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Gather 'round — we have some fall reading recommendations for you. Above, children listen to a story in Central Park on Oct. 23, 2017. Don Emmert/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Here are the new books we're looking forward to this fall

September 4, 2024 • Bad news: Summer's over. Good news: Fall books are here! We've got a list of 16 titles — fiction and nonfiction — you'll want to look out for.

Anne Lamott reflects on aging. Sam Lamott/Sam Lamott hide caption

Perspective

Consider this from npr, anne lamott has some ideas on getting older in the united states.

September 12, 2024 • Getting older has been a punchline for as long as anyone can remember. And while there are plenty of jokes to be made about aging, it can also have some negative implications for how we see ourselves and others.

Hanif Abdurraqib on Wild Card with Rachel Martin Megan Barnard/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

Wild Card with Rachel Martin

Hanif abdurraqib is a 'genius.' his friends aren't impressed.

September 12, 2024 • Hanif Abdurraqib's writing has earned him a MacArthur "genius" grant. His most recent book, There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension , landed a spot on Barack Obama's summer reading list. But those accolades don't matter to him as much as being a good friend and neighbor. Abdurraqib talks to Rachel about a youth spent unhoused and incarcerated, and the zen of making mixtapes.

After buying Twitter in 2022, Elon Musk changed the company's name to X. Alain Jocard/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

What Musk's Twitter takeover could tell us about a possible government appointment

September 11, 2024 • After buying Twitter in 2022, Elon Musk instituted sweeping changes — including rebranding the social media platform as "X." Authors Kate Conger and Ryan Mac recount the takeover in Character Limit.

The StraightForward Foundation helps Russian authors publish abroad. Here are the French and Russian edition covers of a book about the Russian mercenary Wagner Group, by Ilia Barabanov and Denis Korotkov. Edition Flammarion; Meduza.io hide caption

Russian publishers in exile release books the Kremlin would ban

September 11, 2024 • In Vladimir Putin’s Russia, writing about the war in Ukraine, the church or LGBTQ+ life could land you in jail. A new organization helps authors publish books in Russian they couldn't back home.

Crater Lake Simon and Schuster hide caption

Rachel Kushner's new espionage thriller may be her coolest book yet

September 10, 2024 • In Creation Lake, a hard-drinking American spy infiltrates a radical farming collective in a remote region of France. Kushner challenges readers to keep up with her and not to flinch.

By the time he left 10 Downing Street in 2007, Tony Blair had gone from being Britain's most popular prime minister when he entered office to a deeply divisive leader a decade later. Dan Kitwood/Getty Images hide caption

Tony Blair urges leaders to ignore 'waves of populist opinion'

September 10, 2024 • Tony Blair's On Leadership: Lessons for the 21st Century is the political leadership guide he says he would have wanted in 1997, at the start of his 10-year tenure as British prime minister.

ON LEADERSHIP - TONY BLAIR

'Colored Television' is an ungentle satire set in post-post-racial America

September 9, 2024 • Danzy Senna's new novel is an exhilarating yet poignant riff on the struggling artist as a wannabe middle-aged sellout. The writing is endlessly quotable and meaningfully provocative.

'We're Alone,' but together, in Edwidge Danticat's remarkable essays

September 9, 2024 • With clear, concise prose that delves into harsh topics without losing its sense of humor, Danticat once again proves that she is one of contemporary literature's strongest, most graceful voices.

Picture This

Some babysitters are forever — just ask 'señora mimí'.

September 8, 2024 • Ana is so excited that her abuela is coming to live with her — until it means saying goodbye to her babysitter. No More Señora Mimí is an ode to caregivers from Meg Medina and Brittany Cicchese.

PICTURE THIS: No More Señora Mimí

Everything is the worst in this 'Banal Nightmare'

September 8, 2024 • Novelist Halle Butler understands our worst enemy is sometimes our own brain. Her dark, chaotic novel manages to be often hilarious yet relentlessly uncheerful.

Ian Frazier's Paradise BRonx Farrar, Straus and Giroux hide caption

Bullseye with Jesse Thorn

The history of the bronx with writer ian frazier.

September 6, 2024 • Ian Frazier, is a writer who, for lack of a better term, does the thing. If there is a place that fascinates him he goes to that place, immerses himself in it, and writes about it. And that's exactly what he did for his new book about the Bronx called Paradise Bronx . He joins us to talk about the history of the New York borough and even tells us how he mapped out the radius in which residents can smell cookies from a local bakery. Plus, he shares what items he brings with him when he goes out to explore a city.

Listen to this Episode

'I Just Keep Talking' is a refreshing and wide-ranging essay collection

September 5, 2024 • Scholar, historian, artist and raconteur Nell Irvin Painter is the author of The History of White People and Old in Art School. Her latest book is an insightful addition to her canon.

The cover of the Yup'ik alphabet coloring book. Courtesy of Nikki Corbett hide caption

These Alaska moms couldn’t find a Yup’ik children’s book. So they made one themselves

September 4, 2024 • Yup’ik is the most spoken Native language in Alaska, but finding Yup’ik books for young children can be almost impossible. These moms created their own – and now they’re fielding nearly 1,000 orders.

Yup'ik mom in Alaska creates her own books to teach her kids the Yup'ik language

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is sworn-in during her Supreme Court confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 21, 2022. Drew Angerer/Getty Images hide caption

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson shares the poem she's kept in every one of her offices

September 4, 2024 • The first Black woman appointed to the Supreme Court says Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, "The Ladder of Saint Augustine," has been a guiding principle. Jackson's new memoir is Lovely One.

