Booklist Editors' Choice: Adult Books

Drawing on two years of research, including interviews with two elderly women—one black, the other white—Swarns presents the complicated story of race in the U.S. through the prism of Michelle Obama’s family history.

Molesworth rescues Harlem Renaissance poet and novelist Countée Cullen from obscurity in this scrupulous and vivid biography, celebrating his work and pondering the mysteries of his life.

A thoroughly fascinating, multigenerational biography that explores broader social and political changes even as it highlights the elements that shaped one man’s life.

In this gripping biography—it’s as page-turningly exciting as any thriller—Samuel Zemurray, once the most powerful banana importer in America, comes off as a sort of real-world Charles Foster Kane.

In this compelling biography, Simmons chronicles the career of courtly, elegant, and influential singer-songwriter, poet, and novelist Cohen and illuminates his impressive body of work.

In tracing the evolution of Joyce’s art, Bowker also hints at the dark recesses of the artist’s psyche, defending his psycho-reading of Joyce’s fiction as the only way to plumb the turbid inner life of an often mystifying man.

In his forthright, gripping, and darkly humorous memoir, Rushdie tells the full story of his life under siege after the Ayatollah Khomeini called for his death and reminds us of why artistic and intellectual freedoms are essential to human life.

The late Manchester was one of the best Churchill biographers, and this third volume in the series is the capstone to his magnum opus.

In this compelling collection of thematically linked essays, veteran film historian Thomson defines screen as encompassing everything from early nickelodeons through tablets and smart phones.

King’s uniquely detailed and engrossing chronicle of the creation of Leonardo’s revolutionary masterpiece, The Last Supper, brings to vibrant life wizardly Leonardo, his cunning patron and conniving rivals, and the glorious and miraculous mural.