Reading room
Books
Short reading notes on books we think are worth your time, chosen because they deal with justice, power or memory in some way. We describe what each book is and why it matters; we don't reproduce its text.
- 11 books we recommend on justice, law and the TroublesEleven books we recommend for understanding justice, collusion and memory in Northern Ireland and beyond, from Say Nothing and Milkman to Just Mercy and Gideon's Trumpet.
- Classic book of the month: Watership DownWhy Richard Adams's 1972 novel Watership Down, about a band of rabbits seeking a new home, endures as a story about leadership, tyranny and the rule of law.
- Five legal and political thrillers beyond Connelly and the ClintonsFive legal and crime thrillers worth reading besides the big 2021 releases from Michael Connelly and the Clintons, including two set in Belfast during the Troubles.
- Norman Jewison: A Director's Life, by Ira WellsA reading note on Ira Wells's 2021 biography of director Norman Jewison, whose films include In the Heat of the Night and The Hurricane.
- Pandemic fiction: the first novels about Covid-19How novelists began writing about the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021, from Gary Shteyngart and Louise Erdrich to Jodi Picoult and Sarah Moss, and what those books try to do.
- Tayari Jones's An American Marriage: a novel about wrongful convictionA reading note on Tayari Jones's 2018 novel An American Marriage, about a young Black couple torn apart by a wrongful conviction, and why it resonates.
- The Downers Grove fight over Gender Queer, 2021–22How students in Downers Grove, Illinois, rallied in 2021 to keep Maia Kobabe's memoir Gender Queer in school libraries, the review process, and the board's 2022 vote.
- Ticking Clock: Ira Rosen's memoir of 60 MinutesA reading note on Ira Rosen's 2021 memoir Ticking Clock, an insider's account of decades producing investigative television at CBS's 60 Minutes, warts and all.
- Two Roads Diverged: Mark Sanford's 2021 book on the Republican futureA reading note on former South Carolina governor Mark Sanford's 2021 book Two Roads Diverged, which argues for a Republican Party and conservative movement beyond Trump.
- World War C: Sanjay Gupta's 2021 book on the pandemic and the next oneA reading note on Dr Sanjay Gupta's World War C (October 2021): what it says about lessons from Covid-19, personal resilience and preparing for future pandemics.