Essay on Books for Students and Children

Children's Books

500 Words Essay on Books

Books are referred to as a man’s best friend . They are very beneficial for mankind and have helped it evolve. There is a powerhouse of information and knowledge. Books offer us so many things without asking for anything in return. Books leave a deep impact on us and are responsible for uplifting our mood.

Essay on Books

This is why we suggest children read books from an early age to gain knowledge. The best part about books is that there are various types of books. One can read any type to gain different types of knowledge. Reading must be done by people of all ages. It not only widens our thinking but also enhances our vocabulary.

Different Genres of Books

There are different genres of books available for book readers. Every day, thousands of books are released in the market ranging from travel books to fictional books. We can pick any book of our interest to expand our knowledge and enjoy the reading experience.

Firstly, we have travel books, which tell us about the experience of various travelers. They introduce us to different places in the world without moving from our place. It gives us traveling tips which we can use in the future. Then, we have history books which state historical events. They teach about the eras and how people lived in times gone by.

Furthermore, we have technology books that teach us about technological developments and different equipment. You can also read fashion and lifestyle books to get up to date with the latest trends in the fashion industry.

Most importantly, there are self-help books and motivational books . These books help in the personality development of an individual. They inspire us to do well in life and also bring a positive change in ourselves. Finally, we have fictional books. They are based on the writer’s imagination and help us in enhancing our imagination too. They are very entertaining and keep us intrigued until the very end.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Benefits of Reading Books

There are not one but various advantages of reading books. To begin with, it improves our knowledge on a variety of subjects. Moreover, it makes us wiser. When we learn different things, we learn to deal with them differently too. Similarly, books also keep us entertained. They kill our boredom and give us great company when we are alone.

Furthermore, books help us to recognize our areas of interest. They also determine our career choice to a great extent. Most importantly, books improve our vocabulary . We learn new words from it and that widens our vocabulary. In addition, books boost our creativity. They help us discover a completely new side.

In other words, books make us more fluent in languages. They enhance our writing skills too. Plus, we become more confident after the knowledge of books. They help us in debating, public speaking , quizzes and more.

In short, books give us a newer perspective and gives us a deeper understanding of things. It impacts our personality positively as well. Thus, we see how books provide us with so many benefits. We should encourage everyone to read more books and useless phones.

FAQs on Books

Q.1 State the different genres of books.

A.1 Books come in different genres. Some of them are travel books, history books, technology books, fashion and lifestyle books, self-help books, motivational books, and fictional books.

Q.2 Why are books important?

A.2 Books are of great importance to mankind. They enhance our knowledge and vocabulary. They keep us entertained and also widen our perspective. This, in turn, makes us more confident and wise.

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Essay on Importance of Books

Students are often asked to write an essay on Importance of Books in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Importance of Books

Introduction.

Books are magical treasures that open up a world of knowledge. They play a vital role in our lives, shaping our thoughts and perspectives.

Source of Knowledge

Books provide a rich source of information, helping us to understand various subjects. They educate us and broaden our outlook.

Improves Creativity

Reading books sparks our imagination. It enhances creativity by presenting different scenarios and ideas.

Enhances Language Skills

Books are excellent tools to improve our language skills. They introduce us to new words and phrases.

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250 Words Essay on Importance of Books

The quintessence of books.

Books have been an integral part of human civilization, serving as repositories of knowledge, wisdom, and creativity. They have the power to transport us to different realms, stimulate our imagination, and broaden our understanding of the world.

Books as a Portal to Knowledge

Books are a treasure trove of knowledge, covering a plethora of subjects from science to philosophy, history to art. They offer us insights into different cultures, traditions, and perspectives, fostering empathy and cross-cultural understanding. They are the stepping stones to intellectual growth, encouraging critical thinking and informed decision-making.

Books and Emotional Intelligence

Literature, in particular, plays a pivotal role in enhancing emotional intelligence. Characters’ experiences, emotions, and conflicts provide readers with a nuanced understanding of human behavior and emotions. This can foster empathy, compassion, and emotional resilience, essential traits in our increasingly interconnected world.

Books as a Catalyst for Creativity

Books stimulate our imagination, pushing the boundaries of our thoughts and ideas. They inspire us to dream, innovate, and create, acting as a catalyst for creativity. They are a source of inspiration for artists, writers, filmmakers, and innovators, shaping our cultural and artistic landscapes.

In conclusion, books are more than just a collection of printed pages. They are a beacon of knowledge, a conduit for emotional growth, and a springboard for creativity. In our digital age, their importance should not be underestimated. They are the bedrock of an enlightened and progressive society.

500 Words Essay on Importance of Books

Books have been a crucial part of human civilization, acting as repositories of knowledge, wisdom, and creativity. They have shaped societies, sparked revolutions, and influenced the course of history. Despite the digital revolution, the importance of books remains unassailable. This essay elucidates the significance of books in our lives and society.

Books as a Source of Knowledge

Books are a treasure trove of knowledge. They provide unparalleled access to a range of subjects, allowing readers to delve into the depths of science, explore the realms of philosophy, or traverse the landscapes of literature. They encapsulate the intellectual evolution of humanity, preserving the thoughts, discoveries, and innovations of brilliant minds. Reading books fosters intellectual growth, stimulates critical thinking, and enhances our understanding of the world.

Books and Personal Development

Books play a pivotal role in personal development. They introduce us to diverse perspectives, helping us to broaden our horizons and cultivate empathy. The narratives and characters we encounter in books often mirror our own experiences, thereby enabling us to navigate our emotions, understand our identities, and cope with life’s challenges. Furthermore, reading books can improve our cognitive abilities, such as memory, focus, and analytical skills.

Cultural Preservation and Communication

Books and creativity.

Books stimulate creativity by inviting us to engage with imaginative worlds, complex plots, and nuanced characters. They encourage us to envision alternatives, question established norms, and think outside the box. Reading literature can particularly enhance creative writing skills, as it exposes us to various writing styles, narrative structures, and literary techniques.

In conclusion, the importance of books cannot be overstated. They are not merely static objects, but dynamic entities that engage us in a transformative process of learning, reflection, and personal growth. They are our guides to the past, mirrors to the present, and windows to the future. Despite the advent of digital media, the tactile experience of flipping through the pages of a book and the intellectual satisfaction it provides are irreplaceable. Therefore, in an increasingly digitized world, let us continue to cherish the enduring value of books.

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The Magic of Books

Here’s an essay written by one of my Junior Cert students for her mock on the topic “The Magic & Wonder of Books”. She thinks it makes her sound like a complete nerd but I think it’s lovely. Anyway, she’s actually got quite a bit of cred around here so I won’t oust her and her secret book obsession by naming her…

Reading a book is magical because it allows you to escape to the world of the book and away from the real world. I’m not the usual teenager; I don’t walk around like a zombie glued to the screen of my tablet, phone or iPod. I walk around like a zombie with my head stuck in a book, completely & totally immersed in the world of the book. My family frequently get mad at me for having to repeat themselves as I don’t hear a word anyone says! Except the characters in my book, of course! Their lives become mine. I remember when I read “ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe ” for the first time. I felt like I was there in Narnia following everything that happened as if I was the third daughter of Eve myself. I felt the cold snow and the loud roar of Aslan. That’s why books are so magical and wondrous for me. When I open a book it’s like I have bought an airplane ticket and am about to be flown to a different land.

Books open my mind to different scenarios. In books, anything can happen. Authors like Jacqueline Wilson introduce us to scenarios so many teenage girls face; the death of loved ones, bullying, emmigration – scenarios that wouldn’t cross my mind normally unless I was the victim of these tragedies. Yet when I read about them I feel the upset and the pain of the characters, or their delight and relief, as if it was me and I was dealing with these situations. It’s as if I magically transform into someone different, and live their lives with them as I read. When characters encounter difficulties, I don’t just imagine  what I would do, but I also connect with them as if the characters were my friends.

Books also allow you to see things from the point of view of a person you aren’t and might never be, like a model, princess or millionaire. They take you away from a life where money might be tight to one where it might as well fall from the skies like drops of golden sunshine; they transport you to lives filled with balls, photoshoots and dinner parties, not exams, study, chores and saving money. The magic and wonder of books is extraordinary as you can go from bored and stressed to excited in an instant, losing yourself in a red carpet event with papparazzi shouting your name!

Books can enchant you, educate you and change your opinions and can have as much of an effect on you as a real life experience. Before reading “ The Hunger Games “, I didn’t understand the issue of inequality. I knew it wasn’t pleasant but I didn’t understand the extent to which it can destroy lives. Yes, “ The Hunger Games ” is fictional, yes it is not very realistic in this day and age that 24 people would be put into an arena to fight for their lives. But strip it all back and it comes down to one thing. The “Capital”/Government and the rich having control over the lives of the poor. Surely this is exactly what is happening in our world right now? It only took reading a fictional book to make me understand the inequality that exists in our world today and to change my view of myself, suddenly seeing how privileged I really am. It only took one book to do that. Just one book! And if that doesn’t show the magic and wonder of books then I honestly don’t know what magic is anymore.

