In a hard year—and when, recently, have we had one we’d consider easy?—books can be a lifeline and a balm, a place to retreat and regain our grounding. Among the many entertaining, delightful, ...

It was the best-of times (you know, that period in December when we do the best-of lists). But it could feel like the worst of times: There’s so much to read before the year finishes! Well, there’s ...

The staff of The New York Times Book Review choose the year’s top fiction and nonfiction. Credit...By Sebastian Mast Supported by The envelope, please: After a full year spent reading hundreds of ...