Book Reviews

In Bob Spitz’s “Reagan,” the 40th president emerges as an ambitious man, eager for fame and success, and with the communication skills to make it happen.

The former congressman Steve Israel thought he had a tough skin, but that was before he wrote a novel.

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

David W. Blight’s “Frederick Douglass” places him at the center of American history.

Sandeep Jauhar’s “Heart” recounts the scientific discoveries that have given us a better understanding of our most critical piece of plumbing.

With settings as diverse as a Native American boarding school and the Battle of Okinawa, these books tell stories that are nuanced, honest and new.

Whether it’s decades’ worth of Portuguese and French women or an Australian clan’s one long weekend, these fictional relatives tell revelatory tales.

We invite you to take a look at this year’s winners ...

“Black people being murdered is unfortunately a constant in this country. Murdered with impunity. It’s something that’s constantly on my mind,” Adjei-Brenyah says. “So some of these stories respond to that very specifically.”

Lindsey Hilsum’s “In Extremis: The Life and Death of the War Correspondent Marie Colvin” is a powerful portrait of a woman drawn to danger — and truth.

Six new paperbacks to check out this week.

The illustrator Vera Brosgol pays homage to Karen Cushman’s historical fiction classic.

Since there’s not much new on this week’s list, we took a deep dive into The Times’s archives to see what we could find about popular books in decades past.

In “Virgil Wander,” a resident of a fading Rust Belt town embarks on a voyage of rediscovery after a car accident wipes his memory clean.

Rosellen Brown’s new novel, “The Lake on Fire,” tells the story of a young woman who seems straight out of Henry James in her struggles with love and work.

A Trump biography for teenagers, a picture book biography of Elizabeth Warren, Justice Sotomayor’s life story for kids, and more of this fall’s books for future voters.

From Lee Child’s New Hampshire thriller, “Past Tense,” to Michael Connelly’s latest Los Angeles mystery, “Dark Sacred Night,” the sleuthing is in high gear.

A journal entry prompted Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim to seek out the novels of Irmgard Keun, once dubbed the “It Girl” of German literature.

Albert Samaha’s “Never Ran, Never Will” spends two seasons with the Mo Better Jaguars, tracking the lives of the team’s young, nonwhite, often at-risk players.

In “Capitalism in America,” co-written with Adrian Wooldridge, Greenspan offers a history of the free market and its positive impact on the United States.