Greetings, dear reader! I’m delighted to be writing to you as the new nonfiction editor of Kirkus Reviews. 

I’ve worked in the book world for many years—as the books editor of the San Francisco Chronicle for a decade and as a freelance book critic, a manuscript editor, and an editor at McSweeney’s Books and the literary journal Zyzzyva. During that time, Kirkus was a rock for me. The breadth of its books coverage is astounding. It is very often the first outlet in the nation to write about thousands of titles. It’s also a reliable voice, known for its intelligence and verve. So I’m overjoyed to be a part of this treasured institution, joining a smart and kindhearted crew in helping guide readers and spark conversations about books.

I’m a proud generalist, led by my insatiable curiosity. On airplanes, I always request a window seat so I can stare outside. I’ll wonder: Who was living on that land down there, centuries ago? How is it that this steel behemoth is gliding so effortlessly through the air? What is the decibel level of a roaring jet engine relative to the cries of that poor baby in the next aisle? The novelist Gustave Flaubert had a fine observation about being alive to one’s surroundings: “Anything becomes interesting if you look at it long enough.” That’s how I view the world. And I love books that have that power, books that open doors or help me perceive things differently.

It’s one of the most common questions in the book world—and, ideally, in life in general: What are you reading these days? Like anyone, I have my interests and passions—baseball, tennis, French culture (my mother was French), architecture, the art of Giotto and David Hockney and Stanley Whitney, the music of Nick Cave and Shirley Horn and Derrick Hodge, Japanese food, Vietnamese food, Ethiopian food—but I want to keep adding to them, as we all should. Books, of course, are among the best ways of making those discoveries, of lighting up our brains. So, what have I been reading? Here’s a sample—and you can read reviews of the books at kirkusreviews.com:

Feh by Shalom Auslander (Riverhead, July 23): Auslander’s memoir Foreskin’s Lament had me laughing out loud, and this one, as irreverent and insightful about his religious upbringing, has the same effect.

A Complicated Passion by Carrie Rickey (Norton, Aug. 13): I adore Agnès Varda’s films—her sense of curiosity helped fuel mine—and Rickey’s portrait of the director lovingly captures this singular talent.

Paradise Bronx by Ian Frazier (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Aug. 20): There can’t be enough books about walking in cities—I’m especially fond of Michael Kimmelman’s The Intimate City—and Frazier’s valentine to this underappreciated New York City borough is wonderfully eye-opening.

Paris in Ruins by Sebastian Smee (Norton, Sept. 10). You might feel you’ve had your fill of Impressionist art—all those sumptuous canvases we’ve seen so often—but Smee’s history offers an enthralling backdrop for this revolutionary art movement. 

And what are you reading? Feel free to share your favorites. You can reach me at jmcmurtrie@kirkus.com.

John McMurtrie is the nonfiction editor.