Let the editors and avid readers at the Kenyon Review — one of the world’s most respected literary magazines — share what's on their bookshelves. Then tell us which titles have you turning the pages, and we'll share your response below.
"Rivers of London" by Ben Aaronovitch
Rowan M., Boxford, Massachusetts
"Desert Solitaire" by Edward Abbey
Kendall B., Weston, Massachusetts
"Tuesdays with Morrie" by Mitch Albom
Kun L., Palmetto Bay, Florida
"The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
Allison G., Pleasanton, California
Bella K., View Park, California
Caroline N., Lost Angeles, California
"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou
Bianca C., Plainfield, Indiana
Matthew F., Beachwood, Ohio
"Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza" by Gloria Anzaldúa
Luke K., Midvale, Utah
"Kids of Appetite" by David Arnold
Lily B., Montclair, New Jersey
"Alias Grace" by Margaret Atwood
Ella S., State College, Pennsylvania
"Believer" by David Axelrod
Emma R., Jupiter, Florida
"The Poetics of Space" by Gaston Bachelard
Isabel K., Brooklyn, New York
"Regeneration" by Pat Barker
Connor S., Asheville, North Carolina
"The Idiot" by Elif Batuman
Sophie K., Jupiter, Florida
"Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury
Roman S., Moskva, Russia
"Humankind: A Hopeful History" by Rutger Bregman
Andrew J., Austin, Texas
JaQ L., Hong Kong
"Wuthering Heights" by Emily Brontë
Gabriella S., York, Maine
"Black Girl Unlimited" by Echo Brown
Margaret O., Green Springs, Ohio
"Red Rising" by Pierce Brown
Siddhi S., Pickerington, Ohio
"The Stranger" by Albert Camus
Jonny V., Brookfield, Connecticut
"In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote
Emma C., San Francisco, California
"Hamilton" by Ron Chernow
Stephen C., Needham, Massachusetts
"And Then There Were None" by Agatha Christie
Rowan M., Boxford, Massachusetts
"Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell" by Susanna Clarke
Bennett M., Henderson, Nevada
"Between The World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Xi'an B., Fuchu, Japan
Olivia H., Danbury, Connecticut
Caroline M., Washington, D.C.
"Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad
Jacob M., Whitmore Lake, Michigan
“The Alchemist” by Paul Coelho
Gayathri S., Macedonia, Ohio
"The Human, The Orchid, and the Octopus" by Jacques Cousteau
Myka R., Bethesda, Maryland
"Parkland" by David Cullen
Emma R., Jupiter, Florida
"Bud, Not Buddy" by Christopher Paul Curtis
Zizheng L., Sugar Land, Texas
"Loitering" by Charles D'Ambrosio
Owen F., San Francisco, California
"Foundations of Freedom" by Angela Davis
Ainsley B., Orland Park, Illinois
"Freedom is a Constant Struggle" by Angela Davis
Shelby G., Mount Kisco, New York
"The Ancestor's Tale" by Richard Dawkins
Noah P., Downers Grove, Illinois
"White Fragility" by Robin DiAngelo
Anna B., Seattle, Washington
Ellis H., Mountain Brook, Alabama
"The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" by Junot Díaz
Ananda W., Brooklyn, New York
"All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
Estlin M., Los Angeles, California
"Crime and Punishment" by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Helen M., Stamford, Connecticut
Jackie S., Riverwoods, Illinois
Roman S., Moskva, Russia
"Notes from a Dead House" by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Camryn L., Lafayette, California
"Untamed" by Glennon Doyle
Ollie S., West Chester, Pennsylvania
"A Stolen Life" by Jaycee Dugard
Sydney L., Branchland, West Virginia
"Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison
Jonathan L., Charlottesville, Virginia
"The Virgin Suicides" by Jeffrey Eugenides
Leila K., Calabasas, California
"The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner
Pritish D., Columbia, South Carolina
"The Wretched of the Earth" by Frantz Fanon
Mina Z., New York, New York
"The Stranger in the Woods" by Michael Finkel
Raquel R., Encino, California
"Tender is the Night" by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Emma K., Chapel Hill, North Carolina
"Locking Up Our Own" by James Forman Jr.
