Popping into Bluesky after a social media respite to bring you this amazing story that Liz Egan and Katie Rosman have been working on for months.

I'm sure it's a Memorial Day thing, but there have been fighter jets screaming over the house for the last 15 minutes (I live in the Hudson Valley). It's just an instant flashback to 9/11 and I need it to stop.

Been waiting for @oliviawaite.com’s take on Terry Pratchett’s body of work and here it is!

Good morning! A slew of new books coming out today. FIrst up is Ron Chernow's long-awaited biography of Mark Twain. (Spoiler alert: Our critic Dwight Garner really, really doesn't like it.)

"But it turns out that 'James' was not the top pick among the Pulitzer’s five fiction jury members. It wasn’t even in the top three, according to three people with knowledge of the process, who were not authorized to speak about the confidential deliberations."

Day 2 of our poetry challenge!

Why memorize a poem? As A.O. Scott writes, "At a time when we are flooded with texts, rants and A.I. slop, a poem occupies a quieter, less commodified corner of your consciousness. It’s a flower in the windowbox of your mind."

Join us at the Book Review as we embark on a week-long voyage to help you memorize a poem — something to fill the soul and focus the mind.

"Mr. Hegseth’s aides had warned him a day or two before the Yemen strikes not to discuss such sensitive operational details in his Signal group chat ... It was unclear how Mr. Hegseth ... responded to those warnings."

Five days out from a knee replacement, I think I might live after all. This is ROUGH.

"I can recognize the ptarmigan’s plumage and the petals of St. John’s wort from her descriptions, without the aid of a single image," Sadie Stein writes. "The smell of sawed pine is 'like strawberry jam on the boil, but with a tang that tautens the membranes of nose and throat.'"

Our latest project at the Book Review — a curated page of fantasy novel recommendations — is live. Maybe reading a fantasy novel is just the ticket right now!

If you've never read anything by Tanith Lee, Silvia Moreno-Garcia knows where you should start.

"And so we beat on, boats against the current, borne ceaselessly back into a book that its author considered calling 'Trimalchio in West Egg,'" Tony Scott writes. "Would we still be talking about it if he had? "But he called it 'The Great Gatsby' and we are."

Has anyone here besides me read — and loved — Chloe Dalton's "Raising Hare"?

If you need a moment of beauty and calm this morning, dip into Tony Scott's latest poetry close read.

We’ve published a few of what we’re calling “starter packs” this year, and today we’ve got another: classic private-eye detective novels, brought to you by our wonderful crime fiction columnist @sarahweinman.com.

"Generalized mistrust of authority and expertise turns us into epistemological free agents," A.O. Scott writes. "We’re just asking questions, doing our own search engine-optimized investigations, huddling in ad hoc Warren Commissions of our own devising."

Our critic Jen Szalai reviews the explosive new Facebook memoir by Sarah Wynn Williams: "Not only does she have the storytelling chops to unspool a gripping narrative; she also delivers the goods."

In her March column, @sarahweinman.com reviews the new Deanna Raybourn novel, which I am greedily gulping down.

Sigh.

Best piece I have read all week (gift link).

As we lean into romance coverage here at the Book Review, I'm delighted to bring you @oliviawaite.com's latest, a queer historical romance starter pack.

They look like books, but they're lanterns, lighters, flasks and more.

Mere months after the election, we already have a new Michael Wolff book. Nicolas Niarchos reviews: "Will President Trump ... be tempted to light more fires himself, just to see what chaos will ensue? Either way, when the fire trucks come, one thing is certain: Wolff will be hanging off the back."

Tony Scott has published another one of his poetry "close reads," and you know how much I love these.

Here's a fun way to get your next romance novel recommendation.

One of those novels that I just can't get out of my head.

The editors of The New York Times Book Review bring you the best romance novels of 2024, a starter pack of classic romances, our latest reviews, recommendation lists from authors like Ali Hazelwood, books to read after watching your favorite rom-com & much more, all collected on a gorgeous new page.

One of the best things on our new romance page: @oliviawaite.com's classic starter pack.

We're rolling out more and more romance coverage here at The Times — so we're collecting it all on a fabulous new page. #romancelandia

In a 1998 essay about the release of a posthumous novel by Ernest Hemingway, a writer she idolized, Didion cast the publication as a betrayal of the author’s wishes. “You think something is in shape to be published or you don’t, and Hemingway didn’t,” she wrote.

Yep, still snowing.

Finally — and I'm a few days late with this — a short piece I wrote for @dansaltzstein.bsky.social about a holiday favorite.

What's with all the recent deluxe editions, complete with sprayed edges and fancy endpapers? "Fans will often buy a beloved book again in a bedazzled new package," Alexandra Alter writes, "and the spike in sales can get the title back on the best-seller list, which in turn draws in new readers."

The Book Review's got so many great pieces this week. My very favorite might be Liz Egan's lovely, affectionate look at New York City's beloved rebel owl, Flaco.

Start your day with Tony Scott's divine close read of this Diane Seuss poem, a celebration of human loveliness.

Start your day with Tony Scott's divine close read of this Diane Seuss poem, a celebration of human loveliness.

We're just about at the anniversary of one of my all-time favorites from the Times, a 1943 piece describing what happened when "picknickers" broke into Upton Sinclair's house.

We're just about at the anniversary of one of my all-time favorites from the Times, a 1943 piece describing what happened when "picknickers" broke into Upton Sinclair's house.

In the new anthology “Invisible Strings: 113 Poets Respond to the Songs of Taylor Swift,” various writers — Pulitzer winners, best sellers and poet laureates — each take one of Swift's songs and alchemize it into an original poem. Can you match them? Take our quiz.

García Márquez never wanted "One Hundred Years of Solitude" to be filmed, insisting that his novel, in which the real and fantastical converge, could never be rendered onscreen. His Macondo, he said, could never be built. But now, in a rambling field outside the city of Ibagué, stands Macondo.

My best comics of the year are up at the Times! Cannot say enough good about these!

What I would've said: Metal from Heaven is a delirious shout, furious & grief-stricken & staggeringly beautiful. Clarke's voice is inimitable, shines hot & sharp in this historically-inflected fantasy about labour, anarchy, & highwaywomen. If you loved The Scapegracers, you'll love this even more.

A few more year-end lists went up today, including @oliviawaite.com's, which I particularly love.

Two more great year-end lists are up this morning; the first is @sarahweinman.bsky.social's.

Here it is again, folks, this time as a gift link: www.nytimes.com/2024/12/03/b...

Drum roll, please — here they are, the Book Review's 10 best of the year. www.nytimes.com/2024/12/03/b...

Drum roll, please — here they are, the Book Review's 10 best of the year. www.nytimes.com/2024/12/03/b...

So riveted I almost let dinner burn on the stove.