These are the latest must-read books to add to your TBR pile – featuring a climate science professor and Condé Nast drama.
The best books to read right now
Empire of the Elite, by Michael M Grynbaum
In his new book, Michael M Grynbaum, a media correspondent for the New York Times, takes a deep dive into the ‘dishy’ history of the magazine magnate company Condé Nast – the giant behind such titles as the New Yorker, Vogue and Vanity Fair.
From the golden era of glamorous parties and glossy magazines to the creation of a caste of powerful editors and the inevitable reckoning of the digital revolution, Grynbaum recounts the story of the ascent, decadence and upheaval of the media empire with irony and flair.
Hodder & Stoughton, £22, from 15 July
Positive Tipping Points, by Tim Lenton
How do we get out of a climate crisis of our own making? That is the central question in Professor Tim Lenton’s new book, a description of ‘tipping points’, those pivotal events that can irreversibly accelerate climate change.
But Lenton, chair in climate change and earth system science at the University of Exeter, doesn’t dwell solely on the threat. Instead, he points to emerging signs of hope and positive shifts that could be steering us towards a better future. The result is both optimistic and encouraging.
Oxford University Press, £20, from 4 Sept
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[See also: Robert Macfarlane’s new book asks ‘Should nature have legal rights?]
The Genius Myth, by Helen Lewis
The Beatles, Jane Austen, Stephen Hawking; if there is one thing they had in common, it is the genius status unanimously credited to them by society for decades – centuries, even. In The Genius Myth, staff writer for the Atlantic Helen Lewis unpacks the ideas behind the word genius.
What does it mean to be one? How does this status distort our view of the world? Does Elon Musk qualify? By uncovering the undercurrents that run beneath their success, Lewis gives a warm account of those praised for their brilliance.
Vintage Publishing, £22
What We Can Know, by Ian McEwan
Ian McEwan describes his new novel as ‘science fiction without the science’. The much-anticipated book is set in a future in which the UK’s lowlands have been submerged by rising seas. Searching through what is left of past human lives – our present – academic Tom Metcalfe comes across a clue that could lead to a poem read aloud once in 2014, then never again.
Letting the past, present and future ‘address each other across the barriers of time’, McEwan offers the promise of an epic and hopeful voyage through time, meaning – and people.
Vintage Publishing, £22, from 18 September
This article first appeared in Spear’s Magazine Issue 96. Click here to subscribe