Yasmine C., Brooklyn, New York
"Bad Feminist" by Roxanne Gay
Katherine W., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
"The Epic of Gilgamesh" (translated by Andrew George)
Gabriella S., York, Maine
"Outliers" by Malcom Gladwell
Christo M., Park Ridge, Illinois
"Other Minds" by Peter Godfrey-Smith
Griffin C., San Antonio, Texas
"Lord of the Flies" by William Golding
Angel A., Mesquite, Texas
"Leadership in Turbulent Times" by Doris Kearns Goodwin
Christo M., Park Ridge, Illinois
"Turtles All The Way Down" by John Green
Arya S., Avon, Ohio
"The Fabric of the Cosmos" by Brian Greene
Auden W., Brooklyn, New York
"The Laws of Human Nature" by Robert Greene
Sami A., Glendale, Arizona
"Fates and Furies" by Lauren Groff
Ellie G., Rockville, Maryland
"The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime" by Mark Haddon"
Katherine W., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
"21 Lessons for the 21st Century" by Yuval Noah Harari
Kevin W., Lansdale, Pennsylvania
"The Art of Fielding" by Chris Harbach
JJ Y., New York, New York
"The Undercover Economist" by Tim Harford
Tim H., Weston, Florida
"War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning" by Chris Hedges
Katherine W., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
"Siddhartha" by Herman Hesse
Leah W., Atlanta, Georgia
"Minor Feelings" by Cathy Park Hong
Hazel K., Irvine, California
"A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini
Clara L., Oakwood, Ohio
"Le Dernier Jour d'un condamné" by Victor Hugo
Rania H., Berrechid, Morocco
"Les Misérables" by Victor Hugo
Lora J., Montclair, New Jersey
"Their Eyes Were Watching God" by Zora Neale Hurston
Kate L., Glenwood, Maryland
Olivia S., Mars, Pennsylvania
"Season of Crimson Blossoms" by Abubakar Adam Ibrahim
Cliffe O., Nairobi, Kenya
"Monday’s Not Coming" by Tiffany Jackson
Victoria K., Boca Raton, Florida
"The Obelisk Gate" by N.K. Jemisin
Emily H., Belton, South Carolina
"The Stone Sky" by N.K. Jemisin
Makenna P., O'Fallon, Illinois
"All Boys Aren't Blue" by George M. Johnson
Rowan M., Boxford, Massachusetts
"Truly Devious" by Maureen Johnson
Emme P., Iowa City, Iowa
"The Boy who Harnessed the Wind" by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer
Tasnimul Fahim T., Narayanganj, Bangladesh
"Stamped from the Beginning" by Ibram X. Kendi
Mina Z., New York, New York
"When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir" by Patrisse Khan-Cullors
Josie G., Trenton, Ohio
Lucie M., Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
"Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Terry Kidder
Katherine W., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft" by Stephen King
Daniel B., Short Hills, New Jersey
"The Memories of Tomorrow" by Dean Koontz
Antonio B., Union City, California
"We Are Okay" by Nina LaCour
Rowan M., Boxford, Massachusetts
"Go Set a Watchman" by Harper Lee
Ellen D., Atlanta, Georgia
"Sister Outsider" by Audre Lorde
Mina Z., New York, New York
"Real American" by Julie Lythcott-Haims
Annabelle F., Seattle, Washington
"Unbowed" by Wagnari Maathi
Crew J., San Diego, California
"A Burning" by Megha Majumdar
Gayathri S., Macedonia, Ohio
"1491" by Charles C. Mann
Margaret O., Green Springs, Ohio
"The Mirror and the Light" by Hilary Mantel
William B., Chevy Chase, Maryland
"Wolf Hall" by Hilary Mantel
Jonathan L., Charlottesville, Virginia
"The Bethrothed (I Promessi Sposi)" by Alessandro Manzoni
Alejandro G., Chicago, Illinois
"Deacon King Kong: A Novel" by James McBride
Heath M., Ann Arbor, Michigan
"The Road" by Cormac McCarthy
Aiden N., Princeton Junction, New Jersey
"Angela's Ashes" by Frank McCourt
Anchal S., Sunnyvale, California
"Post-Truth" by Lee McIntyre
Bianca Denise L., Manila, Philippines
"Moby Dick" by Herman Melville
Morgan P., Twinsburg, Ohio
"Circe" by Madeline Miller
Zhao Gu G., Elkins Park, Pennsylvania
"The Song of Achilles" by Madeline Miller
Leah W., Atlanta, Georgia
"Beloved" by Toni Morrison
Nandini L., Mason, Ohio
"After Dark" by Haruki Murakami
Sajid K., Dhaka, Bangladesh
"Kafka by the Shore" by Haruki Murakami
Evelyn M., New York, New York
Abram R., Arcata, California
"The Wind Up Bird" Haruki Murakami
Praagya K., Kathmandu, Nepal
"Like A Love Story" by Abdi Nazeman
Victoria T., St. Clairsville, Ohio
"Deep: Freediving, Renegade Science, and what the Ocean Tells Us about Ourselves" by James Nestor
Christo M., Park Ridge, Illinois
"Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
Addie E., San Francisco, California
"Born A Crime" by Trevor Noah
Bruce D., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Mahder T., Swampscott, Massachusetts
"Sweat" by Lynn Nottage
Bianca Denise L., Manila, Philippines
"Dreams From my Father" by Barack Obama
Emma R., Jupiter, Florida
"So You Want to Talk About Race" by Ijeoma Oluo
