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Actress Ione Skye was a teenager when her appearances in River's Edge and Say Anything... made her a star. In her best-selling new memoir, Say Everything, she details her rocky romantic history and long estrangement from her father, the folk-rock legend Donovan.
'West of Eden' by Jean Stein (2016)
After writing Edie—a portrait of Andy Warhol superstar Edie Sedgwick that was also one of the greatest oral-history books of all time—Stein explored the history of Los Angeles through intriguing and dark stories, both well-known and obscure, that took place in and around the movie industry. Buy it here.
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'The Magic World' by E. Nesbit (1912)
Nesbit was a fantastic and witty writer. This is one of those brilliant children's books that grown-ups will love as well. Its stories mostly follow English kids, raised with too many rules, as they get into trouble and fabulous, magical, fairy-tale-like things happen to them. Buy it here.
'Music for Chameleons' by Truman Capote (1980)
I can reread these short stories and non-fiction pieces forever. The story "Hand-Carved Coffins" is an account of a crime, much like In Cold Blood—though some say Capote made this one up. I love his Southern, almost surreal sensibility in his early short stories, as well as the portraits, such as "A Beautiful Child," about a day spent with his friend Marilyn Monroe. Buy it here.
'Giovanni's Room' by James Baldwin (1956)
This is a marvelous novel, set in Paris, about a tempestuous gay love affair between the American narrator and an Italian bartender who is about to be executed for murder. Baldwin's emotional intelligence and insight into human behavior are absolutely stunning. Buy it here.
'Heartburn' by Nora Ephron (1983)
Ephron's novel is a brilliant and funny comfort read about the end of a marriage, inspired by the author's own split with Washington Post journalist Carl Bernstein. Ephron's stand-in is a food writer, and because I love food, I enjoy when food plays a role in books. Buy it here.
'The Complete Short Stories of W. Somerset Maugham' (1951)
Maugham was famous for his novels and plays, but I love his short stories best. He often uses a narrator drinking a nightcap at a men's club, recounting a recent scandalous tale of adultery or murder set in the morally questionable British Far Eastern colonies. Many of his stories and books became films, including The Letter, starring Bette Davis. Buy it here.
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Political cartoons for January 29Cartoons Thursday's political cartoons include 2nd amendment dibs, disturbing news, and AI-inflated bills
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The Flower Bearers: ‘a visceral depiction of violence, loss and emotional destruction’The Week Recommends Rachel Eliza Griffiths’ ‘open wound of a memoir’ is also a powerful ‘love story’ and a ‘portrait of sisterhood’
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Steal: ‘glossy’ Amazon Prime thriller starring Sophie TurnerThe Week Recommends The Game of Thrones alumna dazzles as a ‘disillusioned twentysomething’ whose life takes a dramatic turn during a financial heist
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The Flower Bearers: a ‘visceral depiction of violence, loss and emotional destruction’
The Week Recommends Rachel Eliza Griffiths’ ‘open wound of a memoir’ is also a powerful ‘love story’ and a ‘portrait of sisterhood’
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Steal: ‘glossy’ Amazon Prime thriller starring Sophie Turner
The Week Recommends The Game of Thrones alumna dazzles as a ‘disillusioned twentysomething’ whose life takes a dramatic turn during a financial heist
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Anna Ancher: Painting Light – a ‘moving’ exhibitionThe Week Recommends Dulwich Picture Gallery show celebrates the Danish artist’s ‘virtuosic handling of the shifting Nordic light’
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H is for Hawk: Claire Foy is ‘terrific’ in tender grief dramaThe Week Recommends Moving adaptation of Helen Macdonald’s bestselling memoir
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Our Town: Michael Sheen stars in ‘beautiful’ Thornton Wilder classicThe Week Recommends Opening show at the Welsh National Theatre promises a ‘bright’ future
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Music reviews: Zach Bryan, Dry Cleaning, and Madison BeerFeature “With Heaven on Top,” “Secret Love,” and “Locket”
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Book reviews: ‘The Mattering Instinct: How Our Deepest Longing Drives and Divides Us’ and ‘Family of Spies: A World War II Story of Nazi Espionage, Betrayal, and the Secret History Behind Pearl Harbor’Feature The pursuit of ‘mattering’ and a historic, devastating family secret
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The best dark romance books to gingerly embrace right nowThe Week Recommends Steamy romances with a dark twist are gaining popularity with readers
