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The Best Reviewed Essay Collections of 2022

Featuring bob dylan, elena ferrante, zora neale hurston, jhumpa lahiri, melissa febos, and more.

We’ve come to the end of another bountiful literary year, and for all of us review rabbits here at Book Marks, that can mean only one thing: basic math, and lots of it.

Yes, using reviews drawn from more than 150 publications, over the next two weeks we’ll be calculating and revealing the most critically-acclaimed books of 2022, in the categories of (deep breath): Fiction ; Nonfiction ; Memoir and Biography ; Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror ; Short Story Collections ; Essay Collections; Poetry; Mystery and Crime ; Graphic Literature ; and Literature in Translation .

Today’s installment: Essay Collections .

Brought to you by Book Marks , Lit Hub’s “Rotten Tomatoes for books.”

1. In the Margins: On the Pleasures of Reading and Writing  by Elena Ferrante (Europa)

12 Rave • 12 Positive • 4 Mixed

“The lucid, well-formed essays that make up In the Margins  are written in an equally captivating voice … Although a slim collection, there is more than enough meat here to nourish both the common reader and the Ferrante aficionado … Every essay here is a blend of deep thought, rigorous analysis and graceful prose. We occasionally get the odd glimpse of the author…but mainly the focus is on the nuts and bolts of writing and Ferrante’s practice of her craft. The essays are at their most rewarding when Ferrante discusses the origins of her books, in particular the celebrated Neapolitan Novels, and the multifaceted heroines that power them … These essays might not bring us any closer to finding out who Ferrante really is. Instead, though, they provide valuable insight into how she developed as a writer and how she works her magic.”

–Malcolm Forbes ( The Star Tribune )

2. Translating Myself and Others by Jhumpa Lahiri (Princeton University Press)

8 Rave • 14 Positive • 1 Mixed

“Lahiri mixes detailed explorations of craft with broader reflections on her own artistic life, as well as the ‘essential aesthetic and political mission’ of translation. She is excellent in all three modes—so excellent, in fact, that I, a translator myself, could barely read this book. I kept putting it aside, compelled by Lahiri’s writing to go sit at my desk and translate … One of Lahiri’s great gifts as an essayist is her ability to braid multiple ways of thinking together, often in startling ways … a reminder, no matter your relationship to translation, of how alive language itself can be. In her essays as in her fiction, Lahiri is a writer of great, quiet elegance; her sentences seem simple even when they’re complex. Their beauty and clarity alone would be enough to wake readers up. ‘Look,’ her essays seem to say: Look how much there is for us to wake up to.”

–Lily Meyer ( NPR )

3. The Philosophy of Modern Song by Bob Dylan (Simon & Schuster)

10 Rave • 15 Positive • 7 Mixed • 4 Pan

“It is filled with songs and hyperbole and views on love and lust even darker than Blood on the Tracks … There are 66 songs discussed here … Only four are by women, which is ridiculous, but he never asked us … Nothing is proved, but everything is experienced—one really weird and brilliant person’s experience, someone who changed the world many times … Part of the pleasure of the book, even exceeding the delectable Chronicles: Volume One , is that you feel liberated from Being Bob Dylan. He’s not telling you what you got wrong about him. The prose is so vivid and fecund, it was useless to underline, because I just would have underlined the whole book. Dylan’s pulpy, noir imagination is not always for the squeamish. If your idea of art is affirmation of acceptable values, Bob Dylan doesn’t need you … The writing here is at turns vivid, hilarious, and will awaken you to songs you thought you knew … The prose brims everywhere you turn. It is almost disturbing. Bob Dylan got his Nobel and all the other accolades, and now he’s doing my job, and he’s so damn good at it.”

–David Yaffe ( AirMail )

4.  Body Work: The Radical Power of Personal Narrative by Melissa Febos (Catapult)

13 Rave • 2 Positive • 2 Mixed Read an excerpt from Body Work here

“In her new book, Body Work: The Radical Power of Personal Narrative , memoirist Melissa Febos handily recuperates the art of writing the self from some of the most common biases against it: that the memoir is a lesser form than the novel. That trauma narratives should somehow be over—we’ve had our fill … Febos rejects these belittlements with eloquence … In its hybridity, this book formalizes one of Febos’s central tenets within it: that there is no disentangling craft from the personal, just as there is no disentangling the personal from the political. It’s a memoir of a life indelibly changed by literary practice and the rigorous integrity demanded of it …

Febos is an essayist of grace and terrific precision, her sentences meticulously sculpted, her paragraphs shapely and compressed … what’s fresh, of course, is Febos herself, remapping this terrain through her context, her life and writing, her unusual combinations of sources (William H. Gass meets Elissa Washuta, for example), her painstaking exactitude and unflappable sureness—and the new readers she will reach with all of this.”

–Megan Milks ( 4Columns )

5. You Don’t Know Us Negroes by Zora Neale Hurston (Amistad)

12 Rave • 3 Positive • 1 Mixed

“… a dazzling collection of her work … You Don’t Know Us Negroes reveals Hurston at the top of her game as an essayist, cultural critic, anthropologist and beat reporter … Hurston is, by turn, provocative, funny, bawdy, informative and outrageous … Hurston will make you laugh but also make you remember the bitter divide in Black America around performance, language, education and class … But the surprising page turner is at the back of the book, a compilation of Hurston’s coverage of the Ruby McCollom murder trial …

Some of Hurston’s writing is sensationalistic, to be sure, but it’s also a riveting take of gender and race relations at the time … Gates and West have put together a comprehensive collection that lets Hurston shine as a writer, a storyteller and an American iconoclast.”

–Lisa Page ( The Washington Post )

6. Strangers to Ourselves: Unsettled Minds and the Stories That Make Us by Rachel Aviv (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

11 Rave • 4 Positive • 2 Mixed Listen to an interview with Rachel Aviv here

“… written with an astonishing amount of attention and care … Aviv’s triumphs in relating these journeys are many: her unerring narrative instinct, the breadth of context brought to each story, her meticulous reporting. Chief among these is her empathy, which never gives way to pity or sentimentality. She respects her subjects, and so centers their dignity without indulging in the geeky, condescending tone of fascination that can characterize psychologists’ accounts of their patients’ troubles. Though deeply curious about each subject, Aviv doesn’t treat them as anomalous or strange … Aviv’s daunted respect for uncertainty is what makes Strangers to Ourselves distinctive. She is hyperaware of just how sensitive the scale of the self can be.”

–Charlotte Shane ( Bookforum )

7. A Line in the World: A Year on the North Sea Coast by Dorthe Nors (Graywolf)

11 Rave • 1 Positive Read an excerpt from A Line in the World here

“Nors, known primarily as a fiction writer, here embarks on a languorous and evocative tour of her native Denmark … The dramas of the past are evoked not so much through individual characters as through their traces—buildings, ruins, shipwrecks—and this westerly Denmark is less the land of Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales and sleek Georg Jensen designs than a place of ancient landscapes steeped in myth … People aren’t wholly incidental to the narrative. Nors introduces us to a variety of colorful characters, and shares vivid memories of her family’s time in a cabin on the coast south of Thyborøn. But in a way that recalls the work of Barry Lopez, nature is at the heart of this beautiful book, framed in essay-like chapters, superbly translated by Caroline Waight.”

–Claire Messud ( Harper’s )

8. Raising Raffi: The First Five Years by Keith Gessen (Viking)

4 Rave • 10 Positive • 1 Mixed Read an excerpt from Raising Raffi here

“A wise, mild and enviably lucid book about a chaotic scene … Is it OK to out your kid like this? … Still, this memoir will seem like a better idea if, a few decades from now, Raffi is happy and healthy and can read it aloud to his own kids while chuckling at what a little miscreant he was … Gessen is a wily parser of children’s literature … He is just as good on parenting manuals … Raising Raffi offers glimpses of what it’s like to eke out literary lives at the intersection of the Trump and Biden administrations … Needing money for one’s children, throughout history, has made parents do desperate things — even write revealing parenthood memoirs … Gessen’s short book is absorbing not because it delivers answers … It’s absorbing because Gessen is a calm and observant writer…who raises, and struggles with, the right questions about himself and the world.”

–Dwight Garner ( The New York Times )

9. The Crane Wife by CJ Hauser (Doubleday)

8 Rave • 4 Positive • 2 Mixed • 1 Pan Watch an interview with CJ Hauser here

“17 brilliant pieces … This tumbling, in and out of love, structures the collection … Calling Hauser ‘honest’ and ‘vulnerable’ feels inadequate. She embraces and even celebrates her flaws, and she revels in being a provocateur … It is an irony that Hauser, a strong, smart, capable woman, relates to the crane wife’s contortions. She felt helpless in her own romantic relationship. I don’t have one female friend who has not felt some version of this, but putting it into words is risky … this collection is not about neat, happy endings. It’s a constant search for self-discovery … Much has been written on the themes Hauser excavates here, yet her perspective is singular, startlingly so. Many narratives still position finding the perfect match as a measure of whether we’ve led successful lives. The Crane Wife dispenses with that. For that reason, Hauser’s worldview feels fresh and even radical.”

–Hope Reese ( Oprah Daily )

10. How to Read Now by Elaine Castillo (Viking)

8 Rave • 2 Positive • 1 Mixed Read an excerpt from How to Read Now here

“Elaine Castillo’s How to Read Now begins with a section called ‘Author’s Note, or a Virgo Clarifies Things.’ The title is a neat encapsulation of the book’s style: rigorous but still chatty, intellectual but not precious or academic about it … How to Read Now proceeds at a breakneck pace. Each of the book’s eight essays burns bright and hot from start to finish … How to Read Now is not for everybody, but if it is for you, it is clarifying and bracing. Castillo offers a full-throated critique of some of the literary world’s most insipid and self-serving ideas …

So how should we read now? Castillo offers suggestions but no resolution. She is less interested in capital-A Answers…and more excited by the opportunity to restore a multitude of voices and perspectives to the conversation … A book is nothing without a reader; this one is co-created by its recipients, re-created every time the page is turned anew. How to Read Now offers its audience the opportunity to look past the simplicity we’re all too often spoon-fed into order to restore ourselves to chaos and complexity—a way of seeing and reading that demands so much more of us but offers even more in return.”

–Zan Romanoff ( The Los Angeles Times )

Our System:

RAVE = 5 points • POSITIVE = 3 points • MIXED = 1 point • PAN = -5 points

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Most Read in 2021

Year-End Lists!

We don’t publish a lot of lists. But this year, having launched this new website with nearly complete access to 30 years of magazine archives, we thought it seemed like a good time to look back at the stories that resonated with our readers. 

In that spirit, we’ve compiled the most-read pieces published on our website in 2021, as well as the most-read work from our archives. 

And for good measure, we’ve pulled together a few pieces worth an honorable mention; our favorite Sunday Short Reads ; CNF content that was republished elsewhere; and the best advice, inspiration, and think pieces from some of our favorite publications.

Finally, if you enjoy what follows, please know there’s plenty more! We have a soft paywall on our site, which allows for three free reads a month. To get unlimited access for as little as $4/month, simply subscribe today.

Top 10 Published in 2021

• Almost Behind Us A dental emergency interrupts a meaningful anniversary // JENNIFER BOWERING DELISLE
• El Valle, 1991 An early lesson in strength and fragility // AURELIA KESSLER
• Stay at Home All those hours alone with a new baby can be rough // JARED HANKS
• The Desert Was His Home There are many things we don’t know about Mr. Otomatsu Wada, and a few things we do // ERIC L. MULLER
• Just a Big Cat The dramatic boredom of jury duty // ERICA GOSS
• What Will We Do for Fun Now? Her parents survived World War II and the Blitz just fine … didn’t they? // JANE RATCLIFFE
• Harriet Two brothers and a turtle // TYLER McANDREW
• Rango Getting existential at a funeral for a lizard   // JARRETT G. ZIEMER
• Mouse Lessons from a hamster emergency // BEVERLY PETRAVICIUS
• Roxy & the Worm Box Trying to recapture a childhood love of dirt // ANJOLI ROY

Top 5 from the Archive

• Picturing the Personal Essay A visual guide // TIM BASCOM
• The 5 Rs of Creative Nonfiction The essayist at work   // LEE GUTKIND
• The Line Between Fact & Fiction Do not add, and do not deceive // ROY PETER CLARK
• The Braided Essay as Social Justice Action The braided essay may be the most effective form for our times // NICOLE WALKER
• On Fame, Success, and Writing Like a Mother#^@%*& An interview with Cheryl Strayed   // ELISSA BASSIST

Honorable Mention ( ICYMI Essays)

• Latinx Heritage Month Who do you complain to when it’s HR you have a problem with? // MELISSA LUJAN MESKU
• Women’s Work Sometimes, freedom means choosing your obligations // EILEEN GARVIN
• Bloodlines and Bitter Syrup Avoiding prison in Huntsville, Texas, is nearly impossible // WILL BRIDGES
• Stealth A nontraditional couple struggles with keeping part of their life together private while undertaking the public act of filing for marriage // HEATHER OSTERMAN-DAVIS
• Something Like Vertigo An environmental writer sees parallels between her father’s declining equilibrium and a world turned upside down   // ELIZABETH RUSH

Our favorite Sunday Short Reads from our partners 

from BREVITY

• What Joy Looks Like SSR #128  // DORIAN FOX
• How to Do Nothing SSR #156 // ABIGAIL THOMAS

from DIAGRAM

• At 86, My Grandmother Regrets Two Things SSR #134 // DIANA XIN
• The Seedy Corner SSR #140 // KIMBERLY GARZA

from RIVER TEETH

• Waste Not SSR #131 // DESIREE COOPER
• This Is Orange SSR #141 // JILL KOLONGOWSKI

from SWEET LITERARY

• The Pilgrim’s Prescription SSR #122  // CAROLYN ALESSIO
• Leaves in the Hall SSR #160 // ANNE GUDGER

Our favorite stories from around the internet. 

