Book Reviews

4.9

Dr. Seuss's final book published during his lifetime, Oh, the Places You'll Go! Is a children's picture book that doubles as one of the most enduring milestone gifts in American culture — a second-person journey through life's highs, lows, and uncertain in-betweens that has reached number one on both The New York Times Best-Selling Fiction Hardcover list and USA Today's Best Selling Book list multiple times since its 1990 debut.

Jun 7, 2026

The Consolation of Philosophy by Ancius Boethius

Written in AD 523 by a condemned Roman statesman awaiting execution, The Consolation of Philosophy remains one of the most consequential works in Western intellectual history, and Victor Watts's Penguin Classics translation makes this dialogue between Boethius and Lady Philosophy available to modern readers in accessible English.

Remarkably Bright Creatures: A Novel

Remarkably Bright Creatures centers on Tova Sullivan, a widow who takes a night cleaning shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium decades after her teenage son Erik vanished from a boat under mysterious circumstances. At the aquarium she encounters Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus, and the novel alternate

Hollow City by Ransom Riggs

The graphic novel adaptation of Hollow City, illustrated by Cassandra Jean and published by Yen Press in 2016, brings Ransom Riggs's dark fantasy sequel to visual life — following Jacob Portman and his peculiar friends on a desperate flight from hollowgasts and wights toward WWII-era London, with Miss Peregrine's humanity hanging in the balance. The original novel debuted on the New York Times bestseller list, and the graphic novel format offers a distinct entry point into a sequel praised for its suspense-building and world-expanding storytelling.

Projectile Science: The Physics Behind Kicking a Field Goal by Matthew Brenden Wood

Projectile Science: The Physics Behind Kicking a Field Goal and Launching a Rocket with Science Activities for Kids by Matthew Brenden Wood, illustrated by Tom Casteel, is a STEAM-focused nonfiction title from Nomad Press targeting readers ages 10 to 15. It unpacks the physics of ballistics — from three-pointers and field goals to rocket trajectories — through hands-on science activities, essential questions, and real-world examples. Barnes & Noble's product listing notes it as "an extremely readable yet factually accurate account of mechanics and its applications to projectiles," and it sits within Nomad Press's four-title Technology for Today set alongside titles on industrial design, big data, and artificial intelligence.

Jun 6, 2026

The Courage to Be Disliked: The Japanese Phenomenon That Shows You How by Ichiro Kishimi, Fumitake Koga

4.5

The Courage to Be Disliked is a New York Times bestselling self-help book by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga that uses a Socratic dialogue between a youth and a philosopher to present the core principles of Alfred Adler's psychology — arguing that happiness, freedom, and personal change are available to anyone willing to stop seeking others' approval and take full responsibility for their own choices.

Jun 6, 2026

The Consolations of Philosophy (Vintage International) by Alain De Botton

4.4

Alain de Botton's The Consolations of Philosophy is a non-fiction work structured around six philosophers — Socrates, Epicurus, Seneca, Montaigne, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche — each paired with a common human affliction, from unpopularity and financial anxiety to heartbreak and suffering. Originally published by Hamish Hamilton in 2000 and subsequently reissued by Penguin Books, it drew glowing praise from major outlets for its charm, playfulness, and accessibility, while a minority of academic critics argued its popularising approach came at the cost of philosophical rigour. It remains one of the more widely read and discussed attempts to bring ancient and modern philosophy into the orbit of everyday emotional life.

Angle of Repose (Pulitzer Prize Winner) by Wallace Stegner

4.4

First published in 1971 and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1972, Wallace Stegner's Angle of Repose is a structurally ambitious novel that layers a wheelchair-bound historian's present-day reckoning with his own fractured life against a deeply researched portrait of frontier America — and it remains one of the most celebrated works in the American literary canon, ranked #82 on the Modern Library's list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. Its sweep, its dual-timeline architecture, and the ethical controversy surrounding its source material make it a book that rewards serious engagement — and equally serious scrutiny.

Jun 5, 2026

The Woman in the Woods (Dean Steele Mystery Thriller) by A.J. Rivers

4.3

The Woman in the Woods launches the Dean Steele Mystery Thriller series with a high-stakes premise: a private investigator who has suffered memory lapses since childhood wakes up beside a dead woman he cannot identify, with no recollection of how he got there — and then the body vanishes. Published independently in September 2022, this series opener stacks personal vulnerability against professional peril, building a mystery in which the detective is simultaneously investigator and suspect.

Jun 5, 2026

Disney's Mulan

This book is an adaptation of a classic Chinese poem featuring Hua Mulan, a young woman who disguises herself as a man to take her father's place in the army and fight against an invasion by the Huns. The text is presented under the Disney brand, suggesting it is tied to the studio's animated interp

Splunk Best Practices by Travis Marlette

Published by Packt Publishing in September 2016, Splunk Best Practices by Travis Marlette is a technically focused guide designed to help Splunk practitioners design, implement, and publish custom Splunk applications more efficiently, drawing on Marlette's deep hands-on background integrating Splunk across a wide range of enterprise technologies.

Jun 7, 2026

James A Novel (Hardcover) Book by Percival Everett

Percival Everett's James, published by Doubleday in 2024, retells Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of the enslaved Jim — recast as a secretly literate, deeply calculating man performing ignorance for survival — and swept the major literary awards of its year, winning the National Book Award for Fiction, the 2024 Kirkus Prize, and the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

Jun 6, 2026