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Brian Bethune

Brian Bethune writes about ideas, books and the book trade, and religion, but what really interests him is why people believe what they believe.

The hottest titles in fiction and non-fiction

Alan Bradley’s ruthlessly smart, hugely popular literary child sleuth comes home to Canada

A TV series based on The Book of Negroes comes as America continues to grapple with the legacy of slavery

With Ishiguro, Tyler and Franzen back with new fiction, this year will herald the return of the literary heavy hitters

It settled a dispute between the king and the one-percenters 800 years ago—and remains critically important today

The Paris Commune burned the city in 1871, after the massacre of 17,000 people by government troops for wearing workers’ clothes

A U.S. trip will reveal the rift between him and his conservative bishops

The hottest titles in fiction and non-fiction

Who went out with a bang, and who went out with a whimper

Brian Bethune on the fiction and non-fiction that stood out in the year that was