Books Update: Key to the Kingdom

March 27, 2020

Matt Dorfman; Photos from Agence France-Presse — Getty Images; Bandar Algaloud EPA, via Shutterstock

Dear Reader,

While countries around the world grapple with coronavirus, our eyes turn as well to the leaders at the helm of their respective governments, and how they handle catastrophic events and challenges. That makes this week’s cover review of “MBS: The Rise to Power of Mohammed bin Salman,” by Ben Hubbard (the Beirut bureau chief of The Times), as timely a read as it would have been even before the current pandemic. Christopher Dickey, a longtime foreign correspondent who has covered the Middle East, reviews.

Keeping an eye on the real world for another moment, we also have “Golden Gates,” a book about California’s housing crisis. Again, with coronavirus threatening the world’s most vulnerable populations, this book about the Bay Area, currently under a “shelter in place” order, is equally timely. For those who have no home, what does shelter in place even mean? Finally, “Shakespeare in a Divided America” describes how U.S. performances and interpretations of Shakespeare’s plays over the years have reflected American culture, society and politics.

If you’d rather think about anything but the real world, you can dive into Sarah Lyall’s latest recommendations in Thrillers or enjoy “The Glass Hotel,” the new novel by the “Station Eleven” author Emily St. John Mandel. Or turn to any of the books recommended by the novelist and short story master Lorrie Moore in this week’s By the Book.

Please stay healthy, stay safe and stay in touch. Feel free to let us know what you think – whether it’s about this newsletter, our reviews, our podcast, our literary calendar, our Instagram or what you’re reading. We read and ponder all of it. I even write back, albeit belatedly. You can email me at books@nytimes.com.

Pamela Paul

Editor of The New York Times Book Review

@PamelaPaulNYT

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THE BOOK REVIEW PODCAST

From the Archives: Colson Whitehead and Jeffrey Toobin

Whitehead discusses “The Underground Railroad,” and Toobin talks about “American Heiress.”

NONFICTION

nonfiction

‘MBS’ Chronicles the Shockingly Young, Powerful and Ruthless Saudi Crown Prince

The new book by Ben Hubbard, The New York Times’s Beirut bureau chief, draws on dozens of interviews to yield a disturbing portrait of unchecked ambition.

By Christopher Dickey

nonfiction

Where America’s Fight for Housing Is an All-Out War

Conor Dougherty’s “Golden Gates” examines the nation’s homeless problem through the battles over new development in San Francisco.

By Francesca Mari

nonfiction

Shakespeare Conquers America! Starring Ulysses S. Grant as Desdemona

In James Shapiro’s “Shakespeare in a Divided America: What His Plays Tell Us About Our Past and Future,” the historical-tragical constantly muscles out the pastoral-comical.

By David Ives

nonfiction

Frida Kahlo in ‘Gringolandia’

In the early 1930s, Kahlo visited San Francisco, New York and Detroit. “Frida in America,” by Celia Stahr, explores how the trip transformed the artist and her work.

By Carolyn Burke

nonfiction

For the First of 9 Children, a Quest to Understand Mother

In “Our Revolution,” Honor Moore sets out to understand her gifted, complicated mother and their relationship over time.

By Janny Scott

nonfiction

When Mies van der Rohe Went on Trial

In “Broken Glass,” Alex Beam revisits the saga of the Farnsworth House — a tale of modernism, a broken heart and a transparent house with too few closets.

By James Barron

nonfiction

Was Dorothy Day a Saint or a Subversive?

A new biography of the Catholic activist, by John Loughery and Blythe Randolph, examines her wholehearted commitment to radical politics and religion.

By Karen Armstrong

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FICTION

fiction

His Nation in Turmoil, One Boy Finds Refuge and Adventure in Friendship

In Romesh Gunesekera’s “Suncatcher,” set in 1960s Ceylon, the narrator reflects on a bond marked by differences in class and power.

By Deepa Anappara

thrillers

Need a Distraction? These Thrillers Will Have You on the Edge of Your Seat

From Mary Kubica’s latest to Graham Moore’s jury room drama and a haunted film set, some of the creepiest suspense stories so far this decade.

By Sarah Lyall

fiction

Jeremy O. Harris: Brandon Taylor ‘Subjugates Us With the Deft Hand of a Dom’

In the debut novel “Real Life,” a biochemistry Ph.D. candidate confronts the harder lessons of how to be a gay black man in a white world.

By Jeremy O. Harris

fiction

Emily St. John Mandel Is Back, With a Ponzi Scheme Instead of a Pandemic

In her new novel, the author revisits some of the techniques she used in “Station Eleven.”

By Boris Fishman

fiction

Fighting to Save Their Tribe From Termination

In her new novel, “The Night Watchman,” Louise Erdrich brings to light a political battle from the 1950s that still reverberates today.

By Luis Alberto Urrea

fiction

An Actress Descends Into Madness, and Her Daughter Picks Up the Pieces

In Anne Enright’s novel “Actress,” a woman takes stock of her mother’s life, from stardom to obscurity.

By Mary Gordon

fiction

In Rural Nigeria, a Heroine Who Wants to Be Defined by More Than Marriage

Abi Daré’s debut novel, “The Girl With the Louding Voice,” traces the horrors and hopes of growing up in a strict patriarchy.

By Tsitsi Dangarembga

In Protest or Celebration, Four Poets Evoke a Sense of Endings

The end of relationships, the end of life, the end of civilization: Collections from Major Jackson, Carolyn Forché, Victoria Chang and Danez Smith imagine the worst.

By Sandra Simonds

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CHILDREN’S BOOKS

children’s books

Linda Sue Park Rewrites ‘Little House on the Prairie’ with an Asian-American Heroine

Laura Ingalls Wilder’s classic pioneer series is often called racially insensitive. With “Prairie Lotus,” a Korean-American author offers an alternative.

By Nalini Jones