A Constellation of Vital Phenomena
by Danielle Ofri (Beacon, $25)
Though no tale set in war-torn Chechnya could be called a light read, this debut novel “leaves you uplifted,” said Sarah Jessica Parker in Entertainment Weekly. As a steely surgeon reluctantly opens her home to two refugees, Anthony Marra’s “absolute masterpiece” of a book assembles an “unforgettable group of characters” and delivers “remarkable pathos” plus “a surprising amount of humor.” Constellation “deserves to be on the short list for every major award.”
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Five Days
by Douglas Kennedy (Atria, $16)
A story about a female radiologist who sparks with a stranger at a work conference might sound trite, said Frank O. Smith in the Portland, Maine, Press-Herald. But Douglas Kennedy’s new novel “delves exquisitely and painfully” into how it is that people wind up unintentionally limiting their horizons. “Sharply insightful” dialogue pulls readers into the two strangers’ blossoming relationship. Yes, Laura Warren’s life will be indelibly altered by a chance meeting, but “very believably so.”
What Doctors Feel
by Danielle Ofri (Beacon, $25)
Even for those who don’t practice medicine, this study of how emotions affect a doctor’s work “carries great significance,” said Dennis Rosen in The Boston Globe. Evidence shows that repeated exposure to suffering causes doctors to grow less empathetic as they gain experience. Danielle Ofri, an internist, here describes “in heartrending detail” how she and her peers have fought through such hardening, and makes a strong case that there’s more to doctoring than cognitive ability.
Learning to Listen
by T. Berry Brazelton (Da Capo, $25)
T. Berry Brazelton knows his newborns, said Laura Landro in The Wall Street Journal. The influential Harvard Medical School professor, nicknamed “the baby whisperer,” pioneered new ways of measuring the development of infants throughout his six-decade career. While he namedrops pointlessly throughout this memoir, his “general tone is one of gratitude and joy at being able to help facilitate the parent-child relationship—in large part by listening to parents’ own observations.”
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8 hotels with ace tennis courtsThe Week Recommends Bring your A game
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Abrego released from jail, faces Uganda deportationSpeed Read The wrongly deported Kilmar Abrego García is expected to be detained at an ICE check-in and deported to Uganda
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Kyiv marks independence as Russia downplays peaceSpeed Read President Vladimir Putin has no plans to meet with Zelenskyy for peace talks pushed by President Donald Trump
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Also of interest...in picture books for grown-upsfeature How About Never—Is Never Good for You?; The Undertaking of Lily Chen; Meanwhile, in San Francisco; The Portlandia Activity Book
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Author of the week: Karen Russell
feature Karen Russell could use a rest.
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The Double Life of Paul de Man by Evelyn Barish
feature Evelyn Barish “has an amazing tale to tell” about the Belgian-born intellectual who enthralled a generation of students and academic colleagues.
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Book of the week: Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt by Michael Lewis
feature Michael Lewis's description of how high-frequency traders use lightning-fast computers to their advantage is “guaranteed to make blood boil.”
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Also of interest...in creative rebellion
feature A Man Called Destruction; Rebel Music; American Fun; The Scarlet Sisters
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Author of the week: Susanna Kaysen
feature For a famous memoirist, Susanna Kaysen is highly ambivalent about sharing details about her life.
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You Must Remember This: Life and Style in Hollywood’s Golden Age by Robert Wagner
feature Robert Wagner “seems to have known anybody who was anybody in Hollywood.”
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Book of the week: Astoria: John Jacob Astor and Thomas Jefferson’s Lost Pacific Empire by Peter Stark
feature The tale of Astoria’s rise and fall turns out to be “as exciting as anything in American history.”