The Booker-longlisted novel, drenched in sex, death and narcotics, in sudden violence, old magic and the mysteries of love, from the winner of the IMPAC Award and the Goldsmiths Prize
WINNER OF THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL WRITING 2019 A BARACK OBAMA BEST BOOK OF 2019 SHORTLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR NONFICTION 2019 TIME's #1 Best Nonfiction Book of 2019 A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER 'A must read' Gillian Flynn
Prize-winning biographer Leo Damrosch tells the story of "the Club," a group of extraordinary writers, artists, and thinkers who gathered weekly at a London tavern
Midnight In Chernobyl is an indelible portrait of history's worst nuclear disaster, of human resilience and ingenuity and the lessons learned when mankind seeks to bend the natural world to his will - lessons which, in the face of climate change and other threats - remain not just vital but necessary.
