What to Read to Wake Up Your Brain
These books can ease readers into a season of work and hard thinking.
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Illustration by Stephanie Jones. Source: Getty. The People’s Troubadour
The Oscar-winning singer-songwriter Glen Hansard, who died this week, brought the street into the studio.
Karl Walter / Variety / Getty A Champion of Modernism, in Literature and Life
Margaret C. Anderson was at the center of a notorious literary-obscenity trial. Then she was forgotten.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Sources: Dick DiMarsico / Library of Congress; The New York Public Library. These Books Won’t Make You a Better Person
A new generation of disabled writers isn’t interested in inspiring readers.
Illustration by Hayley Wall for The Atlantic Eight Books for Dabblers
Casual pursuits can enrich our lives, regardless of whether we’re any good at them.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Sources: csa-archives / Getty What to Read to Understand Your Mom
These stories offer a starting point—and perhaps some insights—for those seeking perspective on their parent.
Cheryle St. Onge What Kind of Questions Did 17th-Century Daters Have?
Advice columns have always appealed to people’s perennial confusion about love and marriage.
Illustration by Ben Kothe / The Atlantic. Sources: Nastasic / Getty; clu / Getty. The Life of the Mind Can Only Get You So Far
Michelle de Kretser’s intellectual coming-of-age explores the fissures between one’s ideals and reality.
Illustration by Vanessa Woods A Biting Satire of the Art World’s Monstrousness
Ella Baxter’s new novel explores why creative genius so often seems to be at odds with being a good person.
Illustration by Millie von Platen The Enduring Fascination With Women in Water
Female swimmers have always challenged the boundary between sport and spectacle.
Cristina Garcia Rodero / Magnum
