Guest Newsletter: Five Books

Best Noir Novels

Noir is as much an aesthetic as it is a genre of book or movie, explains the film director Simon Hawkins; and though it might be set anywhere, Los Angeles is its spiritual home. Here, he recommends five of the best noir novels—each defined by their strong settings, seedy atmospheres and suspenseful plotting. Read more

Books about J Robert Oppenheimer

It's not often that a movie about something we know a lot about lives up to expectations, but when it came to the Oppenheimer movie, science writer Mark Wolverton—who has read almost every book he could find about the making of the atomic bomb—was impressed. As a bonus to his interview (on the history of physics), he shared some recommendations of books to read for others who enjoyed it, including a sci-fi novel in which Oppenheimer's life takes a different turn. Read more