Ketanji Brown Jackson talks with All Things Considered co-host Juana Summers. Zayrha Rodriguez/NPR hide caption

Ketanji Brown Jackson chronicles her path to the Supreme Court

September 3, 2024 • When Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson entered the national spotlight, she found praise and also criticism.

Danzy Senna says her first novel, Caucasia, was met with acclaim. "But one of the things I kept hearing from publishers was: Don't do this again. Don't keep writing about mixed-ness. ... it's that idea that you're a predicament. You're not a world." Her latest novel is Colored Television. Dustin Snipes/Penguin Random House hide caption

'I want to write myself into existence,' says 'Colored Television' author

September 3, 2024 • Danzy Senna was born in 1970, just a few years after Loving v. Virginia legalized interracial marriage. “Just merely existing as a family was a radical statement at that time,” she says.

Algorithms are in everything from your social media use to how many companies curate your playlists. Researcher Joy Buolamwini and writer Kyle Chayka question the extent of their influence and helpfulness. Qi Yang/Getty Images hide caption

Algorithms don't just pick playlists. They're changing your life

September 3, 2024 • Humans hallucinate. Algorithms lie.

'The Dictionary Story' is a kids' book that defies definition

August 31, 2024 • Dictionary wants to bring her pages to life but then a hungry alligator chasing a donut crashes into a queen who slips on some soap and chaos ensues. Can Dictionary put herself back together again?

Grief is complicated, but author Annie Sklaver Orenstein tells Morning Edition there are simple ways to help those grieving a loss. Getty Images hide caption

Mental Health

Grieving the dead is complicated. here's how you can help someone experiencing loss.

August 31, 2024 • Annie Sklaver Orenstein, author of Always a Sibling: The Forgotten Mourner’s Guide to Grief , tells Morning Edition that grief is complicated but there are simple things someone can do for those going through it.

Complex grief: Coping with the loss of a sibling

Lynda Barry was a 2019 recipients of MacArthur "Genius" Grant. John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation hide caption

Cartoonist Lynda Barry

August 30, 2024 • Lynda Barry is a legend of alternative comics. These days, she teaches at the University of Wisconsin. Her book What It Is , was recently re-issued on paperback. When we talked to Lynda in 2020, she'd just released Making Comics . It's sort of an illustrated guide on how to create comics. At the heart of the book is a belief Lynda has: Anybody can draw. Anyone can make comics. Yes, even you!

This is genius: A new graphic novel imagines conversations between Einstein and Kafka

August 28, 2024 • Turns out Albert Einstein and Franz Kafka lived in Prague at the same time and had the same circle of friends. In a new graphic novel, Ken Krimstein puts us in the room with two 20th century geniuses.

An illustrated portrait of the famous intellectual and writer James Baldwin. Jackie Lay hide caption

Code Switch

What james baldwin can teach us about israel, and ourselves.

August 28, 2024 • It's been more than ten months since devastating violence began unfolding in Israel and Gaza. And in the midst of all the death, so many people are trying to better understand what's going on in that region, and how the United States is implicated in it. So on this episode, we're looking back to the writing of James Baldwin, whose views on the country transformed significantly over the course of his life. His thoughts offer some ideas about how to grapple with trauma, and how to bridge the gap between places and ideas that, on their surface, might seem oceans apart.

Leonard Riggio, then chairman of Barnes & Noble, arrives at a bookstore in New York on Sept. 12, 2017. Riggio died on Tuesday. Seth Wenig/AP hide caption

Leonard Riggio, who built Barnes & Noble into a bookselling empire, dies at 83

August 27, 2024 • Leonard Riggio transformed the publishing industry by building Barnes & Noble into the country’s most powerful bookseller before his company was overtaken by the rise of Amazon.

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The 10 Best Book Reviews of 2021

Merve emre on simone de beauvoir, justin taylor on joy williams, and more.

The older I get, the more I’m interested in critics who play around with form and style. Mixing genres, experimenting with voice and structure, and tapping into personal experience are some of my favorite devices, though I still have a soft spot for the formal limitations of an 800-word newspaper writeup. From longform online essays to crisp perspectives in print, here are my 10 favorite book reviews of 2021.

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

Parul Sehgal on Soyica Diggs Colbert’s Radical Vision: A Biography of Lorraine Hansberry ( New York Times )

Sehgal deftly takes on the style of the theatre in her review of a book about Chicago’s greatest playwright, by opening her first paragraph like the first scene in a play.

“The curtain rises on a dim, drab room. An alarm sounds, and a woman wakes. She tries to rouse her sleeping child and husband, calling out: ‘Get up!’ It is the opening scene—and the injunction—of Lorraine Hansberry’s 1959 play A Raisin in the Sun , the story of a Black family living on the South Side of Chicago.”

Merve Emre on Simone de Beauvoir’s The Inseparables (tr. Lauren Elkin) ( The New Yorker )

Emre always helps readers see things in a new way, in this case not just Simone de Beauvoir’s lost novel, but also Simone de Beauvoir herself.

“To read The Inseparables is to learn what could have been, and to judge what was a little more harshly. It is to see in the memoirs a lingering refusal to give Zaza the autonomy that everyone in life seems to have denied her at the greatest possible cost. And it is to see in The Second Sex an inability, or perhaps an unwillingness, to make as affirmative a case as possible for lesbian identity.”

