Book World - The Washington Post

(Illustration by Marc Aspinall for The Washington Post)

A boy remembers his fierce father in a rich family novel

“The House on Via Gemito” is a vivid drama by Domenico Starnone, who many Italians believe is the writer behind the pseudonym Elena Ferrante.

By Tim Parks

Review

A new look at Anne Frank, through the eyes of a long-ago friend

By Francine Prose

Review

‘Flawless’ dives deep into the booming Korean beauty industry

By Becca Rothfeld

10 Noteworthy books for June

By Becky Meloan

Review

A furious, joyful memoir of working-class New Jersey and the writing life

By Jenny Wu

Review

‘Kairos’ is a love story between two generations — and two Germanys

By Robert Rubsam

Review

‘Open Throat’ is the year’s best novel narrated by a queer mountain lion

By Ron Charles

Our Critics

Ron Charles writes about books and publishing for The Washington Post. For a dozen years, he enjoyed teaching American literature and critical theory in the Midwest. Before moving to the District, he edited the books section of the Christian Science Monitor in Boston.

Becca Rothfeld is the nonfiction book critic at Book World. Before joining The Washington Post, she served as assistant literary editor of the New Republic and worked toward her PhD in philosophy at Harvard, where she focused on aesthetics and the history of philosophy.

Michael Dirda is a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for The Washington Post Book World and the author of the memoir “An Open Book” and of four collections of essays: “Readings,” “Bound to Please,” “Book by Book” and “Classics for Pleasure.”

What Book World writers and editors are reading now

By Washington Post Staff

Fiction

NonFiction

Reviews by Ron Charles

REVIEWS BY Becca Rothfeld

REVIEWS BY Michael Dirda

Summer Reading 2023

(Bryce Wymer for The Post)

23 books to read this summer

Whether you’re traveling or catching the sun at home in the coming months, here are books we’ve enjoyed this year that make for good summer reading.

By Washington Post Editors and Reviewers

Six mysteries for summer readers to solve

By Lisa Levy

Forecasting a busy summer of big books

By Washington Post Staff

Four new works of fiction for your vacation reading

By Annie Berke

5 escapist novels for your cabana enjoyment

By Karin Tanabe

Best books of 2022

(Illustration by Adam Simpson for The Post)

The 10 best books of 2022

The Washington Post's picks for the very best fiction and nonfiction works of the year.

By Washington Post Editors and Reviewers

The 15 best book covers of 2022

By Washington Post Staff

50 notable works of fiction

By Washington Post Editors and Reviewers

50 notable works of nonfiction

By Washington Post Editors and Reviewers

The 12 best thriller and mystery novels of 2022

By Nora Krug and Stephanie Merry