Historian Davis debuts with an immersive collection of oral testimony from still-living vets who fought in WWII’s Pacific Theater. Calling the book “a story of memory,” Davis takes a hands-off approach to interviewing Marines in their 90s and early 100s, letting them focus on what matters to them. While every aspect of war is eventually considered, from stateside deployments to the challenges of fighting in humid conditions, a recurring theme is the subjects’ traumatized fixation on how their Japanese adversaries refused to surrender: “They would keep attacking until everyone was killed. We just couldn’t believe it”; “We were on a cliff overlooking the Japanese and delivered an ultimatum: By a certain hour, if they didn’t surrender, we were going to let them have it. They wouldn’t budge. We fired... and they all jumped off.... At that time, we considered them nothing more than just an animal, I guess. Odd, isn’t it?” Other sections record the reflections of Marines who survived a 1944 storm that sank three U.S. destroyers and the assault on Iwo Jima, as well as Marines’ conflicted feelings about the atomic bomb (many express concern that an invasion would have meant they had to fight women and children to the death) and becoming friendly with the Japanese during the occupation. The result is a raw record of a generation’s little discussed trauma. (May)

Reviewed on 02/27/2026 | Details & Permalink

Photographer and essayist Moeschen (Boston and Beyond) offers a leisurely tour of museums, family homes, and other attractions dedicated to New England’s celebrated authors. In Massachusetts, the state which claims far and away the most writers, destinations include the stately home of Edith Wharton, the whimsical Dr. Seuss Museum, and Walden Pond. Connecticut’s attractions include a 2.4-mile pathway in Hartford commemorating a daily walk that poet Wallace Stevens took and a Victorian Gothic Revival home built by Mark Twain that was once described as looking like “a small brick-kiln gone crazy.” Notable New Hampshire locales include Peterborough, the town that inspired Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, which he wrote while staying there on a writer’s retreat. Rhode Island and Maine are both homes of horror writers—H.P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe are claimed by the former, Shirley Jackson and Stephen King by the latter. And Vermont has Robert Frost, though New Hampshire and Massachusetts vie for him as well. While the biographical vignettes can sometimes feel a bit by the numbers, some entries surprise (Maine is home to the Rachel Carson Wildlife Refuge) and the book pops with luscious photographs, including tantalizing snapshots of Noah Webster’s writing desk and the real-life house with seven gables that inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne. Readers will be raring to visit for themselves. (May)

Reviewed on 02/27/2026 | Details & Permalink

Blind spots “prevent us from seeing what is there or encourage us to see what is not” and are frequently at the root of traffic accidents, medical misdiagnoses, unreliable eyewitness testimony, and conspiracy theories, according to this illuminating exploration from neuropsychologist Lewis (Impulse) and magician Leyser. The authors describe many kinds of blind spots: some are “inattentional” and result from the brain’s selective filtering of a constant influx of sensory data, allowing stage magicians to put one over on audiences and potentially causing up to seven out of 10 car accidents. Other blind spots stem from ingrained stereotypes that prime the brain to see what it expects to, leading to such issues as unfair hiring practices (beautiful people are judged to be smarter and more trustworthy, and are more likely to be given jobs). Misinformation causes still other blind spots, with false stimuli—like doctored images and fake news stories—spurring the brain to fabricate corresponding false memories. The authors corral a broad range of examples, both serious and silly (famously, a woman saw the face of Jesus in a tortilla in 1977—an example of pareidolia, a related phenomenon where the brain interprets random shapes as familiar objects). Along the way, Lewis and Leyser show how subliminal priming influences the ways humans encounter the world, and provide commonsense strategies to avoid falling prey to such illusions and oversights. It’s a riveting and relevant work of pop psychology. (June)

