Short writing about books worth reading

The Silver Book

Olivia Laing

Olivia Laing’s second novel apprentices an English boy to a magician of Italian cinema, in the months leading up to the events of November 1975.

Frog and Other Essays

Anne Fadiman

A frog in the freezer, an immortal printer, and a new Yiddish word for Zoom fatigue: on Anne Fadiman’s latest collection.

The Wild Birds

Wendell Berry

Six interlinked stories, warm and unhurried, from a fictional Kentucky town.

Greyhound

Joanna Pocock

Joanna Pocock retraces a Greyhound journey across America

The Memory Police

Yōko Ogawa

A tale about an island where vanishing is ordinary, and remembering is dangerous.

Big Kiss, Bye-Bye

Claire-Louise Bennett

Bennett’s writing about love and memory catches you mid-air.

Any Person Is the Only Self

Elisa Gabbert

A generous collection of essays on reading, writing, and the quiet pleasures of literary life.

War and Turpentine

Stefan Hertmans

Spanning multiple war-ridden decades of the 20th century, Hertmans’ reconstruction of his grandfather's life is lovingly layered.

Open City

Teju Cole

Open City is a novel that reads like a great essay might, pulling in references to art, music, literature and history, and building a collage that invites further discovery beyond its pages.