LitStack Recs

How to Read a Sentence and How to Write One, by Stanley Fish The sentence …

The Empty Family, by Colm Tóibín  Colm Tóibín’s story collection, The Empty Family (released January …

The Custom of the Country  Edith Wharton I knew from the start that things would …

Spielberg, Truffaut and Me: An Actor’s Diary, by Bob Balaban In the summer of 1976, …

Far From the Madding Crowd, by Thomas Hardy First published in 1874, Hardy’s novel of …

Bridge, by Robert Thomas “Welcome to the prayer-strewn pews of my brain,” Alice, the narrator …

Stoner, by John Williams John Williams’ 1965 novel went out of print after selling only …

A Definitive study of Alfred Hitchcock, by Francois Truffaut, trans. by Helen Scott (1966) & …

2016 Pushcart Prize XL: Best of the Small Presses, edited by Bill Henderson with Pushcart …

Brooklyn, by Colm Toibin Toibin’s 2009 novel, which won that year’s Costa Award, is a …

Bird Cloud: A Memoir of Place, by Annie Proulx The memoir by this award-winning novelist (The …

Patrimony: A True Story, by Philip Roth Roth’s 1991 memoir charts the illness and death …

Cutting Teeth, by Julia Fierro When October comes, I’m always caught off guard by how …

A Writer’s Notebook by Somerset Maugham Somerset Maugham’s A Writer’s Notebook was first published in …

Jerusalem:  A Cookbook, by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi. Some cookbooks are defined by a …

Wonder Woman Unbound The Curious History of the World’s Most Famous Heroine Tim Hanley I’ve …

The Places In-Between, Rory Stewart In 2002, Rory Stewart made a walk across Afghanistan from …

Blue Nights, by Joan Didion Joan Didion is an author I’ve long revered, whose books …

Vanity  Fair William Makepeace Thackeray The mid-nineteenth century didn’t have reality television, but it did …

Thunderstruck & Other Stories, by Elizabeth McCracken Early on in Elizabeth McCracken’s extraordinary story collection, …

The Coast of Chicago by Stuart Dybek I can still recall first reading Stuart Dybek’s …

Women in Their Beds — Gina Berriault Her admirers include Richard Ford, Grace Paley and …

Without Donald Hall This book is the one of the few that, when I pick …

Wolf Hall Hilary Mantel Mantel’s novel, which appeared in 2012 and has gone on to …

Blue Highways, William Least Heat-Moon On a dismal morning in March, 1978, William Least Heat-Moon …

Who Do You Love: Stories, by Jean Thompson My favorite short stories all seem to …

The Custom of the Country, by Edith Wharton I knew from the start that things …

Instructions: Everything You’ll Need to Know on Your Journey Neil Gaiman Illustrated by Charles Vess …

Books on my 2015 TBR List The new year has arrived. So has a new …

My Favorite Reads of 2014 So many great books this year makes a tiered list …

The Empathy Exams: Essays, by Leslie Jamison 2014 is being called the year of the …