What makes a good Irish pub? I say: dim lighting, Guinness on tap, worn wooden seats, loud regulars, and friendly staffers that treat the establishment like home. Opened by Irishmen Mike Jewell and Danny McDonald in 1995 and named after the Irish satirist Jonathan Swift, the East Village’s Swift Hibernian Lounge checks all those boxes. Church pews are lined against the walls, one of which features a mural of Swift holding—yes—a Guinness. There’s live music each Tuesday evening, and readings of Irish literature every St. Patrick’s Day weekend, which this year were hosted by Colum McCann. Come at noon for the atmosphere and stay until four a.m. for the revelry. (swiftnycbar.com) —Jack Sullivan

Fourteen years after his death, J. D. Salinger remains the same fascinating enigma he was during his lifetime, known for his reclusiveness almost as much as he was for writing The Catcher in the Rye—which was published in 1951 and still sells 200,000 copies a year. Many have tried to analyze the best-selling novelist, but few have done so with such care and insight as Stephen B. Shephard, who deftly places Salinger’s experiences in the context of his writing: from landing on Normandy on D-day to his obsession with Catherine Oxenberg (of the original, 1980s Dynasty), to his embrace of Eastern religions. While practicing Vedanta—a mystical form of Hinduism which preaches against acts of personal ego—Salinger stopped publishing, but thankfully he did not stop writing. Until Matt Salinger decides to release his father’s later work, Salinger’s Soul is the perfect read for anyone who wishes to better understand the man who gave us Holden Caulfield. ($18.99, simonandschuster.com) —Jim Kelly

Emma Hunsinger’s debut graphic novel, How It All Ends, delves into the world of 13-year-old Tara, whose vivid imagination offers an escape from the monotony of her everyday life. Hunsinger’s illustrations seamlessly transition from warm pastel reds to cool blues, mirroring Tara’s oscillation between her imagined world and the real world. Tara’s life takes a dramatic turn when she skips seventh grade and is thrust into the uncomfortable, confusing social dynamics of high school. Everything seems daunting and overwhelming until she finds herself drawn to Libby, sparking a crush that changes everything. Hunsinger beautifully captures the emotional roller coaster of adolescence—navigating angst, friendship, and budding sexuality—with whimsical art in her must-read, funny, and endearing coming-of-age story. ($15.99, harpercollins.com) —Jeanne Malle

La Jolla is not exactly known as an epicenter of French fine dining, but Le Coq, a stylish new restaurant on Herschel Avenue, may change that. Chef Tara Monsod, previously of Animae, and restaurateurs Brian Malarkey and Christopher Puffer bring a California spin to the traditional menu (which means that freshly baked baguettes come with seaweed butter and that duck breasts are garnished with kumquat). Other plates include roast chicken with chicken jus and lemon; onion tarts; and local yellowtail with cherry, wasabula, cherry tomato, and shallot jam. Don’t miss the lamb loin, a deeply flavorful dish that owes some of its complexity to sea beans and pickled grapes. (lecoq.com) —Ashley Baker

For decades, true-crime fans were captivated by the French criminology expert and author Stéphane Bourgoin, known for his jailhouse interviews with some of the country’s most sinister offenders. That is, until a group of Internet vigilantes known as the 4ème Oeil Corporation (or 4th Eye) exposed him as a fraud, and his trajectory from expert to con man was masterfully untangled in a gripping 2022 New Yorker story by Lauren Collins. Now the Bourgoin affair is getting its own true-crime treatment in the three-part series Killer Lies: Tracing a True Crime Con Man. The documentary, directed by Ben Selkow, stitches Bourgoin’s story together using interviews with the 4th Eye sleuths as well as with Bourgoin himself. (hulu.com) —Ashley Baker

In the late 60s and early 70s, close friends Anthony Perkins and Stephen Sondheim were known within their showbiz social circle to conceive and stage terrifically complex scavenger hunts for parties they’d host. Director Herbert Ross—along with his wife Nora Kaye—was a frequent participant and found the games thrilling enough to hire Perkins and Sondheim to script a whodunit for him, despite the two never having written a screenplay before (or after). The result was 1973’s superlative The Last of Sheila, currently streaming on the Criterion Channel as part of their Vacation Noir collection. James Coburn plays a multi-millionaire who, a year after his gossip-columnist wife has been killed in a hit-and-run, invites a group of Hollywood friends aboard his yacht for a weeklong Mediterranean pleasure cruise with an elaborate scavenger hunt. Things quickly turn deadly, in this entirely satisfying mystery, which features an all-star cast, including Richard Benjamin, James Mason, Ian McShane, Raquel Welch, and Dyan Cannon—playing a talent agent based on Sue Mengers. (criterionchannel.com) —Spike Carter