I’ve been reading as far back as I can remember. Books were part of my growing up and taught me things that my parents, siblings, friends and teachers couldn’t teach me. They have helped me to escape from tough times to worlds of magic. Yes, not all the books I’ve read have been wonderful and magical but there is still a lesson to be learnt from every one. Books helped me through my beginning years at secondary school when I wanted to have time alone to escape from exams, stress, fights etc. All I had to do was open a book and I would be absorbed into it and forget everything else.

I think every parent should encourage their kids to read from an early age. Reading has so many benefits.  It develops your imagination, increases your vocabulary and allows you to encounter mysteries far beyond your daily experiences. The magic and wonder of books is one of the most powerful forces in my world. Ultimately it comes down to this: I would not be the same person if I had never picked up a book!

5 responses to “ The Magic of Books ”

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Nonfiction Books » Essays

The best essays: the 2021 pen/diamonstein-spielvogel award, recommended by adam gopnik.

Had I Known: Collected Essays by Barbara Ehrenreich

WINNER OF the 2021 PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay

Had I Known: Collected Essays by Barbara Ehrenreich

Every year, the judges of the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay search out the best book of essays written in the past year and draw attention to the author's entire body of work. Here, Adam Gopnik , writer, journalist and PEN essay prize judge, emphasizes the role of the essay in bearing witness and explains why the five collections that reached the 2021 shortlist are, in their different ways, so important.

Interview by Benedict King

Had I Known: Collected Essays by Barbara Ehrenreich

Unfinished Business: Notes of a Chronic Re-Reader by Vivian Gornick

The Best Essays: the 2021 PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award - Nature Matrix: New and Selected Essays by Robert Michael Pyle

Nature Matrix: New and Selected Essays by Robert Michael Pyle

The Best Essays: the 2021 PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award - Terroir: Love, Out of Place by Natasha Sajé

Terroir: Love, Out of Place by Natasha Sajé

The Best Essays: the 2021 PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award - Maybe the People Would be the Times by Luc Sante

Maybe the People Would be the Times by Luc Sante

The Best Essays: the 2021 PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award - Had I Known: Collected Essays by Barbara Ehrenreich

1 Had I Known: Collected Essays by Barbara Ehrenreich

2 unfinished business: notes of a chronic re-reader by vivian gornick, 3 nature matrix: new and selected essays by robert michael pyle, 4 terroir: love, out of place by natasha sajé, 5 maybe the people would be the times by luc sante.

W e’re talking about the books shortlisted for the 2021 PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay . As an essayist yourself, or as a reader of essays, what are you looking for? What’s the key to a good essay ?

Let’s turn to the books that made the shortlist of the 2021 PEN Award for the Art of the Essay. The winning book was Had I Known: Collected Essays by Barbara Ehrenreich , whose books have been recommended a number of times on Five Books. Tell me more. 

One of the criteria for this particular prize is that it should be not just for a single book, but for a body of work. One of the things we wanted to honour about Barbara Ehrenreich is that she has produced a remarkable body of work. Although it’s offered in a more specifically political register than some essayists, or that a great many past prize winners have practised, the quiddity of her work is that it remains rooted in personal experience, in the act of bearing witness. She has a passionate political point to make, certainly, a series of them, many seeming all the more relevant now than when she began writing. Nonetheless, her writing still always depends on the intimacy of first-hand knowledge, what people in post-incarceration work call ‘lived experience’ (a term with a distinguished philosophical history). Her book Nickel and Dimed is the classic example of that. She never writes from a distance about working-class life in America. She bears witness to the nature and real texture of working-class life in America.

“One point of giving awards…is to keep passing the small torches of literary tradition”

Next up of the books on the 2021 PEN essay prize shortlist is Unfinished Business: Notes of a Chronic Re-Reader by Vivian Gornick.

Vivian Gornick is a writer who’s been around for a very long time. Although longevity is not in itself a criterion for excellence—or for this prize, or in the writing life generally—persistence and perseverance are. Writers who keep coming back at us, again and again, with a consistent vision, are surely to be saluted. For her admirers, her appetite to re-read things already read is one of the most attractive parts of her oeuvre , if I can call it that; her appetite not just to read but to read deeply and personally. One of the things that people who love her work love about it is that her readings are never academic, or touched by scholarly hobbyhorsing. They’re readings that involve the fullness of her experience, then applied to literature. Although she reads as a critic, she reads as an essayist reads, rather than as a reviewer reads. And I think that was one of the things that was there to honour in her body of work, as well.

Is she a novelist or journalist, as well?

Let’s move on to the next book which made the 2021 PEN essay shortlist. This is Nature Matrix: New and Selected Essays by Robert Michael Pyle.

I have a special reason for liking this book in particular, and that is that it corresponds to one of the richest and oldest of American genres, now often overlooked, and that’s the naturalist essay. You can track it back to Henry David Thoreau , if not to Ralph Waldo Emerson , this American engagement with nature , the wilderness, not from a narrowly scientific point of view, nor from a purely ecological or environmental point of view—though those things are part of it—but again, from the point of view of lived experience, of personal testimony.

Let’s look at the next book on the shortlist of the 2021 PEN Awards, which is Terroir: Love, Out of Place by Natasha Sajé. Why did these essays appeal?

One of the things that was appealing about this book is that’s it very much about, in every sense, the issues of the day: the idea of place, of where we are, how we are located on any map as individuals by ethnic identity, class, gender—all of those things. But rather than being carried forward in a narrowly argumentative way, again, in the classic manner of the essay, Sajé’s work is ruminative. It walks around these issues from the point of view of someone who’s an expatriate, someone who’s an émigré, someone who’s a world citizen, but who’s also concerned with the idea of ‘terroir’, the one place in the world where we belong. And I think the dialogue in her work between a kind of cosmopolitanism that she has along with her self-critical examination of the problem of localism and where we sit on the world, was inspiring to us.

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Last of the books on the shortlist for the 2021 Pen essay award is Maybe the People Would Be the Times by Luc Sante.

Again, here’s a writer who’s had a distinguished generalised career, writing about lots of places and about lots of subjects. In the past, he’s made his special preoccupation what he calls ‘low life’, but I think more broadly can be called the marginalized or the repressed and abject. He’s also written acute introductions to the literature of ‘low life’, the works of Asbury and David Maurer, for instance.

But I think one of the things that was appealing about what he’s done is the sheer range of his enterprise. He writes about countless subjects. He can write about A-sides and B-sides of popular records—singles—then go on to write about Jacques Rivette’s cinema. He writes from a kind of private inspection of public experience. He has a lovely piece about tabloid headlines and their evolution. And I think that omnivorous range of enthusiasms and passions is a stirring reminder in a time of specialization and compartmentalization of the essayist’s freedom to roam. If Pyle is in the tradition of Thoreau, I suspect Luc Sante would be proud to be put in the tradition of Baudelaire—the flaneur who walks the streets, sees everything, broods on it all and writes about it well.

One point of giving awards, with all their built-in absurdity and inevitable injustice, is to keep alive, or at least to keep passing, the small torches of literary tradition. And just as much as we’re honoring the great tradition of the naturalist essay in the one case, I think we’re honoring the tradition of the Baudelairean flaneur in this one.

April 18, 2021

Five Books aims to keep its book recommendations and interviews up to date. If you are the interviewee and would like to update your choice of books (or even just what you say about them) please email us at [email protected]

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Adam Gopnik

Adam Gopnik has been a staff writer at the New Yorker since 1986. His many books include A Thousand Small Sanities: The Moral Adventure of Liberalism . He is a three time winner of the National Magazine Award for Essays & Criticism, and in 2021 was made a chevalier of the Legion d'Honneur by the French Republic.

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Essay on Importance of Books 200+ Words

Books have been our faithful companions for centuries, providing knowledge, inspiration, and escape. They are more than mere objects with pages; they are windows to the world and portals to imagination. In this essay, we will delve into the profound importance of books in our lives, touching on their role in education, personal growth, and the preservation of knowledge.

The Gateway to Knowledge

Books are repositories of knowledge, offering insights into a wide range of subjects. They serve as valuable educational tools, helping us learn about history, science, literature, and much more.

Fueling Imagination

Books are a playground for our imagination. Through stories and adventures, they transport us to different worlds, letting us experience the extraordinary and the unknown.

The Joy of Reading

Reading is a source of joy and entertainment. Whether it’s a gripping mystery, a heartwarming romance, or a thrilling fantasy, books cater to diverse tastes and preferences.