Advice & Inspiration

• In Praise of the Meander Rebecca Solnit on letting nonfiction narrative find its own way (via Lit Hub )
• What’s Missing Here? A Fragmentary, Lyric Essay About Fragmentary, Lyric Essays Julie Marie Wade on the mode that never quite feels finished (via Lit Hub )
• Getting Honest about Om A brief essay on audience (via Brevity )
• Using the Personal to Write the Global Intimate details, personal exploration and respect for facts (via Nieman Storyboard )
• Fix Your Scene Shapes And quickly improve your manuscript (via Jane Friedman’s blog)

The State of Nonfiction

• What the NYT ‘Guest Essay’ Means for the Future of Creative Nonfiction Description (via Brevity )
• How the Role of Personal Expression and Experience Is Changing Journalism On the future of the newsroom (via Poynter )
• 50 Shades of Nuance in a Polarized World An essayist ponders when to write black-and-white polemics that attract clicks, and when to be more considered (via Nieman Storyboard )
• These Literary Memoirs Take a Different Tack Description (via NY Times )
• The Politics of Gatekeeping On reconsidering the ethics of blind submissions (via Poets & Writers )

• Entertainment

The 10 Best Nonfiction Books of 2022

These are independent reviews of the products mentioned, but TIME receives a commission when purchases are made through affiliate links at no additional cost to the purchaser.

A good nonfiction book doesn’t just tell you something new about the world, it pulls you out of your place in it and dares you to reconsider what you thought you knew, maybe even who you are. The best nonfiction books that arrived this year vary in scope—some are highly specific, some broad and searching—but they all ask giant questions about loss, strength, and survival. In The Escape Artist , Jonathan Freedland underlines the power of the truth through the journey of one of the first Jews to escape Auschwitz . In How Far the Light Reaches , Sabrina Imbler reveals the ways marine biology can teach us about the deepest, most human parts of ourselves. From Stacy Schiff’s brilliant chronicle of Samuel Adams’ role in the American Revolution to Imani Perry’s illuminating tour of the American South, here are the 10 best nonfiction books of 2022.

10. The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams, Stacy Schiff

Pulitzer Prize winner Stacy Schiff revisits the American Revolution in her engrossing biography of founding father Samuel Adams. The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams centers on the years leading up to 1776 when Adams helped fan the earliest flames of the independence movement. Though he drove the anti-British rebellion in Massachusetts and had an outsized role in the Revolution, Adams’ story has been told far less than those of other founders like George Washington and Alexander Hamilton . Schiff details his clandestine work and his growing radicalization to show how vital he was to American independence, crafting an intricate portrait of a man long overshadowed by his contemporaries.

Buy Now : The Revolutionary on Bookshop | Amazon

9. The Invisible Kingdom, Meghan O’Rourke

Beginning in the late 1990s, Meghan O’Rourke was tormented by mysterious symptoms that would consume her life for years to follow. She describes her wrenching experience searching for a diagnosis in The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness , a 2022 National Book Award finalist. O’Rourke’s reported memoir is an indictment of the U.S. health care system and its approach—or lack thereof—to identifying and treating chronic illnesses, which take a grave toll on millions of Americans. Moving between her own medical journey, the history of illness in the U.S., and the crisis faced by millions currently suffering from long COVID , O’Rourke writes with an empathetic hand to argue why and how we need to change our systems to better support patients. The book is a bold and brave exploration into a much-overlooked topic, one that she punctuates with candor and urgency.

Buy Now : The Invisible Kingdom on Bookshop | Amazon

8. How Far the Light Reaches, Sabrina Imbler

Sabrina Imbler thoughtfully examines connections between science and humanity, tying together what should be very loose threads in 10 dazzling essays, each a study of a different sea creature. In one piece from their debut collection, Imbler explores their mother’s tumultuous relationship with eating while simultaneously looking at how female octopi starve themselves to death to protect their young. In another, they relate the morphing nature of cuttlefish with their own experiences navigating their gender identity. Throughout, Imbler reveals the surprising ways that sea creatures can teach us about family, sexuality, and survival.

Buy Now : How Far the Light Reaches on Bookshop | Amazon

7. His Name Is George Floyd, Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa

In their engaging book, Washington Post journalists Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnpia expand on their reporting of the 2020 murder of George Floyd by police officer Derek Chauvin. His Name Is George Floyd: One Man’s Life and the Struggle for Racial Justice centers on the life Floyd led before he was killed, captured through hundreds of interviews and richly textured research. The biography explores how Floyd’s experiences were shaped by systemic racism, from the over-policed communities where he was raised to the segregated schools he attended. Samuels and Olorunnipa illustrate, in compassionate terms, the father and friend who wanted more for his life, and how his death became a global symbol for change .

Buy Now : His Name Is George Floyd on Bookshop | Amazon

6. Constructing a Nervous System, Margo Jefferson

In her second memoir, Pulitzer Prize winner Margo Jefferson brilliantly interrogates and expands the form. Constructing a Nervous System finds the author reflecting on her life, the lives of her family, and those of her literary and artistic heroes. Jefferson oscillates between criticism and personal narrative, engaging with ideas about performance, artistry, and the act of writing through a plethora of lively threads. She considers everything: her parents, Bing Crosby and Ike Turner, the way a ballerina moves on stage. What emerges is a carefully woven tapestry of American life, brought together by Jefferson’s lyrical and electric prose.

Buy Now : Constructing a Nervous System on Bookshop | Amazon

5. An Immense World, Ed Yong

Journalist Ed Yong reminds readers that the world is very large and full of incredible things. An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us is a celebration of sights and sounds, smells and tastes, and the unique ways different animals exist on the planet we all share. Yong’s absorbing book is a joyful blend of scientific study and elegant prose that transforms textbook fodder into something much more exciting and accessible. From dissecting why dogs love to sniff around so much to detailing how fish move in rivers, Yong underlines why it’s so important to take the time to stop and appreciate the perspectives of all the living things that surround us.

Buy Now : An Immense World on Bookshop | Amazon

4. The Escape Artist, Jonathan Freedland

When he was just 19 years old, Rudolf Vrba became one of the first Jews to break out of Auschwitz. It was April 1944, and Vrba had spent the last two years enduring horror after horror at the concentration camp, determined to make it out alive. As Jonathan Freedland captures in his harrowing biography, Vrba was fixated on remembering every atrocity because he knew that one day his story could save lives. The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World is heavy reading that spares no detail of the brutalities perpetrated by the Nazis during the Holocaust . It’s also a crucial, skillfully rendered look inside the journey of a teenager who risked his life to warn Jews, and the rest of the world, about what was happening in Auschwitz.

Buy Now : The Escape Artist on Bookshop | Amazon

3. Ducks, Kate Beaton

In 2005, Kate Beaton had just graduated from college and was yearning to start her career as an artist. But she had student loans to pay off and the oil boom meant that it was easy to get a job out in the sands, so she did. In her first full-length graphic memoir, Beaton reflects on her time working with a primarily male labor force in harsh conditions where trauma lingered and loneliness prevailed. Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands is a bruising and intimate account of survival and exploitation—of both the land and the people who worked on it—and is brought to life by Beaton’s immersive illustrations. In unveiling her plight, Beaton makes stunning observations about the intersections of class, gender, and capitalism.

Buy Now : Ducks on Bookshop | Amazon

2. South to America, Imani Perry

For her striking work of nonfiction, Imani Perry takes a tour of the American South , visiting more than 10 states, including her native Alabama. Perry argues that the associations and assumptions made about the South—with racism at their core—are essential to understanding the United States as a whole. While there is plenty of history embedded throughout South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation , the winner of the 2022 National Book Award for nonfiction, it is no history book. Instead, it’s an impressive mix of deftly compiled research and memoir, with Perry making poignant reflections on the lives of her own ancestors. The result is a revelatory account of the South’s ugly past—the Civil War, slavery, and Jim Crow Laws—and how that history still reverberates today.

Buy Now : South to America on Bookshop | Amazon

1. In Love, Amy Bloom

After Amy Bloom’s husband Brian was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, she supported him through the impossibly difficult decision to end his life, on his terms, with the aid of an organization based in Switzerland. Bloom’s memoir begins with their last flight together—on the way to Zurich—as she reflects on the reality that she will be flying home alone. But in these moments of despair, and the enormous grief that follows their trip, she finds tenderness and hope in remembering all that came before it. In writing about their marriage, Bloom unveils a powerful truth about the slippery nature of time. The book is a beautiful, heartfelt tribute to her husband, and a crucial reminder that what drives grief is often the most profound kind of love.

Buy Now : In Love on Bookshop | Amazon

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• The 100 Most Influential People of 2024
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Write to Annabel Gutterman at [email protected]

31 page-turning memoirs to read in your lifetime, from searing essay collections to celebrity bestsellers

When you buy through our links, Business Insider may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more

• Memoirs are the most personal account of nonfiction events.
• They give readers an engaging narrative that navigates historical hardships or personal triumph.
• The memoirs in this list were chosen for their unique stories and writing style.

Memoirs are hugely popular as readers gravitate towards the personal lens of real events, with the best ones almost reading like fiction. These remarkable, sometimes tragic, always inspirational stories bring us into the lives of people we've never met, giving us a wider understanding of humanity and of the promise one life can hold. 

Each memoir on this list was chosen because it had a unique story with the potential to change how we understand the world. Some follow celebrities and others are a glimpse into the life of someone we probably never would have known. Capturing a human experience within the pages of a book is often raw and emotional, but so many of the memoirs in this list are also funny and highly entertaining. I'm thrilled to share with you my memoir recommendations because I feel these stories demand to be heard.

A formerly anonymous account of an infamous assault

"Know My Name" by Chanel Miller, free with Audible trial, $11.99 on Kindle, $16.20 for paperback

This is the best, most painful, most powerful memoir I have ever had the pleasure to read. I often go into books with no expectations of the author or the plot, so when the first chapters of this book introduced me to Chanel Miller and her story, I was floored. We've heard the name "Brock Turner" over and over, a convicted sexual assailant hailed for his swim records while an anonymous woman's letter circulated the internet. With the publication of this book, Chanel's words beg us to know her name and her story. 

Memorable quote: "It is not a question of if you will survive this, but what beautiful things await you when you do."

An anecdotal Asian American essay collection

"Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning" by Cathy Park Hong, free with Audible trial, $13.99 on Kindle, $15.98 for paperback

"Minor Feelings" is an essay collection on what it means to experience racial stereotyping, historical trauma, and societal invalidation as an Asian American. This is an honest, original, and representative storytelling of identity and culture in a society where one of the most diverse demographics is often reduced to "the preferred minority." Especially with the recent rise of violence against Asian Americans , this is a crucial read, among many , to understand the ignorance and racism endured by Cathy Park Hong and so many others. 

Memorable quote: "Asian Americans inhabit a purgatorial status: neither white enough nor black enough, unmentioned in most conversations about racial identity.

Michelle Obama's wise and reflective life story

"Becoming" by Michelle Obama, free with Audible trial, $12.99 on Kindle, $11.89 for hardcover

There's something for everyone in "Becoming," no matter your political view or opinion of the Obama family. Michelle's life story is one of challenge and promise, hope, and perseverance. Her book begins with her childhood, through meeting Barack at a law firm, and continues all the way through her time in the White House. Her anecdotes and advice overflow with inspiration, empathy, and patience. Besides being absolutely delightful and refreshing, Michelle Obama's memoir further demonstrates why she's become such an icon for young women to become confident and inspiring women themselves. 

