99+ Books For When You Don’t Know What To Read Next

I’ve always believed that you can never have too many books in your TBR pile — and that reading more than one book at a time isn’t a sign of distraction, but rather a reflection of our layered lives. Our moods shift, our attention ebbs and flows, and different seasons call for different stories. That’s why I love having a nightstand (okay, and a few shelves) stacked with novels, essays, and poetry collections ready to meet me exactly where I’m at, whether I’m seeking comfort, challenge, escape, or connection.

If you’re looking to bulk up your to-be-read list or if you’re standing in front of your bookshelf wondering what to pick up next, we hope this list offers some inspiration. It’s by no means exhaustive, but it’s full of titles our editors have read, cherished, and carried with them over the years. From searing memoirs to timeless classics, each book has earned its spot on this list by sparking something meaningful: reflection, conversation, or just the kind of literary magic that lingers long after the last page.

And if you do decide to order a few of these titles (or, let’s be honest, all of them), we recommend checking out Bookshop.org. We love Bookshop because every purchase supports independent bookstores, authors, and the literary community at large. It’s a simple way to align your love of reading with your values—championing small businesses, fair publishing practices, and thoughtful storytelling. Plus, their curated lists and recommendations are just as cozy and intentional as a favorite bookstore browse.

Of course, we’d love to hear what books you would add! Drop your favorites in the comments so we can continue building this ever-growing, ever-evolving reading list together.

Happy reading, always. 📚

New Releases

• The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami: A spellbinding novel of interconnected lives and fleeting desires set against the backdrop of a mysterious, shape-shifting hotel.
• Salt Slow by Julia Armfield: Eerie and tender, this debut collection of stories explores transformation and the blurry line between the human and the otherworldly.
• Cursed Bread by Sophie Mackintosh: A feverish, intoxicating tale of obsession, desire, and collective delusion in a town gripped by the strange magic of bread.
• One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad: In searing prose, El Akkad imagines a future unraveling under the weight of collective memory and conflict.
• The Last Session by Julia Bartz: Tense and atmospheric, this psychological thriller explores the power of therapy and the dark secrets we keep even from ourselves.
• Hellions: Stories by Julia Elliott: With wild, biting humor, Elliott’s stories explode the borders of the mundane and the grotesque in the American South.
• Sleep by Honor Jones: With wild, biting humor, Elliott’s stories explode the borders of the mundane and the grotesque in the American South.
• The Feel-Good Way (cookbook) by Cara Clark: A vibrant cookbook celebrating easy, wholesome meals and the simple pleasures of cooking for yourself and others.
• Rich Girl Nation by Katie Gatti Tassin: Sharp, witty essays on money, privilege, and the ever-shifting definition of what it means to “have it all” in today’s world.

Nonfiction

• All About Love by bell hooks: A bold and tender exploration of love as a transformative force that challenges societal norms and invites deep healing.
• How To Do Nothing by Jenny Odell: This book is a radical call to resist the attention economy and reclaim time, presence, and connection in a hyper-distracted world.
• Cultish by Amanda Montell: This fascinating investigation shows how the language of cults lives among us—seductive, persuasive, and often hiding in plain sight.
• On Our Best Behavior by Elise Loehnen: Loehnen unpacks how the ancient framework of the seven deadly sins still governs the expectations placed on women today.
• We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: With clarity and conviction, Adichie invites readers into a modern feminism rooted in equality, empathy, and hope.
• Pilgrim At Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard: In this vivid and contemplative journey through the natural world, Dillard reflects on life’s mysteries through the lens of a single Virginia creek.
• Laziness Does Not Exist by Devon Price: This myth-busting book exposes the cultural lie of laziness and makes a compassionate case for rest, self-trust, and unlearning hustle culture.
• Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor: Nestor uncovers the powerful health benefits of something we do 25,000 times a day—but rarely think about.
• Wintering by Katherine May: May shares personal stories and cultural insights to honor the quiet, often painful seasons of life as essential and restorative.
• Carrying The Heart by F. Gonzalez-Crussi: Blending anatomy with philosophy, this reflective work explores the beauty and fragility of the human body and spirit.
• Braving The Wilderness by Brené Brown: Brown challenges us to stand alone with courage and authenticity in order to find true belonging in a divided world.
• Big Friendship by Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman: A deeply honest portrayal of the joys and growing pains of a decade-long friendship that’s as vital as any romance.
• The Way Of Rest by Jeff Foster: With gentle wisdom, Foster offers spiritual comfort and invites readers to stop striving and soften into the present moment.
• Gratitude by Oliver Sacks: In his final essays, Sacks reflects on the beauty of life with grace, curiosity, and deep appreciation for the time he was given.
• Three Women by Lisa Taddeo: Told with raw intimacy, this narrative follows three very different women as they navigate desire, vulnerability, and the complexities of female longing.

