Hamilton Cain

The 100 Must-Read Books of 2025 Discover the novels, memoirs, biographies, and more that entertained and enlightened us

I had the great good fortune to work with Lucy Feldman and her team on TIME's "100 Must-Read Books 2025," the perfect holidays gift list for bibliophiles in your lives: time.com/collections/...

In her new story collection, Joy Williams probes the weirdness of the West - The Boston Globe Joy Williams’s stories are set in a liminal space, untethered, grasslands floating among craggy mountains, biker bars and seedy motels and ghosts baked by harsh sunlight.

An American master returns with a collection of eerie, brilliant stories. Here's my review of Joy Williams's "The Pelican Child" for @bostonglobe.com. Out next week from @aaknopf.bsky.social. Many thanks to @katekilla.bsky.social for the opportunity: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/11/a...

Review: Salman Rushdie still at top of his powers with ‘Eleventh Hour’ Fiction: His elegant short fiction probes the shadows of mortality and loss.

The great Salman Rushdie examines mortality from myriad angles in "The Eleventh Hour," a quintet of stories just out from Random House. Here's my review for @stribgoingout.startribune.com: www.startribune.com/salman-rushd...

And today's print version of @stribgoingout.startribune.com:

Print is sweet! Today's @latimes.com:

Review: A shocking act at sea damns ‘The Zorg’ Nonfiction: Siddharth Kara’s account of a slave ship is one of the year’s finest books.

Siddharth Kara's searing "The Zorg" is easily one of this year's top five nonfiction titles. Out now from @stmartinspress.bsky.social. Here's my review for @stribgoingout.startribune.com: www.startribune.com/the-zorg-kar...

The British-American historian Richard Bell offers an exuberant narrative on the American Revolution's global impact. Out today from @riverheadbooks.bsky.social. Here's my review for "On the Seawall":https://www.ronslate.com/on-the-american-revolution-and-the-fate-of-the-world-by-richard-bell/

Review: If you loved DiCaprio’s new film, have we got a book for you Fiction: Maestro Thomas Pynchon is back with “Shadow Ticket,” a brilliant comic novel set in Al Capone’s America.

Fashionably late to the party? Here's my review of Thomas Pynchon's rollicking "Shadow Ticket" for @startribune.com. Out now from @penguinpress.bsky.social: www.startribune.com/thomas-pynch...

Review: All the Zadies — empathetic and problematic — are on display in her latest essay collection ‘Dead and Alive’ review: Zadie Smith collection revisits controversy

Zadie Smith's collection of essays, "Dead and Alive," is provocative, eloquent, and uneven. Out today from @penguinpress.bsky.social. Here's my review for @latimes.com: www.latimes.com/entertainmen...

Can the Western Be Reinvented Again? Here’s a 1,200-Page Yes.

@markzdanielewski.bsky.social reimagines the American western in his new epic, "Tom's Crossing," out today from @pantheonbooks.bsky.social. Here's my review for @nytimes.com: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/28/b...

Review | Gish Jen’s ‘Bad Bad Girl’ recasts a fraught relationship The novel is two books in one: an imagined account of her mother’s early years in Shanghai and the U.S., and a fictionalized memoir about a difficult upbringing.

A new Gish Jen book is a tonic for the soul. Here's my review of "Bad Bad Girl" for @washingtonpost.com. Just out from @aaknopf.bsky.social: www.washingtonpost.com/books/2025/1...

"You gorgeous lugubrious bitch" is [chef's kiss].

Review | In ‘Pick a Color,’ the customer isn’t always right Souvankham Thammavongsa’s novel follows workers and clients interacting inside a nail salon over the course of a single day.

I loved Souvankham Thammavongsa's short, searing novel, "Pick a Color," which punches above its weight. Out today from @littlebrown.bsky.social. Here's my review for @washingtonpost.com: www.washingtonpost.com/books/2025/0...

Review: Mariana Enriquez explores cemeteries around the world and the cultures they mirror Argentine writer Mariana Enriquez guides us around 21 of the world’s most distinctive cemeteries in a collection of essays percolating with social commentary.

The great Argentine writer Mariana Enriquez is back with "Somebody Is Walking on Your Grave," a literary travelogue like no other, gorgeously translated by Megan McDowell. Out today from Hogarth Books. Here's my review for @latimes.com: www.latimes.com/entertainmen...

In This Circus Tale, Telepathic Twins Aren’t Even the Freak Show

Set in 1915, @danchaon.bsky.social's spellbinding new novel, "One of Us," explores American marginalization and violence via telepathic twins in a traveling circus. Just out from @henryholtbooks.bsky.social. Here's my rave review for @nytimes.com: www.nytimes.com/2025/09/24/b...

Patricia Lockwood’s ‘Will There Ever Be Another You’ never takes flight. Blame COVID Like Sylvia Plath’s ‘The Bell Jar,’ Patricia Lockwood’s latest book draws on her own fevered struggles with illness — in her case with the long tail of COVID.

Patricia Lockwood's expressionistic if scattered "Will There Ever Be Another You" details one woman's struggles with Long Covid. Out tomorrow from @riverheadbooks.bsky.social. Here's my review for @latimes.com: www.latimes.com/entertainmen...

👇 💫 Very fortunate that @hamiltoncain.bsky.social reviewed Ian McEwan’s brilliant new novel, What We Can Know. A lovely review brimming with insight and praise that captures the essence and payoffs of McEwan’s dystopian vision.