Memorable quote: "At fifty-four, I am still in progress, and I hope that I always will be."

A grief-stricken memoir

"The Men We Reaped" by Jesmyn Ward, free with Audible trial, $10.04 on Kindle, $11.56 for hardcover

Jesmyn Ward (the author of " Sing, Unburied, Sing ") has lived through a lot of death, losing five men in her life in four years. She struggled with the "why" of it all until the answer became clear: though each man died of different causes, they all came back to racial and economic struggles. There is a lot of grief in her story as she navigates the statistics of racial poverty and their personalized effect on her, her family, and her community. 

Memorable quote: "We tried to outpace the thing that chased us, that said: You are nothing."

A series of wildly entertaining restaurant adventures

"Kitchen Confidential" by Anthony Bourdain, free with Audible trial, $12.60 on Kindle, $17.84 for hardcover

Hailed as an iconic chef, traveler, and journalist, Anthony Bourdain's memoir is a trip through all the hilariously bad behavior in the back of every great restaurant. Bourdain held nothing back in his storytelling, exposing the hidden and often dirty secrets to which anyone who has ever worked in a kitchen can attest. His words are that of a seasoned professional, a voice empty of arrogance but full of endearment for the often chaotic nature of the industry.

Memorable quote: "Your body is not a temple, it's an amusement park. Enjoy the ride."

The story of one woman's improbable success

"Educated" by Tara Westover, free with Audible trial, $12.99 on Kindle, $13 for hardcover

Tara came from a Mormon, survivalist mountain family; her father's fears of the end of the world dictated that the children would never receive an education, proper medical attention, or even have birth certificates. When she was accepted to Brigham Young University after spending years teaching herself math and grammar, her life became driven by her thirst for knowledge. Tara writes with poise, patience, and wisdom that radiates through her pursuit of self-identity, going beyond trauma and towards a balance between forgiveness from where she came and passion for where she's going. 

Memorable quote: "'You can love someone and still choose to say goodbye to them,' she says now. 'You can miss a person every day, and still be glad that they are no longer in your life.'"

The fierce account of an unstoppable young woman

"I Am Malala" by Malala Yousafazi, free with Audible trial, $9.99 on Kindle, $8.30 for hardcover

On October 9, 2012, Malala Yousafazi was shot in the head while riding the bus home from school, having tirelessly fought for her right to an education. Malala has since become famous for her human rights advocacy, specifically for Pakistani women, and is the youngest woman to receive a Nobel Peace Prize. Her memoir is the story of the fight for freedom against seemingly impossible odds — about being a daughter in a world that values only sons, and speaking up even when everyone is trying to keep you quiet. 

Memorable quote: " We realize the importance of our voices only when we are silenced."

The contemplative work of a terminally ill neurosurgeon

"When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi" free with Audible trial, $9.99 on Kindle, $14.64 for hardcover

What makes a life worth living? At 36, Paul Kalanithi was a life-saving neurosurgeon whose career came to a halt as he was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer. Now a patient confronting his own mortality and seeking a broader understanding of this life , Paul digs into all of life's great questions as his own slips away. He lost his battle with cancer while writing this memoir, leaving much for us to think about as we continue on.

Memorable quote: "There is a moment, a cusp, when the sum of gathered experience is worn down by the details of living. We are never so wise as when we live in this moment."

A collection of personal essays on mental illness

"The Collected Schizophrenias: Essays" by Esmé Weijun Wang, free with Audible trial, $9.99 on Kindle, $12.53 for hardcover

By combining research in her personal essays, Esmé Weijun Wang explores schizophrenia both in her own mind and through the lens of our society as we struggle to understand and care for mental illness. The book begins with a technical explanation of schizoaffective disorders and their effects, providing a necessary perspective on which her memoir is based. Her stories are extremely important, a candid telling of exceptionally personal experiences in a world where she and her diagnosis are frequently misunderstood.

Memorable quote: "I tell myself that if I must live with a slippery mind, I want to know how to tether it too."

A father's letter to his son

"Between The World And Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates, free with Audible trial, $12.99 on Kindle, $14.99 for hardcover

Told in the form of a letter to his son, Ta-Nehisi Coates attempts to answer the biggest questions he's encountered in his life about race, America's history, and how to protect his son from an unforgiving world. The story is profoundly raw and real, one that combines our history with the current political climate and will undoubtedly be hailed for years to come. 

Memorable quote: "You are growing into consciousness, and my wish for you is that you feel no need to constrict yourself to make other people comfortable."

A painfully honest story of getting lost in order to be found

"Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail" by Cheryl Strayed, free with Audible trial, $11.99 on Kindle, $16.53 for hardcover

Cheryl Strayed had almost zero hiking experience and no real training when she decided to embark on the Pacific Crest Trail which spans from the Mojave Desert to Washington State. Four years prior, her mother's death spurred a whirlwind of addiction, anger, and heartbreak that pushed her to the point of giving up. The story of her hike is a brutal and honest one. But in order to find herself again, Cheryl needs to come to terms with her mistakes — a journey into which she welcomes us in the form of this book. 

Memorable quote: "How wild it was, to let it be."

One woman's journey from refugee to Congresswoman

"This Is What America Looks Like" by Ilhan Omar, free with Audible trial, $12.99 on Kindle, $16.59 for hardcover

Ilhan was one of seven children being raised by her father and grandfather when her family fled Somalia and found themselves in a refugee camp in Kenya. Surrounded by poverty, starvation, and death, it took four years for her family to reach Virginia. Determined to find her American Dream, Ilhan worked through every hardship to her election to Congress in 2019. Her memoir is an incredible account of Ilhan's determination to not only survive but thrive in environments that could have broken her. It is uniquely eye-opening and transparent, a look into her endurance through the impossible.

Memorable quote: "As a refugee who fled civil war as a child, I am still trying to figure out where I fit in — which is perhaps why the most important note I found sticking to the wall outside my office had only three words. You belong here."

A narrative of incarceration and justice

"Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson, free with Audible trial, $12.99 on Kindle, $9.11 for paperback

Bryan was a young lawyer in Alabama when he founded the "Equal Justice Initiative" — a law office committed to defending prisoners wrongly convicted, too poor to afford proper representation, or those not given a fair trial. This memoir focuses on the early days of the firm and one of the first clients, Walter McMillian, a Black man wrongly convicted of murder. If you don't know much about the mass incarceration or racial inequality in America's justice system, this is a great place to start. 

Memorable quote: "Each of us is more than the worst thing we've ever done."

A memoir that will make you feel alright, alright, alright

"Greenlights" by Matthew McConaughey, free with Audible trial, $14.99 on Kindle, $16.95 for hardcover

"Greenlights" is a memoir that radiates with McConaughey's iconic country-boy coolness through the printed words about life lessons, patience, "catching greenlights" and the wisdom that the "yellows and reds eventually turn green, too." Matthew McConaughey's novel reads like an old friend sitting down with you on the front porch as the sun sets on a summer night — it's supremely warm and comfortable, full of wisdom collected from nearly 50 years of Matthew's diaries.

Memorable quote: "Stepping in shit is inevitable, so let's either see it as good luck, or figure out how to do it less often."

An inside look at a rising political figure

"Shortest Way Home: One Mayor's Challenge and a Model for America's Future" by Pete Buttigieg, free with Audible trial, free on Kindle for Prime members, $15.77 for hardcover

At 29, Pete Buttigieg was the youngest elected mayor in the nation and held a vision to revitalize South Bend, Indiana. In recent years, he has emerged onto the national political stage for his unparalleled successes, even holding his mayoral position when he deployed to Afghanistan as an officer in the Navy. His memoir is authentic, endearing, and optimistic. It's also a great way to learn more about Buttigieg's policies, accomplishments, and aspirations for the future of our country. 

Memorable quote: "A river is made drop by drop."

A composition of a noteworthy Supreme Court Justice

"My Own Words" by Ruth Bader Ginsburg, free with Audible trial, $12.99 on Kindle, $9.18 for paperback

This is a collection of RBG's writings and speeches, with each chapter given an introduction to provide historical context. It spans a wide range of topics, from feminism to the inner workings of the Supreme Court. A combination of legal decisions, advice from her mother, and stories of her strides towards gender equality make for a lasting memoir of a woman whose legacy endures.

Memorable quote: "When a thoughtless or unkind word is spoken, best tune out. Reacting in anger or annoyance will not advance one's ability to persuade."

A memoir for a YA audience

"All Boys Aren't Blue" by George M. Johnson, free with Audible trial, $10.99 on Kindle, $14.10 for hardcover

Told in a series of essays, this memoir annotates the struggles of queer, Black boys and men in our society. For some readers, it's a reassurance that there is a place in this world for us to be uniquely ourselves and thrive despite setbacks. For others, it's a call to be the ally that could save a person's life. George M. Johnson's essays address tough subjects like toxic masculinity, consent, and questioning one's gender identity in an accessible way. The book is geared towards a young adult audience, making it a great outlet to explore gender, sexuality, and race by fostering supportive environments and open conversations. 

Memorable quote: "The first person you are ever an activist for is yourself. If I wasn't gonna fight for me, who else was?"

A raw account of the long journey to loving oneself

"Over The Top" by Jonathan Van Ness, free with Audible trial, $11.99 on Kindle, $12.90 for paperback

I absolutely adore "Queer Eye" and Jonathan Van Ness's radiance, encouragement, and clearly genuine love for those around him. I picked up his memoir thinking it would be fun and light, but Jonathan also opens up about some hidden hardships like bullying, trauma, and addiction. Every bit of JVN's sparkling personality shines through his memoir, a demonstration of how bright and shiny we can become.

Memorable quote: "As scary as this can be I want you to know no matter how broken you feel, and how seemingly unlikely it is, we are never too broken to heal."

The dark years of an American musician's childhood

"Hollywood Park" by Mikel Jollett, free with Audible trial, $14.99 on Kindle, $14.74 for paperback

Mikel Jollett was born into the Church of Synanon, one of the country's most infamous cults. By cult law, Mikel was taken from his mother at six months old and raised in their "school," finally escaping years later with his mother and brother. This is the poetic yet painful story of a life both in and out of the cult, peppered with addiction, trauma, and abuse. Ultimately, this memoir is a testament to strength and love. The beginning is told through the perspective of a child, enduring the cruelties of the cult, but the voice morphs as Mikel escapes and begins to experience and understand the world more. 

Memorable quote: "How long can you live with ghosts before deciding to become one?"

The childhood account of an iconic American poet

"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou, free with Audible trial, $6.99 on Kindle, $15.49 for paperback

This is a precious and painful memoir of a woman who shaped poetry and literature and is an idol to so many today. It spans Maya Angelou's childhood, addressing the abuse she endured and letting other women know they are not alone. This book, which has been banned in many schools and libraries, tells the story of how words saved Maya's life.

Memorable quote: "There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you."

The story of strained yet unconditional familial love

"The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls, free with Audible trial, $12.99 on Kindle, $7.09 for paperback

Jeannette Walls spent much of her life hiding the secrets of her nomadic and deeply dysfunctional childhood. One of four children born to wanderer parents, Jeannette's family found themselves settling down in a mining town in Virginia once their money ran out. The dysfunction escalated as her father used destructive means to try and escape the confines of "normal" life, leaving the children desperate for escape. This memoir spent over 440 weeks on the "New York Times" Bestseller list, a balance of bright successes and dark childhood hardships. It's interesting to feel Jeannette's withstanding love for her family, even as we the readers resent them more and more.

Memorable quote: "You should never hate anyone, even your worst enemies. Everyone has something good about them. You have to find the redeeming quality and love the person for that."

One woman's notable spiritual journey

"Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert, free with Audible trial, $13.99 on Kindle, $15.67 for hardcover

"Eat, Pray, Love" has become such an undeniable classic in the 14 years since its publication. For a while, it had the reputation of the favorite amongst Mom Book Clubs, but Elizabeth Gilbert's pursuit of fulfillment in every aspect of her life is one we all might need. At 30, Elizabeth Gilbert hit an early mid-life crisis as she found herself deeply unhappy in a textbook-perfect life. The memoir follows her yearlong journey around the world after quitting her job, selling all her belongings, and setting off on a spiritual expedition. 

Memorable quote: "This is a good sign, having a broken heart. It means we have tried for something."

