The Book Report: Reviews from Washington Post critic Ron Charles
Recommendations of four new fiction and non-fiction titles
Books
Book excerpt: "Writers & Lovers" by Lily King
The author of the award-winning "Euphoria" returns with a new novel about a young woman holding onto her determination to live a creative life as a writer
Book excerpt: "Little Family" by Ishmael Beah
From the author of the #1 New York Times-bestselling memoir "A Long Way Gone" comes a new novel of young people struggling to survive on the outskirts of society
Book excerpt: "Simon the Fiddler" by Paulette Jiles
The bestselling author of "News of the World" returns with a novel set during the waning years of the Civil War
Book excerpt: "Hidden Valley Road" by Robert Kolker
The #1 New York Times bestseller from the author of "Lost Girls" is an account of an American family beset by schizophrenia affecting six of 12 children
Julie Andrews' "practically perfect" book podcast
The actress who has co-authored dozens of children's books with her daughter, Emma Walton Hamilton, debuts a comforting new podcast for young readers, "Julie's Library"
Book excerpt: "Quackery," on how radium acquired a glowing reputation as a cure-all
Dr. Lydia Kang and Nate Pedersen's book explores the history of bad medicine, charlatans and snake oil salesmen through the ages
Drive-thru diagnostics: How car culture facilitates COVID-19 testing
The drive-thru, that symbol of American fast-food-style efficiency, is now the means by which many are being tested for the novel coronavirus
Book + audio excerpt: Conor Knighton's "Leave Only Footprints"
The "Sunday Morning" correspondent introduces his account of a year-long trek through America's National Parks
"Little Fires Everywhere" author Celeste Ng
The bestselling writer talks about her childhood in a progressive and diverse Cleveland suburb, which helped inspire her stories of class and racial divides, and about being targeted by racist online trolls.
Life under lockdown: Recommended books
Washington Post book critic Ron Charles offers suggestions for these challenging, cloistered times
Book excerpt: "Washington's End," on the final years of the father of our country
Jonathan Horn's new biography begins when most biographies of America's Revolutionary War hero and first president end, depicting his turbulent retirement from public life
Book excerpt: "Survivors Club: The True Story of a Very Young Prisoner of Auschwitz"
In the New York Times-bestselling memoir by Michael Bornstein and Debbie Bornstein Holinstat, a very young child witnesses grotesque inhumanity upon his arrival at the Nazi extermination camp
Book excerpt: "Irving Berlin: New York Genius" by James Kaplan
A new biography traces the roots of the songwriter whose classic tunes – heard on stage and in movies – helped define an American musical vernacular
Our fascination with Louisa May Alcott's enduring classic "Little Women"
The beloved novel about the artistic March sisters is now a new film by "Lady Bird" director Greta Gerwig, starring Saoirse Ronan and Emma Watson
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The Book Report: Ron Charles' picks from 2025
The Washington Post book reviewer offers "Sunday Morning" viewers his picks for fiction and non-fiction titles to add to their New Year's reading lists.
Book excerpt: "Guilty by Definition" by Susie Dent
This debut novel is a mystery in which a dictionary editor at Oxford turns to word-sleuthing in order to unravel a family member's long-ago disappearance.
Book excerpt: "Black Moses" by Caleb Gayle
The award-winning journalist's latest book recounts the rise of Edward McCabe, an activist who, during Reconstruction, lobbied for a Black-governed state in the Oklahoma Territory.
This week on "Sunday Morning" (Dec. 28)
A look at the features for this week's broadcast of the Emmy-winning program, hosted by Jane Pauley.
A New Mexico monastery where the silence calls
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