Print, glorious print! Today's @latimes.com:

‘What We Can Know’ ponders the present day and the literary future - The Boston Globe Dystopian fiction is now a firm fixture in our literary landscape. Ian McEwan’s stylish, cunning “What We Can Know” takes a whack at the genre.

Ian McEwan fans, rejoice! The Booker laureate returns to form in "What We Can Know," his engrossing twist on dystopian fiction. Out next week from @aaknopf.bsky.social. Here's my rave for @bostonglobe.com, with thanks to @katekilla.bsky.social for the opportunity. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/09/17/a...

Jill Lepore’s ‘We the People’ is a life buoy for a Constitution under attack Jill Lepore’s history of the Constitution includes a colorful cast of characters and makes a case for it as a living document that continues to evolve as we evolve.

The author meets the moment: Jill Lepore's "We the People" is an essential guide to our embattled Constitutional order. And so beautifully written! Out tomorrow from @liveright.bsky.social. Here's my review for @latimes.com: www.latimes.com/entertainmen...

A dazzling visit to Shakespeare’s time, and a look at his most alluring rival - The Boston Globe A tug-of-war between haves and have-nots. Elite universities engulfed in fiery disputes. A head of state pumped up by flattery and conspiracy theories. Welcome to England, circa the late 16th century...

Stephen Greenblatt's erudite "Dark Renaissance" evokes the of Christopher Marlowe, Shakespeare's literary rival. Out next week from @wwnorton.com. Here's my review for @bostonglobe.com, with thanks to @katekilla.bsky.social for her editorial guidance. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/09/04/a...

Forty new books for the best fall reading - The Boston Globe Here are some of the books we are most looking forward to dipping into this fall.

'Twas awesome to collaborate with @katekilla.bsky.social and Marion Winik on the Boston Globe's fall books preview. Bibliophiles, rejoice! www.bostonglobe.com/2025/08/21/a...

What a wonderful and in-depth review from the great @hamiltoncain.bsky.social

We Know It’s a Show | Los Angeles Review of Books Hamilton Cain reviews Gary Shteyngart’s “Vera, or Faith.”

I had a blast reading @shteyngart.bsky.social's dystopian romp, "Vera, or Faith," out from Random House. Here's my review for @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social: lareviewofbooks.org/article/we-k...

A lively novel based on a real mystery in midcentury Hollywood - The Boston Globe Peter Orner's exuberant new novel, "The Gossip Columnist's Daughter," dramatizes a real-life unsolved murder, both a homage to Hollywood noir and a meditation on how and why our deepest connections ca...

Another review in this Sunday's @bostonglobe.com is @hamiltoncain.bsky.social's smart take on THE GOSSIP COLUMNIST'S DAUGHTER by the masterful Peter Orner. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/08/12/a...

A lively novel based on a real crime in midcentury Hollywood - The Boston Globe Peter Orner's exuberant new novel, "The Gossip Columnist's Daughter," dramatizes a real-life unsolved murder, both a homage to Hollywood noir and a meditation on how and why our deepest connections ca...

Peter Orner's new novel, "The Gossip Columnist's Daughter," is both haunting and a fun-as-hell read. Out next week from @littlebrown.bsky.social. Here's my review for @bostonglobe.com, with thanks to @katekilla.bsky.social for her editorial guidance. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/08/12/a...

Review: New bio offers bold take on literary giant James ‘Baldwin’ Fiction: A magisterial biography focuses on four pivotal relationships.

I adored Nicholas Boggs's epic new biography of James Baldwin, out next week from @fsgbooks.bsky.social. An amazing feat of biography and cultural history. Here's my review for @stribgoingout.startribune.com: www.startribune.com/baldwin-a-lo...

Review: Meet the man who tried to establish a Black state within the U.S. Nonfiction: Caleb Gayle’s gorgeous “Black Moses” illuminates a forgotten figure from our racial past.

@hamiltoncain.bsky.social calls BLACK MOSES @calebgayle.bsky.social "eloquent" & "engrossing." "Gayle does more than just rescue a forgotten yet crucial figure; he places McCabe at the center of radical liberation." @riverheadbooks.bsky.social @startribune.com www.startribune.com/edward-mccab...

An English writer on a mysterious Mexican sojourn yields an absorbing new novel - The Boston Globe The British author Penelope Knox Fitzgerald (1916-2000) remains a lodestar for many closet scribblers: an editor and teacher who juggled domestic responsibilities, wrote when she carved out time, and ...

Dying to read FONSECA, the new novel by @jfkane.bsky.social, based on Penelope Fitzgerald's time in Mexico. Expertly reviewed by @hamiltoncain.bsky.social for the @bostonglobe.com, where it will be in print on Sunday. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/08/05/a...

An English writer on a mysterious Mexican sojourn yields an absorbing new novel - The Boston Globe The British author Penelope Knox Fitzgerald (1916-2000) remains a lodestar for many closet scribblers: an editor and teacher who juggled domestic responsibilities, wrote when she carved out time, and ...

As a Penelope Fitzgerald fan I had a blast reading @jfkane.bsky.social's absorbing novel, "Fonseca," which recreates a mysterious episode in the British writer's life. Here's my review for @bostonglobe.com, with thanks to @katekilla.bsky.social for her guidance. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/08/05/a...