Barack Obama's newest memoir

"A Promised Land" by Barack Obama, free with Audible trial, $17.99 on Kindle, $23.23 for hardcover

I will admit, I'm still in the middle of reading this memoir and I am savoring it for as long as I can. Obama's work fills me with the warmth of nostalgia, even as I'm reading through some of the hardest days of his presidency. His intimate account of the events we saw plastered against the news for years is fiercely engaging, paired with the ease of writing as smooth as his voice. One of a series of future presidential memoirs by him, this one is captivating for the insight of a firsthand experience and the perspective gained in the years since his time in office. 

Memorable quote: "Either you seize what may turn out to be the only chance you have, or you decide you're willing to live with the knowledge that the chance has passed you by."

A uniquely illustrated memoir

"The Fire Never Goes Out" by Noelle Stevenson, $9.99 on Kindle, $12.99 for paperback

A compilation of personal essays and mini-comics, Noelle's memoir is that of the roller coaster of a creative life. This one is for every reader with a creative side who understands the highs and lows of creating art. The memoir spans about eight years. so it's really interesting to see her work morph, pivot, and grow over the course of the book. We've all heard "a picture is worth a thousand words" but I was still surprised at how revealing her artwork was through her transformative young adult years. 

Memorable quote: "Love your younger self, and let them die."

A harrowing holocaust account

"Night" by Elie Wiesel, free with Audible trial, $7.46 for paperback

This memoir is not for the faint of heart. It does not tiptoe around the atrocities of the Holocaust or cushion the horrors within the confines of a concentration camp. T his is Elie's story as his family was taken from their home in 1944 and detained in Auschwitz. It is a short read that will transport you to the center of the pain, the abuse, and the murder of the Holocaust. 

Memorable quote: "To forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time."

Sylvia Plath's vivid journal entries

"The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath," free with Audible trial, $9.99 on Kindle, $15.49 for paperback

Sylvia Path's journals were first published in 1982, though heavily abridged. This memoir is a compilation of the complete, unedited, and remarkably introspective journal entries of the last 12 years of Sylvia's life until her death at age 30. Her writing is intriguing and intimate and I often had to remind myself of her age — my perception was completely skewed by the maturity in her thoughts. If you ever loved her poetry or "The Bell Jar," this is one to pick up. 

Memorable quote:  "I want to live and feel all the shades, tones and variations of mental and physical experience possible in my life."

Stephen King's advice and anecdotes

"On Writing" by Stephen King, free with Audible trial, $12.99 on Kindle, $14.56 for paperback

Both memoir and mentorship, "On Writing" is a must-read for any aspiring writer, Stephen King-lover, or storyteller. The stories about his life are largely entertaining, dating back to his love for books as a young child all the way through his prominent writing career. The advice and inspiration in his memoir are profound, with so many quotable moments you'll cling to long after you've finished the book. 

Memorable quote: "The scariest moment is always just before you start."

Nelson Mandela's incredible story

"Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela, free with Audible trial, $11.99 on Kindle, $23.01 for paperback

When I was given Nelson Mandela's over- 700-page memoir, I was intimidated (to say the least). I'd known the most famous parts of his life — from his imprisonment to him receiving the Nobel Peace Prize — but this memoir blew me away with just how instrumental and powerful his work was. The writing is clear and direct, leaving his life lessons and personal experience to speak for themselves.

Memorable quote: "And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same." 

An account of healing through non-traditional therapy

"Group: How One Therapist And A Circle of Strangers Saved My Life" by Christine Tate, free with Audible trial, $13.99 on Kindle, $14.49 for paperback

In her memoir about the saving grace of strangers, Christie Tate was a law student when dark thoughts led her to seek therapy and her therapist led her to a psychotherapy group. It's easy to find the dark humor in this memoir and get lost in the problems of complete strangers while happily ignoring our own (at least for a little while). Christie finds a deeper connection and a sense of intimacy with this group of strangers as they discuss sex, childhood, and destructive habits. It's a fantastic normalization of non-traditional therapy practices and a story that's simultaneously entertaining and comically uncomfortable.

Memorable quote: "If you're serious about getting into intimate relationships — becoming a real person, as you said — you need to feel every feeling you've been stifling since you were a kid. The loneliness, the anxiety, the anger, the terror."

An inspirational, gender-focused memoir

"Sissy: A Coming-of-Gender Story" by Jacob Tobia, free with Audible trial, $9.99 on Kindle, $26 for hardcover

I will absolutely never forget the day I wore purple lipstick for the first time and just happened to meet Jacob Tobia, who told me they loved the shade and asked where I got it. This tiny but affirming interaction between strangers is a testament to the kindness that radiates from Jacob everywhere they go — and in their memoir. Labeled "sissy" at a young age, Jacob grew to power a gender revolution alongside transgender, non-binary, and other gender-nonconforming folks. Their book is extremely vulnerable which allows us to take part in their journey and think about gender in ways we haven't before.

Memorable quote:  "I'm sharing this with you because I want you to understand that telling a boy not to wear a dress is an act of spiritual murder."

The story of two famous podcast hosts

"Stay Sexy & Don't Get Murdered" by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark, free with Audible trial, $9.99 on Kindle, $26 for hardcover

"My Favorite Murder: is one of the most popular true-crime murder podcasts out there. Since 2016, Karen and Georgia have sat down and swapped well-researched murder stories, telling them for the first time during recording so their reactions are real and hysterical. We've gotten to know these two through their podcast, but their memoir gives a more genuine look into the backstories behind their best advice to not get murdered (my personal favorite being "F** politeness.") Their writing is each reflective and witty, no matter how difficult the subject. 

Memorable quote: "We barely get any time on this planet. Do not spend it pleasing other people."

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20 Brilliant Essay Collections

Essay collections exist in a kind of literary no-man’s-land. They’re non-fiction, but they don’t often slip neatly into a particular category (like “science” or “history”). Often, they draw from the author’s own life, but they don’t follow the chronology we expect of a memoir or autobiography . But if you can figure out where they’re shelved in your local independent bookshop, essay collections can make for some of the best reads. Check out these twenty brilliant essay collections, from all kinds of authors about all kinds of subjects.

Men Explain Things To Me by Rebecca Solnit

Men Explain Things To Me is a slim little essay collection with a provocative title and a brilliant premise. Rebecca Solnit writes about the lived experience of women in the patriarchy in seven essays (or nine, if you get a later edition) from the last twenty years. She addresses violence against women, marriage equality, the influence of Virginia Woolf, the erasure of women from the archive, fraught online spaces, and more. Solnit was even credited with coining the term “mansplaining” – even though the word itself doesn’t appear in the title essay, and she later said she didn’t necessarily agree with such a gendered term.

Feel Free by Zadie Smith

Zadie Smith is a once-in-a-generation literary darling, writing beloved fiction and brilliant non-fiction with the same zeal. In Feel Free , her 2018 essay collection, she addresses questions we all find ourselves pondering from time to time. Why do we love libraries? How will we explain our inaction on climate change to future generations? What are online social networks doing to us? Her answers are categorised in the book’s five sections: In the World, In the Audience, In the Gallery, On the Bookshelf, and Feel Free (from which the essay collection gets its name). Smith interrogates major world-changing events and small personal disruptions with equal fascination, which makes for an illuminating read.

Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay

Roxane Gay has built a career on being forthright, unabashed, and holding a microphone to the best and worst of the little voices in our heads. Bad Feminist is a collection of her essays, most published individually elsewhere prior to the 2014 release, grouped thematically. They’re all loosely tied to the overarching ideas of feminism and womanhood, what it means to do it well, and what the consequences are for doing it badly. As the title suggests, in one of the collection’s most memorable moments, she addresses the difficulty of reconciling her feminism with her love of hip-hop music and the colour pink. She contends throughout this essay collection that it’s better to be a ‘bad feminist’ than to be no kind of feminist at all. Read my full review of Bad Feminist here.

Shrill by Lindy West

Have you ever felt like you just take up too much space in a world that wants you to be small and quiet? Lindy West has, and that’s what she writes in Shrill , the first of her hilarious and insightful essay collections. She lays bear the shame and humiliation that comes with the journey to self-awareness and self-acceptance, in a world that insists you be smaller and quieter. West has battled internet trolls, waged war against rape jokes, and reached an uneasy accord with her unruly body and mind. These essays are brilliant, relatable and hilarious for all women who have felt like they didn’t quite fit.

How To Write An Autobiographical Novel by Alexander Chee

How To Write An Autobiographical Novel seems like an odd title for an essay collection, but it makes sense once you hear Alexander Chee’s explanation behind it. On book tours and at speaking events regarding his novels, he found himself facing the same question over and over: “how much of this fictional story is autobiographical?”. He started thinking about how we forge identities in literature, giving rise to this brilliant collection of essays. It’s his “manifesto on the entangling of life, literature, and politics, and how the lessons learned from a life spent reading and writing fiction have changed him”.

Wow, No Thank You by Samantha Irby

Samantha Irby describes herself as a “cheese fry-eating slightly damp Midwest person… with neck pain and no cartilage in [her] knees… who still hides past due bills under her pillow”. Wow, No Thank You a collection of her essays about… stuff. Life. Ridiculous jobs. Trying to make friends as an adult. The lost art of making a mix-tape. Living in a place where most people don’t share your politics. Getting your period and bleeding all over the sheets of your Airbnb. Trying to remember why you ever found nightclubs fun. There’s even a whole essay of “Sure, sex is fun, but have you ever…” jokes (the format might mystify you if you’re not on Twitter , but it’s hilarious). Read my full review of Wow, No Thank You here.

Dead Girls by Alice Bolin

Are you sick of the trope where a nice, skinny, white girl shows up dead and that’s all we ever get to know about her? You’re not the only one. Alice Bolin’s Dead Girls interrogates “iconic American works from the essays of Joan Didion and James Baldwin to Twin Peaks, Britney Spears, and Serial, illuminating the widespread obsession with women who are abused, killed, and disenfranchised, and whose bodies (dead and alive) are used as props to bolster men’s stories”. This is one of those essay collections that will stick with you, and change the way you consume stories forever.

If you want alternatives to read, check out my list of crime thrillers without dead girls here .

Trick Mirror by Jia Tolentino

Jia Tolentino has been called “a peerless voice of our generation” and a “Joan Didion of our time”. Trick Mirror is one of the most critically acclaimed essay collections of recent years, a “dazzling collection of nine entirely original essays… [that] delves into the forces that warp our vision”. Have you ever wondered why we think what we do and the way we do? Normally, that’s the kind of question we’d leave to marketing professionals and moral philosophy professors, but Tolentino addresses it in an accessible and relatable way. She wants us to understand what advertising, social media, consumerism, and the whole she-bang has done to our consciousness and our understanding of ourselves.

A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again by David Foster Wallace

I’ll confess: David Foster Wallace is kind of my literary secret shame. The man was hardly a paragon of virtue, he treated the women in his life horribly, and he clearly had a lot of troubles that were never adequately addressed. But damn, if his essays aren’t some of the funniest I’ve ever read! Seriously, A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again is one of those brilliant essay collections that will have you howling with laughter so loud your neighbours might call the cops. Wallace is, at turns, cynical, curious, credulous, and cutting – and yet his essays feel seamless. They’re long, they’re stuffed with footnotes that would make a lit professor weep, and yet you’ll read them feeling like no time is passing at all because you’re having so much fun. I can’t speak for his fiction, but his essay collections? Must-reads, especially this one!

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

Any library of brilliant essay collections is woefully incomplete without David Sedaris, especially his 2000 collection Me Talk Pretty One Day . It’s over twenty years old, and yet it’s still as pertinent and resonant as ever. Sedaris’s wry humour and keen observations, of everything from family life to travel to cooking to education, are timeless. It’s truly masterful, a kind of comic genius you don’t see everyday. It’s also a great read for when your attention span is shot. The essays are short enough that you can read the whole thing in bite-sized chunks, but the through-line is strong enough that it will keep pulling you back in. Read my full review of Me Talk Pretty One Day here.

I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron

I find it hard not to build up a head of steam when I talk about Nora Ephron, because she is criminally underrated. Because she wrote about women and their relationships (to each other and themselves), instead of men with businesses or guns, she’s relegated to the “chick lit” and “rom-com” shelves, described as “fluffy” instead of ingenious. Want proof? Pick up I Feel Bad About My Neck , one of the most brilliant and incisive essay collections you’ll read anywhere. With her trademark candour and dry humour, she tackles the unspeakable: aging as a woman in a society that values perpetual youth.

Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud by Anne Helen Petersen

Scan the headlines of any celebrity gossip website, and you’ll notice: times have changed. We’re a long way from Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly. The women of today’s front pages are boundary pushers, provocative and powerful in ways that women of previous generations wouldn’t dare dream about. Anne Helen Petersen has had a lot of cause to study these women in her role as a Buzzfeed editor, and she’s written Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud to explain what she’s seen. She “uses the lens of “unruliness” to explore the ascension of powerhouses like Serena Williams, Hillary Clinton, Nicki Minaj, and Kim Kardashian, exploring why the public loves to love (and hate) these controversial figures”.