Building Vocabulary and Language Skills

Reading books enhances our vocabulary and language skills. Exposure to varied writing styles and language usage helps us become better communicators and writers.

A Window to History

Historical books allow us to explore the past and understand how societies and cultures have evolved over time. They provide valuable lessons and insights from our predecessors.

Lifelong Learning

Books are not limited to formal education. Throughout our lives, we can continue learning and growing through reading, staying curious and informed about the world.

Empathy and Understanding

Books, especially fiction, help us develop empathy and understanding for others. They introduce us to diverse characters and perspectives, broadening our horizons.

Preservation of Culture and Heritage

Books are essential for preserving cultural heritage. They document the stories, traditions, and wisdom of different communities, ensuring that they are not lost to time.

Expert Opinions and References

Books written by experts serve as references for professionals in various fields. They provide in-depth knowledge and insights that are invaluable for research and study.

Conclusion of Essay on Importance of Books

In conclusion, the importance of books cannot be overstated. They are the vessels of knowledge, the keys to imagination, and the guardians of our cultural heritage. Books educate, inspire, and entertain, making them indispensable in our lives. As we turn their pages, we embark on journeys of discovery, empathy, and growth. It is crucial that we continue to embrace books and promote a reading culture, for they hold the power to shape not only our individual lives but also the collective knowledge and wisdom of humanity. Books are the silent companions that accompany us through every stage of life, offering solace, guidance, and endless opportunities for enlightenment. Let us treasure and celebrate the profound importance of books, for they are a gift that keeps on giving, a source of endless wonder, and a testament to the enduring power of words.

Also Check: The Essay on Essay: All you need to know

world of books essay

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✍️Essay On Books: Free Samples for Students 

world of books essay

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  • Nov 2, 2023

Essay on Books

Books are considered human’s best friend. It has been an integral part of human society for ages and will continue to be a crucial part of human life. There are several categories of books, that offer us knowledge about specific fields. Words written in books serve as a source of knowledge, information, and entertainment , which are necessary for skill enhancement and polishing the language. Books are written in every language to fulfill the needs of people living in every region from villages to abroad. In this blog, you will get to know how to write an essay on books and we have also provided some sample essays on books for you. Keep Reading!

Table of Contents

  • 1 Short Essay on Books
  • 2 Essay on Books in 150 Words
  • 3.1 Different Genres of Books
  • 3.2 Benefits of Reading Books

Also Read: 15 Best-Selling Books of All Times

Short Essay on Books

Books are pages filled with ideas, thoughts, stories, imagination, and knowledge. Even after extreme advancements in technology , books continue to be cherished by humans. The reason behind that is the convenience and their appeal. 

Given below are some short sample essays on books that will help school-going children and students: 

Also Read: Essay Writing

Also Read: Motivational Books

Essay on Books in 150 Words

Books are considered true friends of humans, as they can teach us life lessons. Books are the repositories that impart wisdom and knowledge. From ancient times to today’s digital world, books have served as a source of inspiration, expanding the thought process and imparting education.

In schools, they teach us how reading books can shape our future and when a person grows, the impact of his learning through books is reflected in his lifestyle. In an era of mobile phones, smartphones, television, and laptops, we all still trust books. Books provide deep knowledge about any specific subject without any modifications.

Books possess the ability to ignite your imagination and take you to a completely different world. Some readers value books as humans, some highlight the important parts, some readers make collections of limited editions of books, and some even cherish the smell of old books. The cover and physical appearance of the books on the bookshelf reflect comfort.

Thus, books play an important role in everyone’s life. Nowadays movies are also directed based on famous books. 

Also Read: Essay on Education System

Essay on Books in 300 words

Books help mankind to evolve mentally. The thoughts of a person reflect his/her personality and the thoughts are developed based on your learning in life. As mitochondria are the powerhouse of the cell, books are considered the powerhouse of knowledge and information. The vintage look of the book adds charm to its appearance and such books attract the reader. Holding a book in hand, flipping pages while reading, using beautiful bookmarks in the book, and sensing the texture of pages can deeply imply a sensory effect on the readers.

Different Genres of Books

A book reader can enjoy a variety of genres of books. In spite of technological advancements in human life, thousands of books are released in the market. The budding writers also publish their books as they know the fact that good readers still prefer to read from books. If you do not want to purchase the hard copy of the book then, you can go for the online version. 

Following are some of the genres of books:

  • Travel books- Such books tell the story and experience of travellers.
  • Motivational books- Like “Atomic Habits” are used to inspire and motivate people to adopt good habits in life.
  • Fictional books- Like “As You Like It” that represent literary fiction and play.
  • Novel- it comes under the most read books by the reader. Novels are the long work of narrative fiction framed in prose.

Benefits of Reading Books

There are many benefits of reading books. Books help to increase our vocabulary and enhance our knowledge of a variety of subjects. They also serve as a good source of entertainment during free time. It boosts the ability of the reader to think creatively. They help in improving the fluency and enhance the communication skills . Books are a great source of knowledge it would help us in public speaking , debates, quizzes, examinations, etc.

Also Read: Best Indian Authors

In short, books have a positive impact on our personality. We should read more books of different genres and avoid using mobile phones without any reason.

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Books play an effective part in the life of humans from childhood to adulthood. Reading books is a great habit as it will broaden the knowledge. For students, books are the main source of knowledge and education. The imagination and creative skills of students can be developed with the help of books. Even a 1-2 year child also learn about colours, number, fruits, vegetables, and animals with the help of a toddler’s book.

To write a good essay on books you must be familiar with what are books, how many types of books are there, the different genres of books, their role in human society, and the benefits of books. Then, you can include all this knowledge in your essay. Here are some guidelines that you can follow to write an essay on books: Draft the raw information. Arrange it in a systematic order. Frame the introduction paragraph of the essay stating what are books. Then, frame the body and conclude the essay on the advantages and benefits of books. Proofread and edit your essay to bring more clarity.

To write an essay on ‘my favourite book,’ including the title of the book, incorporate a brief review of the book, and conclude with the lesson one may gain from reading that particular book.

This was all about an essay on books. The skill of writing an essay comes in handy when appearing for standardized language tests, thinking of taking one soon? Leverage Live provides the best online test prep for the same. Register today and if you wish to study abroad then contact our experts at 1800572000 .

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The 25 Greatest Essay Collections of All Time

Today marks the release of Aleksandar Hemon’s excellent book of personal essays, The Book of My Lives , which we loved, and which we’re convinced deserves a place in the literary canon. To that end, we were inspired to put together our list of the greatest essay collections of all time, from the classic to the contemporary, from the personal to the critical. In making our choices, we’ve steered away from posthumous omnibuses (Michel de Montaigne’s Complete Essays , the collected Orwell, etc.) and multi-author compilations, and given what might be undue weight to our favorite writers (as one does). After the jump, our picks for the 25 greatest essay collections of all time. Feel free to disagree with us, praise our intellect, or create an entirely new list in the comments.

world of books essay

The Book of My Lives , Aleksandar Hemon

Hemon’s memoir in essays is in turns wryly hilarious, intellectually searching, and deeply troubling. It’s the life story of a fascinating, quietly brilliant man, and it reads as such. For fans of chess and ill-advised theme parties and growing up more than once.

world of books essay

Slouching Towards Bethlehem , Joan Didion

Well, obviously. Didion’s extraordinary book of essays, expertly surveying both her native California in the 1960s and her own internal landscape with clear eyes and one eyebrow raised ever so slightly. This collection, her first, helped establish the idea of journalism as art, and continues to put wind in the sails of many writers after her, hoping to move in that Didion direction.

world of books essay

Pulphead , John Jeremiah Sullivan

This was one of those books that this writer deemed required reading for all immediate family and friends. Sullivan’s sharply observed essays take us from Christian rock festivals to underground caves to his own home, and introduce us to 19-century geniuses, imagined professors and Axl Rose. Smart, curious, and humane, this is everything an essay collection should be.

world of books essay

The Boys of My Youth , Jo Ann Beard

Another memoir-in-essays, or perhaps just a collection of personal narratives, Jo Ann Beard’s award-winning volume is a masterpiece. Not only does it include the luminous, emotionally destructive “The Fourth State of the Matter,” which we’ve already implored you to read , but also the incredible “Bulldozing the Baby,” which takes on a smaller tragedy: a three-year-old Beard’s separation from her doll Hal. “The gorgeous thing about Hal,” she tells us, “was that not only was he my friend, he was also my slave. I made the majority of our decisions, including the bathtub one, which in retrospect was the beginning of the end.”

