In The New York Times Sunday Book Review, “Inside the List,” Jennifer Scheussler writes about several of the books on The New York Times’ Bestseller List (Area 51 debuts at #7)

“But for maximum homegrown exoticism, I’m sticking with Annie Jacobsen’s “Area 51: An Uncensored History of America’s Top Secret Military Base,” new at No. 7 on the nonfiction list. Apparently, it’s better to do your sightseeing at night. “Through binoculars,” Jacobsen writes, “from the top of a mountain called Tikaboo Peak, located 26 miles east of Area 51, one can, on occasion, see a flicker of activity. Daylight hours are bad for viewing because there is too much atmospheric heat distortion coming off the desert floor to differentiate airplane hangars from sand.” But “if you stand on Tikaboo Peak in the dead of night and look out across the darkened valley for hours, suddenly, the Area 51 runway lights may flash on.”