All About Love by bell hooks

“The word ‘love’ is most often defined as a noun, yet we would all love better if we used it as a verb,” writes bell hooks in All About Love, one of her most widely-read and lauded essay collections. She posits that our society is descending into lovelessness. Not romantic lovelessness – we’re drowning in smooches – but the kind where we lack basic compassion and empathy for each other, and ourselves. We are divided and discontented, due to “society’s failure to provide a model for learning to love”. You’ll want to set aside a lot of time to read and think about this one, to really absorb its message – if you do, it’ll change your life.

Why I’m No Longer Talking To White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge

Why I’m No Longer Talking To White People About Race is Eddo-Lodge’s first essay collection. It started with her blog post of the same name that she published back in 2014, but there’s no need to go trawling the internet for it: Eddo-Lodge reproduces it in full in the preface. It serves as a thesis statement, framing and contextualising everything that is to follow. So, the $64,000 question: why isn’t Eddo-Lodge talking to white people about race? Well, basically, she’s fed up: with white denial, with white self-flagellation, with trying to shake hands with a brick wall. Ironically, this is a collection of essays about race and racism that every white person should absolutely read. Read my full review of Why I’m No Longer Talking To White People About Race here.

Rogues by Patrick Radden Keefe

If you loved Say Nothing and Empire Of Pain (like I did), you’ll be overjoyed (as I was) to get your hands on a copy of Rogues , a collection of Patrick Radden Keefe’s most celebrated essays from The New Yorker . These delightfully detailed investigative pieces focus on his favourite subjects: “crime and corruption, secrets and lies, the permeable membrane separating licit and illicit worlds, the bonds of family, the power of denial”. They’re like delectable bite-sized true crime tales, all meticulously researched and fact-checked so as to ensure they’re completely believable. Each and every one is masterfully crafted, perfectly balanced, and totally gripping. Read my full review of Rogues here.

How To Be A Woman by Caitlin Moran

The best essay collections combine both sweeping views of the way we live our lives and the minutiae of how the author lives their own. How To Be A Woman is the perfect example. Caitlin Moran interrogates what it means to be a woman in the 21st century, with broad observations as well as deeply personal (not to mention riotously funny) anecdotes. From abortions to Brazilian waxes to pop culture to reproduction, Moran explores the opportunities and constraints for women in all areas of life. She “lays bare the reasons why female rights and empowerment are essential issues not only for women today but also for society itself”.

Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton

When you think about it, essay collections are a medium well suited to the millennial generation, with our attention spans ruined by television and our ingrained narcissism and all. Dolly Alderton’s Everything I Know About Love is to our generation what Bridget Jones’s Diary was to the Gen Xers. In it, she writes about contemporary young adulthood and all its essential components: “falling in love, finding a job, getting drunk, getting dumped, realizing that Ivan from the corner shop might just be the only reliable man in her life, and that absolutely no one can ever compare to her best girlfriends”.

Figuring by Maria Popova

If you’ve ever Googled any kind of lofty question – what did Toni Morrison say makes life worth living? is stoicism a solution to anxiety? what the heck is a ‘growth mindset’? – chances are you’ve stumbled upon BrainPickings.org (now renamed The Marginalian). The mind behind the brilliant website is Maria Popova, and while her online archives constitute about a hundred essay collections’ worth of material, she’s condensed her best and made her contribution in the form of Figuring . This one is a must-read for the literary nerds and the philosophy students and the history buffs. It features snippets and essential lessons from the lives of figures like Herman Melville , Frederick Douglass, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Walt Whitman.

Axiomatic by Maria Tumarkin

It took Maria Tumarkin nine years to research and write Axiomatic , one of the most powerful essay collections you’ll encounter at your local independent bookstore. She seeks to understand grief, loss, and trauma, and how they inform who we are as people. So, as you can probably already tell, it’s not exactly a light read – but if you’re in the mood to do some deep thinking, it’s an excellent selection. Each of its five sections is based on an axiom about the past and present (like “history repeats itself” or “time heals all wounds”), and examines true stories from Tumarkin’s own life and those around her to illustrate her wider points.

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

The problem with essay collections about successful people is that too many of them are of the “here’s how you can be successful too, invest in this stock and get rich quick!” variety. Outliers is the exception (and you have no idea how hard it was not to call it an ‘outlier’ just now). Malcolm Gladwell takes an intellectual look at the best and the brightest, the shining stars of innovation and industry, with the aim of finding out what exactly makes them different. This isn’t just about waking up early or taking cold showers; there are very specific concoctions of culture, community, and cunning that get people to the very top of the game, and Gladwell lays them out for us.

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November 26, 2022 at 1:54 AM

Wow this is such a great list and now I want to read them all? I have, in fact, read a handful of them – but am adding a whole bunch more to my wishlist.

Some brilliant essay collections I’ve read in recent years are Notes To Self by Emilie Pine, Notes Made While Falling by Jenn Ashworth, Miss Fortune by Lauren Weedman, How We Love by Clementine Ford. Notes From No-Man’s Land by Eula Biss is uneven, but the first essay in it is unforgettable. It’s only now that I realise I apparently never read essay collections by men…

December 13, 2022 at 9:16 PM

Interesting, I was fifty-fifty on whether I’d check out How We Love, but your commendation is definitely weighing the scale in its favour! Thank you 😀

December 3, 2022 at 2:47 PM

A favorite genre of mine that I don’t read enough in. Bookmarking this post for future reference. (One of my favorite essayists is C.S. Lewis, the master philosopher and apologist IMHO.)

Oooh! I’ve not read any of C.S. Lewis’s essay, great tip Hannah – I’ll be keeping an eye out for them!

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100 great narrative nonfiction books, essay collections, the new kings of nonfiction by ira glass, a supposedly fun thing i'll never do again and consider the lobster by david foster wallace, the white album by joan didion, slouching towards bethlehem by joan didion, changing my mind by zadie smith, the braindead megaphone by george saunders, bad feminist by roxane gay, pulphead by john jeremiah sullivan, notes from no man's land by eula biss, the empathy exams by leslie jamison, don't get too comfortable by david rakoff, what the dog saw by malcolm gladwell, arguably by christopher hitchens, i feel bad about my neck by nora ephron, violation by sallie tisdale, mythologies by roland barthes, the great shark hunt by hunter s. thompson, the kandy-kolored tangerine-flake streamline baby by tom wolfe, in defense of sanity by g. k. chesterton, essays by e. b. white.

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

The glass castle by jeannette walls, just kids by patti smith, the chronology of water by lidia yuknavitch, a heartbreaking work of staggering genius by dave eggers, hunger by roxane gay, my misspent youth by meghan daum, manhood for amateurs by michael chabon, 50 great short memoirs, the writing life by annie dillard, on writing by stephen king, why i write, 15 essential essays for writers, the language instinct by steven pinker, words on the move by john mcwhorter, the story of english by robert mccrum, 25 great articles about language, the bullfighter checks her makeup by susan orlean, the fiddler in the subway by gene weingarten, hidden america by jeanne marie laskas, travel and adventure, into the wild by jon krakauer, the lost city of z by david grann, the great railway bazaar by paul theroux, my kind of place by susan orlean, river town by peter hessler, 127 hours by aaron ralston, a fortune-teller told me by tiziano terzani, 50 great travel stories, barbarian days by william finnegan, moneyball by michael lewis, what i talk about when i talk about running by haruki murakami, seabiscuit by laura hillenbrand, the fight by norman mailer, friday night lights by h.g. bissinger, 50 great articles about sport.

Art and Culture

How to talk about books you haven't read by pierre bayard, sex, drugs, and cocoa puffs by chuck klostermann, mr. wilson's cabinet of wonder by lawrence weschler, 35 great essays about art and culture, this is your brain on music by daniel levitin, musicophilia by oliver sacks, 35 great essays about music, in cold blood by truman capote, midnight in the garden of good and evil by john berendt, the devil in the white city by erik larson, 25 great true crime reads, talking back, talking black by john mcwhorter, between the world and me by ta-nehisi coates, how to slowly kill yourself and others in america by kiese laymon, 25 great articles about race, women and men, woman by natalie angier, the end of men by hanna rosin, backlash by susan faludi, 30 great articles about women, debt by david graeber, the big short by michael lewis, griftopia by matt taibbi, 25 great articles about money, love and ruin by evan ratliff and susan orlean, a sliver of light by shane bauer, joshua fattal and sarah shourd, shrill by lindy west, but what if we're wrong by chuck klosterman, nothing to envy by barbara demick, underground by haruki murakami, 150 great articles and essays.

The Environment

Eaarth by bill mckibben, the sixth extinction by elizabeth kolbert, the water will come by jeff goodell, krakatoa by simon winchester, 35 great articles about the environment, science and technology, the accidental universe by alan lightman, the pleasure of finding things out by richard p. feynman, the immortal life of henrietta lacks by rebecca skloot, cosmos by carl sagan, chaos by james gleick, emergence by steven johnson, how we got to now by steven johnson, bad science by ben goldacre, the poisoner's handbook by deborah blum, packing for mars by mary roach, the soul of a new machine by tracy kidder, 100 great science & tech reads, thinking fast and slow by daniel kahneman, being wrong by kathryn schulz, the confidence game by maria konnikova, hit makers by derek thompson, the black swan by nicholas taleb, quiet by susan cain, the undoing project by michael lewis, everything bad is good for you by steven johnson, the power of habit by charles duhigg, freakonomics by steven d. levitt and steven j. dubner, nurtureshock by po bronson and ashley merryman, malcolm gladwell the tipping point, you are not so smart by david mcraney, the beauty myth by naomi wolf, 100 great psychology reads.

Why We Love by Helen Fisher

Essays in love by alain de botton, a general theory of love by thomas lewis, fari amini and richard lannon, 25 great articles about love, mating in captivity by esther perel, talk dirty to me by sallie tisdale, what do women want by daniel bergner, the other side of desire by daniel bergner, future sex by emily witt, 25 great articles about sex, stumbling on happiness by daniel gilbert, flow by mihaly csikszentmihalyi, happy city by charles montgomery, 15 great articles about happiness, outliers by malcolm gladwell, adapt by tim harford, how children succeed by paul tough, the rise by sarah lewis, 10 great articles about success, mental health, brain on fire by susannah cahalan, the geography of madness by frank bures, darkness visible by william styron, irritable hearts by mac mcclelland, 20 great articles about mental health, the year of magical thinking by joan didion, stiff by mary roach, being mortal by atul gawande, the thing about life is that one day you’ll be dead by david shields, mortality by christopher hitchens, the death class by erika hayasaki, 20 great articles about death, political fictions by joan didion, the great derangement by matt taibbi, no logo by naomi klein, nickel and dimed by barbara ehrenreich, 30 great articles about politics.

1491 by Charles C. Mann

Guns, germs, and steel by jared diamond, sapiens by yuval noah harari, the better angels of our nature by steven pinker, the gun by c. j. chivers, a history of the world in 100 objects by neil macgregor, in the garden of beasts by erik larson, bury my heart at wounded knee by dee brown, 25 great essays about history, hiroshima by john hersey, dispatches by michael herr, black hawk down by mark bowden, generation kill by evan wright, the good war by studs terkel, the saboteur by paul kix, 35 great articles about war.

About The Electric Typewriter We search the net to bring you the best nonfiction, articles, essays and journalism

While We’re On the Subject: 10 of the Best Essay Collections

Liberty Hardy

Liberty Hardy is an unrepentant velocireader, writer, bitey mad lady, and tattoo canvas. Turn-ons include books, books and books. Her favorite exclamation is “Holy cats!” Liberty reads more than should be legal, sleeps very little, frequently writes on her belly with Sharpie markers, and when she dies, she’s leaving her body to library science. Until then, she lives with her three cats, Millay, Farrokh, and Zevon, in Maine. She is also right behind you. Just kidding! She’s too busy reading. Twitter: @MissLiberty

View All posts by Liberty Hardy

One of the great things about being adult is that you only have to read the books you want to read now. No more assigned reading (unless you’re pursuing more education)! And while the word “essay” can conjure up images of homework, it’s actually just another really fun form of writing as a way to get information into your brain. An essay is a short piece of writing about a specific subject. That’s all. And just like all other writing, the subject possibilities are endless! There are so many amazing collections of essays to choose from. That’s why we’re helping you find a few great ones with this list of ten of the best essay collections.