world of books essay

Consider the Lobster , David Foster Wallace

This one’s another “duh” moment, at least if you’re a fan of the literary essay. One of the most brilliant essayists of all time, Wallace pushes the boundaries (of the form, of our patience, of his own brain) and comes back with a classic collection of writing on everything from John Updike to, well, lobsters. You’ll laugh out loud right before you rethink your whole life. And then repeat.

world of books essay

Notes of a Native Son , James Baldwin

Baldwin’s most influential work is a witty, passionate portrait of black life and social change in America in the 1940s and early 1950s. His essays, like so many of the greats’, are both incisive social critiques and rigorous investigations into the self, told with a perfect tension between humor and righteous fury.

world of books essay

Naked , David Sedaris

His essays often read more like short stories than they do social criticism (though there’s a healthy, if perhaps implied, dose of that slippery subject), but no one makes us laugh harder or longer. A genius of the form.

world of books essay

Against Interpretation , Susan Sontag

This collection, Sontag’s first, is a dazzling feat of intellectualism. Her essays dissect not only art but the way we think about art, imploring us to “reveal the sensuous surface of art without mucking about in it.” It also contains the brilliant “Notes on ‘Camp,'” one of our all-time favorites.

world of books essay

The Common Reader , Virginia Woolf

Woolf is a literary giant for a reason — she was as incisive and brilliant a critic as she was a novelist. These witty essays, written for the common reader (“He is worse educated, and nature has not gifted him so generously. He reads for his own pleasure rather than to impart knowledge or correct the opinions of others. Above all, he is guided by an instinct to create for himself, out of whatever odds and ends he can come by, some kind of whole- a portrait of a man, a sketch of an age, a theory of the art of writing”), are as illuminating and engrossing as they were when they were written.

world of books essay

Teaching a Stone to Talk , Annie Dillard

This is Dillard’s only book of essays, but boy is it a blazingly good one. The slender volume, filled with examinations of nature both human and not, is deft of thought and tongue, and well worth anyone’s time. As the Chicago Sun-Times ‘s Edward Abbey gushed, “This little book is haloed and informed throughout by Dillard’s distinctive passion and intensity, a sort of intellectual radiance that reminds me both Thoreau and Emily Dickinson.”

world of books essay

Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Man , Henry Louis Gates Jr.

In this eloquent volume of essays, all but one of which were originally published in the New Yorker , Gates argues against the notion of the singularly representable “black man,” preferring to represent him in a myriad of diverse profiles, from James Baldwin to Colin Powell. Humane, incisive, and satisfyingly journalistic, Gates cobbles together the ultimate portrait of the 20th-century African-American male by refusing to cobble it together, and raises important questions about race and identity even as he entertains.

world of books essay

Otherwise Known As the Human Condition , Geoff Dyer

This book of essays, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award in the year of its publication, covers 25 years of the uncategorizable, inimitable Geoff Dyer’s work — casually erudite and yet liable to fascinate anyone wandering in the door, witty and breathing and full of truth. As Sam Lipsyte said, “You read Dyer for his caustic wit, of course, his exquisite and perceptive crankiness, and his deep and exciting intellectual connections, but from these enthralling rants and cultural investigations there finally emerges another Dyer, a generous seeker of human feeling and experience, a man perhaps closer than he thinks to what he believes his hero Camus achieved: ‘a heart free of bitterness.'”

world of books essay

Art and Ardor , Cynthia Ozick

Look, Cynthia Ozick is a genius. One of David Foster Wallace’s favorite writers, and one of ours, Ozick has no less than seven essay collections to her name, and we could have chosen any one of them, each sharper and more perfectly self-conscious than the last. This one, however, includes her stunner “A Drugstore in Winter,” which was chosen by Joyce Carol Oates for The Best American Essays of the Century , so we’ll go with it.

world of books essay

No More Nice Girls , Ellen Willis

The venerable Ellen Willis was the first pop music critic for The New Yorker , and a rollicking anti-authoritarian, feminist, all-around bad-ass woman who had a hell of a way with words. This collection examines the women’s movement, the plight of the aging radical, race relations, cultural politics, drugs, and Picasso. Among other things.

world of books essay

The War Against Cliché , Martin Amis

As you know if you’ve ever heard him talk , Martin Amis is not only a notorious grouch but a sharp critical mind, particularly when it comes to literature. That quality is on full display in this collection, which spans nearly 30 years and twice as many subjects, from Vladimir Nabokov (his hero) to chess to writing about sex. Love him or hate him, there’s no denying that he’s a brilliant old grump.

world of books essay

Cultural Amnesia: Necessary Memories From History and the Arts , Clive James

James’s collection is a strange beast, not like any other essay collection on this list but its own breed. An encyclopedia of modern culture, the book collects 110 new biographical essays, which provide more than enough room for James to flex his formidable intellect and curiosity, as he wanders off on tangents, anecdotes, and cultural criticism. It’s not the only who’s who you need, but it’s a who’s who you need.

world of books essay

I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman , Nora Ephron

Oh Nora, we miss you. Again, we could have picked any of her collections here — candid, hilarious, and willing to give it to you straight, she’s like a best friend and mentor in one, only much more interesting than any of either you’ve ever had.

world of books essay

Arguably , Christopher Hitchens

No matter what you think of his politics (or his rhetorical strategies), there’s no denying that Christopher Hitchens was one of the most brilliant minds — and one of the most brilliant debaters — of the century. In this collection, packed with cultural commentary, literary journalism, and political writing, he is at his liveliest, his funniest, his exactingly wittiest. He’s also just as caustic as ever.

world of books essay

The Solace of Open Spaces , Gretel Ehrlich

Gretel Ehrlich is a poet, and in this collection, you’ll know it. In 1976, she moved to Wyoming and became a cowherd, and nearly a decade later, she published this lovely, funny set of essays about rural life in the American West.”Keenly observed the world is transformed,” she writes. “The landscape is engorged with detail, every movement on it chillingly sharp. The air between people is charged. Days unfold, bathed in their own music. Nights become hallucinatory; dreams, prescient.”

world of books essay

The Braindead Megaphone , George Saunders

Saunders may be the man of the moment, but he’s been at work for a long while, and not only on his celebrated short stories. His single collection of essays applies the same humor and deliciously slant view to the real world — which manages to display nearly as much absurdity as one of his trademark stories.

world of books essay

Against Joie de Vivre , Phillip Lopate

“Over the years,” the title essay begins, “I have developed a distaste for the spectacle of joie de vivre , the knack of knowing how to live.” Lopate goes on to dissect, in pleasantly sardonic terms, the modern dinner party. Smart and thought-provoking throughout (and not as crotchety as all that), this collection is conversational but weighty, something to be discussed at length with friends at your next — oh well, you know.

world of books essay

Sex and the River Styx , Edward Hoagland

Edward Hoagland, who John Updike deemed “the best essayist of my generation,” has a long and storied career and a fat bibliography, so we hesitate to choose such a recent installment in the writer’s canon. Then again, Garrison Keillor thinks it’s his best yet , so perhaps we’re not far off. Hoagland is a great nature writer (name checked by many as the modern Thoreau) but in truth, he’s just as fascinated by humanity, musing that “human nature is interstitial with nature, and not to be shunned by a naturalist.” Elegant and thoughtful, Hoagland may warn us that he’s heading towards the River Styx, but we’ll hang on to him a while longer.

world of books essay

Changing My Mind , Zadie Smith

Smith may be best known for her novels (and she should be), but to our eyes she is also emerging as an excellent essayist in her own right, passionate and thoughtful. Plus, any essay collection that talks about Barack Obama via Pygmalion is a winner in our book.

world of books essay

My Misspent Youth , Meghan Daum

Like so many other writers on this list, Daum dives head first into the culture and comes up with meat in her mouth. Her voice is fresh and her narratives daring, honest and endlessly entertaining.

world of books essay

The White Album , Joan Didion

Yes, Joan Didion is on this list twice, because Joan Didion is the master of the modern essay, tearing at our assumptions and building our world in brisk, clever strokes. Deal.

Home — Essay Samples — Life — Reading Books — The Benefits of Growing up and Reading Books

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The Benefits of Growing Up and Reading Books

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Published: Aug 14, 2018

Words: 911 | Pages: 2 | 5 min read

Table of contents

Read and grow: my literary journey.

  • Mol, S. E., Bus, A. G., & de Jong, M. T. (2009). Interactive book reading in early education: A tool to stimulate print knowledge as well as oral language. Review of Educational Research, 79(2), 979-1007.
  • Morrison, F. J., & Griffith, E. M. (2019). Building attention, memory, and early reading skills through interactive shared book reading. In Shared Book Reading (pp. 167-190). Routledge.
  • Krashen, S. D. (2004). The Power of Reading: Insights from the Research (2nd ed.). Libraries Unlimited.
  • McQuillan, J., & Krashen, S. (2008). Explaining the Flynn effect. Reading Psychology, 29(2), 135-142.
  • National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. (2000). Report of the National Reading Panel. Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction (NIH Publication No. 00-4754). U.S. Government Printing Office.

