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

You Must Read This

Writers recommend their all-time favorite books

Thursday

Bradbury's Tale: A 'Wicked' Read, A Haunted Book

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Review

Bradbury's Tale: A 'Wicked' Read, A Haunted Book

It wasn't just the creepy carnival that drew Seth Grahame-Smith to Something Wicked This Way Comes. It was also the book's frank portrayal of parents who don't behave like grown-ups. Do you remember when you realized your parents weren't perfect? Tell us about it in the comments.

Bradbury's Tale: A 'Wicked' Read, A Haunted Book

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Monday

Beyond The 'Blonde': A Look At Marilyn's Inner Life
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Review

Beyond The 'Blonde': A Look At Marilyn's Inner Life

Flamboyant and confident, Marilyn Monroe oozed sex appeal. But in Joyce Carol Oates' Blonde, we see a woman overshadowed by her onscreen persona. Author Manuel Munoz says the novel gives a glimpse into the star's interior life. Have a favorite book about a celebrity? Tell us in the comments.

Beyond The 'Blonde': A Look At Marilyn's Inner Life

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Thursday

Hellbent For Living: A Screwball Parisian Adventure

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Hellbent For Living: A Screwball Parisian Adventure

There are many books set in the so-called City of Light, but author Rosecrans Baldwin says that none are quite as charming as The Dud Avocado. Have a favorite tale set in France? Let us know what it is in the comments.

Hellbent For Living: A Screwball Parisian Adventure

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Wednesday

Gutter To The Stars: A Testosterone Fueled Romp

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Review

Gutter To The Stars: A Testosterone Fueled Romp

If someone's not being killed or beaten, he's being shaken down, spied on, bedded, or seduced in James Ellroy's American Tabloid. Author Adam Levin says it will have you admiring J. Edgar Hoover's sleazy connivances and cheering for the violent downfall of the Kennedys.

Gutter To The Stars: A Testosterone Fueled Romp

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Monday

A Depressive Diarist Chronicles His Descent
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Review

A Depressive Diarist Chronicles His Descent

How much do we read into ourselves when we write a diary? Author Patrick DeWitt recommends the dark, deep journal of a man suffering from a nervous breakdown.

A Depressive Diarist Chronicles His Descent

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Monday

Monday

Monday

Review

A Revolution On The Page: Finding Identity In Poetry

When Roya Hakakian moved from Iran to the U.S., she didn't think any poet in her adopted country could top the ones whose work she grew up with. But then she discovered a piece that blew away her prejudices. It was "My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke.

A Revolution On The Page: Finding Identity In Poetry

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Monday

Imprisoned In A Mysterious Mistaken Identity
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Review

Imprisoned In A Mysterious Mistaken Identity

Author Alex Gilvarry recommends Max Frisch's I'm Not Stiller, a novel that intertwines a classic tale of mistaken identity with high comedy and postwar seriousness.

Imprisoned In A Mysterious Mistaken Identity

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Monday

Monday

Ode To The Dead: In Remembrance Of Characters Past
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Review

Ode To The Dead: In Remembrance Of Characters Past

Can a book of elegies rise above maudlin morbidity? Author Stewart O'Nan says yes — and he recommends a great one by Christie Hodgen. It's a book that will break your heart, and warm your soul.

Ode To The Dead: In Remembrance Of Characters Past

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Monday

Dusting Off A Gritty, Glamorous California Classic
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Review

Dusting Off A Gritty, Glamorous California Classic

As it turns out, Raymond Chandler isn't the only writer who can channel the dark charisma of deceptively sunny California. Author Hector Tobar recommends John Fante's Ask the Dust, a novel that captures the grit and glamor of Los Angeles' past.

Dusting Off A Gritty, Glamorous California Classic

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Monday

Trapped In A Nightmare: A Sweet, Funny, Brutal Read

Review

Trapped In A Nightmare: A Sweet, Funny, Brutal Read

The best books don't just get inside a character's psyche, they get in the reader's head, as well. Author Ismet Prcic recommends Irvine Welsh's Marabou Stork Nightmares, a funny, provocative, cerebral novel that explores the meaning of violence.

Trapped In A Nightmare: A Sweet, Funny, Brutal Read

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Thursday

Victorian Humor At Its Silliest, Cheesiest Best

Review

Victorian Humor At Its Silliest, Cheesiest Best

Can the mishaps of three seriously misguided Victorian gentlemen still provoke laughter? More than 120 years after its first edition, author Julia Stuart says Jerome K. Jerome's classic caper, Three Men in a Boat, is still a delightful read.

Victorian Humor At Its Silliest, Cheesiest Best

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Monday

Bound Together: Breaking Those Toxic Family Ties

Review

Bound Together: Breaking Those Toxic Family Ties

In the bucolic setting of The Twin by Gerbrand Bakker, the joys and pitfalls of sibling rivalry are given new life. Author Amy Waldman says the book's sparse prose and stark setting provide the backdrop for a moving story of familial resentment.

Bound Together: Breaking Those Toxic Family Ties

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