Were New York Times staffers unfairly favored in the Times’ best books list of the year? (six NYT writers’ books made the list). Times public editor Byron Calame investigates: “What’s fair is particularly challenging in the world of the book section. There, reviewers are expected to express their opinions, but readers also have the right to expect that books are assessed based on their merits, not just on a critic’s ideology or personal grudges and preferences. The complications only grow when some of the authors are on the staff of The Times.”