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world of books essay

EDUCBA

Essay on Books

Madhuri Thakur

Updated February 13, 2023

Books, A Resource

Books are a collection of pages bound together to provide information in written or picture form. It serves as an essential resource by making a person aware of a large variety of subjects. Books act as a quick escape from troublesome surroundings which might feel suffocating at times. This essay on Books will teach you the real meaning of books. Extensive reading nourishes the intellect and provides a broadened view of society and a meaningful description of the matter.

Individuals who regularly read books possess excellent character and can easily converse as they acquire the skill to discuss any subject in any given circumstance. Certain bibliophiles find the smell of old books similar to dust and relate them to the culture and history on those pages.

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Essay on books

The Importance of Books

This article Essay on Books gives you more insight on the importance. Books play an essential role in one’s life by introducing a world of imagination, supplying knowledge of the outside world, improving reading, writing, and speaking skills, and upgrading memory and intelligence. Good books are rich in subject matter as well as quality since they serve as a storehouse of knowledge and wisdom. One can learn about history, values, science, philosophy, and more just by reading books.

Books, known as ‘Man’s best friend’, can act as survival kits. A person who has enough books will never be friendless. They contribute a lot to the evolution of mankind and enlighten our hearts and souls. They not only help in widening our horizons but also act as a doorway to bind us to the world around us. Reading books is a stress relief practice and an escape to a completely different world.

Uses of Books

Apart from the main purpose of reading, books are also meant for other purposes.

  • A book acts as an artistic piece of art, which is often known as an artist’s book.
  • A professional writer or a reader can assess it to produce a book review.
  • Certain groups of people might read books to use as a spark for social or academic discussion, like in a book club.
  • Students and scholars can study a book as a writing and investigation exercise and report their findings in a book.
  • Books are also used in exterior decoration, mostly in cafes.

Different Types of Books

Books are broadly classified under two main categories – fiction and non-fiction.

#1 Fictional Books

A Fiction Book originates from the imagination of the writer. One could create this category of books for inspiration or partially take them from real-life scenarios. They place fictional books under the category of ‘Novels’. These books are immense in terms of subjects and have a huge sub-division or genres, which excites the bookworms.

#2 Non-fictional Books

Authors base non-fictional books on facts, true incidents of history, and real-life events, in contrast to fictional books. So, unlike fictional books, non-fictional books have a comparatively limited number of genres. The highly favorite types of non-fictional books among the masses are biographies, autobiographies, encyclopedias, maniacs, and more.

Benefits of Reading Books

  • A typical reader can broaden their knowledge as they learn new things about the subjects of interest. Different books enable us to capture an individual’s interest.
  • When reading, an individual performs a mental workout for the brain that helps to improve memory function.
  • Reading is a form of free entertainment since it immerses us in reading the content and keeps us engaged.
  • Since reading activities require undivided attention, it helps to improve concentration and the ability to focus. In books or in real life reading books to improve your knowledge is so much important.
  • Reading improves literacy since it has the power to improve your vocabulary by introducing us to new words, thus improving communication skills.
  • Moreover, reading books help to improve writing skills by making the reader understand and learn different writing styles.
  • Reading improves the quality of sleep by setting the phone aside and reading a book. It calms down the brain and helps de-stress.
  • Books are a treasure of general knowledge, filled with fun and interesting facts.
  • Reading books about motivational protagonists makes us feel encouraged to do the same and stay positive in any situation.
  • Regular reading teaches empathy and develops the experience of realities. It directs us to relate to others by putting us in the shoes of the author and presenting thoughts and scenarios outside of our imagination.

Benefits of Reading Books

Earlier, people only had books as a source to gain knowledge and information. With changing times, the technological era exposed us to the internet, due to which the masses have started referring to e-books. Any technology can never fulfill the benefits of reading books. I hope in this article, Essay on Books you got all the required knowledge about books and how they are important to us in our life. Therefore, it is equally necessary to teach from childhood the habit of regularly setting aside some ‘me time’ for reading, from the initial stage itself. Moreover, reading enhances vision and creativity.

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  • Books Essay

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Essay on Books

Books are an important resource for many people who have a keen interest in gaining knowledge on a variety of subjects. There are certain bibliophile‘s who love the smell of old books. They find that the smell of an old book is similar to that of dust and they can smell a whole lot of culture and history in those pages. There is a word in the dictionary for loving the smell of old books and that is - Bibliosmia. Books are meant to get a quick escape from ourselves and our surroundings which might feel troublesome at times. Books help in enriching the brain with various kinds of information and it imparts the kind of knowledge that becomes useful in our day to day lives. 

Reading extensively makes a person an intellectual, it enables him/her to view society and the things happening within the society in an intellectual manner. People who read books have an excellent character and other people find them attractive and easy to talk to as they can talk about any topic given the situation and circumstances. Reading books helps in the overall development of the brain as well as the character.

History of Books

Books introduce us to a world of wisdom and knowledge. Nowadays knowledge can be gained from anywhere as books have gone through years of evolution. The first book that was ever printed was the Gutenberg bible, it was printed in 1455. In primitive times, men learned how to read and write, they saw the need for writing which helped them to record transactions, send messages to their loved ones who lived afar, they made certain discoveries and wrote about them on various manuscripts. 

Manuscripts are the most ancient form of paper that was used to write important information, it was made of the papyrus plant. They were introduced in Egypt and many kings and queens hired writers to write about their glorious Egyptian empires and about the wars that they had won. These manuscripts also contain information about various transactions that were made in the court and this depicts their trading lifestyle, Egyptian economy and their religion, after doing analysis we can find that Egyptians were very similar to Roman beliefs. All the little information that we know today about ancient times is because of these manuscripts, they are the only source for knowing our past closely. 

Then came the 1900s when people started hand stitching books, this process made the books extremely expensive to purchase. In the 1930s some publishers like the Penguin publishers started to glue their books together which helped in reducing the cost of production, which then made the books affordable for everybody. 

Now as we are moving towards a digitalised era, we can now download any book that we want to read through the Internet, the books are available in PDF and other various versions, With the coming up of Kindle, people started reading books on the Kindle tablet, enabling readers to reach a wide range of genres all while sitting at the comfort of their home. Books occupy a significant meaning in our lives and people should share their books with others or the information that they gathered while reading a particular book as such knowledge can become an inspiration for others and they might start reading as well.

More About Books

If one has enough books, then the person can never be friendless. Books are one of the biggest friends that one can ever ask for. It has helped to evolve mankind since time immemorial. Books which are good in subject matter and quality can be a storehouse of wisdom and information. They enrich our hearts and souls. Some books can leave a permanent mark in our lives. Yet, they are unbelievably inexpensive. So, everyone can afford at least some good books. Those who cannot afford too many books can always visit the library.

Starting Early

My parents have always encouraged me to read books ever since I learnt to read. There are books to suit readers of all age groups. Also, there are books on various subjects. No matter what interests you, there is going to be a book in that subject. So, once we pick a book that interests us, we can get hours with it.

Advantages of Reading Books

A regular reader can enhance his or her knowledge on an array of subjects. It helps us to learn a lot of new things about the subjects that interest us. And it is a fun way to explore a new world in a fun way. So learning with entertainment is a perk of reading regularly. They can be a very powerful answer to boredom. Whenever I am alone, a book can be the only companion that we might be needing.

Moreover, the fact that different books deal with different subjects has an advantage. It allows us to explore different subject matters. It can help to identify our different aspects of interest. Our choice of books can also go a long way to decide on our career in the future.

Another important benefit of reading books is that it helps to improve our word power. We can read the works of different authors. This will make us come across different new words. By learning new words, we can nurture our vocabulary. When we use the newly learned works in day to day conversation, people do appreciate that. Also, it helps to improve our writing skills, as well.

With new words and new expressions empowering us, we can also participate in the debates, public speaking competitors, and the quiz sessions with more confidence than ever.

Different Types of Books

There seems to be a book for almost every subject under the sky. There are creations of literature, as well as academic books and travelogues. There are books on historical events, mythology, cookery, mechanics, astronomy, astrology, fashion, and whatnot. Though I love reading different genres of books, I have my own selection and favourites. Here's a lowdown on the different genres of books that I find interesting.

Folklore: Almost every country in the world has its bounty of rich folklore. They are evidence of the heritage of a country. Folklores are all about songs from the bygone days, ballads dedicated to the ancient kings, queens, princes and princesses, legends, myths, and traditional tales. In most cases, there is no known author of these folklores.

Fantasies: These are the fascinating takes of an imaginative world. Often, fantasies come with references to make-believe places. There are charming stories with beautiful yet imaginary countries in the background. We come across interesting characters and intriguing creatures. But none of them exist in the real world.

