Molly Ringwald, When It Happens to You
A kaleidoscopic view of a relationship in crisis from an actor who understands charactersWhether it’s a chance encounter or code-red crisis, every gesture in Molly Ringwald’s fiction debut has a ripple...
View ArticleRyan Holiday, Trust Me, I’m Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator
A media con man proves there's a sucker blogging every minuteAs epiphanies go, Ryan Holiday’s came pretty late. By the time the self-styled media manipulator decided to come clean, he’d already spent...
View ArticleJesse Bering, Why Is the Penis Shaped Like That? And Other Reflections on...
Raising questions (among other things) about the science of human sexualityJesse Bering is sort of the Michael Pollan of boners; he’s read up, studied up, sought out, asked around and second-guessed...
View ArticleHenri Charrière, Papillon
The world's greatest escapee tells his own storyPapillon, Henri Charrière’s bestselling memoir of his incarceration and escape from the French penal colony of Devil’s Island, has seen many iterations:...
View ArticleNeil Young, Waging Heavy Peace
A fireside chat with the rock 'n' roll grampa you never hadHave you ever wished your grandfather told cooler stories? Like, say, about driving his band across the Canadian prairies in an ancient hearse...
View ArticleJ.R. Moehringer, Sutton
A witty, whiskey-soaked romp with a Prohibition-era bank-robbing heroWake up in Attica, go to bed at the Plaza. Fuckin’ America. Such was the life of bank robber Willie “The Actor” Sutton, an Irish kid...
View ArticleJunot Díaz, This Is How You Lose Her
Loosely connected short love stories full of snappy dialogue, dark wit and frank sexuality.Some books, like some songs and movies, can be so achingly sad they’re pleasurable, and that’s the perfect...
View ArticleDavid Sedaris, Holidays on Ice
Arguably the most memorable non-Jesus-related Christmas story of all time.Chances are you’ve already heard, or read, “The Santaland Diaries.” David Sedaris true-but-ridiculous memoir of his stint as an...
View ArticleJean Shepard, A Christmas Story
Reading the book behind the classic movie is like discovering Muddy Waters after a lifetime of Rolling Stones.Listening to Jean Shepard’s A Christmas Story is a little like discovering Muddy Waters...
View ArticleHarris Wittels, Humblebrag
One of our funniest comedians reveals the fine art of Twitter boastingTwitter has made great strides in the field of famous/non-famous-people relations. Now not only can we make our tiny voices heard –...
View ArticleLibba Bray, The Diviners
A treat as bubbly and illicit as bootleg champagneIn this eponymous first installment of her new The Diviners series, YA favorite Libba Bray takes on a genuinely wild ride. It’s the height of the Jazz...
View ArticleZadie Smith, NW
A looping, far-reaching novel of voice and identityThe title of Zadie Smith’s fourth novel refers to the neighborhood of North West London, where, for Smith’s characters, the main currency is voice. NW...
View ArticleJohn Taylor, In the Pleasure Groove
Short, melodic, to the point and just a little dark — just like a Duran Duran song.For fans of the ’80s superpop group Duran Duran (and let’s be real: Who isn’t one?), John Taylor’s sweet...
View ArticleLouise Erdrich, The Round House
A wrenching look at the grey areas of justice, sex, family and ethnic identity.Returning to the some of the same characters and geographies as in her 2008 novel The Plague of Doves, Louise Erdrich’s...
View ArticleChinua Achebe, There Was a Country
Marries poetry and prose in a straightforward, in-depth personal history of the little-discussed Nigerian Civil WarThere Was a Country, Chinua Achebe’s firsthand account of the Nigerian civil war,...
View ArticleEmma Donoghue, Astray
Far-flung tales of immigration and exile linked by a common humanity.Loosely organized around themes of displacement and exile, Emma Donoghue’s follow up to her shattering Room is something of a palate...
View ArticleBrom, Krampus: The Yule Lord
A bold fantasy imagines a dark shadow lurking below some beloved Christmas traditions.Giving “Christmas spirit” a new meaning, Brom’s bold fantasy novel just might make you think differently about that...
View ArticleCaroline de Margerie, American Lady: The Life of Susan Mary Alsop
A frothy biography of the Georgetown hostess that focuses on the boldfaced names she knew.Nancy Mitford modeled a character on her, but it was as a comically priggish American. As revealed in Caroline...
View ArticleGeorge Saunders, Tenth of December
Hilarious, trenchant short stories from a master of human empathyIn Tenth of December, George Saunders uses satire to hilariously and trenchantly critique societal institutions and our roles in them...
View ArticleWendy McClure, The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little...
An adventure through the surprisingly grown-up world of the beloved children's seriesThough the 1970s TV series starring Michael Landon cemented its status as a classic, Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little...
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