Victoria Chang and Dean Rader on Douglas Kearney’s Sho ( Los Angeles Review of Books )

Reviews-in-dialogue are my new favorite thing. I love how naturalistic and conversational they are, as the form really allows critics to be themselves. Chang and Rader are a joy to read.

“Kearney’s body of work is very much about play with language, yet, that somehow feels like it diminishes the political aspects of his poems and his body of work. Perhaps play itself in Kearney’s work is a political act. I find this tension fascinating because on the one hand, I often get carried away in Kearney’s language (and the conceptual aspects of his work), but I’m also acutely aware of the humanity in his work (or the exploration of anti-humanity). In this way, maybe play and the political are not mutually exclusive. Maybe for Kearney, play = confrontation.”

J. Howard Rosier on Frederick Seidel’s Selected Poems ( Poetry Foundation )

Rosier does a great job bringing paratext to bear on the text itself, in this case interviews and Seidel’s other work.

“For a poet as revered as Seidel, there are scant mentions of turns of phrase being Seidelian, few poetic narratives or structures construed as Seidelesque. Chalk it up to the oddity of a formalist disassociating form from content; Seidel uses form like a hypnotist to mesmerize readers so that they are sedated, or at the very least put at ease, in spite of his content.”

Sheila Liming on Edith Wharton’s Ghosts ( Cleveland Review of Books )

Every editor’s dream assignment is a critic with deep subject matter expertise, and you can’t beat Liming—author of What A Library Means to A Woman: Edith Wharton and the Will to Collect Books —writing about Wharton’s ghost stories.

“Here are ‘fetches’ (ominous doppelgangers) of Celtic superstition, zombie mistresses rising from the grave, and ghost dogs, even. But for each of these paranormal threats there is an equally normal, equally mundane, and equally human villain attached to the story. In this way, Wharton’s Ghosts can be read and interpreted in concert with many of her better-known works, including novels like The House of Mirth and The Age of Innocence , which tell stories of everyday human malice.”

Meg Ringer on Jon McGregor’s Lean Fall Stand ( Chicago Review of Books )

Some of the best reviews are the product of a critic who brings personal experience into their analysis of the book at hand. Ringer’s perspective on Lean Fall Stand is full of unique insights and emotional power. (Disclosure: I founded the Chicago Review of Books in 2016, but stepped back from an editorial role in 2019.)

“Though there was a time—before we met, before his diagnosis—when my husband traveled to Antarctica, Robert and Anna’s story is not ours. It is barely even close. But Lean Fall Stand reads like a meditation on the questions we all must someday face: Who am I? What can I stand? Who will be there when I fall?”

Ryan Ruby on Peter Weiss ( The Point )

Speaking of hybrids between personal essays and reviews, Ruby’s experience discovering the work of Weiss during the 2016 election is riveting stuff.

“By creating physical objects that survive their creators and the world in which they were made, the artist helps to manufacture the continuity of our collective experience of historical time, and to the extent that it distinguishes itself, the work of art can become a symbol of that continuity. ‘Imagination lived so long as human beings who resisted lived,’ the narrator writes, but in the end what Weiss demonstrates in The Aesthetic of Resistance is that the converse is also true, and just as important, then as now, for what the imagination always has and always will resist is death.”

Justin Taylor on Joy Williams’ Harrow ( Bookforum )

I love a good delayed lede. In this marvelous example, the title of the book Taylor’s reviewing doesn’t even appear until more than 800 words have passed.

“I drove across the Everglades in May. I had originally planned to take Alligator Alley, but someone tipped me off that, in the twenty years since I left South Florida, the historically wild and lonesome stretch of road had been fully incorporated into I-75, turned into a standard highway corridor with tall concrete walls on both sides, designed to keep the traffic noise in and the alligators out.”

Lauren LeBlanc on Maurice Carlos Ruffin’s The Ones Who Don’t Say They Love You ( Los Angeles Times )

Ruffin’s fiction does a lot of interesting things with place, and LeBlanc smartly centers her review on New Orleans, as well as the way Ruffin subverts geographical expectations.

“Several recent story collections (Bryan Washington’s Lot and Dantiel W. Moniz’s Blood Milk Heat spring to mind) present geographies as characters. While Ruffin’s stories can’t help but transport the reader to humid, sunken, decaying New Orleans, it’s too easy to say this book is merely a set of love songs to the city. What makes such collections ring true is the way they subvert conventional knowledge.”

Victor LaValle on James Han Mattson’s Reprieve ( New York Times )

Opening a review with a question can be a powerful way to focus a reader’s attention, as LaValle does here with a compelling lede drawn from his own insights as a horror fiction writer.

“Why do people enjoy being scared? This is a pretty common question for those of us who write horror, or stories tinged with horror, and maybe for those who design roller coasters too. Why do some people take pleasure in terror?”

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The Greatest Books of All Time

Click to learn how this list is calculated.

This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 343 'best of' book lists to form a definitive guide to the world's most acclaimed books. For those interested in how these books are chosen, additional details can be found on the rankings page .

List Calculation Details

Reading statistics.

Click the button below to see how many of these books you've read!

If you're interested in downloading this list as a CSV file for use in a spreadsheet application, you can easily do so by clicking the button below. Please note that to ensure a manageable file size and faster download, the CSV will include details for only the first 500 books.

1. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Set in the summer of 1922, the novel follows the life of a young and mysterious millionaire, his extravagant lifestyle in Long Island, and his obsessive love for a beautiful former debutante. As the story unfolds, the millionaire's dark secrets and the corrupt reality of the American dream during the Jazz Age are revealed. The narrative is a critique of the hedonistic excess and moral decay of the era, ultimately leading to tragic consequences.

2. In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust

This renowned novel is a sweeping exploration of memory, love, art, and the passage of time, told through the narrator's recollections of his childhood and experiences into adulthood in the late 19th and early 20th century aristocratic France. The narrative is notable for its lengthy and intricate involuntary memory episodes, the most famous being the "madeleine episode". It explores the themes of time, space and memory, but also raises questions about the nature of art and literature, and the complex relationships between love, sexuality, and possession.

3. Ulysses by James Joyce

Set in Dublin, the novel follows a day in the life of Leopold Bloom, an advertising salesman, as he navigates the city. The narrative, heavily influenced by Homer's Odyssey, explores themes of identity, heroism, and the complexities of everyday life. It is renowned for its stream-of-consciousness style and complex structure, making it a challenging but rewarding read.

4. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

This novel is a multi-generational saga that focuses on the Buendía family, who founded the fictional town of Macondo. It explores themes of love, loss, family, and the cyclical nature of history. The story is filled with magical realism, blending the supernatural with the ordinary, as it chronicles the family's experiences, including civil war, marriages, births, and deaths. The book is renowned for its narrative style and its exploration of solitude, fate, and the inevitability of repetition in history.

5. The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger

The novel follows the story of a teenager named Holden Caulfield, who has just been expelled from his prep school. The narrative unfolds over the course of three days, during which Holden experiences various forms of alienation and his mental state continues to unravel. He criticizes the adult world as "phony" and struggles with his own transition into adulthood. The book is a profound exploration of teenage rebellion, alienation, and the loss of innocence.

6. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

Or, the confession of a white widowed male.

The novel tells the story of Humbert Humbert, a man with a disturbing obsession for young girls, or "nymphets" as he calls them. His obsession leads him to engage in a manipulative and destructive relationship with his 12-year-old stepdaughter, Lolita. The narrative is a controversial exploration of manipulation, obsession, and unreliable narration, as Humbert attempts to justify his actions and feelings throughout the story.

7. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Set in 19th-century Russia, this novel revolves around the life of Anna Karenina, a high-society woman who, dissatisfied with her loveless marriage, embarks on a passionate affair with a charming officer named Count Vronsky. This scandalous affair leads to her social downfall, while parallel to this, the novel also explores the rural life and struggles of Levin, a landowner who seeks the meaning of life and true happiness. The book explores themes such as love, marriage, fidelity, societal norms, and the human quest for happiness.

8. Nineteen Eighty Four by George Orwell

Set in a dystopian future, the novel presents a society under the total control of a totalitarian regime, led by the omnipresent Big Brother. The protagonist, a low-ranking member of 'the Party', begins to question the regime and falls in love with a woman, an act of rebellion in a world where independent thought, dissent, and love are prohibited. The novel explores themes of surveillance, censorship, and the manipulation of truth.

9. Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

Or, the whale.

The novel is a detailed narrative of a vengeful sea captain's obsessive quest to hunt down a giant white sperm whale that bit off his leg. The captain's relentless pursuit, despite the warnings and concerns of his crew, leads them on a dangerous journey across the seas. The story is a complex exploration of good and evil, obsession, and the nature of reality, filled with rich descriptions of whaling and the sea.

10. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes

The ingenious gentleman don quixote of la mancha.

This classic novel follows the adventures of a man who, driven mad by reading too many chivalric romances, decides to become a knight-errant and roam the world righting wrongs under the name Don Quixote. Accompanied by his loyal squire, Sancho Panza, he battles windmills he believes to be giants and champions the virtuous lady Dulcinea, who is in reality a simple peasant girl. The book is a richly layered critique of the popular literature of Cervantes' time and a profound exploration of reality and illusion, madness and sanity.

11. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

This classic novel is a tale of love, revenge and social class set in the Yorkshire moors. It revolves around the intense, complex relationship between Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff, an orphan adopted by Catherine's father. Despite their deep affection for each other, Catherine marries Edgar Linton, a wealthy neighbor, leading Heathcliff to seek revenge on the two families. The story unfolds over two generations, reflecting the consequences of their choices and the destructive power of obsessive love.

12. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

A young, impoverished former student in Saint Petersburg, Russia, formulates a plan to kill an unscrupulous pawnbroker to redistribute her wealth among the needy. However, after carrying out the act, he is consumed by guilt and paranoia, leading to a psychological battle within himself. As he grapples with his actions, he also navigates complex relationships with a variety of characters, including a virtuous prostitute, his sister, and a relentless detective. The narrative explores themes of morality, redemption, and the psychological impacts of crime.

13. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Set in early 19th-century England, this classic novel revolves around the lives of the Bennet family, particularly the five unmarried daughters. The narrative explores themes of manners, upbringing, morality, education, and marriage within the society of the landed gentry. It follows the romantic entanglements of Elizabeth Bennet, the second eldest daughter, who is intelligent, lively, and quick-witted, and her tumultuous relationship with the proud, wealthy, and seemingly aloof Mr. Darcy. Their story unfolds as they navigate societal expectations, personal misunderstandings, and their own pride and prejudice.

14. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Set in the racially charged South during the Depression, the novel follows a young girl and her older brother as they navigate their small town's societal norms and prejudices. Their father, a lawyer, is appointed to defend a black man falsely accused of raping a white woman, forcing the children to confront the harsh realities of racism and injustice. The story explores themes of morality, innocence, and the loss of innocence through the eyes of the young protagonists.

15. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

Set in the backdrop of the Napoleonic era, the novel presents a panorama of Russian society and its descent into the chaos of war. It follows the interconnected lives of five aristocratic families, their struggles, romances, and personal journeys through the tumultuous period of history. The narrative explores themes of love, war, and the meaning of life, as it weaves together historical events with the personal stories of its characters.

16. The Stranger by Albert Camus

The narrative follows a man who, after the death of his mother, falls into a routine of indifference and emotional detachment, leading him to commit an act of violence on a sun-drenched beach. His subsequent trial becomes less about the act itself and more about his inability to conform to societal norms and expectations, ultimately exploring themes of existentialism, absurdism, and the human condition.

17. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner

The novel is a complex exploration of the tragic Compson family from the American South. Told from four distinct perspectives, the story unfolds through stream of consciousness narratives, each revealing their own understanding of the family's decline. The characters grapple with post-Civil War societal changes, personal loss, and their own mental instability. The narrative is marked by themes of time, innocence, and the burdens of the past.

18. The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien

The fellowship of the ring, the two towers, the return of the king.

This epic high-fantasy novel centers around a modest hobbit who is entrusted with the task of destroying a powerful ring that could enable the dark lord to conquer the world. Accompanied by a diverse group of companions, the hobbit embarks on a perilous journey across Middle-earth, battling evil forces and facing numerous challenges. The narrative, rich in mythology and complex themes of good versus evil, friendship, and heroism, has had a profound influence on the fantasy genre.

19. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

Madame Bovary is a tragic novel about a young woman, Emma Bovary, who is married to a dull, but kind-hearted doctor. Dissatisfied with her life, she embarks on a series of extramarital affairs and indulges in a luxurious lifestyle in an attempt to escape the banalities and emptiness of provincial life. Her desire for passion and excitement leads her down a path of financial ruin and despair, ultimately resulting in a tragic end.

20. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

A novel in four parts with epilogue.

This classic novel explores the complex, passionate, and troubled relationship between four brothers and their father in 19th century Russia. The narrative delves into the themes of faith, doubt, morality, and redemption, as each brother grapples with personal dilemmas and family conflicts. The story culminates in a dramatic trial following a murder, which serves as a microcosm of the moral and philosophical struggles faced by each character, and by extension, humanity itself.

21. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

This novel follows the story of a young girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantastical world full of peculiar creatures and bizarre experiences. As she navigates through this strange land, she encounters a series of nonsensical events, including a tea party with a Mad Hatter, a pool of tears, and a trial over stolen tarts. The book is renowned for its playful use of language, logic, and its exploration of the boundaries of reality.

22. The Odyssey by Homer

This epic poem follows the Greek hero Odysseus on his journey home after the fall of Troy. It takes Odysseus ten years to reach Ithaca after the ten-year Trojan War. Along the way, he encounters many obstacles including mythical creatures, divine beings, and natural disasters. Meanwhile, back in Ithaca, his wife Penelope and son Telemachus fend off suitors vying for Penelope's hand in marriage, believing Odysseus to be dead. The story concludes with Odysseus's return, his slaughter of the suitors, and his reunion with his family.

23. The Bible by Unknown

The Bible is the central religious text of Christianity, comprising the Old and New Testaments. It features a diverse collection of writings including historical narratives, poetry, prophecies, and teachings. These texts chronicle the relationship between God and humanity, detail the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and follow the early Christian church. Considered divinely inspired by believers, it serves as a foundational guide for faith and practice, influencing countless aspects of culture and society worldwide.

24. The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri

Inferno, purgatorio, paradiso.

In this epic poem, the protagonist embarks on an extraordinary journey through Hell (Inferno), Purgatory (Purgatorio), and Paradise (Paradiso). Guided by the ancient Roman poet Virgil and his beloved Beatrice, he encounters various historical and mythological figures in each realm, witnessing the eternal consequences of earthly sins and virtues. The journey serves as an allegory for the soul's progression towards God, offering profound insights into the nature of good and evil, free will, and divine justice.

25. Middlemarch by George Eliot

A study of provincial life.

Set in the fictitious English town of Middlemarch during the early 19th century, the novel explores the complex web of relationships in a close-knit society. It follows the lives of several characters, primarily Dorothea Brooke, a young woman of idealistic fervor, and Tertius Lydgate, an ambitious young doctor, who both grapple with societal expectations, personal desires, and moral dilemmas. Their stories intertwine with a rich tapestry of other townsfolk, reflecting themes of love, marriage, ambition, and reform, making a profound commentary on the human condition.

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The 13 Best Book Review Sites and Book Rating Sites

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Nobody likes to spend money on a new book only to face that overwhelming feeling of disappointment when it doesn't live up to your expectations. The solution is to check out a few book review sites before you hit the shops. The greater the diversity of opinions you can gather, the more confidence you can have that you'll enjoy the title.

Which book review and book rating sites are worth considering? Here are the best ones.

1. Goodreads

Goodreads is arguably the leading online community for book lovers. If you want some inspiration for which novel or biography to read next, this is the book review site to visit.

