cover image
LATEST ISSUE OF
Kirkus Reviews
Check out our interview with Rick Yancey, author of the wildly entertaining YA thriller The 5th Wave.
Kirkus Star
THE KIRKUS STAR
Awarded to Books of Exceptional Merit

BROWSE BOOK REVIEWS



New and Notable Nonfiction for September

Cover art for DEATH IN THE CITY OF LIGHT
NONFICTION
Released: Sept. 27, 2011
Kirkus Star DEATH IN THE CITY OF LIGHT: THE SERIAL KILLER OF NAZI-OCCUPIED PARIS
by David King
"The author's successful transition into the true-crime genre—expertly written and completely absorbing."
The gripping narrative of a twisted serial killer preying on the most vulnerable citizens of Paris during the Nazi occupation. Read full book review >
Cover art for A MORE PERFECT HEAVEN
NONFICTION
Released: Sept. 27, 2011
A MORE PERFECT HEAVEN: HOW NICOLAUS COPERNICUS REVOLUTIONIZED THE COSMOS
by Dava Sobel
"A liquid entertainment of choice passages on the thoughts and deeds of Copernicus."
Sobel (The Planets, 2005, etc.) offers another meaty-while-mellifluous story of science. Read full book review >
Cover art for WE MEANT WELL
NONFICTION
Released: Sept. 27, 2011
Kirkus Star WE MEANT WELL: HOW I HELPED LOSE THE BATTLE FOR THE HEARTS AND MINDS OF THE IRAQI PEOPLE
by Peter Van Buren
"One of the rare, completely satisfying results of the expensive debacle in Iraq."
Laugh-out-loud stories about how the United States failed to rebuild Iraq. Read full book review >
Cover art for HEMINGWAY'S BOAT
NONFICTION
Released: Sept. 23, 2011
Kirkus Star HEMINGWAY'S BOAT: EVERYTHING HE LOVED IN LIFE, AND LOST, 1934-1961
by Paul Hendrickson
"Appearing on the 50th anniversary of Hemingway's death, this beautifully written, nuanced meditation deserves a wide audience."
A splendid view of Papa and his beloved boat Pilar. Read full book review >
Cover art for LENNON
NONFICTION
Released: Sept. 20, 2011
Kirkus Star LENNON: THE MAN, THE MYTH, THE MUSIC--THE DEFINITIVE LIFE
by Tim Riley
"Essential for Lennon fans, and one of the most thorough yet accessible rock biographies to appear in recent years."
After hundreds of books on the former Beatle, is there anything left to say? Read full book review >
Cover art for THE SWERVE
NONFICTION
Released: Sept. 19, 2011
Kirkus Star THE SWERVE: HOW THE WORLD BECAME MODERN
by Stephen Greenblatt
"More wonderfully illuminating Renaissance history from a master scholar and historian."
Greenblatt (Humanities/Harvard Univ.; Shakespeare's Freedom, 2010, etc.) makes another intellectually fetching foray into the Renaissance—with digressions into antiquity and the recent past—in search of a root of modernity. Read full book review >