‘Everybody loves puffins,’ Maine humorist John McDonald says, by way of explaining a new book pairing captivating photos with funny captions he’s dreamed up.

Some story lines defy the odds. A book about an ailing woman who befriends a bedside snail, for instance, might seem cloying and schmaltzy on the one hand, or satirical on the other. In the case of Elisabeth Tova Bailey’s observational memoir, “The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating,” both woman and snail handily quash […]

The author of the bible of the hardcore punk movement is out with a new edition and heading to Maine to talk about the musical genre and its legacy.

“The Elephant’s Journey.” Jose Saramago. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 288 pages. $24. Summer, 1551. The King of Portugal gives Maximilian, regent of Spain and archduke of Austria, an elephant as a belated wedding present. There is just one small problem: getting the elephant from Lisbon to Vienna.  

‘The Lady Matador’s Hotel’ is a ruthless romp through the lives of its characters.

Tom Seymour of Waldo forages for a lot of his food. Now he’s out with a new book sharing some of the secrets of his finesse.

It’s late. I have to finish this review before morning. Stumbling into my office, I switch on the light (and the computer and the printer and the fax machine). They spring to life — no big deal. It wasn’t always thus. To take only the most venerable of the above devices, it is more than […]