Essays

Reading: The Ultimate Aphrodisiac?

It Turns Out Books Are a Big Hit with the Ladies

13 hrs ago •

Open Sesame! Translators Unlock Words and Worlds

But Do They Sometimes Steer Us Wrong? Can We Know? How Much Does It Matter?

Aug 23 •

Open Thread: Books in Translation?

What’s Your Favorite Book in Translation? Your Most Recent?

Aug 22 •

Bookish Diversions: All the Presidents’ Books

Washington’s Radicals and Rogues, Kennedy’s Advisor, Tricky Dick, Obama’s Library, Trump’s Favs, More

Aug 13 •

Open Thread: Books You’ve Been Stalling?

We All Have Books We Can’t Work up the Energy to Start

Aug 2 •

Bookish Diversions: Lifetime Reader

6 Decades of Books, Nobody’s Reading—Even Though They Want to, Do Men Read Novels? More

Jul 26 •

Bookish Diversions: Forget the Paperback?

Paperbacks in Decline, When Paperbacks Were King, Art and Science of Paper, Goatskin!

Jul 19 •

The Bible Is Weirder than We Usually Realize

A Textual Romp Through One of the World’s Better Known Classics

Jul 16 •

Open Thread: Big-Ass Classic Novels?

Help Me Pick 12 for Next Year

Jul 14 •

Open Thread: Books that Define Your Worldview?

If You Had to Select Just 4, What Would They Be?

Jul 9 •

Bookish Diversions: Thomas Jefferson, Bookworm

Jefferson’s Complex Character, His Bookishness, His Writing, Sources of Inspiration, More

Jul 5 •

Whatever Happened to the Semicolon?

Why Punctuation Is Less About Rules and More About Economics

Jun 25 •

#nojs-banner { position: fixed; bottom: 0; left: 0; padding: 16px 16px 16px 32px; width: 100%; box-sizing: border-box; background: red; color: white; font-family: -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 13px; } #nojs-banner a { color: inherit; text-decoration: underline; } This site requires JavaScript to run correctly. Please turn on JavaScript or unblock scripts