Memoir

• Memorial Drive by Natasha Trethewey: A haunting and poetic account of Trethewey’s childhood and her mother’s murder, illuminating how personal grief and historical trauma intertwine.
• Sempre Susan: A Memoir of Susan Sontag by Sigrid Nunez: Nunez offers an intimate, clear-eyed portrait of life with literary icon Susan Sontag, revealing both brilliance and contradiction.
• Know My Name by Chanel Miller: With searing clarity and strength, Miller reclaims her story from headlines and courtroom transcripts to reveal the full person behind a public case.
• Blood, Bones & Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton: From chaotic family kitchens to owning her own restaurant, Hamilton traces her life through food in this raw and flavorful memoir.
• Motorcycles I’ve Loved by Lily Brooks-Dalton: Part coming-of-age story, part meditation on freedom, Brooks-Dalton explores identity and belonging through the open road.
• Hunger by Roxane Gay: Gay writes with unflinching honesty about trauma, body image, and what it means to live in a body that both protects and defines her.
• Somebody’s Daughter by Ashley C. Ford: A beautifully written and emotionally layered reflection on growing up with secrets, shame, and the search for self-worth.
• Carry by Toni Jensen: This lyrical and powerful memoir weaves together stories of gun violence, Indigenous identity, and survival with poetic precision.
• Long Live The Tribe Of Fatherless Girls by T Kira Madden: A coming-of-age memoir that is dazzling and defiant, tracing a girlhood filled with longing, beauty, and resilience.
• In The Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado: Through genre-defying fragments, Machado reconstructs a queer abusive relationship and challenges the limits of memoir itself.
• The Fixed Stars by Molly Wizenberg: A sharp, searching narrative about love, sexuality, and personal transformation sparked by an unexpected attraction.
• The Year Of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion: Didion’s iconic exploration of grief captures the surreal landscape of sudden loss with unmatched elegance and insight.
• Priestdaddy by Patricia Lockwood: With biting wit and surreal humor, Lockwood recounts her childhood with a Catholic priest father in this unforgettable and irreverent memoir.

Essay Collections

• Tonight I’m Someone Else by Chelsea Holden: In these hypnotic, elliptical essays, Hodson explores desire, vulnerability, and the edges of selfhood with sharp, poetic clarity.
• A Woman Looking At Men Looking At Women by Siri Hustvedt: Hustvedt blends art, science, and philosophy in this intellectually rich collection that questions how we see—and are seen.
• Girlhood by Melissa Febos: Febos dissects the myths and truths of growing up female in a series of visceral, reflective essays that are as intimate as they are fearless.
• How Far The Light Reaches by Sabrina Imbler: This genre-blending debut weaves marine biology with memoir to explore identity, transformation, and survival in unexpected places.
• Thin Places by Jordan Kisner: A quietly stunning collection that examines faith, embodiment, and modern life through personal and cultural essays that linger long after reading.
• Bluets by Maggie Nelson: Nelson meditates on heartbreak and the color blue in a collage of lyrical fragments that blur the line between philosophy and personal revelation.
• Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris: With trademark wit and absurdity, Sedaris recounts language mishaps, family quirks, and the awkward art of becoming himself.
• I Am, I Am, I Am by Maggie O’Farrell: Seventeen brushes with death form the backbone of this gripping, life-affirming memoir that pulses with urgency and wonder.
• Leaving Isn’t The Hardest Thing by Lauren Hough: Hough’s bold, sharply observed essays reflect on life after a cult, queerness, and survival in America with humor and grit.

Novels

• Big Swiss by Jen Beagin: A transcriptionist falls for a client’s voice—and secrets—in this offbeat, erotic, and darkly funny meditation on trauma and connection.
• Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi: In a deeply introspective novel, a Ghanaian-American neuroscientist grapples with grief, faith, addiction, and the invisible threads linking science and spirituality.
• Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar: With dazzling language and existential wit, Akbar’s debut novel explores belief, longing, and inheritance through a troubled, truth-seeking narrator.
• The Guest by Emma Cline: A drifting young woman maneuvers through elite Long Island circles in this taut, sun-soaked novel about deceit, survival, and unraveling.
• Now Is Not The Time To Panic by Kevin Wilson: When two misfit teens spark a mysterious cultural panic, their summer of creativity—and consequences—echoes into adulthood.
• The Water Cure by Sophie Mackintosh: Three sisters raised in seclusion face the unraveling of their dystopian world in this eerie, sensual tale of control and survival.
• Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton: A guerrilla gardening collective collides with global capitalism in this tense, cerebral eco-thriller about power, idealism, and betrayal.
• Writers & Lovers by Lily King: A struggling writer faces heartbreak, creative doubt, and the grind of waitressing in this warm, witty coming-of-age story for late bloomers.
• We The Animals by Justin Torres: Told in electric, vignette-style prose, this novel captures the wild, painful beauty of boyhood in a fractured working-class family.
• Biography of X by Catherine Lacey: Blurring fiction, biography, and critique, this audacious novel reconstructs the life of a controversial artist through the eyes of her widow.
• When We Were Sisters by Fatimah Asghar: Orphaned siblings navigate love, loss, and chosen family in this lyrical, heart-wrenching debut that bends form and pulses with poetry.
• The Dutch House by Ann Patchett: A grand childhood home becomes both refuge and ghost in this multi-decade family saga about memory, resentment, and forgiveness.
• Girl With The Louding Voice by Abri Daré: A spirited Nigerian girl fights for education and self-determination in a world that keeps trying to silence her.
• There There by Tommy Orange: Orange weaves together twelve unforgettable voices in a powerful, polyphonic portrait of urban Native life and generational pain.
• Want by Lynn Steger Strong: A young mother and teacher teeters on the edge of collapse in this sharp, urgent novel about capitalism, friendship, and craving more.
• With Teeth by Kristin Arnett: A queer mother’s unraveling—funny, furious, and unflinchingly intimate—unfolds as she tries (and fails) to make sense of her son and herself.
• Excavations by Kate Myers: Four women on a dubious archaeological dig in Greece confront secrets, ambition, and the messy layers of history and friendship.
• Godshot by Chelsea Bieker: Set in a drought-stricken California town, this dazzling, apocalyptic novel follows a teen girl’s escape from a cult—and into her own power.
• How Should A Person Be? by Sheila Heti: A bold, genre-bending hybrid of fiction and memoir that asks what it means to be an artist, a friend, and a person in progress.

