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The Book Report: Washington Post critic Ron Charles (July 14)
By Washington Post book critic Ron Charles
Here are four new books to take on vacation or just kick back with at home.
Pantheon
Fifteen years ago, American readers went wild for an unlikely bestseller by Joseph O’Neill called “Netherland,” about a Dutchman in New York who becomes a cricket enthusiast.
Well, O’Neill is back on the field again with “Godwin” (Pantheon), about a writer who becomes involved in a bizarre scheme to find an African boy who may be the next international soccer star.
Millions of dollars are on the line. But while your eye follows the ball, O’Neill takes some brilliant shots at the exploitation of immigrants and the forces shaping our global economy.
Read an excerpt: “Godwin” by James O’Neill
“Godwin” by Joseph O’Neill (Pantheon), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org
Doubleday
Claire Lombardo’s new novel, “Same As It Ever Was” (Doubleday), follows the long, complicated life of a woman who wonders if motherhood is really for her.
When we first meet Julia, she’s got a devoted husband and a bright little boy, but she’s so desperately unhappy that she almost throws it all away. Two decades later, another crisis threatens to disrupt Julia’s hard-won equilibrium. But maybe now she’s wiser and a little kinder to herself.
This is a big novel, full of wit and heart, and perfect for your next book club.
Read an excerpt: “Same As It Ever Was” by Claire Lombardo
“Same As It Ever Was” by Claire Lombardo (Doubleday), in Hardcover, Large Print Trade Paperback, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org
Hogarth
A grizzly roams through the pages of Julia Phillips’ new novel, “Bear” (Hogarth). The story is about two poor sisters struggling to take care of their dying mother on an island off the coast of Washington state.
The younger sister, Sam, just can’t wait to get away and start a new life. But her older sister falls under the spell of a bear that’s been seen wandering the forest near their home. What would Sam do to save her sister? What would she destroy?
This is a hypnotic, tense story, with the woodland scent of a dark fairy tale.
Read an excerpt: “Bear” by Julia Phillips
“Bear” by Julia Phillips (Hogarth), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org
Penguin
After she escaped slavery in 1849, Harriet Tubman became a legendary abolitionist who led scores of enslaved people to freedom on the Underground Railroad.
Now, National Book Award-winning author Tiya Miles explores the life of this remarkable woman in her book, “Night Flyer: Harriet Tubman and the Faith Dreams of a Free People” (Penguin).
In her deep examination of the world in which Tubman lived, Miles winds through the elusive history and the awesome mythology to find a real-life figure more extraordinary than we ever knew before.
Read an excerpt: “Night Flyer” by Tiya Miles
“Night Flyer: Harriet Tubman and the Faith Dreams of a Free People” by Tiya Miles (Penguin), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org
For more suggestions on what to read, contact your librarian or local bookseller.
That’s it for the Book Report. I’m Ron Charles. Until next time, read on!
For more info:
For more reading recommendations, check out these previous Book Report features from Ron Charles:
Produced by Robin Sanders and Roman Feeser.
The House Ethics Committee, which has been conducting an investigation into sexual misconduct and obstruction allegations against Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, scheduled a vote for Friday on whether to release its report, according to three sources with knowledge of the committee’s work.
Hours after President-elect Donald Trump said he planned to nominate Gaetz to be attorney general, Gaetz resigned his congressional seat, effective immediately.
“I do not intend to take the oath of office for the same office in the 119th Congress, to pursue the position of Attorney General in the Trump Administration,” Gaetz said in his resignation letter obtained by CBS News
House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters that there was about an eight-week period during which Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis could fill his seat by setting the date for a special election.
Now that Gaetz has resigned, it is unclear whether the panel will vote on releasing the report, since Gaetz is no longer in Congress.
There is precedent in Congress on the Senate side for an ethics committee report to become public after a member resigns from Congress, however. In 2011, this happened when Sen. John Ensign of Nevada resigned amid allegations that he tried to hide an extramarital affair.
But it’s not clear that that would apply to the House, leaving open the possibility that the report on Gaetz would not be released.
In June, the House Ethics Committee released a statement saying it was investigating a range of allegations against Gaetz, including sexual misconduct, illicit drug use, and bribery.
Multiple sources at the time told CBS News that four women had informed the House Ethics Committee that they had been paid to go to parties that included sex and drugs, and that Gaetz had also attended. The committee has Gaetz’s Venmo transactions that allegedly show payments for the women.
Gaetz has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and has called the committee’s investigation a “frivolous” smear campaign.
Some of the allegations of sexual misconduct under review by the committee were also the subject of a previous Department of Justice probe into Gaetz. Federal investigators sought to determine if Gaetz violated sex trafficking and obstruction of justice laws, but no charges were filed.
The House Ethics Committee resumed its investigation into Gaetz in 2023, following the Justice Department’s decision not to pursue charges against him.
Gaetz has long blamed then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, also a Republican, for the probe. And Gaetz later led the movement to sack McCarthy as speaker.
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