You Must Read This "You Must Read This" presents conversations with writers about the books they love to read and recommend.

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You Must Read This

Writers recommend their all-time favorite books

Monday January 21, 2013

Review

Urban Oases: Getting Lost in 'Invisible Cities'

January 21, 2013 • Marco Polo sits in the garden of Kublai Khan and weaves tales of spider cities, gold cities and dream cities. Author Eric Weiner explains why the best travel book he has ever read isn't about a real place. What's your favorite book about an imaginary journey? Tell us in the comments.

Sunday January 20, 2013

Opinion

Fiction Truer Than Fact: A Haunting Autobiographical Novel

January 20, 2013 • Leonard Michaels' Sylvia, an account of a violent and tumultuous love affair, began as an autobiographical essay and then grew into a novel. Author Sarah Manguso writes that despite all of its particularities, the story could really be about anyone. What are some novels that you can relate to?

Sunday January 6, 2013

Adjust Your Vision: Tolstoy's Last And Darkest Novel

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Review

Adjust Your Vision: Tolstoy's Last And Darkest Novel

January 6, 2013 • Resurrection, Tolstory's last and perhaps least-read novel, is also his most bleak. Author George Saunders writes that it opened his eyes to the plight of the disenfranchised — in Tolstoy's Russia and the modern world. What book opened your eyes to the suffering of others? Tell us in the comments.

Tuesday January 1, 2013

Review

Depression-Era Evil: Gothic Horror In A Haunted Land

January 1, 2013 • The Night of the Hunter is a much-loved film, but author Julia Keller says the book it is based on is even better — a forgotten masterpiece. Do you have a favorite book that became a movie? Tell us in the comments.

Depression-Era Evil: Gothic Horror In A Haunted Land

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Wednesday December 19, 2012

Review

War Writ Small: Of Pushcarts And Peashooters

December 19, 2012 • Jean Merrill's classic children's book The Pushcart War explores war, peace and pushcarts on the streets of New York. Author Adam Mansbach writes that the story still resonates. Do you have a favorite children's book that deals with heavy themes? Tell us in the comments.

War Writ Small: Of Pushcarts And Peashooters

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Monday December 3, 2012

Review

A Gruesome 'Sabbath': Roth's Vile, Brilliant Masterpiece

December 3, 2012 • Philip Roth recently announced that he had written his last novel. Author Matthew Specktor explains why Sabbath's Theater, released in 1995, is not only Roth's most disgusting novel but also his best. Do you have a favorite book that breaks all the rules? Tell us in the comments.

Wednesday November 28, 2012

Getty Images

A Warrior's Welcome In 'Billy Lynn'

November 28, 2012 • Ben Fountain's newest book, Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, takes place over the course of a single day in the life of Spc. William Lynn. Author Jonathan Evison writes that this is a book so vivid he felt like he lived it. Have you ever read a book that felt real? Tell us in the comments.

Monday November 26, 2012

Review

Strange Fruit And Stranger Dreams In The Deep South

November 26, 2012 • The Battlefield Where The Moon Says I Love You may be more than 15,000 lines of almost entirely unpunctuated poetry, but author Steve Stern says this Southern gothic fun house is so bewitching you'll have to finish it. Do you have a favorite impossible book? Tell us in the comments.

Wednesday November 14, 2012

Review

Death At The Lighthouse: Witless Bay Comes Alive

November 14, 2012 • The Bird Artist, Howard Norman's 1994 novel about the murder of a lighthouse keeper, is set in Witless Bay. Author Da Chen writes that the distinctive setting makes this novel a success. What is your favorite book with an unforgettable setting? Tell us in the comments.

Monday November 5, 2012

Cosmic Love: A Sensual Sanskrit Epic Revived

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Review

Cosmic Love: A Sensual Sanskrit Epic Revived

November 5, 2012 • The great Sanskrit epic The Birth of Kumara details the heavenly lovemaking of Shiva and Parvati. Author Aatish Taseer tells how reading the fifth-century epic connected him to classical India. What work of literature brought you closer to home? Tell us in the comments.

Monday October 15, 2012

Review

A Historical Account Of Revolution In Present Tense

October 15, 2012 • After the first manuscript of Thomas Carlyle's French Revolution was accidentally burned, he began again with renewed fervor. Historian H.W. Brands explains why Carlyle's book remains fresh as ever. Have you ever lost your magnum opus to fire or flash drive? Tell us in the comments.

Monday August 6, 2012

An Apocalyptic Romp Through The 'Golden' State

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Review

An Apocalyptic Romp Through The 'Golden' State

August 6, 2012 • Golden Days starts out as a fun tale of '80s Los Angeles. By the end, it's a devastating portrait of life after a nuclear blast. Author Gabrielle Zevin says it showed her that novels, like life, can span multiple genres. Do you have a favorite book about life in California? Tell us in the comments.

An Apocalyptic Romp Through The 'Golden' State

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Monsters In Black Tie: A World Of Cliques And Class

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Monsters In Black Tie: A World Of Cliques And Class

August 6, 2012 • The five interconnected Patrick Melrose novels may first seem like vapid tales of the wildly rich, but to author Mark Saunders they're also harsh dramas about the excesses of the British upper crust. What's your favorite story of the upper class? Tell us in the comments.

Monday July 30, 2012

An Existential Guide For When You're Really 'Lost'

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An Existential Guide For When You're Really 'Lost'

July 30, 2012 • Astrophysicist Adam Frank doesn't usually read self-help books, but something about Walker Percy's existential optimism in Lost In The Cosmos actually changed his outlook on life. Do you have a favorite self-help book? Tell us in the comments below.

An Existential Guide For When You're Really 'Lost'

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Monday June 25, 2012

In Old Havana, A Story Of Sunlight And Mystery

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Review

In Old Havana, A Story Of Sunlight And Mystery

June 25, 2012 • For Pablo Medina, Guillermo Cabrera Infante's Three Trapped Tigers was powerful enough to transport him back to his homeland of pre-revolutionary Cuba. Is there a book that has whisked you back to the place where you grew up? Tell us in the comments.