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 & Notable Nonfiction: February 2012

Showing
Cover art for THE HAPPINESS OF PURSUIT
NONFICTION
Released: Feb. 1, 2012
Kirkus Star THE HAPPINESS OF PURSUIT: WHAT NEUROSCIENCE CAN TEACH US ABOUT THE GOOD LIFE
by Shimon Edelman
"An elegant tour de force that combines neuropsychology with liberal references to Shakespeare and Homer."
Edelman (Psychology/Cornell Univ.; Computing the Mind: How the Mind Really Works, 2008, etc.) asks readers to discard the "familiar ‘computer metaphor' that halfheartedly likens the brain to a computer," and accept his argument that "the mind is computational in the literal sense." Read full book review >
Cover art for THE SCIENCE OF YOGA
NONFICTION
Released: Feb. 7, 2012
THE SCIENCE OF YOGA: THE MYTHS AND THE REWARDS
by William J. Broad
"A fascinating, persuasive case for demythologizing yoga and recognizing its true value to mind and body."
A fair, well-reasoned assessment of the many extraordinary claims made for yoga. Read full book review >
Cover art for BEHIND THE BEAUTIFUL FOREVERS
NONFICTION
Released: Feb. 7, 2012
Kirkus Star BEHIND THE BEAUTIFUL FOREVERS: LIFE, DEATH, AND HOPE IN A MUMBAI UNDERCITY
by Katherine Boo
"The best book yet written on India in the throes of a brutal transition."
In her debut, Pulitzer Prize–winning New Yorker staff writer Boo creates an intimate, unforgettable portrait of India's urban poor. Read full book review >
Cover art for THE NEW HATE
NONFICTION
Released: Feb. 7, 2012
Kirkus Star THE NEW HATE: A HISTORY OF FEAR AND LOATHING ON THE POPULIST RIGHT
by Arthur Goldwag
"A provocative, intellectually rigorous book written clearly and with an admirable lack of hatred."
A well-reported study of disaffected groups who hate other groups whose members look or think differently than the haters. Read full book review >
Cover art for ON AN IRISH ISLAND
NONFICTION
Released: Feb. 13, 2012
Kirkus Star ON AN IRISH ISLAND
by Robert Kanigel
"A mesmerizing interplay of lives and socio-historical contexts."
A richly detailed biographical study of a group of early-20th-century intellectuals whose shared love for a dying insular culture helped save it from extinction. Read full book review >
Cover art for GYPSY BOY
NONFICTION
Released: Feb. 14, 2012
GYPSY BOY: MY LIFE IN THE SECRET WORLD OF THE ROMANY GYPSIES
by Mikey Walsh
"A poignant memoir that bears comparison to the bestselling Running With Scissors--but better written and far darker."
Grim, well-told memoir of a boyhood among the much-maligned Romany Gypsy "travelers" of Britain. Read full book review >