The Shelves

General Books

A tight general shortlist - built for quick decisions, not endless scrolling.

Last refreshed 2026-02-27. We keep tuning this list as new titles land and reader interest shifts.

1. How to Write Like a Writer
Thomas C. Foster
How to Write Like a Writer: A Sharp and Subversive Guide to Ignoring Inhibitions, Inviting Inspiration, and Finding Your True Voice
2. Language as Liberation
Toni Morrison, Claudia Brodsky
Language as Liberation: Reflections on the American Canon
3. The Western Canon
Harold Bloom
The Western Canon: The Books and School of the Ages
4. How to Read Literature Like a Professor Revised Edition
Thomas C. Foster
How to Read Literature Like a Professor Revised Edition: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines
5. Didion and Babitz
Lili Anolik
A Nonfiction pick for readers exploring Didion and Babitz.
6. How to Read Nonfiction Like a Professor
Thomas C. Foster
How to Read Nonfiction Like a Professor: A Smart, Irreverent Guide to Biography, History, Journalism, Blogs, and Everything in Between
7. The Saddest Words
Michael Gorra
The Saddest Words: William Faulkner's Civil War
8. Minor Feelings
Cathy Park Hong
Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning
9. Why Read Moby-Dick?
Nathaniel Philbrick
A Nonfiction pick for readers exploring Why Read Moby-Dick?.
10. Shadow Work
Emily Hodgson Anderson
Shadow Work: Loneliness and the Literary Life
11. Short Stories by Jesus
Amy-Jill Levine
Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi
12. Philip Roth
Blake Bailey
Philip Roth: The Biography
13. Looking for the Good War
Elizabeth D. Samet
Looking for the Good War: American Amnesia and the Violent Pursuit of Happiness
14. Too Good to Be Altogether Lost
Pamela Smith Hill
Too Good to Be Altogether Lost: Rediscovering Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House Books
15. Understanding Pat Conroy
Catherine Seltzer
Understanding Pat Conroy: Paperback – April 10, 2015
16. Madness, Rack, and Honey
Mary Ruefle
Madness, Rack, and Honey: Collected Lectures
17. The Annotated Big Sleep
Raymond Chandler, Owen Hill
A Mystery pick for readers exploring The Annotated Big Sleep.
18. American Literary Cultures
Elizabeth J. Dell, Joe B. Fulton
American Literary Cultures: A Reader
19. Embracing Vocation
Dianne C. Luce
Embracing Vocation: Cormac McCarthy's Writing Life, 1959-1974
20. On Reading the Grapes of Wrath
Susan Shillinglaw
On Reading the Grapes of Wrath: Paperback – February 19, 2014
21. Dylan Goes Electric!
Elijah Wald
Dylan Goes Electric!: Newport, Seeger, Dylan, and the Night That Split the Sixties
22. A Little Book on Form
Robert Hass
A Little Book on Form: An Exploration into the Formal Imagination of Poetry
23. The Scribner Anthology of Contemporary Short Fiction
Lex Williford, Michael Martone
The Scribner Anthology of Contemporary Short Fiction: 50 North American Stories Since 1970
24. A Mason & Dixon Companion
Brett Biebel
A Nonfiction pick for readers exploring A Mason & Dixon Companion.

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