Reviewed on 02/27/2026 | Details & Permalink

This passionate and witty overview from astrophysicist Chapman (First Light) reveals the power of radio astronomy, the study of the universe through the detection and analysis of radio waves emitted by celestial objects. Chapman posits that “no type of astronomy matches radio for its breadth of application,” noting that radio waves allowed NASA to be certain that “man’s first step on the moon would be on solid ground” and yielded the surprising discovery of water on Mercury. Similarly, radio telescopes have been used to probe dark matter and dark energy (invisible components that dictate the structure and expansion of the universe), shed light on the nature of black holes, and illuminate the early moments of the universe. Along the way, Chapman lucidly describes the structure of the cosmos, from the formation of planets and stars to the nature of galaxies and the probability of intelligent life beyond Earth. She peppers her scientific explanations with intriguing anecdotes, like how in 1936 the 26-year-old amateur astronomer Grote Reber constructed “the first purpose-built radio telescope in the world” in his mother’s garden, and allowed her to use it on Mondays to hold up her washing line. Readers will be dazzled by this superb example of popular science writing. (May)

Reviewed on 02/27/2026 | Details & Permalink

In this breezy account, Becker (Character Matters) and Collamore, former advance aides for President George H.W. Bush, recall consequential moments from their tenures preparing the president for public appearances and collect stories from other advance aides. The result is a blend of memoir and watercooler discussion, with the authors offering running commentary between often comedic dispatches. Andrew Friendly, who worked for Bill Clinton, recalls a 1993 teleprompter malfunctioning during a congressional address that forced Clinton to pull his speech from memory. Becker recalls apologizing to First Lady Barbara Bush for managing to position her in front of defecating cows during a speech at the Florida State Fair; her colleague Gordon James recounts failing to fetch the diminutive Queen Elizabeth a stepping stool in 1991, allowing the audience to see only her purple hat. These lighthearted passages are offset by the occasional somber one, including chilling accounts of the assassination attempts on Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford, and subdued reflections on 9/11 and the Sandy Hook school shooting. Though most of the anecdotes are only a few paragraphs, they offer a tantalizing glimpse behind the presidential curtain. History buffs will relish the up-close perspective. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 02/27/2026 | Details & Permalink

From the evolution of the opposable thumb to the exploitation of fossil fuels, each stage of human development has been driven by an engineering advancement that involves “converting energy from one form into another,” according to this cerebral study. Biologist Ennos (The Age of Wood) begins with humanity’s antecedents, tree-dwelling primates who developed bodies that happened to be ideal for creating simple tools. Over time, early humans modified these tools to convert more energy with them, such as using “sling action” to turn stone blades into powerful projectiles. Meanwhile mastery over fire supplemented the power-generating potential of early humans’ metabolisms, allowing them to “divert more energy to.... supporting a larger brain,” and leading, over the ensuing millennia, to more and more energy-intensive technologies, from fired earthenware ceramics to the smelting of metals. In the early modern era, the discovery that coal contained “five times as much energy per unit as wood” facilitated the buildup of the “energy intense industries” that kicked off the Industrial Revolution. Today, “profligate” use of energy threatens humanity’s existence, Ennos notes, even it has “doomed us to be the slaves of machines” and “forced us to mimic them, carrying out repetitive but unskilled tasks.” The result is a striking call to reconsider whether humanity controls energy or it controls humanity. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 02/27/2026 | Details & Permalink

Losing a baby broke the First Couple’s hearts but revived their marriage according to this emotionally probing history. Former Washington Post editor Levingston (Little Demon in the City of Light) recaps the death of Patrick Kennedy two days after Jackie Kennedy gave birth to him, five weeks early, in August 1963; he succumbed to hyaline membrane disease, a lung disorder that was often fatal in premature infants. Patrick’s demise, Levingston notes, captivated the world and inspired improvements in neonatal healthcare that have all but eliminated such deaths, funded in part by bills President Kennedy signed after his son’s death. But Levingston’s focus is on the tragedy’s role in JFK’s transformation from heartless womanizer—he was yachting with other women when Jackie gave birth to a stillborn daughter in 1956—to loving family man. This time, Kennedy stood vigil over his dying son and shed “cataracts” of tears after his death. In the aftermath, the couple made previously uncommon public displays of affection, while Kennedy bonded with his young children. (He also, according to Levingston, swore off sex with his two mistresses, even as he continued to rendezvous with them.) Later chapters explore how the newly rekindled relationship compounded Jackie’s trauma after the assassination. Levingston fleshes out his chronicle of the couple’s reconciliation in soap-operatic prose. It makes for an affecting if occasionally maudlin addition to the Camelot saga. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 02/27/2026 | Details & Permalink