There's an endless number of user-generated reading lists to explore, and Goodreads itself publishes dozens of "best of" lists across a number of categories. You can do a book search by plot or subject , or join book discussions and reading groups with thousands of members.

You can participate in the community by adding your own rankings to books you've read and leaving reviews for other people to check out. Occasionally, there are even bonus events like question and answer sessions with authors.

2. LibraryThing

LibraryThing is the self-proclaimed largest book club in the world. It has more than 2.3 million members and is one of the best social networking platforms for book lovers .

With a free account, you can add up to 200 books to your library and share them with other users. But it's in the other areas where LibraryThing can claim to be one of the best book review sites.

Naturally, there are ratings, user reviews, and tags. But be sure to click on the Zeitgeist tab at the top of the page. It contains masses of information, including the top books by rating, by the number of reviews, by authors, and loads more.

3. Book Riot

Book Riot is a blog. It publishes listicles on dozens of different topics, many of which review the best books in a certain genre. To give you an idea, some recent articles include Keeping Hoping Alive: 11 Thrilling YA Survival Stories and The Best Historical Fiction Books You’ve Never Heard Of .

Of course, there's also plenty of non-reading list content. If you have a general affinity for literature, Book Riot is definitely worth adding to the list of websites you browse every day.

Bookish is a site that all members of book clubs should know about. It helps you prep for your next meeting with discussion guides, book quizzes, and book games. There are even food and drink suggestions, as well as playlist recommendations.

But the site is more than just book club meetings. It also offers lots of editorial content. That comes in the form of author interviews, opinion essays, book reviews and recommendations, reading challenges, and giveaways.

Be sure to look at the Must-Reads section of the site regularly to get the latest book reviews. Also, it goes without saying that the people behind Bookish are book lovers, too. To get a glimpse of what they’re reading, check out their Staff Reads articles.

5. Booklist

Booklist is a print magazine that also offers an online portal. Trusted experts from the American Library Association write all the book reviews.

You can see snippets of reviews for different books. However, to read them in full, you will need to subscribe. An annual plan for this book review site costs $184.95 per year.

6. Fantasy Book Review

Fantasy Book Review should be high on the list for anyone who is a fan of fantasy works. The book review site publishes reviews for both children's books and adults' books.

It has a section on the top fantasy books of all time and a continually updated list of must-read books for each year. You can also search through the recommended books by sub-genres such as Sword and Sorcery, Parallel Worlds, and Epic Fantasy.

7. LoveReading

LoveReading is one of the most popular book review sites in the UK, but American audiences will find it to be equally useful.

The site is divided into fiction and non-fiction works. In each area, it publishes weekly staff picks, books of the month, debuts of the month, ebooks of the month, audiobooks of the month, and the nationwide bestsellers. Each book on every list has a full review that you can read for free.

Make sure you also check out their Highlights tab to get book reviews for selected titles of the month. In Collections , you'll also find themed reading lists such as World War One Literature and Green Reads .

Kirkus has been involved in producing book reviews since the 1930s. This book review site looks at the week's bestselling books, and provides lengthy critiques for each one.

As you'd expect, you'll also find dozens of "best of" lists and individual book reviews across many categories and genres.

And while you're on the site, make sure you click on the Kirkus Prize section. You can look at all the past winners and finalists, complete with the accompanying reviews of their books.

Although Reddit is a social media site, you can use it to get book reviews of famous books, or almost any other book for that matter! Reddit has a Subreddit, r/books, that is dedicated to book reviews and reading lists.

The subreddit has weekly scheduled threads about a particular topic or genre. Anyone can then chip in with their opinions about which books are recommendable. Several new threads are published every day, with people discussing their latest discovery with an accompanying book rating or review.

You'll also discover a weekly recommendation thread. Recent threads have included subjects such as Favorite Books About Climate Science , Literature of Indigenous Peoples , and Books Set in the Desert . There’s also a weekly What are you Reading? discussion and frequent AMAs.

For more social media-like platforms, check out these must-have apps for book lovers .

10. YouTube

YouTube is not the type of place that immediately springs to mind when you think of the best book review sites online.

Nonetheless, there are several engaging YouTube channels that frequently offer opinions on books they've read. You’ll easily find book reviews of famous books here.

Some of the most notable book review YouTube channels include Better Than Food: Book Reviews , Little Book Owl , PolandBananasBooks , and Rincey Reads .

Amazon is probably one of your go-to site when you want to buy something. If you don’t mind used copies, it’s also one of the best websites to buy second-hand books .

Now, to get book reviews, just search and click on a title, then scroll down to see the ratings and what others who have bought the book are saying. It’s a quick way to have an overview of the book’s rating. If you spot the words Look Inside above the book cover, it means you get to preview the first few pages of the book, too!

Regardless of the praises or criticisms you have heard from other book review sites, reading a sample is the most direct way to help you gauge the content’s potential and see whether the author’s writing style suits your tastes.

12. StoryGraph

StoryGraph is another good book review site that's worth checking out. The book rating is determined by the site's large community of readers. Key in the title of a book you're interested in and click on it in StoryGraph's search results to have an overall view of its rating.

Each book review provides information on the moods and pacing of the story. It also indicates whether the tale is plot or character-driven, what readers feel about the extent of character development, how lovable the characters generally are, and the diversity of the cast.

13. London Review of Books

The London Review of Books is a magazine that covers a range of subjects such as culture, literature, and philosophy. Part of its content includes amazingly detailed book reviews. If you feel that most modern book reviews are too brief for your liking, the London Review of Books should suit you best.

