Fitzgerald recounts various scenes from his gritty, disrupted childhood, shares the chosen family he forms working long-term at a bar, explains his body dysmorphia, and tells the reader how he tries to be a good person in the world. I found his stories intriguing, but for me the essay format made the book feel somewhat disjointed. In his memoir-in-essay-form Dirtbag, Massachusetts, Isaac Fitzgerald traces his life from his unlikely conception (his parents were married...but t

This slim work of nonfiction packs a punch; Alexander (also the author of the exquisite memoir The Light of the World) delves into matters of race, inequality, history, art, and the power of poetry. I found myself wishing for more pages and deeper explorations of these pivotal issues. We send signals across vast distances, hoping to connect. Dr. Elizabeth Alexander draws her book's title from the quote above, which is from a 1968 poem by Muriel Rukeyser. In this slim work of

Sedaris's first collection of essays in four years offers his delightfully jarring observations and rejection of social niceties, including a hilarious emotional reliance on Duolingo, various entertaining and nerve-racking encounters, and powerfully poignant reflections on his decades-long friendship with his best friend. In David Sedaris's latest book of essays, The Land and Its People, his first in four years, he brings his offbeat humor, acerbic observations, and surprisin

Barbara Brown Taylor is one of my favorite authors, but this slim, early book of hers didn't offer the candid, thought-provoking, wise...

Poet and essayist Ross Gay explores the experiences and explorations that have offered him meaning, depth, connection, understanding, and...

This is a funny, light, self-deprecating peek into Kaling's single motherhood, dabbling in Hinduism, love of brunch, life as a producer,...

In and among Sedaris's oddball, incisive, skewering observations are poignant, funny, heartfelt, complicated moments from his personal...

While taking the reader through her children's health crises, Philpott considers the power of worry, of love, and of trying to let go and...

John Green provides a range of thoughtful, wonderfully absurd, or sentimental examinations along with his ratings on a five-star scale of...

ICYMI: This five-star read--part memoir/part essay--is one of my favorite books of Ann Patchett's, and I didn't want her reflections and...

In Jo Ann Beard's lovely essays and short stories, she writes honestly and beautifully about moments large and small, from the...

This collection of previously published Sedaris works is a gold mine of discomforting, edgy, offbeat observations--with more heart than I...

Wilson's bubbly personality comes through in these essays, and her show business experiences were interesting, but I often couldn't...

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm reading Once There Were Wolves, Charlotte McConaghy's novel about a biologist fighting to reintroduce...

My very favorite books from April! In no particular order, here's the gist of each of the books I most loved reading during the past...

The Book of Delights is a sunshiny set of thoughts and examinations, yet it's not overly earnest, and it's never corny. I just loved it....

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm reading an upcoming book from Chris Bohjalian (author of Midwives), a historical fiction story Hour of the...

01 Pachinko by Min Jin Lee In the early 1900s, a teenager falls for a silver-tongued stranger on the coast of Korea. But when the...

I love Glennon's heart and her honesty, but many of these essays ended too soon for me. Doyle, the bestselling author of Carry On,...

01 With or Without You by Caroline Leavitt In Leavitt's novel, published by Algonquin Books late last summer, Simon and Stella have been...