Books of The Times: Rachel Kushner’s ‘The Mars Room’ Offers Big Ideas in Close Quarters

Kushner’s gritty and persuasive book about a woman sentenced to life in prison recalls works by Mary Gaitskill, Denis Johnson and Charles Bukowski.

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Nonfiction: The State That Foreshadows America’s Future

Lawrence Wright’s “God Save Texas” is a loving and skeptical portrait of the place he calls home.

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Nonfiction: How California Turned Into a ‘State of Resistance’

The sociologist Manuel Pastor explores the rise, fall and rise again of America’s most populous state.

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Fiction: When the Aftermath of a Shooting Is as Devastating as the Crime

Two new novels — “If We Had Known,” by Elise Juska, and “How to Be Safe,” by Tom McAllister — imagine communities roiled by mass murder.

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Ai Weiwei’s Little Blue Book on the Refugee Crisis

The artist, on his response to the migrant crisis: “In China we say, ‘When birds pass over the sky...’ I’m just one of the birds who made some sounds.”

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Nancy Has Been in the Comics Since 1933. Now She Uses Snapchat.

Olivia Jaimes, the latest cartoonist and first woman to draw “Nancy,” has brought earbuds, Snapchat filters and apps into the venerable character’s world.

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Front Burner: From Missoni, a Stylish Cookbook

The colorful Italian fashion house has published an equally vibrant cookbook by the son of its creative director.

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Books of The Times: Jake Tapper’s ‘Hellfire Club’ Takes Us Back to McCarthy-Era America

The first novel by the CNN anchor is about a new congressman with secrets, and it includes a parade of high-profile political cameos.

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material culture: Who Bought Sylvia Plath’s Stuff?

A tartan kilt, fishing rod and dragon pendant were among items auctioned recently by the poet’s daughter, Frieda Hughes.

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Nonfiction: Can It Happen Here? Madeleine Albright Examines Fascism Then and Now

In her new book, “Fascism: A Warning,” the former secretary of state finds the seeds of authoritarian rule in social, political and economic chaos.

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The Book Review Podcast: Jo Nesbo Reimagines ‘Macbeth’

James Shapiro discusses Nesbo’s new novel, and Leila Slimani talks about “The Perfect Nanny.”

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Open Thread: Let’s Talk About History

News in style books, answering a reader’s questions about trends and remembering the tragic Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh.

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Newsbook: Read These 3 Books on Government Corruption

A look at how Citizens United and a network of plutocrats have shaped the country’s politics.

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Inside the List: This Best-Selling Author Lives With 4 Dogs, 17 Chickens, 3 Horses, a Pony and a Cat

She may care for a veritable menagerie, but Lisa Scottoline still writes three books a year, including the just-published thriller “After Anna.”

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Fiction: In This Novel, a Grieving Widow Becomes the Detective Hero

“The Bible of Dirty Jokes,” by Eileen Pollack, tracks a middle-aged woman’s quest to find her lost brother and her own independence.

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Nonfiction: A Brand-New Version of Our Origin Story

The Harvard geneticist David Reich details his groundbreaking research into ancient DNA in “Who We Are and How We Got Here.”

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The Shortlist: Four Books Explore Various Aspects of Cities Past and Present

Ecology, eccentricity, celebrity, policy: Urban living brings it all together.

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Fiction: A War Correspondent Comes Home, Bringing War With Her

The heroine of Wendell Steavenson’s novel, “Paris Metro,” hoping to find safety for her Iraqi stepson in France, encounters danger instead.

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Paperback Row

Six new paperbacks to check out this week.

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Fiction: When a Young Immigrant Vanishes in London, Can a Wildlife Biologist Help?

In Aminatta Forna’s novel “Happiness,” an American biologist and a Ghanaian psychiatrist find common ground among the urban dispossessed.

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