Does George Washington still matter? Bestselling author Nathaniel Philbrick argues for Washington’s unique contribution to the forging of America by retracing his journey as a new president through all thirteen former colonies. His new book is “Travels with George: In Search of Washington and His Legacy.”

Photo courtesy of Viking.

Lauren Groff is a two-time National Book Award finalist and a New York Times bestselling author. Her latest “Matrix,” her first since the groundbreaking “Fates and Furies,” brings us to a 12th-century nunnery where she tells an engrossing tale of female desire, passion, creativity, and power.

Photo courtesy of Riverhead Books.

Author Richard Powers won the Pulitzer Prize for the #1 New York Times bestseller, “The Overstory.” His latest novel, “Bewilderment,” has already been shortlisted for the 2021 Booker Prize and longlisted for the 2021 National Book Award for Fiction.

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This week on The Book Show: Thirty years ago, Anita Hill faced down an all-male, all-white Senate Judiciary Committee, led by then-Senator Joe Biden, to testify that her boss, Supreme Court Justice nominee Clarence Thomas, had sexually harassed her. Her new book is: “Believing: Our Thirty-Year Journey to End Gender Violence.”

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This week, author Amitava Kumar’s new novel, “A Time Outside This Time,” is set at a writer’s retreat and reflects on the issues of fake news, memory, and the ways in which truth gives over to fiction. Kumar has crafted his fiction so seamlessly from real life that the reader is forced to reckon with what is “real.”

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Pushcart Prizewinning poet Maggie Smith gained star status with her breakout bestseller “Keep Moving: Notes on Loss, Creativity, and Change.” Now with “Goldenrod,” Smith returns to her original craft with a powerful collection of poems that explore parenthood, solitude, love, and memory.

Photo courtesy of Atria/One Signal Publishers.

This week, Peter Heller’s new novel, “The Guide,” takes place against the backdrop of his home state of Colorado. It follows a young man, Jack, who accepts a job as a fishing guide at an elite resort in the wilds of Colorado. What begins as an idyllic experience soon takes a dark turn.

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This week, with one of the longest-running bestselling adult hardcovers in publishing history, “The Girl on the Train,” Paula Hawkins became an international publishing phenomenon. She now unfurls a gripping, twisting story of deceit, murder, and revenge in her latest novel, “A Slow Fire Burning.”

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This week, we discuss the new book “Susan, Linda, Nina & Cokie: The Extraordinary Story of the Founding Mothers of NPR” by journalist Lisa Napoli. The book is a group biography of four beloved women who fought sexism; covered decades of American news; and whose voices defined NPR.

Photo courtesy of Abrams Press.

This week, in her new novel “Infinite Country,” acclaimed author Patricia Engel gives voice to five family members as they navigate the particular challenges of family life in two countries. In the book, Engel shows immigration as an ongoing process and a constant flow of people across borders.

Photo courtesy of Avid Reader Press/ Simon & Schuster.