These books cover a variety of topics, such as music, nature, race, and writing. Each of these are written by one particular author, but you can find essay collections with multiple contributors. The Best American Essays are a great place to start — the most recent one was guest edited by Alexander Chee, who has a book also listed below. He knows essays! I also highly recommend A Twenty Minute Silence Followed by Applause by Shawn Wen. I had no idea how much I would love a small collection of essays about the famous mime Marcel Marceau until I picked it up. What a gem!

They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us by Hanif Abdurraqib

Poet, essayist, and critic Abdurraqib’s first collection is an amazing jumping-off point if you’ve not read many essays. These are smart and thoughtful pieces, some about life as viewed through the lens of culture, such as his experience at a Carly Rae Jepsen show and his thoughts on attending concerts in the wake of the shootings in Paris. And some are about his experience as a Black man living in America. This collection was so successful, it got a new five-year anniversary cover, so you might also find this with a blue cover with a wolf in a red track suit.

Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin

Baldwin’s famous essay collection about racism and the lives of Black people in America was written in the 1940s and early 1950s, at the start of the Civil Rights movement. A powerful writer and activist, Baldwin was one of the early writers discussing the violence and murder perpetrated against Black people. His essays exposed readers to police violence and racial injustice in a time before it was being discussed publicly and nationally.

How To Write An Autobiographical Novel: Essays by Alexander Chee

Chee, who is a brilliant teacher as well as a published writer, discusses how the life of the writer is entangled in work in various ways. While explaining the importance of art and how it gives meaning to our lives, he revisits his own experiences, including the death of his father, the AIDS crisis, and writing his first novel Edinburgh .

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Loitering: New and Collected Essays by Charles D’Ambrosio

D’Ambrosio tackles very different subjects in this collection of things that loiter in his brain, while weaving very personal, heartbreaking information into each one. There’s a discussion of the trial of jailed teacher Mary Kay Letourneau, the work of J.D. Salinger, a haunted house, weather, and more. It is also an examination of mental illness and suicide in his family.

Slouching Towards Bethlehem: Essays by Joan Didion

Like Baldwin, Didion is one of the most famous essayists in the American literary canon. This memorable book includes her sharp, original takes on John Wayne and Howard Hughes, as well as a look at her life growing up in California, and other memorable takes on places around the state.

We Are Never Meeting in Real Life by Samantha Irby

And if you want a collection that will make you laugh out loud, pick up this (or any of Irby’s other books.) These are screamingly funny, honest essays about relationships, health and bodies, sex, pet ownership, family, and more. (A few more funny essayists to check out: Jenny Lawson, Helen Ellis, Phoebe Robinson, and Mary Laura Philpott.)

Small Wonder: Essays by Barbara Kingsolver

Kingsolver is one of the finest novelists of the last few decades, but did you know she also writes smart, touching nonfiction? Using nature as the underlying them in each one, Kingsolver probes our world, from mountains and trees, to the dangers of genetically modified foods, to what we owe the children of the world. It’s a collection about growth, literally and metaphorically.

Upstream: Selected Essays by Mary Oliver

Mary Oliver was an award-winning poet, and her immense, gorgeous talent for writing poetry is apparent in these beautiful, thoughtful essays. They examine her interest in nature and the world at large from a young age, and how the beauty she found around her influence her life and her work. Get ready to underline pretty much everything.

Let Me Clear My Throat: Essays by Elena Passarello

This is a fascinating collection about voices throughout popular culture, from an 18th century opera singer to Spaceballs to A Streetcar Named Desire . Passarello examines the sound and shape of the sounds that have contributed to the soundtracks of human lives. Equally fascinating is Animals Strike Curious Poses , her essay collection about famous animals throughout history.

Pulphead: Essays by John Jeremiah Sullivan

And last but not least, another lesser-known gem. Pulphead is like a road trip in a book that covers pop culture, and events around America. Sullivan investigates a Christian rock festival, Real World alumni, the BP oil spill, Hurricane Katrina, and more. It’s an absorbing collection that belongs on the shelf of every essay lover.

For more essays to enrich your life, be sure to check out 100 Must-Read Essay Collections and Essay Collections That Make You Necessarily Uncomfortable .

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11 New Works of Nonfiction to Read This Season

A deeply reported look at the woman behind Roe vs. Wade, an investigation of lawbreaking animals, another hilarious essay collection from Phoebe Robinson — and more.

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By Miguel Salazar and Joumana Khatib

‘ Brothers on Three: A True Story of Family, Resistance, and Hope on a Reservation in Montana ,’ by Abe Streep

In 2018, the Arlee Warriors, a boy’s high school basketball team on Montana’s Flathead Indian reservation, was in the midst of a buzzing championship run as its town reeled from a cluster of suicides. Streep, who previously profiled the team for The New York Times Magazine , delves into the lives of the players, the town’s collective trauma and the therapeutic power of basketball in Arlee, where the sport “occupies emotional terrain somewhere between escape and religion.”

Celadon Books, Sept. 7 | Read our review

‘ The Family Roe: An American Story ,’ by Joshua Prager

In his third book, Prager sets out to tell the stories of the overlooked women behind the 1973 Supreme Court decision. Using interviews, letters and previously unseen personal papers, Prager tells the story of Roe through the life of Norma McCorvey, whose unwanted pregnancy gave way to the Supreme Court case, and three other protagonists: Linda Coffee, the lawyer who filed the original lawsuit; Curtis Boyd, a fundamentalist Christian turned abortion provider; and Mildred Jefferson, the first Black woman to graduate from Harvard Medical School.

Norton, Sept. 14 | Read our review

‘ Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law ,’ by Mary Roach

In 1659, an Italian court heard a case against caterpillars after locals complained of them trespassing and pilfering local gardens. In the years since, humans have come up with innovative ways to deal with jaywalking moose, killer elephants, thieving crows and murderous geriatric trees. After a two-year trip across the world, Roach chronicles these methods in her latest book, covering crow blasting in Oklahoma and human-elephant conflict specialists in West Bengal. The result is a rich work of research and reportage revealing the lengths that humanity will go to keep the natural world at bay.

‘ The Right to Sex: Feminism in the Twenty-First Century ,’ by Amia Srinivasan

Srinivasan, an Oxford professor, has developed an enthusiastic following for her shrewd writing in The London Review of Books, with topics ranging from campus culture wars to the intellect of octopuses. Her 2018 meditation on the politics of sex served as a launchpad for this highly anticipated book, which draws on — and complicates — longstanding feminist theory in six essays on pornography, desire, capitalism and more.

Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Sept. 21 | Read our review

Tell us: What new nonfiction are you most eager to read ?

‘ please don’t sit on my bed in your outside clothes: essays ,’ by phoebe robinson.

Robinson, an actress, comedian and co-creator of the podcast 2 Dope Queens, wrote her latest book of essays during the pandemic, taking up everything from Black Lives Matter to dating under lockdown to commercialized self care. Of course, there’s plenty of levity — her way of coping. “If I can make you laugh and forget your problems for a moment, then I did something,” she writes.

Tiny Reparations Books, Sept. 28 | Listen to Robinson on the Book Review podcast

‘ Rationality: What It Is, Why It Seems Scarce, Why It Matters ,’ by Steven Pinker

How can a species capable of calculating the age of the universe be so vulnerable to conspiracy theories, folk wisdom and groupthink? Rationality is in critically short supply at a time when humanity faces its greatest challenges yet, argues Pinker, a Harvard cognitive psychologist. Through mental exercises and geeky but accessible writing on topics ranging from cartoons to climate change to Andrew Yang’s presidential campaign, Pinker hopes to save reason — and, by extension, society — from extinction.

Viking, Sept. 28 | Read our review

‘ Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival and Hope in an American City ,’ by Andrea Elliott

Dasani was a precocious and spunky 11-year-old with limitless potential when Elliott, a Times investigative journalist, first met her at a Fort Greene homeless shelter in 2012. That encounter led to a five-part series shadowing Dasani as she navigated child poverty in New York City. For this book, Elliott immersed herself in the lives of Dasani and her family for eight years, at times slipping past security guards at the shelter. She also traces the family’s ancestry back to a North Carolina slave plantation, telling a vivid and devastating story of American inequality.

Random House, Oct. 5 | Read our review | Listen to Elliott on the Book Review podcast

‘ All of the Marvels: A Journey to the Ends of the Biggest Story Ever Told ,’ by Douglas Wolk

This book is an ambitious attempt to wrestle with the Marvel Comics universe, a web so expansive that almost no one has bothered to read all of its half-million pages (and counting). No one, that is, besides Wolk, who has pored over yellowing originals from at garage sales, abandoned copies at his local Starbucks and even collections on show at Burning Man. The result is 400 pages of insights — for Marvel fans and casual readers alike — and what they reveal about American dreams and fears over the past 60 years.

Penguin Press, Oct. 12 | Read our review

‘ The Loneliest Americans ,’ by Jay Caspian Kang

In his essays and commentaries , Kang, a contributor to the Magazine who also writes a newsletter for The Times’s Opinion section, has been interrogating the ideas underpinning Asian American identity for years. His nonfiction debut is a culmination of these efforts, blending memoir, historical writing and reportage as he questions the usefulness of this identity in describing people who live profoundly different realities conditioned by class, language and ethnicity.

Crown, Oct. 12

‘ The Genome Defense: Inside the Epic Legal Battle to Determine Who Owns Your DNA ,’ by Jorge L. Contreras

The ACLU had never before filed a patent case when a policy analyst and civil rights lawyer teamed up in 2005 to challenge a decades-long practice allowing private companies to patent naturally occurring human genes. Jorge L. Contreras, a law professor at the University of Utah, interviewed nearly 100 lawyers, patients, scientists and policymakers in this behind-the-scenes history of Molecular Pathology vs. Myriad Genetics, a long-shot lawsuit that culminated in a landmark 2013 Supreme Court decision that opened the human genome to the benefit of researchers, cancer patients and everyday Americans.

Algonquin, Oct. 26

‘ The Least of Us: True Tales of America and Hope in the Time of Fentanyl and Meth ,’ by Sam Quinones

Our understanding of the opioid epidemic is indebted in part to Quinones and his eye-opening first book, “ Dreamland ,” which connected the dots between OxyContin’s popularity and a booming heroin market. In this follow-up, Quinones explores the neuroscience of addiction, lays out how the crisis has morphed and deepened with the spread of synthetic drugs, and celebrates the slow efforts at rebuilding community in hard-hit counties across America.

Bloomsbury, Nov. 2 | Read our review

Explore More in Books

Want to know about the best books to read and the latest news start here..

As book bans have surged in Florida, the novelist Lauren Groff has opened a bookstore called The Lynx, a hub for author readings, book club gatherings and workshops , where banned titles are prominently displayed.

Eighteen books were recognized as winners or finalists for the Pulitzer Prize, in the categories of history, memoir, poetry, general nonfiction, fiction and biography, which had two winners. Here’s a full list of the winners .

Montreal is a city as appealing for its beauty as for its shadows. Here, t he novelist Mona Awad recommends books  that are “both dreamy and uncompromising.”

The complicated, generous life  of Paul Auster, who died on April 30 , yielded a body of work of staggering scope and variety .

Each week, top authors and critics join the Book Review’s podcast to talk about the latest news in the literary world. Listen here .

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The best non-fiction books to read in 2024

From candid memoirs to provocative essay collections, 2024’s forthcoming non-fiction is enticing. jessie thompson shares our guide to what you need on your reading pile, article bookmarked.

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S orry, but we’re about to make your reading pile for 2024 very big. From candid memoirs to provocative essays, little-told histories to behind-the-scenes accounts of sensational trials, the new year is full of must-reads to suit every taste. Here’s our guide to the unmissable non-fiction books of the year.

