Books

By Ian Buruma

By A. Scott Berg

By Clive Thompson

By Mary Swan

By Peter Ackroyd

By Thomas Harding

This week’s reviews: How to uncomplicate your life, an inside look at Russian royalty, and zingers from comedian Rob Delaney

Tips on entertaining a crowd, from a woman who cooked for Jackie O at Harvard

A review of ’The Best of Mountain and Wilderness Writing’

A book review of ’The Sweetness of a Simple Life’