Music historian Zaleski (Taylor Swift) chronicles the career of Fleetwood Mac frontwoman Stevie Nicks in a series of brisk, colorful recaps of the making of her most formative songs. Zaleski explores the backstories of hits like 1975’s “Rhiannon” (whose title character’s “wild, unfettered” energy was inspired by the legend of the “goddess of steeds and maker of birds” from the Mabinogion, a collection of early Welsh folklore); 1993’s “Landslide” (a song of “delicate folk-pop beauty” that captured the emotional chaos Nicks experienced over her father’s health struggles and the uncertainty of her early music career); and 1981’s “Edge of Seventeen,” whose “impressionistic” lyrics drew from multiple strands of her life (the song’s white-winged dove references a drawing Nicks once saw on an airplane menu). Along the way, Zaleski explores Nicks’s musical influences, including the Mamas & the Papas and the Stone Poneys; the relationships—romantic and professional—that defined her life; and her struggles with addiction to cocaine and prescription drugs. Zaleski doesn’t shy away from her subject’s artistic and personal challenges but assumes a triumphant tone throughout, celebrating Nicks’s music, idiosyncratic fashion style, and influence on artists like Sheryl Crow, Harry Styles, and Taylor Swift. The result is an enjoyable, accessible survey of the creative inspirations of one of the most dynamic voices in rock music. Photos. (May)

Reviewed on 02/27/2026 | Details & Permalink

“Total freedom... is the enemy of creativity, and constraint its companion,” asserts journalist Epstein (Range) in this counterintuitive and groundbreaking exploration. While individuals and organizations often yearn for more freedom, time, and money, Epstein explains that because the human brain is inclined to default to familiar patterns rather than engage in high-effort thinking, complete freedom leads to unoriginal ideas. Constraints, however, “push the brain beyond its default tendencies, forcing it to engage in deeper problem-solving.” He draws on research and historical examples, including the story of Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami’s breakthrough. Frustrated with his early, unoriginal attempts at writing, Murakami imposed a constraint on himself and wrote in his limited English, which he then translated to Japanese. The result was a simple and effective style that Murakami called “a creative rhythm distinctively my own.” Elsewhere, Epstein explains that the idea that creativity is synonymous with originality is a product of the Romantic period. Before that, creativity was associated with improving on something that already existed. Shakespeare, for example, based classics like Romeo and Juliet and King Lear on prior works by other writers. Through captivating case studies, Epstein reveals the transformative power of obstacles. It’s a game changer. (May)

Reviewed on 02/27/2026 | Details & Permalink

Sports journalist Brown (The Phenomenon) delivers a cinematic biography of Nolan Ryan, the former professional baseball pitcher who played for a record 27 seasons, first for the New York Mets, then the California Angels, Houston Astros, and Texas Rangers. Brown chronicles Ryan’s upbringing in the 1950s and ’60s in the small town of Alvin, Tex., detailing his parents’ humble beginnings, his largely unimpressive academic career, and the circumstances that pushed him toward baseball (his older brother was a catcher, so he, naturally, pitched). The scout John Robert “Red” Murff spotted Ryan’s talent during a high school game, writing in his notes: “This skinny high school junior has the best arm I have ever seen in my life.” Following Murff’s recommendation, the Mets drafted Ryan at 18 in 1965. Brown recounts Ryan’s Major League Baseball career, chronicling in detail his seven no-hitters, a record that still stands, along with his distinction as the oldest pitcher to ever throw a no-hitter (he was 44). Later chapters follow Ryan’s transition from player to president of the Rangers and, eventually, to retirement on his ranch. The narrative moves slowly and deliberately, but Brown’s smart writing and reverent tone result in a rewarding and memorable tribute to a pitcher whose durability feels increasingly rare in the modern game. (May)

Reviewed on 02/27/2026 | Details & Permalink