Charles III: New King. New Court. The Inside Story by Robert Hardman

Boris Johnson gave a copy of Robert Hardman’s last book,  Queen of Our Times: The Life of Elizabeth II , to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky as a gift – so you know this probably won’t be an Omid Scobie -style takedown. Instead, with impressive access to the royal family, Robert Hardman offers an insider account of the first year of King Charles III’s reign, including the royal’s plans for reform and his relationships with his sons.  18 Jan, Macmillan

Buy the book now:

• Amazon: £15, Amazon.co.uk

Only Say Good Things by Crystal Hefner

Crystal Hefner married Playboy tycoon Hugh when he was 86 and she was 26. In her memoir, she lifts the lid on life inside the Playboy mansion, which – in a surprise to no one – was apparently rife with misogyny and objectification. Hefner’s story has the potential to be as provocative as Ariel Levy’s cult feminist classic,  Female Chauvinist Pigs . 25 Jan, Ebury

• Amazon: £16, Amazon.co.uk

Empireworld by Sathnam Sanghera

With  Empireland , Sathnam Sanghera wrote the British history book that should be on every school reading list, laying bare how imperialism formed modern Britain. In  Empireworld  he takes it further, looking at the legacy of the British empire around the globe.  25 Jan, Viking

• Amazon: £14, Amazon.co.uk

Hardy Women by Paula Byrne

Women in Thomas Hardy’s novels tend to have an absolutely terrible time – but what about the women he knew in his own life? Paula Byrne, who has written biographies of Jane Austen and Barbara Pym, turns her eye to the female figures that formed him, shedding light not just on his mother, sisters, girlfriends and wives, but creating a refined portrait of the author himself.  1 Feb, William Collins

• Amazon: £21.79, Amazon.co.uk

Keir Starmer by Tom Baldwin

He’s described by many as the PM-in-waiting , but he’s also regularly accused of being dry and boring. So who is Keir Starmer, really? This new biography of the Labour leader attempts to shed light on the man who may lead our next government.  29 Feb, William Collins

Pre-order the book now:

• Amazon: £20.99, Amazon.co.uk

A Bookshop of One’s Own by Jane Cholmeley

In the 1980s, feminist bookshop Silver Moon opened its doors on Charing Cross Road and became home to a generation of creative women. Jane Cholmeley, one of the owners, is putting it back in the history books with her new memoir of that time. The perfect read for anyone who dreams of running away and opening a bookshop with all their friends (I know it isn’t just me).  29 Feb, Harper NonFiction

• Amazon: £15.63, Amazon.co.uk

The House of Hidden Meanings by RuPaul

Drag Race  addicts get ready: RuPaul has written the story of his life. The drag superstar describes his journey from growing up Black, queer and poor in a broken home to becoming a celebrated and successful champion of self-acceptance.  5 March, Fourth Estate

• Amazon: £19.99, Amazon.co.uk

The Summer We Crossed Europe in the Rain by Kazuo Ishiguro

Fans of the  Never Let Me Go  author know that Kazuo Ishiguro originally dreamed of becoming a songwriter, inspired by Bob Dylan. And he did fulfil that dream, in fact – this publication collects the lyrics he wrote for American singer Stacey Kent, with illustrations by Italian artist Bianca Bagnarelli.  7 March, Faber

• Amazon: £16.55, Amazon.co.uk

The Chain by Chimene Suleyman

Chimene Suleyman’s memoir begins with her trip to an abortion clinic in 2017. She’s accompanied by her boyfriend, but she soon finds out he isn’t who she thinks he is. Soon a community of women, all affected by him, begins to form, exposing a pattern of harm and manipulation.  28 March, W&N

• Amazon: £17.47, Amazon.co.uk

No Judgement by Lauren Oyler

Apparently, Lauren Oyler ’s literary hot takes (including a skewering of media darling Jia Tolentino’s essay collection  Trick Mirror ) have caused the London Review of Books website to crash – twice. It’s quite fun to read someone who really doesn’t care about winding people up, and Oyler’s first essay collection has one piece on Goodreads and critical timidity that’s really worth paying attention to.  7 March, Virago

• Amazon: £18.40, Amazon.co.uk

Travelling: On the Path of Joni Mitchell by Ann Powers

In her 80th year, the  Blue  singer continues to provide inspiration. After Amy Key’s gorgeous meditation on a life alone,  Arrangements in Blue , which riffed on Joni Mitchell’s seminal album, music writer Ann Powers now goes looking for the story of one of the most beguiling and enigmatic stars in music.  14 March, Harper NonFiction

• Amazon: £23, Amazon.co.uk

Easy Wins by Anna Jones

If you don’t have an Anna Jones cookbook on your shelf, all I can ask is: why? Over the last decade, she’s made a name for herself as the vegetarian answer to Nigella, offering recipes for meals that are the holy trinity of easy, healthy and delicious. Her latest is based around 12 “hero ingredients”, from garlic to lemons to olive oil.  14 March, Fourth Estate

• Amazon: £25.76, Amazon.co.uk

A Very Private School by Charles Spencer

He has written a number of history books, but this time, Charles Spencer – Princess Diana’s younger brother – is writing something more personal.  A Very Private School  is his account of being sent to Maidwell Hall, a boarding school in Northampton, when he was eight years old. It’s been described as “a clear-eyed account of a culture of cruelty” and Spencer’s “candid reckoning with his past” by the publisher – who is also the publisher behind Britney Spears’  The Woman in Me  in the UK. There could be marmalade-droppers.  24 March, Gallery Books

The Lasting Harm by Lucia Osborne-Crowley

Lucia Osborne-Crowley’s 2019 book  I Choose Elena  was a moving account of how literature helped her to overcome the trauma of an assault she experienced as a teenager. So she has a first-hand understanding of the legacy of abuse – or, to steal a phrase from the prosecutors of Ghislaine Maxwell in the trial that saw the wealthy socialite sentenced to 20 years for sex trafficking , the “lasting harm”. Her latest book is the behind-the-scenes story of that trial, and Osborne-Crowley its apt storyteller. 14 March, Fourth Estate

• Amazon: £20.24, Amazon.co.uk

Barbara Comyns: A Savage Innocence by Avril Horner

Barbara Comyns was a poodle breeder, antique dealer, painter, and the wife of a spy, and is also the best novelist you’ve never heard of. That may be about to change, though, with the publication of the first Comyns biography, featuring a number of unpublished letters.  19 March, Manchester University Press

• Amazon: £30, Amazon.co.uk

Who’s Afraid of Gender? by Judith Butler

Judith Butler’s unreadably long academic-speak sentences didn’t stop her ideas about gender from becoming some of the most influential in modern culture.  Gender Trouble  popularised the notion that gender is largely performative and something that can be subverted. In what could be one of the most divisive books of the year, Butler – who now identifies as they/them – has written about how gender is now being weaponised by the far right.  19 March, Allen Lane

Rebel Rising by Rebel Wilson

The Australian actor Rebel Wilson is apparently revealing her “deepest, darkest secrets” in a new memoir. The  Bridesmaids  star is set to discuss everything from weight loss to sexuality to fertility. She also teased that there would be “at least one story about Brad Pitt”.  2 April, Harper NonFiction

By the River: Essays from the Water’s Edge

Essay collections from Daunt Books have previously brought together wonderful writers to talk about the joy of gardens or the pleasures of the kitchen, in beautifully packaged editions with gorgeously illustrated covers. This time round, writers from Jo Hamya to Amy Key to Caleb Azumah Nelson reflect on rivers. 11 April, Daunt Books Originals

• Amazon: £9.99, Amazon.co.uk

It’s Not Banter, It’s Racism by Azeem Rafiq

Azeem Rafiq’s testimony of the racism he said he endured at Yorkshire County Cricket Club was one of the most shocking reckonings in the recent history of British sport. He has now written about his experiences, which resulted in a £400k fine for the club , as well as the dangers that come with denying racism.  25 April, Trapeze

• Amazon: £12.99, Amazon.co.uk

Knife by Salman Rushdie

The world watched in horror when Salman Rushdie was violently attacked on stage at an event in New York. He now writes his account of the incident, which left him without sight in one eye or the use of one hand, 30 years after he was first placed under the threat of a fatwa.  16 April, Jonathan Cape

• Amazon: £17.99, Amazon.co.uk

Reading Lessons by Carol Atherton

Not another year of  Of Mice and Men , surely? It’s the same book but different, argues English teacher Carol Atherton. She writes about how the books we study at school may not change that much, but their meanings do, from her first-hand experience of teaching everything from Jane Eyre to Jeanette Winterson.  4 April, Fig Tree

The Garden Against Time by Olivia Laing

Olivia Laing has walked Suffolk’s River Ouse in search of its stories, journeyed around America trying to understand alcoholic writers, and wandered through New York looking for an antidote to loneliness. In her latest book, she picks up her hand trowel and heads into her own garden, planting bulbs as she looks at gardens’ historic associations with paradise and utopia.  2 May, Picador

Rebel Girl: My Life as a Feminist Punk by Kathleen Hanna

She’s the first lady of riot grrl-dom, and now Bikini Kill and Le Tigre frontwoman Kathleen Hanna has written her memoir. Hanna will discuss life with Lyme disease, the affliction that stopped her from performing for several years, as well as her friendship with Kurt Cobain and her marriage to Beastie Boys member Adam Horovitz.  14 May, William Collins

On Green Pitches by David Kitson

After the shocking 2017 Grenfell Tower fire, in which 72 people died, a community of survivors began to look for ways to come together and help one another with the raw grief. Within weeks, Grenfell Athletic Football Club had been formed. This book, by former professional footballer David Kitson – who would go on to coach the team – tells their story. 23 May, Harper NonFiction

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What Are the 10 Best Nonfiction Essays of the Past 50 Years?

There were innumerable notable essays written between 1961 and today. However, even though it’s a crazy idea to attempt to make a top ten list of the pieces that shaped the era, that’s what we do at Flavorpill — so go with it, and tell us what we left out in the comments section below. This post was inspired by the University of Iowa’s nonfiction Essay Prize, which is “given each year to the work that best exemplifies the art of essaying — inquiry, experimentation, discovery, and change.” Get more details on the 2011 nominees here .

1. “ White Elephant Art vs. Termite Art ” by Manny Farber – Film Culture, Winter 1962

Farber defends the unpolished, B-grade, underground films and directors that make what he deems “termite art” great. The author is sick of the overwrought attempts at creating and sustaining masterpieces, instead calling for art to devour its own boundaries. Let’s shake it up already!

2. “ Frank Sinatra Has A Cold ” by Gay Talese – Esquire , April 1965

This was an incredible essay, not only because of the insane amount of reporting involved, but because of the fact that Talese overcame the blow of not being able to access his subject by interviewing every single person possibility affiliated with Sinatra. Through this prismatic lens, we get a clearer view of Ol’ Blue Eyes than we ever could have with him stealing the show. He writes, “They are wise to remember, however, one thing. He is Sinatra. The boss. Il Padrone.”

3. “ Slouching Toward Bethlehem ” by Joan Didion – The Saturday Evening Post , 1967

On the hunt for a hippie named “Deadeye,” Didion takes us to the nexus of counterculture: San Francisco. It’s an astute analysis of American society, but also one that is ultimately empathetic; the author attempts to understand what others would merely disregard or shun.

4. “ The Long-Winded Lady ” by Maeve Brennan – The New Yorker , January 10, 1970

It’s as if Brennan is simply writing her weekly letters to a good friend; there’s an intimacy to her work as she details the perfect moments of living in a city. In this particular essay, Brennan explains a night out on the town and an encounter with a woman who was absolutely blotto on the corner of 45th and Broadway.

5. “ Fascinating Fascism ” by Susan Sontag – The New York Review of Books , February 6, 1975

Sontag dissects the jacket copy in The Last of the Nuba by Leni Riefenstahl line by line in order to take down the lauded filmmaker by reminding us of her Nazi past. It’s a convincing tack by the master of the polemic.

6. “ Dark Icons ” by Gary Indiana – Random House’s Boldtype column, 1997

Christopher Fowler writes in the Independent : “Indiana is as detested as he is adored.” In “Dark Icons,” he profiles the criminal superstar, Charles Sobhraj. He writes, “We have made these people stars because their implacable nature is somehow unbelievable, and utterly fascinating in a nauseating sort of way.”

7. “ Consider the Lobster ” by David Foster Wallace – Gourmet , August 2004

DFW attends the 56th Annual Maine Lobster Festival and investigates how and why we indulge in consuming this aquatic arthropod with such gusto. (Yes, there are footnotes.)

8. “ I Can’t Get it for You Wholesale ” by David Rakoff – Harper’s Bazaar

Rakoff’s sardonic take on Paris Fashion Week makes this one of his most memorable essays. Here’s what he has to say about Mssr. Karl Lagerfeld: “Seated on a tiny velvet chair, with his large doughy rump dominating the miniature piece of furniture like a loose, flabby, ass-flavored muffin overrisen from its pan, he resembles a Daumier caricature of some corpulent, inhuman oligarch drawn sitting on a commode, stuffing his greedy throat with the corpses of dead children, while from his other end he shits out huge, malodorous piles of tainted money.”

9. “ Getting In ” by Malcolm Gladwell – The New Yorker , October 10th, 2005

A Canadian outsider looks into the Ivy League college phenomenon in the US and analyzes the social logic involved in the process. It’s a fascinating rumination on the history of the admissions process.