Science Fiction: The sci-fi tales are primarily based on real-life scientific facts and principles. Though the plots might be imaginary, the stories often have some true references to what might happen in the future.

Realistic Fiction: These are my favourite set of "what if" novels and stories. This genre comprises imaginary situations that might occur just anytime. The characters seem to be real, as well.

Biography: The themes of biographies revolve around the life of famous people. A biography comes with a person's memoirs, letters, journals, and the like.

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FAQs on Books Essay

1. When is World Book Day? What is its Purpose?

The 5th March of every year is celebrated as the international day of books and copyrights. The day is observed to celebrate the works of various authors and books. Also, it aims at encouraging new readers to read more books and discover the joy of studying. Booklovers also try different ways to promote reading as a fun hobby.

2. Which are the Most Read and Printed Books in the World?

After several surveys across the world, it has appeared that the Holy Bible is the most widely read book in the world. In the last 50 years, more than 3.9 million copies of the Bible have been sold. If we consider the translated versions and the Bibles that have been distributed, then the number of prints and sales of this book goes over 6 million! And it is also the most widely read book on this planet.

3. How to Start Our Reading Habit?

Even if you are not much into reading, you can start the habit with some simple steps:

Start reading for at least 5-10 minutes a day.

Carry a book everywhere you go, even if you don't have the time to read outside.

Find a quiet place while reading books.

Regularly visit the old bookstalls. You will be tempted to explore the wonderful world.

Research and make your list of books that you want to read. 

4. Give some pointers to include while writing about an essay on books.

Some pointers that can be included while forming an essay on books are-

It is important to inculcate reading habits at an early age as the knowledge gained as it aids in the overall development of the brain and builds character.

Children who are avid readers can never have difficulty reading academic textbooks as opposed to children who don’t read on a daily basis.

Children should read books that are advised by their elders or teachers as they can help you get a good experience at reading and gaining knowledge.

Books never run out of trends, one of the best ways to get a good experience at book reading is to read classics written by great writers such as – Animal Farm by Arthur Blair, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, jane eyre by charlotte Bronte, little women by Louisa May Alcott.

5. Where can I find an essay on books?

Essays on books can be easily accessed by visiting Vedantu's website . This website provides essays on various topics so that students can get a hint on how to form their essays and what important points they can include. After reading a wide range of essays given on Vedantu's website, students will be able to construct their own essays in a much easier and efficient manner. Students can find relatable pointers and can get a good look at effective essay writing techniques.

6. List some advantages of reading books.

Reading books makes a person wiser, it is a journey from the unknown to the known.

Most importantly it increases the vocabulary. A good vocabulary is key to having a good conversation. A good vocabulary can also fetch you good marks in academics and help you get ahead of everyone.

Reading books helps to increase fluency in any language. Students who are learning a foreign language should read books written In that particular language to get a good grasp of it.

7. What are the different types of books?

The different types of books are as follows- folklore, fantasies, science fiction, realistic fiction, biography etc.

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world of books essay

The Best Reviewed Essay Collections of 2020

Featuring zadie smith, helen macdonald, claudia rankine, samantha irby, and more.

Zadie Smith’s Intimations , Helen Macdonald’s Vesper Flights , Claudia Rankine’s Just Us , and Samantha Irby’s Wow, No Thank You all feature among the Best Reviewed Essay Collections of 2020.

Brought to you by Book Marks , Lit Hub’s “Rotten Tomatoes for books.”

Vesper Flights ribbon

1. Vesper Flights by Helen Macdonald (Grove)

18 Rave • 3 Positive • 1 Mixed

Read Helen Macdonald on Sherlock Holmes, Ursula Le Guin, and hating On the Road  here

“A former historian of science, Macdonald is as captivated by the everyday (ants, bird’s nests) as she is by the extraordinary (glowworms, total solar eclipses), and her writing often closes the distance between the two … Always, the author pushes through the gloom to look beyond herself, beyond all people, to ‘rejoice in the complexity of things’ and to see what science has to show us: ‘that we are living in an exquisitely complicated world that is not all about us’ … The climate crisis shadows these essays. Macdonald is not, however, given to sounding dire, all-caps warnings … For all its elegiac sentences and gray moods, Vesper Flights  is a book of tremendous purpose. Throughout these essays, Macdonald revisits the idea that as a writer it is her responsibility to take stock of what’s happening to the natural world and to convey the value of the living things within it.”

–Jake Cline  ( The Washington Post )

2. Intimations by Zadie Smith (Penguin)

13 Rave • 7 Positive • 3 Mixed

Listen to Zadie Smith read from Intimations here

“Smith…is a spectacular essayist—even better, I’d say, than as a novelist … Smith…get[s] at something universal, the suspicion that has infiltrated our interactions even with those we want to think we know. This is the essential job of the essayist: to explore not our innocence but our complicity. I want to say this works because Smith doesn’t take herself too seriously, but that’s not accurate. More to the point, she is willing to expose the tangle of feelings the pandemic has provoked. And this may seem a small thing, but it’s essential: I never doubt her voice on the page … Her offhandedness, at first, feels out of step with a moment in which we are desperate to feel that whatever something we are trying to do matters. But it also describes that moment perfectly … Here we see the kind of devastating self-exposure that the essay, as a form, requires—the realization of how limited we are even in the best of times, and how bereft in the worst.”

–David L. Ulin  ( The Los Angeles Times )

3. Just Us: An American Conversation by Claudia Rankine (Graywolf)

11 Rave • 6 Positive • 5 Mixed

Read an excerpt from Just Us here

“ Just Us  is about intimacy. Rankine is making an appeal for real closeness. She’s advocating for candor as the pathway to achieving universal humanity and authentic love … Rankine is vulnerable, too. In ‘lemonade,’ an essay about how race and racism affect her interracial marriage, Rankine models the openness she hopes to inspire. ‘lemonade’ is hard to handle. It’s naked and confessional, deeply moving and, ultimately, inspirational … Just Us , as a book, is inventive … Claudia Rankine may be the most human human I’ve ever encountered. Her inner machinations and relentless questioning would exhaust most people. Her labor should be less necessary, of course.”

–Michael Kleber-Diggs  ( The Star Tribune )

4. Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning by Cathy Park Hong (One World)

7 Rave • 10 Positive • 2 Mixed

Listen to an interview with Cathy Park Hong here

“Hong’s metaphors are crafted with stinging care. To be Asian-American, she suggests, is to be tasked with making an injury inaccessible to the body that has been injured … I read Minor Feelings  in a fugue of enveloping recognition and distancing flinch … The question of lovability, and desirability, is freighted for Asian men and Asian women in very different ways—and Minor Feelings  serves as a case study in how a feminist point of view can both deepen an inquiry and widen its resonances to something like universality … Hong reframes the quandary of negotiating dominance and submission—of desiring dominance, of hating the terms of that dominance, of submitting in the hopes of achieving some facsimile of dominance anyway—as a capitalist dilemma … Hong is writing in agonized pursuit of a liberation that doesn’t look white—a new sound, a new affect, a new consciousness—and the result feels like what she was waiting for. Her book is a reminder that we can be, and maybe have to be, what others are waiting for, too.”

–Jia Tolentino  ( The New Yorker )

5. World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments by Aimee Nezhukumatathil (Milkweed Editions)

11 Rave • 3 Positive

Read an excerpt from World of Wonders here

“In beautifully illustrated essays, poet Aimee Nezhukumatathil writes of exotic flora and fauna and her family, and why they are all of one piece … In days of old, books about nature were often as treasured for their illustrations as they were for their words. World of Wonders,  American poet and teacher Aimee Nezhukumatathil’s prose ode to her muses in the natural world, is a throwback that way. Its words are beautiful, but its cover and interior illustrations by Fumi Mini Nakamura may well be what first moves you to pick it up in a bookstore or online … The book’s magic lies in Nezhukumatathil’s ability to blend personal and natural history, to compress into each brief essay the relationship between a biographical passage from her own family and the life trajectory of a particular plant or animal … Her kaleidoscopic observations pay off in these thoughtful, nuanced, surprise-filled essays.”

