Savonarola’s Bonfire
May 23: Girolamo Savonarola was hanged on this day in 1498 and then incinerated in the same piazza in which the citizens of Florence had earlier attended more than one "bonfire of the vanities." George Eliot's 1863 novel Romola, set in Savonarola's Ita...
From the Discover Archives: Eric Blehm
Winner of first place, nonfiction in the 2006 Discover Awards, Eric Blehm's The Last Season is unforgettable reading set in California's Sierra Nevada mountains. Blehm, also author of the national bestseller The Only Thing Worth Dying For, returns toda...
Rachael Sage
The singer recommends three moving reads.
2312
A gloriously real, Solar-centric space opera that heralds the dawn of a new SF paradigm.
Truth Like the Sun
A mastermind of Seattle's boom era makes a sunset run for office -- and the secrets of past corruption come to light.
On the Oregon Trail
May 22: America's "Great Migration" westward began on this day in 1843, some 1,000 heading west in the first pioneer exodus over the Oregon Trail. Small groups had been making the five-month trek for several years, but this marked the start of the lege...
Wired’s Geek Mom reviews Next Stop by Glen Finland
More praise for Glen Finland's memoir, Next Stop, A Summer 2012 Discover Great New Writers selection.
I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts
His subjects range from the suicide note as literary genre to the theme-parking of the Holocaust. But though Mark Dery's "drive-by essays" are sure to court controversy, the writer's commitment to entering intellectual no-fly zones make this collection...
The Legend of Pradeep Mathew
When a hard-drinking Sri Lankan sportswriter faces liver failure, he decides it's finally time to track down once-great cricket star Pradeep Mathew. Shehan Karunatilaka's big-hearted, madcap novel reverberates with echoes of A Fan's Notes and Net...
Canada
A robbery gone wrong sends a child into exile in a story that recalls the work of Charles Dickens and Mark Twain.
Railsea
Do you recall the tagline from the very first Superman movie? "You'll believe a man can fly!" Well, I'm tempted to craft such a hyperbolic assertion for China Miéville's off-the-wall yet utterly convincing new "all-ages" novel, Railsea. Somethin...
Royal Realism
You can’t turn the television on these days without seeing a report regaling the English royal family’s latest antics. Whether it’s Kate sporting her most recent outfit at a charity function or William flying a helicopter or Harry dancing in the ...