10. Carl Wilson, “ Let’s Talk About Love ” – The 33 1/3 series collection, December 2007

In this essay (which is really a novella), Wilson attempts to understand the appeal of the award-winning Quebecois chanteuse, while also acknowledging his previously held disdain for Dion’s music and personality. It is a masterful “journey to the end of taste,” and by the end we’re all thumping our chests and rooting for Céline Marie Claudette Dion.

Lilly Dancyger on First Love and the Friendships that Made (and Sustained) Her

The author discusses her new essay collection and proposes a new way of approaching self-understanding.

Every item on this page was chosen by an ELLE editor. We may earn commission on some of the items you choose to buy.

“It felt strange to talk about that part of my life without going into all those relationships, because they really were the most important thing in my life at that time,” Dancyger says when we meet over Zoom in early May. Still, she maintains, the book needed to shave its excess. She couldn’t fill every other page with odes to her roommates and confidants, however substantial their influence in her youth. “As a consolation to myself,” she says, “I was like, ‘You can write about them later, you know?’”

Dancyger kept that promise. Her latest book, First Love: Essays on Friendship — out now from Dial Press —is a tender, unswerving homage to her found family, but also an insightful study of friendship as identity-crafting, a way of assembling tools to compose (and improve) a self. The essays draw from Dancyger’s own life without any gloss or euphemism: The author summons vivid vignettes from her tempestuous youth in New York City; her agony following the death of her beloved cousin Sabina, who was murdered in her early 20s; and her self-reconstruction as a “hypercompetent” author and academic after having dropped out of high school in her formative years. Throughout each of these memories resides a dear friend, often a handful of them, each of whom shaped Dancyger’s understanding of her world, etching her concepts of morality and femininity and creativity into bone. This approach makes First Love more of a memoir-in-essays than a traditional work of cultural criticism, and yet Dancyger makes a remarkable hybrid of the two genres, weaving in references to Sylvia Plath, Peter Jackson’s Heavenly Creatures , Janis Joplin, and In Cold Blood to make salient points about sisterhood in the age of “sad girl” Tumblr, the true-crime boom, and the iPhone camera.

“I wanted to look outward and take a broader view,” Dancyger says. “Each close relationship in my life is an entryway into a different aspect of myself, a different way of being in the world, so I thought each of these essays could use the relationship to open up and talk about something else.”

Ahead, Dancyger discusses her approach to the enormous topic of sisterly love, and argues for the power of surrounding yourself with people who bring out “different versions” of your personality.

First Love: Essays on Friendship by Lilly Dancyger

A lot of essay collections are broadly topical, looping in pieces of the author’s personal experience but keeping the focus on wide-lens cultural criticism. you employ the opposite tactic: your essays are each rooted first and foremost in memoir. why did that feel like the correct way for you to format first love .

Anything that reaches for objectivity is less compelling to me as a writer. Even in the pieces in this book that do go beyond the personal and say something larger about culture and about existing in the world as a woman—they’re all still very subjective. They’re all still very much about my experience of those things, because it’s hard enough to speak on my own experience with authority.

I’m not trying to speak for anybody else or be at all prescriptive. This never was going to be a definitive book about friendship, because I don’t think I could write a definitive book about friendship. I can only write about my own friendships and hope that readers see themselves reflected in it. That feels very different to me than saying, “This is what friendship is.”

I appreciate that instinct. I do think many authors are encouraged, for better or worse, to become the ultimate experts on a topic, and I don’t know how possible that is every time.

I mean, I’m a millennial New Yorker, white, a Jewish only child. My experience of friendship is going to be very different from anybody else’s.

I’m curious about how you decided which specific essays—and even which specific relationships—to feature.

Choosing which relationships to include really didn’t have anything to do with which relationships are more impactful or significant in my life. It really was about which relationships made my wheels turn in an interesting way; which relationships I had something compelling to say about. With some that was very clear right away, and with some—okay, there are a couple in there where I was like, This person has to be in there. What can I say about this person? And went looking for the topic based on the fact that it would be weird to leave whoever out. There also were several that I planned and thought about and even drafted, but they just didn’t make the cut on a craft or quality level, even if the relationship was important, the idea compelling.

Dive Deeper into ELLE’s Nonfiction Books Coverage

The Best Nonfiction Books of 2024, So Far

Take a look at the fresh new memoirs, histories, and essay collections we recommend indulging in this year.

For Black Ballerinas, Painting Ballet Slippers Is a Tedious But Essential Ritual

The author of The Swans of Harlem on how “the practice of pancaking shoes and hand-dying tights has roots in the Dance Theatre of Harlem.”

Amanda Montell Invites You to 'The Age of Magical Overthinking'

With a new book out and a second podcast on the way, the author-linguist is eager to bring fans out of their heads—and into her world.

In the book, you highlight how the lines between platonic love and romantic love are often blurrier than some care to admit, because of that desire to be so fully consumed by your friends—especially when you’re young. That feeling is so potent, and also so misunderstood.

Absolutely, and I felt a little bit of that, too. [The intensity of the feeling] is not embarrassing , but it’s vulnerable.

It’s just less expected, I think, to spend time articulating how intensely you love your friends. I put that stuff down on the page and then I gave it to the people I had been writing about, and there was a little bit of—I don’t know, a feeling of being exposed. But, also, I wouldn’t have had those stories to tell or had that depth of emotion to express if I didn’t have the kinds of relationships where I could write a long essay about how much I love them, and send it to them and not feel embarrassed. The friends that I did send these essays to responded in really lovely ways, but yeah, I think it is not usual, right? And that’s why [writing the book] felt necessary.

Do you feel as though we’re in an era where these stories about friendship are taking more of a central focus, both in publishing and in Hollywood? Or does it still feel as though platonic love is brushed aside in favor of romance?

Once I started writing about this, I became much more aware of every article, every show, and it does kind of feel like we’re having a cultural moment right now where people are talking more about the importance of friendship, which is great. But I think cultural change happens slowly. So friendship is “having a moment” right now, but that doesn’t mean that these deeply entrenched social norms about who we actually prioritize in our lives, when it comes down to it, have changed overnight.

There’s so much lip service paid to, ‘Oh, this TV show is highlighting how central friendships are to our lives,’ which is true, but is that actually reflected in the way our society is set up? The way that we live? The way that we parent?

There’s a difference between loving your friends and actually holding space in your life for them to be a priority.

And I don’t blame people who don’t do that, necessarily, because it’s hard. Everything is set up for you not to do that, right? Like you go to the hospital, and who’s allowed to visit you, right? It’s not enough to say, “I’m her best friend. Let me in.” You’ll be brushed aside.

I loved your essay titled “Portraiture,” about your friend’s photos of you and how they impacted your self-perception. It made me wonder: In your opinion, how much of a deep, intimate friendship is about seeing yourself reflected, versus really seeing the other person? Is it a perfect blend of both?

I think it’s both. I think that seeing the other person clearly gives you a window into a version of yourself that you could be, and so the relationship is who you are in that context with that person. The question of which of those things do we value and want to hold on to is maybe open to debate.

Also, I am a Gemini, so I think maybe I have an extreme version of that, where I really do feel like I exist as a different version of myself with each person that I’m close to. But not in a false way! I feel like when people talk about this, often it sounds like a Talented Mr. Ripley situation, where you’re intentionally putting on an act, but I don’t think it’s that. I think it’s that there is that aspect of you existing already, and different people access or wake up or connect to those different parts of yourself.

.css-1aear8u:before{margin:0 auto 0.9375rem;width:34px;height:25px;content:'';display:block;background-repeat:no-repeat;}.loaded .css-1aear8u:before{background-image:url(/_assets/design-tokens/elle/static/images/quote.fddce92.svg);} .css-1bvxk2j{font-family:SaolDisplay,SaolDisplay-fallback,SaolDisplay-roboto,SaolDisplay-local,Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:1.625rem;font-weight:normal;line-height:1.2;margin:0rem;margin-bottom:0.3125rem;}@media(max-width: 48rem){.css-1bvxk2j{font-size:2.125rem;line-height:1.1;}}@media(min-width: 40.625rem){.css-1bvxk2j{font-size:2.125rem;line-height:1.2;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-1bvxk2j{font-size:2.25rem;line-height:1.1;}}@media(min-width: 73.75rem){.css-1bvxk2j{font-size:2.375rem;line-height:1.2;}}.css-1bvxk2j b,.css-1bvxk2j strong{font-family:inherit;font-weight:bold;}.css-1bvxk2j em,.css-1bvxk2j i{font-style:italic;font-family:inherit;}.css-1bvxk2j i,.css-1bvxk2j em{font-style:italic;} That’s what we want most as human beings, I think, right? To be seen and known and loved for all the different versions of ourselves.”

That’s a lot of what the thrill of connecting with someone in a really intense way is— maybe that person’s connecting with a part of you that has never really been witnessed or engaged with before. And that’s what we want most as human beings, I think, right? To be seen and known and loved for all the different versions of ourselves.

That’s part of where the limitation of the precedents we give to romantic love comes in: this expectation that one person should see and understand and love and speak to every single aspect of you. I just don’t think that’s real and possible. There’s a version of me that I am at home with my spouse, and that is a version of me that I’m comfortable being most of the time. Maybe that’s what we pick a significant other based on, like, “Okay, this is the default, main relationship feeling that I’m happy to inhabit and live in most of the time.” But I still crave those connections with the people who are important in my life. I still need to go and visit a close friend and go be this other version of myself for a while.

At the risk of sounding wildly cliché, it is so much harder to be our “full selves” than we often care to realize. There’s so many layers to who we are that we do need to surround ourselves with people who draw out different elements. That’s not a negative thing.

And that doesn’t mean any of those elements are less authentic.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

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Shelf Life: Miranda July

Kaliane Bradley on The Ministry of Time

Read an Excerpt from 'The Midnight Feast'

Shelf Life: Claire Messud

Honor Levy Says ‘Goodnight Meme’

Shelf Life: Jen Psaki

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Kelsey McKinney Has a Juicy New Book on the Way

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Photo essay: A collection of our favorite Houston Landing photos for April 2024

Last week, I started typing up a list in the Notes app on my iPhone entitled “Compelling Visual Storytelling Scenes.”

Photos have always given me perspective, and I wanted to compile a list of scenes that stirred a strong sense of emotion in me. Some of the pictures on this list are from moments we photographed at the Landing; others are photos made by other colleagues.

I created the list to inspire both you, the reader, and our newsroom – reporters, editors and photographers alike – as we continue to brainstorm and dissect which elements make for a captivating photo. 

The list includes examples of real moments:

• A father fighting back tears at his daughter’s high school graduation while facing an imminent deportation order
• A truck driver taking a break from their route to play the guitar in a field
• A man training his dog without a care in the world with a refinery literally on fire in the background

This month, Houston Landing’s best photography captured several scenes I know will be engraved in my memory: 

• Iqra Ali and Ali Aamar trying a football toss at an arcade during an Eid al-Fitr celebration in Houston, photographed by independent photojournalist Mark Felix
• Beautifully silhouetted actresses playing the roles of Jesus Christ’s followers before the Stations of the Cross on Good Friday at Queen of Peace Catholic Church, by staff photojournalist Antranik Tavitian
• Houston Mayor John Whitmire, who, instead of standing behind a podium, stakes a sign into the ground while announcing that the controversial Freed-Montrose Neighborhood Library will remain open, a moment-based image taken by independent photojournalist Meridith Kohut

Moments ground us, and April’s selection of Landing photojournalism memorializes those moments — whether it’s independent photographer Annie Mulligan’s picture of third graders at Anderson Elementary School gasping in awe at the solar eclipse, or a snapshot from independent photographer Meridith Kohut of 10-year-old William Lee launching a dragon kite into the air during the Hermann Park Conservancy’s Kite Festival.

I urge you, as a Landing reader, to spend some time with this month’s compilation of photos and to challenge yourself to consider how a picture turns a story from a string of words into a moment encapsulated in color and shape.

The list in my iPhone’s Notes app came from my desire to encourage our staff to reconsider how journalists incorporate and prioritize visual storytelling in our overall work. Photos comprise individual moments of time, yes, but they also complete — not just enhance — the overall story we publish.

The post Photo essay: A collection of our favorite Houston Landing photos for April 2024 appeared first on Houston Landing .

Inspire your students to be curious about the world around them with the best nonfiction books for kids. 

Designed with all ages in mind, these children’s nonfiction titles will explore themes like science, history, and more that will appeal to every kind of reader and their interests. Whether they're exploring a memoir or biography, diving into poignant historical accounts in picture books or chapter books, or looking up information in reference books, these titles allow students to make real-world connections through their reading. 

Check out this collection of recommended nonfiction titles along with teaching tips for this important genre — and help students find books they connect with!