You'll gain insight into the flow and themes of the story, as well as a more thorough picture of the events taking place in the book.

Read Book Reviews Before You Buy

The book review sites we've discussed will appeal to different types of readers. Some people will be more comfortable with the easy-to-interpret book rating systems; others will prefer extensive reviews written by experienced professionals.

Although it’s easy to be tempted by a gorgeous book cover, it’s always best to have a quick look at the book reviews before actually buying a copy. This way, you can save your money and spend it on the books that you’ll be proud to display on your shelves for a long time. And check out recommendations, as well, to help you find what's worth reading.

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This month is chock-full of standout titles, including holiday books, games, and more.

Bait,  Nati. Uri and the King of Darkness: A Hanukkah Story . illus. by Carmel Ben Ami. Kalaniot. 

Barnett,  Mac. Santa’s First Christmas . illus. by Sydney Smith. Viking. 

Fox,  Kate Allen. Winter Solstice Wish . illus. by Elisa Paganelli. Beaming Bks. 

Herz, Henry, ed. The Festival of Lights: 16 Hanukkah Stories . Albert Whitman. 

Hulse,  Patrick. At Our Table . illus. by Madelyn Goodnight. Little, Brown. 

Kinew,  Wab. An Anishinaabe Christmas . illus. by Erin Hill. Tundra. 

Klostermann,  Penny Parker. Merry Christmas, Dear Mars . illus. by Estrela Lourenço. Macmillan/Godwin. 

Mlynowski,  Sarah. A Dragon for Hanukkah . illus. by Ariel Landy. Scholastic/Orchard. 

Schaefer,  Lola M. & Lisa Eickholdt. Merry Christmas, Zoo . illus. by Laura Watkins. Chronicle. 

Smith,  Lane. A Stickler Christmas . Random House Studio.

Yolen,  Jane & Heidi E. Y. Stemple. We Celebrate the Light . illus. by Jieting Chen. Penguin Workshop/Rise X.

Picture Books

Donaldson,  Julia. Jonty Gentoo: The Adventures of a Penguin . illus. by Axel Scheffler. Scholastic. 

Elbayya,  Hazar. My Olive Tree . Random/Anne Schwartz. 

Maclear,  Kyo. There’s a Ghost in the Garden . illus. by Katty Maurey. Enchanted Lion. 

Mello,  Roger. Griso: The One and Only .  Archipelago/Elsewhere Eds. 

Mepani,  Kusum. Meena’s Saturday . illus. by Yasmeen Ismail. Penguin/Kokila. 

Perkins,  Mitali. Between My Hands . illus. by Naveen Selvanathan. Farrar. 

Sorell,  Traci. On Powwow Day . illus. by Madelyn Goodnight. Charlesbridge. 

Transitional Books

Tabor,  Corey R. Fox Plays Ball . Greenwillow. 

Middle Grade

Gordon,  Kate. Spirals and Stars . Wombat. 

Hoffman,  Alice. When We Flew Away: A Novel of Anne Frank Before the Diary . Candlewick. 

LeZotte,  Ann Clare. Deer Run Home . Scholastic. 

Mcbride,  Amber. Onyx & Beyond . Feiwel & Friends. 

Smith,  Heather. Tig . Tundra.

Bou-Montes,  Louangie. Till the Last Beat of My Heart . HarperCollins.

Maysonet,  Melody. What We Wish For . Blackstone. 

Thomas,  Aiden. Celestial Monsters . Feiwel & Friends. 

Zail,  Suzy. Inkflower . Walker Australia.

Graphic Novels

Aguirre,  Jorge. Monster Locker . illus. by Andrés Vera Martínez. First Second. 

Chan,  Ruth. Uprooted: A Memoir About What Happens When Your Family Moves Back . Roaring Brook. 

Drozd,  Jerzy. The Inscrutable Doctor Baer and the Case of the Two-Faced Statue . Iron Circus.

Frakes,  Colleen. Knots . HarperAlley. 

Goetter,  Sara. Bitsy & Boozle Tell a Story! illus. by Natalie Riess. HarperAlley. 

Sook,  Kim Hyun. No Rules Tonight . illus. by Ryan Estrada. Penguin Workshop. 

Admoni,  Henny. Robots: Explore the World of Robotics and AI . illus. by Amy Grimes. Neon Squid.

Burgess,  Matthew. As Edward Imagined: A Story of Edward Gorey in Three Acts . illus. by Marc Majewski. Knopf. 

Harris,  Quartez. Go Tell It: How James Baldwin Became a Writer . illus. by Gordon C. James. Little, Brown. 

Marwan,  Zahra. The Sunflowers: Vincent van Gogh’s Search for Beauty . Feiwel & Friends. 

Ray,  Mary Lyn. When You Find the Right Rock . illus. by Felicita Sala. Chronicle. 

Rocha,  Charlene & Mary Beth Leatherdale. You Can Be an Activist: How to Use Your Strengths and Passions to Make a Difference . illus. by Drew Shannon. Kids Can. 

Salomon,  Nadia. A Voice of Hope: The Myrlie Evers-Williams Story . illus. by London Ladd. Philomel. 

Spiro,  Ruth. How to Explain Robotics to a Grown-Up . illus. by Teresa Martínez. Charlesbridge. 

Swanson,  Jennifer. Up Periscope! How Engineer Raye Montague Revolutionized Shipbuilding . illus. by Veronica Miller Jamison. Little, Brown. 

