Meghan Daum
Meghan Daum has contributed to The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, and Vogue. Her debut novel, The Quality of Life Report (Viking, $25), was published in May.
The Human Stain by Philip Roth (Vintage, $14). A balanced yet scathing comment on liberal piety and the morass of academia. Cantankerous college professor Coleman Silk harbors a secret that’s custom-made for Rothian inquiries into class anxiety and self-loathing.
Remote by David Shields (out of print). I’ve moved several times in the last year and this is a book that stays in my immediate possession rather than boxed up with most of the others. These loosely linked and loosely autobiographical essays ponder, often with rigorous intellectualism, everything from the Boy Scout belt as fashion statement to the career of Bob Balaban.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Walden by Henry David Thoreau (Penguin, $12). I first read this as a morose college student and vowed (as only a college student can) to live my life accordingly. I reread it as a sensory-overloaded 32-year-old and realized I’d utterly failed in that endeavor.
Ulysses by James Joyce (Vintage, $17). A book about everything that ever was, told in every way there is to tell it. If you couldn’t get through The Odyssey, try this.
The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton (Signet, $5). Long before there were people striving to get their weddings featured in The New York Times, Lily Bart was laying the groundwork for the cruel vagaries of New York social striving. Wharton’s New York remains both exhilaratingly and unnervingly timeless.
I Am Not Jackson Pollack
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Psycho,
-
What should you be stockpiling for 'World War Three'?
In the Spotlight Britons advised to prepare after the EU tells its citizens to have an emergency kit just in case
By Elizabeth Carr-Ellis, The Week UK Published
-
Carnivore diet: why people are eating only meat
The Explainer 'Meatfluencers' are taking social media by storm but experts warn meat-only diets have health consequences
By Elizabeth Carr-Ellis, The Week UK Published
-
Scientists want to fight malaria by poisoning mosquitoes with human blood
Under the radar Drugging the bugs
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
John McWhorter’s 6 favorite books that are rooted in history
Feature The Columbia University professor recommends works by Lyla Sage, Sally Thorne, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Abdulrazak Gurnah's 6 favorite books about war and colonialism
Feature The Nobel Prize winner recommends works by Michael Ondaatje, Toni Morrison, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Elliot Ackerman’s 6 favorite books on war and duty
Feature The Marine veteran recommends works by Robert A. Heinlein, John le Carré, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Xochitl Gonzalez’s 6 favorite books that shaped her storytelling
Feature The best-selling author recommends works by Stephen King, Julian Barnes, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Jason Isaacs's 6 favorite books that changed his perception on life
Feature The British actor recommends works by George Orwell, C.S. Lewis, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Tessa Bailey's 6 favorite books for hopeless romantics
Feature The best-selling author recommends works by Lyla Sage, Sally Thorne, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Pagan Kennedy's 6 favorite books that inspire resistance
Feature The author recommends works by Patrick Radden Keefe, Margaret Atwood, and more
By The Week US Published
-
John Sayles' 6 favorite works that left a lasting impression
Feature The Oscar-nominated screenwriter recommends works by William Faulkner, Carson McCullers, and more
By The Week US Published