Short Story Collections

• Heartbroke by Chelsea Bieker: Set in California’s drought-scorched Central Valley, these gritty, aching stories capture the fierce yearnings of people clawing for a better life.
• Birds of America by Lorrie Moore: With wit and precision, Moore reveals the quiet heartbreaks and absurdities of ordinary lives in this iconic, masterful collection.
• Filthy Animals by Brandon Taylor: Taylor’s tender, sharp-eyed stories explore intimacy and disconnection in the lives of young people searching for belonging.
• Milk Blood Heat by Dantiel W. Mantiez: Set in Florida’s sticky heat, these visceral stories pulse with longing, family secrets, and the ache of coming of age.
• Bliss Montage by Ling Ma: Surreal, disorienting, and darkly funny, Ma’s stories peel back the strangeness of modern life to reveal hidden truths and desires.
• Fruiting Bodies by Kathryn Harlan: Lush and eerie, these speculative stories delve into queer identity and the natural world, where transformation and decay meet.
• Everything Inside by Edwidge Danticat: Danticat’s luminous stories span Haiti and beyond, tracing love and loss through the quiet power of memory and resilience.
• Mouthful of Birds by Samanta Schweblin: These haunting, fantastical tales unsettle and delight, revealing the uncanny lurking beneath the everyday.
• Daddy: Stories by Emma Cline: With cool precision and sharp observation, Cline explores power dynamics and the quiet violence of desire in these spare, elegant stories.
• Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado: Blending horror, fairy tale, and erotica, Machado’s groundbreaking stories interrogate the female body and the myths we build around it.

Poetry

• I Do Everything I’m Told by Megan Fernandes: A lush, defiant collection that revels in longing, mischief, and the power of an unapologetic voice.
• Judas Goat by Gabrielle Bates: These fierce and tender poems wrestle with desire, betrayal, and the way myth echoes in our lives.
• Frank: Sonnets by Diane Seuss: Seuss reimagines the sonnet with raw humor and unflinching self-portraiture in this expansive, unforgettable collection.
• Couplets: A Love Story by Maggie Millner: A formally inventive memoir-in-verse that captures the heady, messy heart of queer love and longing.
• Goldenrod by Maggie Smith: These bright, hopeful poems embrace change, grief, and the radiant beauty of the natural world.
• No Sweet Without Brine by Cynthia Manick: Manick’s vivid, kinetic poems reclaim Black womanhood with fierce joy and a hunger for more.
• The Symmetry Of Fish by Su Cho: In shimmering lyric poems, Cho explores immigration, inheritance, and the subtle transformations of identity.
• Citizen Illegal by José Olivarez: Playful and pointed, these poems navigate the Mexican-American experience, family, and what it means to belong.
• Time is A Mother by Ocean Vuong: Vuong’s elegiac and lush second collection examines loss, survival, and the tender act of remembering.
• I Hope This Finds You Well by Kate Baer: With warmth and wit, Baer transforms the language of digital communication into poems that cut to the heart.
• A Thousand Mornings: Poems by Mary Oliver: Oliver’s gentle, precise poems celebrate the small wonders of the natural world and the quiet moments of grace it brings.
• Citizen, An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine: Blurring genres, this searing work confronts race, language, and the microaggressions that shape American life.
• One Big Self: An Investigation by C.D. Wright: In this haunting documentary poem, Wright merges personal observation with the lives of prisoners in Louisiana.
• My Trade Is A Mystery by Carl Phillips: These meditative, luminous poems move through desire, faith, and the ache of what remains unspoken.