Daniel Libeskind is the world-renowned architect who created the master plan for reconstruction at the World Trade Center site. Breaking Ground, his book about the project, has just been published.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (Penguin, $7). A great adventure that appealed to me when I was a kid reading it in Polish, and one that has held up through a number of rereadings in English.
One-Way Street by Walter Benjamin (out of print). Brilliant ruminations on history and the enigma of time. Somewhere between poetry and philosophy, between imagination and scholarship. It’s a book written from the depths of Jewish tradition and has a continued relevance to the turmoil of the world today.
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The Street of Crocodiles by Bruno Schulz (Penguin, $13). A haunting series of stories that relate to a vanished world. The stories are about families, strangers, and changing seasons. Even in translation, they sear the soul.
The Bible. Any book that survives this amount of time is worth reading, but this one in particular remains unsurpassed. It is a book that I have encouraged my children to read each year, and we debate it endlessly.
Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne (Penguin, $11). A wonderfully inventive journey through life. The book, written in Dublin in the 18th century, remains one of the most avant-garde books. Through its structure and literary levels, it opens new horizons.
The Cloud of Unknowing
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Critics' choice: Three chefs fulfilling their ambitionsFeature Kwame Onwuachi's grand second act, Travis Lett makes a comeback, and Jeff Watson's new Korean restaurant
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Keith McNally's 6 favorite books that have ambitious charactersFeature The London-born restaurateur recommends works by Leo Tolstoy, John le Carré, and more
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Garrett Graff's 6 favorite books that shine new light on World War IIFeature The author recommends works by James D. Hornfischer, Craig L. Symonds, and more
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Helen Schulman's 6 favorite collections of short storiesFeature The award-winning author recommends works by Raymond Carver, James Baldwin, and more
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Beatriz Williams' 6 timeless books about history and human relationshipsFeature The best-selling author recommends works by Jane Austen, Zora Neale Hurston, and more
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Aysegul Savas' 6 favorite books for readers who love immersive settingsFeature The Paris-based Turkish author recommends works by Hiromi Kawakami, Virginia Woolf, and more
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Geoff Dyer's 6 favorite books about the realities of warFeature The award-winning author recommends works by Ernie Pyle, Michael Herr, and more
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Laura Lippman's 6 favorite books for those who crave a high-stakes adventureFeature The Grand Master recommends works by E.L. Konigsburg, Charles Portis, and more
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Thomas Mallon's 6 favorite books from the 80's and early 90'sFeature The author recommends works by James Merrill, Calvin Trillin, and more
