Immanuel Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason, published in 1781 and substantially revised in 1787, is the most consequential philosophical text of the modern era. It is also, notoriously, among the most difficult. Kant himself acknowledged that it was not easy, writing to a friend that the prose was hurried and compressed because he feared he…
Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations is the most intimate document in ancient philosophy. Written in Greek sometime between 161 and 180 CE, during campaigns on the Danube frontier and in the relative quiet of the imperial palace, it was never intended for publication. The Roman emperor was writing to himself – reminding himself of philosophical principles he…
Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics is the book to read if you want to know how to live well. Written around 350 BCE and almost certainly compiled from lecture notes, it is not elegant by literary standards – it is dense, technical, and relentlessly systematic. But it is also the most psychologically astute account of moral life…
Plato’s Republic is the book that Western philosophy never stopped answering. Written around 380 BCE as a dialogue led by Socrates, it opens with a deceptively simple question – what is justice? – and then refuses to stop. By the time Plato is done, he has proposed a blueprint for an ideal city, a theory…
The Definitive Novel of Black American Dignity Mildred D. Taylor published Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry in 1976, and it won the Newbery Medal the following year. It is widely considered one of the finest American children’s novels ever written and one of the most important pieces of historical fiction for young readers in…
Gothic Atmosphere, Genuine Scares John Bellairs published The House with a Clock in Its Walls in 1973, illustrated by Edward Gorey, and it launched a beloved series of gothic mysteries for children that extended through twelve books. It has remained in print for over fifty years and has introduced generations of young readers to horror…
The Book That Taught a Generation About Grief Katherine Paterson published Bridge to Terabithia in 1977, and it won the Newbery Medal the following year. It has been in print ever since and is widely considered one of the finest children’s novels ever written. It is the story of Jess Aarons, a fifth-grader in rural…
The Perfect Dark Fairy Tale Neil Gaiman published Coraline in 2002 as a novella for children – at 162 pages, it is unusually short for a standalone children’s novel – and it has become one of the defining works of contemporary children’s literature. It is precisely constructed, intensely atmospheric, and genuinely frightening in a way…
A Boy Raised Among the Dead Neil Gaiman published The Graveyard Book in 2008, and it won the Newbery Medal the following year – the first book to win both the Newbery and the Carnegie Medal, the American and British prizes for children’s literature. It is the story of Nobody Owens, called Bod, who survives…
A Book That Earns Its Emotional Power R.J. Palacio published Wonder in 2012, and it became one of the most widely read and widely taught middle-grade novels of the decade. By 2023 it had sold over 15 million copies worldwide. It has been adapted into a successful film, spawned companion novellas and a graphic novel…