–Pamela Miller  ( The Star Tribune )

WOW, NO THANK YOU by Samantha Irby

6. Wow, No Thank You by Samantha Irby (Vintage)

10 Rave • 3 Positive • 1 Mixed

Watch an interview with Samantha Irby here

“Haphazard and aimless as she claims to be, Samantha Irby’s Wow, No Thank You  is purposefully hilarious, real, and full of medicine for living with our culture’s contradictory messages. From relationship advice she wasn’t asked for to surrendering her cell phone as dinner etiquette, Irby is wholly unpretentious as she opines about the unspoken expectations of adulting. Her essays poke holes and luxuriate in the weirdness of modern society … If anyone whose life is being made into a television show could continue to keep it real for her blog reading fans, it’s Irby. She proves we can still trust her authenticity not just through her questionable taste in music and descriptions of incredibly bloody periods, but through her willingness to demystify what happens in any privileged room she finds herself in … Irby defines professional lingo and describes the mundane details of exclusive industries in anecdotes that are not only entertaining but powerfully demystifying. Irby’s closeness to financial and physical precariousness combined with her willingness to enter situations she feels unprepared for make us loyal to her—she again proves herself to be a trustworthy and admirable narrator who readers will hold fast to through anything at all.”

–Molly Thornton  ( Lambda Literary )

7. Funny Weather: Art in an Emergency by Olivia Laing (W. W. Norton & Company)

5 Rave • 10 Positive • 3 Mixed • 1 Pan

“Yes, you’re in for a treat … There are few voices that we can reliably read widely these days, but I would read Laing writing about proverbial paint drying (the collection is in fact quite paint-heavy), just as soon as I would read her write about the Grenfell Tower fire, The Fire This Time , or a refugee’s experience in England, The Abandoned Person’s Tale , all of which are included in Funny Weather … Laing’s knowledge of her subjects is encyclopaedic, her awe is infectious, and her critical eye is reminiscent of the critic and author James Wood … She is to the art world what David Attenborough is to nature: a worthy guide with both a macro and micro vision, fluent in her chosen tongue and always full of empathy and awe.”

–Mia Colleran  ( The Irish Times )

8. Conditional Citizens: On Belonging in America by Laila Lalami (Pantheon)

6 Rave • 7 Positive • 1 Mixed • 2 Pan

“A] searing look at the struggle for all Americans to achieve liberty and equality. Lalami eloquently tacks between her experiences as an immigrant to this country and the history of U.S. attempts to exclude different categories of people from the full benefits of citizenship … Lalami offers a fresh perspective on the double consciousness of the immigrant … Conditional citizenship is still conferred on people of color, women, immigrants, religious minorities, even those living in poverty, and Lalami’s insight in showing the subtle and overt ways discrimination operates in so many facets of life is one of this book’s major strengths.”

–Rachel Newcomb  ( The Washington Post )

9. This is One Way to Dance by Sejal Shah (University of Georgia Press)

7 Rave • 2 Positive 

Watch an interview with Sejal Shah here

“Shah brings important, refreshing, and depressing observations about what it means to have dark skin and an ‘exotic’ name, when the only country you’ve ever lived in is America … The essays in this slim volume are engaging and thought-provoking … The essays are well-crafted with varying forms that should inspire and enlighten other essayists … A particularly delightful chapter is the last, called ‘Voice Texting with My Mother,’ which is, in fact, written in texts … Shah’s thoughts on heritage and belonging are important and interesting.”

–Martha Anne Toll  ( NPR )

10. Having and Being Had by Eula Biss (Riverhead)

5 Rave • 4 Positive • 4 Mixed

Read Eula Biss on the anticapitalist origins of Monopoly here

“… enthralling … Her allusive blend of autobiography and criticism may remind some of The Argonauts  by Maggie Nelson, a friend whose name pops up in the text alongside those of other artists and intellectuals who have influenced her work. And yet, line for line, her epigrammatic style perhaps most recalls that of Emily Dickinson in its radical compression of images and ideas into a few chiseled lines … Biss wears her erudition lightly … she’s really funny, with a barbed but understated wit … Keenly aware of her privilege as a white, well-educated woman who has benefited from a wide network of family and friends, Biss has written a book that is, in effect, the opposite of capitalism in its willingness to acknowledge that everything she’s accomplished rests on the labor of others.”

–Ann Levin  ( Associated Press )

The Book Marks System: RAVE = 5 points • POSITIVE = 3 points • MIXED = 1 point • PAN = -5 points

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20 Must-Read Best Essay Collections of 2019

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Rebecca Hussey

Rebecca holds a PhD in English and is a professor at Norwalk Community College in Connecticut. She teaches courses in composition, literature, and the arts. When she’s not reading or grading papers, she’s hanging out with her husband and son and/or riding her bike and/or buying books. She can't get enough of reading and writing about books, so she writes the bookish newsletter "Reading Indie," focusing on small press books and translations. Newsletter: Reading Indie Twitter: @ofbooksandbikes

View All posts by Rebecca Hussey

Calling all essay fans! For your reading pleasure, I’ve rounded up the best essay collections of 2019. It was a fabulous year for essays (although I say that about most years, to be honest). We’ve had some stellar anthologies of writing about disability, feminism, and the immigrant experience. We’ve had important collections about race, mental health, the environment, and media. And we’ve had collections of personal essays to entertain us and make us feel less alone. There should be something in this list for just about any reading mood or interest.

These books span the entire year, and in cases where the book isn’t published yet, I’ve given you the publication date so you can preorder it or add it to your library list.

I hope this list of the best essay collections of 2019 helps you find new books you love!

About Us: Essays from the Disability Series of the New York Times , edited by Peter Catapano and Rosemarie Garland-Thomson

This book emerged from a  New York Times series of personal essays on living with a disability. Each piece was written by a person in the disabled community, and the volume contains an introduction by Andrew Solomon. The topics cover romance, shame, ambition, childbearing, parenting, aging, and much more. The authors offer a wide range of perspectives on living in a world not built for them.

Black is the Body: Stories from my Grandmother’s Time, My Mother’s Time, and Mine by Emily Bernard

Emily Bernard’s essays are about her experiences of race. She writes about life as a black woman in Vermont, her family’s history in Alabama and Nashville, her job as a professor who teaches African American literature, and her adoption of twin girls from Ethiopia. It begins with the story of a stabbing in New Haven and uses that as a springboard to write about what it means to live in a black body.

Burn It Down: Women Writing about Anger , edited by Lilly Dancyger (Seal Press, October 8)

Women’s anger has been the source of some important and powerful writing lately (see Rebecca Traister’s  Good and Mad and Soraya Chemaly’s  Rage Becomes Her ). This collection brings together a diverse group of writers to further explore the subject. The book’s 22 writers include Leslie Jamison, Melissa Febos, Evette Dionne, and more.

The Collected Schizophrenias by Esmé Weijun Wang

The Collected Schizophrenias is a collection of essays on mental and chronic illness. Wang combines research with her personal knowledge of illness to explore misconceptions about schizophrenia and disagreements in the medical community about definitions and treatments. She tells moving, honest personal stories about living with mental illness.

The Collector of Leftover Souls: Field Notes on Brazil’s Everyday Insurrections by Eliane Brum, Translated by Diane Grosklaus Whitty (Graywolf, October 15)

This volume collects work from two of Brum’s books, and includes investigative pieces and profiles about Brazil and its people. She focuses on underrepresented communities such as indigenous midwives from the Amazon and people in the favelas of São Paulo. Her book captures the lives and voices of people not often written about.

Erosion: Essays of Undoing by Terry Tempest Williams (Sarah Crichton Books, October 8)

This volume collects essays written between 2016 and 2018 covering the topic she has always written so beautifully about: the natural world. The essays focus on the concept of erosion, including the erosion of land and of the self. They are her response to the often-overwhelming challenges we face in the political and the natural world.

The Good Immigrant: 26 Writers Reflect on America ,  edited by Nikesh Shukla and Chimene Suleyman

This volume brings together an amazing group of writers including Chigozie Obioma, Jenny Zhang, Fatimah Asghar, Alexander Chee, and many more. The essayists are first and second generation immigrants who describe their personal experiences and struggles with finding their place in the U.S. The pieces connect first-person stories with broader cultural and political issues to paint an important picture of the U.S. today.

Good Things Happen to People You Hate: Essays by Rebecca Fishbein (William Morrow, October 15)

In the tradition of Samantha Irby and Sloane Crosley, this collection is a humorous look at life’s unfairness. Fishbein writes about trouble with jobs, bedbugs, fires, and cyber bullying. She covers struggles with alcohol, depression, anxiety, and failed relationships. She is honest and hilarious both, wittily capturing experiences shared by many.

I Like to Watch: Arguing My Way Through the TV Revolution by Emily Nussbaum

This book contains new and previously published essays by  New Yorker  critic Emily Nussbaum. The pieces include reviews and profiles. They also argue for a new type of criticism that can accommodate the ambition and complexity of contemporary television. She makes a case for opening art criticism up to new forms and voices.

I’m Telling the Truth, But I’m Lying by Bassey Ikpi

Bassey Ikpi’s essay collection is about her personal experiences dealing with Bipolar II and anxiety. She writes about struggling with mental health even while her career as a spoken word artist was flourishing. She looks at the ways our mental health is intertwined with every aspect of our lives. It’s an honest look at identity, health, and illness.

