We Read It

In his new book, A Muse & A Maze: Writing as Puzzle, Mystery, and Magic, Peter Turchi explains the riddling experience of literature.

In The Altruistic Brain, neurobiologist Donald Pfaff makes the case that humans are hard-wired for good. But, Noah Berlatsky argues, that good is frequently defined and distorted by culture.

In the surveillance-ridden contemporary world, the traditional domestic plot has become a bit less exciting. So espionage has crept in.

In How to Speak Money, John Lanchester explains how the monied people talk about their mountains of cash.

In her new book, Alice + Freda Forever: A Murder in Memphis, Alexis Coe takes a humanistic look at a forgotten 1892 crime.

The Lost Book of Mormon makes a compelling case for including the religious text in the larger American literary canon, but somehow dances around a discussion of what the book actually means to Mormons.

Your brain isn't so sure, according to Jeffrey M. Zacks' new book Flicker.

Though religious thought was key to early scientific breakthroughs, purists tend to erase this part of history. In his new book, What Galileo Saw: Imagining the Scientific Revolution, Lawrence Lipking reminds us of the real story.