A review of two books: one work of fiction, and one labor of love.

Two recently published works of fiction that we liked and wanted to share with you.

I can’t imagine a cleverer or more perverse way of presenting “the first political biography” of Mikhail Sholokhov (1905-1975) than as if from the conscience-addled Sholokhov’s perspective.

In which we review The Anna Karenina Fix: Life Lessions from Russian Literature, by Viv Groskop, and Restless Empire, by Ian Barnes.

We review books of fiction (Chekhov, Remizov, the Brothers Strugatsky, and Anderson) and an enticing cookbook.

In which we review books on empire and disasters.

Reviews of three books and a movie for Russophiles.

In which we review a novel about Bulgakov and his love, Margarita (Mikhail and Margarita, by Julie Himes); Soviet Salvage, by Catherine Walworth; and The House of Government, by Yuri Slezkine.

In which we review Amy Knight's Orders to Kill, Linor Goralik's Found Life, a new translation of Monday Starts on Saturday, and the new novel Gogol's Head.

In which we review three books and a DVD we like. See the book reviews section for detailed reviews.

In which we review a mystery, a Gulag guard's memoir, a parable of the avant-garde, and a collection of Valentin Rasputin's prose.

In which we review 12 titles that have been teetering in our review pile and that Russophiles should love.