Rowan M., Boxford, Massachusetts
"Long Day’s Journey into Night" by Eugene O'Neill
Katie G., Norwich, Vermont
"There There" by Tommy Orange
JJ Y., New York, New York
"1984" by George Orwell
Bessy A., San Pedro Sula, Cortes, Honduras
Rahul M., South Windsor, Connecticut
Connor R., Poolesville, Maryland
"Where the Crawdads Sing" by Delia Owens
Kibriyanut A., Almaty, Kazakhstan
"Becoming Kim Jong Un" by Jung H. Pak
Hayden H., Scottsdale, Arizona
"Cry, the Beloved Country" by Alan Paton
Keaton M., Versailles, Kentucky
"Pillow Thoughts" by Courtney Peppernell
Anderson C., Miami, Florida
"Walking The Way Together" by Mark Phillips
Gavin B., Butler, Missouri
"A Spark of Light" by Jodi Picoult
Chloe D., Lake Forest, Illinois
"Republic" by Plato
Rachel S., Rye, New York
"The Education of an Idealist" by Samantha Power
Michaela C., Birmingham, Michigan
Isabel M., Houston, Texas
"Citizen: An American Lyric" by Claudia Rankine
Amelie G., Santa Cruz, California
Alex K., San Francisco, California
"Such a Fun Age" Kiley Reid
Naiyara Aayman N., Uttara, Dhaka Bangladesh
"Three Cups of Tea" by David Oliver Relin and Greg Mortenson
Emma R., Jupiter, Florida
"Three Comrades" ("Drei Kameraden") by Erich Maria Remarque
Mane H., Kapan, Armenia
"Juliet Takes A Breath" by Gabby Rivera
Emma O., Lakewood, Ohio
"Normal People" by Sally Rooney
Patricia T., Bedford, New Hampshire
Leah W., Atlanta, Georgia
"American Pastoral" by Phillip Roth
Thomas B., Colchester, Vermont
"The Color of Law" by Richard Rothstein
Hannah F., North Potomac, Maryland
Leah W., Atlanta, Georgia
"The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat" by Oliver Sacks
Caroline M., Washington, D.C.
"Orientalism" by Edward Said
Luke K., Midvale, Utah
"Oathbringer" by Brandon Sanderson
Siddhi S., Pickerington, Ohio
"Vicious" by Victoria Schwab
Colby P., Chapel Hill, North Carolina
"The Yale Shakespeare: King Henry IV-VIII" by William Shakespeare
Emme P., Iowa City, Iowa
"Frankenstein by" Mary Shelley
Gabriella S., York, Maine
"Rodham" by Curtis Sittenfeld
Leah W., Atlanta, Georgia
"The Naked Communist" by W. Cleon Skousen
Lewis S., Athens, Georgia
"Marilou is Everywhere" by Sarah Elaine Smith
Bianca Denise L., Manila, Philippines
"Disgruntled" by Asali Solomon
Madison B., Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania
"Maus" and "Maus 2" by Art Spiegelman
Imogen F., New York, New York
"Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions" by Gloria Steinem
Kendall B., Weston, Massachusetts
"Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
Lucy H., Cheshire, Connecticut
Emily L., Bethesda, Maryland
Athena S., St. Petersburg, Florida
Zelda S., Los Angeles California
"No Visible Bruises: What We Don’t Know About Domestic Violence Can Kill Us" by Rachel Louise Snyder
Genevieve R., Brooklyn, New York
"Wild" by Cheryl Strayed
Sydney W., Huntersville, North Carolina
"Beneath a Scarlet Sky" by Mark Sullivan
Joseph F., Bethesda, Maryland
"The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
Sadie K., San Anselmo, California
Anna P., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
"Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?" by Beverly Daniel Tatum
Emelia G., Brookline, Massachusetts
"The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas
Maddie B., Andover, Massachusetts
Atiqua P., Dinajpur, Bangladesh
"Anna Karenina" by Leo Tolstoy
Alexander H., Gilbert, Arizona
Quinn W., Dayton, Ohio
"Cane" by Jean Toomer
Roman S., Moskva, Russia
"The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle" by Stuart Turton
Anchal S., Sunnyvale, California
"Slaughterhouse Five" by Kurt Vonnegut
Rahul M., South Windsor, Connecticut
"On Earth, We're Briefly Gorgeous" by Ocean Vuong
Lishan C., Stanford, California
"Men We Reaped: A Memoir" by Jesmyn Ward
Alex A., New York, New York
"Ontological Terror: Blackness, Nihilism, and Emancipation" by Calvin L. Warren
Hannah S., Glencoe, Illinois
"Most Likely" by Sarah Watson
Stella T., Juneau, Alaska
"Become What You Are" by Alan Watts
Raghav D., Hisar, India
"Educated" by Tara Westover
Kibriyanut A., Almaty, Kazakhstan
"The Portrait Of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde
John E., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Madalyn S., Saint Louis, Missouri
"Two Trains Running" by August Wilson
Michael W., Shoreline, Washington
"Look Homeward, Angel" by Thomas Wolfe
Omar M., Nyack, New York
"The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Malcolm X with Alex Haley
Amanda P., Lawrenceville, New Jersey
Luis P., Caracas, Venezuela
Mina Z., New York, New York
"The Time Paradox" by Philip Zimbardo
David G., San Francisco, California
"Forbidden Scrollery" by ZUN
John L., Reno, Nevada
Tao Te Ching
Leopoldo P., Albany, California
You can also view recommendations from summer 2019 and winter 2020.