Westerfeld,  Scott. Before You Were Here: Where We Come From, What We’re Made Of, and How We Got Here . illus. by Jessica Lanan. Roaring Brook. 

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. Square Enix.

Mario vs. Donkey Kong. Nintendo.

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Book Review: Joe Posnanski scores with poignant, informative, hilarious ‘Why We Love Football’

This cover image released by Dutton shows "Why We Love Football: A History in 100 Moments" by Joe Pasnanski. (Dutton via AP)[ASSOCIATED PRESS]

Joe Posnanski is getting pretty good at this whole sports countdown thing.

The award-winning sportswriter’s previous books have profiled significant ballplayers (“The Baseball 100”) and ticked off 50 of the biggest occasions in the history of our national pastime (“Why We Love Baseball.”)

Posnanski is back with a new sport and total. In “Why We Love Football: A History in 100 Moments,” the former Sports Illustrated scribe pens a thoroughly enjoyable look back at the players and plays that have come to define America’s most popular sport.

Sure, one could argue with what was included and what was not, the order, etc. But at the end of the day, the book is a love letter to football — a poignant, informative and at times hilarious look at what makes the gridiron game such a part of the national fabric.

“It takes us fans to the mountaintop, and it tears our hearts out,” Posnanski writes. “It lifts us and crushes us, thrills us and revolts us, leaves us empty and leaves us wanting and leaves us breathless.”

There are no-brainers in there — the 1972 “Immaculate Reception” that lifted the Pittsburgh Steelers over the Oakland Raiders to their first-ever playoff victory, the “Kick-Six” missed field goal return for Auburn that stunned Alabama in the 2013 Iron Bowl and Bart Starr’s title-winning quarterback keeper during the 1967 NFL Championship “Ice Bowl” game against Dallas at Lambeau Field — but “Why We Love Football” is at its best when it explores the off-the-beaten-path moments in the game’s long history.

And the intersection of football and pop culture. The passage on former Notre Dame coach Dan Devine’s portrayal in the underdog feel-good film “Rudy” alone might be worth the book’s purchase price.

For football fans like this reviewer, the book is an absolute must-read. But it should be accessible to the football-averse, too, with its brilliant writing and research that unearths gems and perspectives that bring the game and its characters to life. Readers will find themselves laughing out loud at times.

“Football matters because, at its best, the game illustrates life at its most exuberant and most passionate and most emotionally heightened,” Posnanski writes.

“Why We Love Football” proves that statement by reminding us all what makes it the No. 1 sport in the land.

AP book reviews: https://apnews.com/hub/book-reviews

Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Why Has ‘The Power Broker’ Had Such a Long Life?

In his biography of a city bureaucrat, Robert Caro created a lasting portrait of American corruption by turning the craft of journalism into a pursuit of high art.

Robert Caro, left, in 2007, and Robert Moses in 1958. Credit... Photographs by Dima Gavrysh/Bloomberg via Getty Images (Caro), Archive Photos/Getty Images (Moses), Illustration by Ricardo Tomás

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By Sam Tanenhaus

Sam Tanenhaus, a former editor of the Book Review, is the author of “Whittaker Chambers: A Biography” and the forthcoming “Buckley: The Life and the Revolution That Changed America.”

• Sept. 16, 2024

Half a century after its publication, “The Power Broker,” Robert Caro’s epic biography of the urban planner and city-destroyer Robert Moses, needs no revival. From the moment it was published — to “ almost unparalleled fanfare ,” in the words of the Book Review’s reviewer, a professor of urban history — “The Power Broker” has never gone away.

Its durability resembles that of Moses’ own prodigious creation, the redrawn arterial map of greater metropolitan New York: more than a dozen giant roadways “girdling the city”; seven bridges, “their towers as tall as 70-story buildings”; luxury high-rises, with color-splashed “terraces and finials,” placed at a remove from “mile after mile” of drab housing projects: prisons for the poor, especially the nonwhite poor, whom Moses did not want “mixing” — not on playgrounds and certainly not in swimming pools — with white people.

As is so often the case with great nonfiction, the inspiration begins in the choice of subject. Caro’s choice was ambitious but also bold, for Moses was still alive in 1974 (he died in 1981 at age 92), famous but unknown, more name than person. “I never had a clear idea just who he was,” wrote Gore Vidal in an ecstatic essay for The New York Review of Books. “I never got past that forbiddingly dull title Park Commissioner.”

The many other titles (a total of 12 at one point) were just as dreary — City Construction Coordinator, Chairman of the Power Authority of the State of New York, Chairman of the Mayor’s Committee on Slum Clearance. Dull, yes, but also creepily redolent of Mao Zedong’s Great Leap Forward.

Moses, in Caro’s telling, was nearly as autocratic and cultishly revered as Mao, all but unchallenged as he went about imprinting his ideas of urban improvement on the seat of the American imperium.

The facts alone are remarkable. But what captivated Caro’s readers in 1974 and speaks to us now is his vivid account of how Moses did what he did, decade after decade, from the high-flying ’20s up through the “crisis of the city” in the ’60s and ’70s. Moses outmaneuvered governors and mayors, dictated policies to legislators and manipulated public opinion with the aid of a supine press. (The worst long-term offender, sad to say, was The New York Times.) He became, in sum, the prototype of a type we now know all too well, the mogul politician who operates with open contempt for “institutions and the law.”

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