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Book reviews & excerpts from exceptional essay collections.

Essays

Recommended books found: 35

On Morrison

by Namwali Serpell

Hardcover: Feb 2026

Critics' Consensus:

An illuminating, electrifying exploration of the work of Toni Morrison by an award-winning novelist and Harvard professor.

One Aladdin Two Lamps

by Jeanette Winterson

Hardcover: Jan 2026

Critics' Consensus:

"One of the most daring and inventive writers of our time" (Elle) weaves together memoir, manifesto, and a feminist reimagining of One Thousand and One Nights in this impassioned exploration of the power of reading.

Alligator Tears

A Memoir in Essays

by Edgar Gomez

Hardcover: Feb 2025

Critics' Consensus:

A darkly comic memoir-in-essays about the scam of the American Dream and doing whatever it takes to survive in the Sunshine State—from the award-winning author of High-Risk Homosexual.

I Just Keep Talking

A Life in Essays

by Nell Irvin Painter

Hardcover: Apr 2024

Critics' Consensus:

From the New York Times bestselling author of The History of White People and Old in Art School, a finalist for the NBCC Award, comes a comprehensive new collection of essays spanning art, politics, and the legacy of racism that shapes American ...

Somehow

Thoughts on Love

by Anne Lamott

Hardcover: Apr 2024

Critics' Consensus:

From the bestselling author of Dusk, Night, Dawn and Help, Thanks, Wow, a joyful celebration of love

A Map of Future Ruins

On Borders and Belonging

by Lauren Markham

Hardcover: Feb 2024

Critics' Consensus:

A mesmerizing, trailblazing synthesis of reporting, history, memoir, and essay.

Transient and Strange

Notes on the Science of Life

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

Hardcover: Jan 2024

Critics' Consensus:

An astonishing debut from the beloved NPR science correspondent: intimate essays about the intersection of science and everyday life.

How Far the Light Reaches

A Life in Ten Sea Creatures

by Sabrina Imbler

Hardcover: Dec 2022 | Paperback: Jan 2024

Critics' Consensus:

A queer, mixed race writer working in a largely white, male field, science and conservation journalist Sabrina Imbler has always been drawn to the mystery of life in the sea, and particularly to creatures living in hostile or remote environments.

Portable Magic

A History of Books and Their Readers

by Emma Smith

Hardcover: Nov 2022

Critics' Consensus:

A history of one of humankind's most resilient and influential technologies over the past millennium—the book.

How to Read Now

Essays

by Elaine Castillo

Hardcover: Jul 2022

Critics' Consensus:

An exploration and polemic that redefines the power and potential for reading by a novelist whose "prose is as good as it gets" (NPR) and who has "a real voice: vernacular and fluid, with a take-no-prisoners edge" (Kirkus).

Crossing the River

Seven Stories That Saved My Life, A Memoir

by Carol Smith

Hardcover: May 2021 | Paperback: May 2022

Critics' Consensus:

A powerful exploration of grief following the death of the author's son that combines memoir, reportage, and lessons in how to heal.

Serious Face

Essays

by Jon Mooallem

Hardcover: May 2022

Critics' Consensus:

From the discovery of the author's face in a century-old photograph to a triple-amputee hospice director working at the border of life and death, here are thirteen hopeful, heartbreaking, and profound essays from "one of the most intelligent, ...

The reviewer of each book decides which categories it belongs in - but we're only human, mistakes happen. If you see a book that you think is in the wrong place, tell us!

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