Book Reviews

By Evelyn Clarke
4/7/26
352 pages
$30
Harper

‘The Ending Writes Itself’

As a lifelong reader and word collector, I love a bit of metafiction. A story about stories will always perk my ears. The skilled pair of authors writing under the name of Evelyn Clarke has given me that in spades. This one has a ton of buzz for a reason. Clever, emotional, perceptive, addictive — this is a storyteller’s story if I ever read one. 

The synopsis reads like a “Knives Out” movie. Six struggling authors are brought together to a private island to finish the final book of a famous, now dead, bestselling author. They have 72 hours to write their way into fame and fortune. Naturally, schemes arise and danger creeps. This is a locked room mystery with a devastatingly flawed set of characters and biting satire of the publishing industry — all at the same time.

Observations about writing, character arcs, endings and the ever-present human desire for closure make this a perfect mix of thoughtful and playful. Charming and satirical in equal measure, this is the kind of book you finish at 2 a.m. and immediately want to press into a friend’s hands. Or write a gushing review of. ♦ — Review by Julie Goodrich

By Maria Popova
2/17/26
608 pages
$36
Farrar, Straus and Giroux

‘Traversal’

Reading this book feels a bit like wandering into the world’s most enchanting dinner party. Pull up a chair and suddenly you’re listening to Mary Shelley discuss creation while Walt Whitman waxes poetic about the soul of the universe, and then Frederick Douglass is reminding us all that moral courage is a form of genius. One minute you’re contemplating continental drift with Alfred Wegener; the next you’re pondering the nature of consciousness, love and the color blue. 

Popova writes with the curiosity of someone so in love with the world that she sees connections that feel so hidden, yet so obvious. She understands that science and poetry are all just different dialects of the same cosmic language. 

Sometimes the writing feels so dense, but then a sentence lands like a small miracle, and you can’t remember why you were struggling at all. This is one of the most powerful books I’ve ever read. It feels less like reading and more like uncovering a secret you forgot you knew. It’s part intellectual history, part philosophical mixtape, and wholly satisfying for anyone who likes their nonfiction a little star-dusted and gloriously alive. ♦ — Review by Julie Goodrich