I never knew anyone who’d grown up in Jackson without being afraid of Mrs. Calloway, our librarian. She ran Jackson’s Carnegie Library absolutely by herself. SILENCE in big black letters was on signs hung everywhere. If she thought you were dressed improperly, she sent you straight back home to change your clothes. I was willing; I would do anything to read.

My mother was not afraid of Mrs. Calloway. She wished me to have my own library card to check out books for myself. She took me in to introduce me. “Eudora is nine years old and has my permission to read any book she wants from the shelves, children or adults,” Mother said.

Mrs. Calloway made her own rules about books. You could not take back a book to the library on the same day you’d taken it out; it made no difference to her that you’d read every word in it and needed another to start. You could take out two books at a time and two only. So two by two, I read library books as fast as I could go, rushing them home in the basket of my bicycle. From the minute I reached our house, I started to read. I knew this was extreme happiness, knew it at the time.

My mother shared this feeling of mine. Now, I think of her as reading so much of the time while doing something else. I remember her reading a magazine while taking the part of the Wolf in a game of “Little Red Riding Hood” with my brother’s two daughters. She’d just look up at the right time, long enough to answer — in character — “The better to eat you with, my dear,” and go back to her place in the magazine article.

See our editors’ top 5 picks in print books and Kindle books, and discover our editors’ picks for the best books of the year.

# 1 Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann

In Killers of the Flower Moon, David Grami revisits a shocking series of crimes in which dozens of people were murdered in cold blood. Based on years of research and new evidence, the book is a masterpiece of narrative nonfiction.

Kindle: $14.99 Hardcover: $ 17.37 Paperback: $15.36

# 2 Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

Little Fires Everywhere explores the weight of secrets, the nature of art and identity, and the fierce pull of motherhood — and the danger of believing that following the rules can avoid disaster,

Little Fires Everywhere is the perfect gift for the holidays!

Kindle: $13.99 Hardcover: $ 20.96 Paperback: $ 12.95

# 3 Bear Town by Fredrik Backman

It is a novel about a forgotten town bothered by scandal and the amateur hockey team that might just change everything into a better place. Winning a junior ice hockey championship might mean everything to the residents of Beartown.

Kindle: $10.99 Hardcover: $ 12.95

# 4 Exit West by Mohsin Hamid

Profoundly intimate and powerfully inventive, Exit West tells an unforgettable story of love, loyalty, and courage that is both completely of our time and for all time.

Kindle: $12.99 Hardcover: $ 15.73 Paperback: $11

# 5 Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow by Yuval Harari

Yuval Noah Harari, author of the international phenomenon Sapiens, returns with an equally original and attractive book, turning his focus toward humanity’s future, and our quest to upgrade humans into gods.

Kindle: $17.99 Hardcover: $ 28.95 Paperback: $22.99

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Top cookbooks of 2023

The Wok’s appeal is not innovation; you can find many dishes like Kung Pao Shrimp and Cumin Lamb on many Chinese restaurant menus. But you don’t have to leave your home. As far as I’m concerned, it’s worth the sticker price to learn the techniques.

Chef Mason Hereford has put to paper some of the magic that draws locals and tourists alike to his popular New Orleans sandwich shop, Turkey and the Wolf. The cookbook is full of recipes accessible to home cooks. The meatloaf is my favorite.

With seven sections focused on different regions across the country, Rick Martinez guides you through some of the essential recipes for each. The recipes are lovely, but what I love most are the stories alongside each of them. Food is deeply personal and with Mi Cocina, Martinez is sharing his life in food and inviting you to come along.

Western India and the Southern U.S. share more culinary (烹饪的) similarities than you’d think, from rice varieties to fresh tomatoes. Here, these ingredients explode in a delicious combination of seasonings and essential cooking techniques.