Little Weirds by Jenny Slate (Little, Brown and Company, November 5)

These pieces are humorous, whimsical essays about things that are on Jenny Slate’s mind. As she—an actress and stand-up comedian as well as writer—describes it, “I looked into my brain and found a book. Here it is.” With a light touch, she tells us honestly what it’s like to be her and how she sees the world, one little, weird piece of it at a time.

Make It Scream, Make It Burn: Essays   by Leslie Jamison

Here is Jamison’s follow-up essay collection to the bestselling   Empathy Exams . This one is divided into three sections, “Longing,” “Looking,” and “Dwelling,” each with pieces that combine memoir and journalism. Her subjects include the Sri Lankan civil war, the online world Second Life, the whale 52 Blue, eloping in Las Vegas, giving birth, and many more.

My Time Among the Whites: Notes from an Unfinished Education   by Jennine Capó Crucet

Crucet grew up in Miami, the daughter of Cuban refugees. Here she explores her family’s attempts to fit into American culture and her feeling of being a stranger in her own country. She considers her relationship to the so-called “American Dream” and what it means to live in a place that doesn’t always recognize your right to be there.

Notes to Self: Essays by Emilie Pine

Emilie Pine is an Irish writer, and this book is a bestseller in Ireland. These six personal essays touch on addiction, sexual assault, infertility, and more. She captures women’s experiences that often remain hidden. She writes about bodies and emotions from rage to grief to joy with honesty, clarity, and nuance.

Our Women on the Ground: Essays by Arab Women Reporting from the Arab World by Zahra Hankir (Editor) and Christiane Amanpour (Foreword)

This collection gathers together 19 writers discussing their experiences as journalists working in their home countries. These women risk their lives reporting on war and face sexual harassment and difficulties traveling alone, but they also are able to talk to women and get stories their male counterpoints can’t. Their first person accounts offer new perspectives on women’s lives and current events in the Middle East.

The Source of Self-Regard: Selected Essays, Speeches, and Meditations by Toni Morrison

Picking this up is a fitting way to pay tribute to the great Toni Morrison, who just passed away last summer. This book is a collection of essays, speeches, and meditations from the past four decades. Topics include the role of the artist, African Americans in American literature, the power of language, and discussions of her own work and that of other writers and artists.

Surfacing by Kathleen Jamie

Kathleen Jamie is a poet and nature writer. These essays combine travel, memoir, and history to look at a world rapidly changing because of our warming climate. She ranges from thawing tundra in Alaska to the preserved homes of neolithic farmers in Scotland and also examines her own experiences with change as her children grow and her father dies.

Thick: And Other Essays by Tressie McMillan Cottom

As of this writing,  Thick  was just longlisted for a National Book Award in nonfiction. McMillan Cottom’s essays look at culture and personal experience from a sociological perspective. It’s an indispensable collection for those who want to think about race and society, who like a mix of personal and academic writing, and who want some complex, challenging ideas to chew on.

White Flights: Race, Fiction, and the American Imagination   by Jess Row

White Flights is an examination of how race gets written about in American fiction, particularly by white writers creating mostly white spaces in their books. Row looks at writers such as Don DeLillo, Annie Dillard, David Foster Wallace, Jonathan Franzen, and more to consider the role that whiteness has played in the American literary imagination.

The Witches Are Coming   by Lindy West (Hachette Books, November 5)

The Witches Are Coming  is Lindy West’s follow-up to her wonderful, best-selling book  Shrill .  She’s back with more of her incisive cultural critiques, writing essays on feminism and the misogyny that is (still) embedded in every part of our culture. She brings humor, wit, and much-needed clarity to the gender dynamics at play in media and culture.

There you have it—the best collections of 2019! This was a great year for essays, but so were the two years before. Check out my round-ups of the best essay collections from 2018 and 2017 .

world of books essay

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Men Explain Things to Me

Rebecca Solnit | 5.00

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Chelsea Handler Goes deep with statistics, personal stories, and others’ accounts of how brutal this world can be for women, the history of how we've been treated, and what it will take to change the conversation: MEN. We need them to be as outraged as we are and join our fight. (Source)

See more recommendations for this book...

world of books essay

Me Talk Pretty One Day

David Sedaris | 4.96

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Between the World and Me

Ta-Nehisi Coates | 4.94

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Barack Obama The president also released a list of his summer favorites back in 2015: All That Is, James Salter The Sixth Extinction, Elizabeth Kolbert The Lowland, Jhumpa Lahiri Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates Washington: A Life, Ron Chernow All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr (Source)

Jack Dorsey Q: What are the books that had a major influence on you? Or simply the ones you like the most. : Tao te Ching, score takes care of itself, between the world and me, the four agreements, the old man and the sea...I love reading! (Source)

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Doug McMillon Here are some of my favorite reads from 2017. Lots of friends and colleagues send me book suggestions and it's impossible to squeeze them all in. I continue to be super curious about how digital and tech are enabling people to transform our lives but I try to read a good mix of books that apply to a variety of areas and stretch my thinking more broadly. (Source)

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Slouching Towards Bethlehem

Joan Didion | 4.94

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Peter Hessler I like Didion for her writing style and her control over her material, but also for the way in which she captures a historical moment. (Source)

Liz Lambert I love [this book] so much. (Source)

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We Should All Be Feminists

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie | 4.92

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Bad Feminist

Roxane Gay | 4.88

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Irina Nica It’s hard to pick an all-time favorite because, as time goes by and I grow older, my reading list becomes more “mature” and I find myself interested in new things. I probably have a personal favorite book for each stage of my life. Right now I’m absolutely blown away by everything Roxane Gay wrote, especially Bad Feminist. (Source)

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Trick Mirror

Reflections on Self-Delusion

Jia Tolentino | 4.86

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Lydia Polgreen This book is amazing and you should read it. https://t.co/pcbmYUR4QP (Source)

Maryanne Hobbs ⁦@jiatolentino⁩ hello Jia :) finding your perspectives in the new book fascinating and so resonant.. thank you 🌹 m/a..x https://t.co/BoNzB1BuDf (Source)

Yashar Ali . @jiatolentino’s fabulous book is one of President Obama’s favorite books of 2019 https://t.co/QHzZsHl2rF (Source)

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Consider the Lobster

And Other Essays

David Foster Wallace | 4.85

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A Room of One's Own

Virginia Woolf | 4.75

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Dress Your Family in Corduroy & Denim

David Sedaris | 4.73

world of books essay

Adam Kay @penceyprepmemes How about David Sedaris, for starters - "Dress your family in corduroy and denim" is an amazing book. (Source)

Don't have time to read the top Essays books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.

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world of books essay

The Fire Next Time

James Baldwin | 4.69

Barack Obama Fact or fiction, the president knows that reading keeps the mind sharp. He also delved into these non-fiction reads: Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Evan Osnos Thinking, Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman Moral Man And Immoral Society, Reinhold Niebuhr A Kind And Just Parent, William Ayers The Post-American World, Fareed Zakaria Lessons in Disaster, Gordon Goldstein Sapiens: A Brief History of... (Source)

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When You Are Engulfed in Flames

David Sedaris | 4.67

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David Sedaris | 4.63

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David Blaine It’s hilarious. (Source)

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The White Album

Joan Didion | 4.62

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Dan Richards I feel Joan Didion is the patron saint of a maelstrom of culture and environment of a particular time. She is the great American road-trip writer, to my mind. She has that great widescreen filmic quality to her work. (Source)

Steven Amsterdam With her gaze on California of the late 60s and early 70s, Didion gives us the Black Panthers, Janis Joplin, Nancy Reagan, and the Manson follower Linda Kasabian. (Source)

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A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again

Essays and Arguments

David Foster Wallace | 4.61

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Tressie McMillan Cottom | 4.60

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Melissa Moore The best book I read this year was Thick by Tressie McMillan Cottom. I read it twice and both times found it challenging and revelatory. (Source)

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David Sedaris and Hachette Audi | 4.60

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Sister Outsider

Essays and Speeches

Audre Lorde, Cheryl Clarke | 4.60

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Bianca Belair For #BHM  I will be sharing some of my favorite books by Black Authors 26th Book: Sister Outsider By: Audre Lorde My first time reading anything by Audre Lorde. I am now really looking forward to reading more of her poems/writings. What she writes is important & timeless. https://t.co/dUDMcaAAbx (Source)

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Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls

David Sedaris | 4.58

Austin Kleon I read this one, then I read his collected diaries, Theft By Finding, and then I read the visual compendium, which might have even been the most interesting of the three books, but I’m listing this one because it’s hilarious, although with the interstitial fiction bits, it’s sort of like one of those classic 90s hip-hop albums where you skip the “skit” tracks. (Source)

world of books essay

Notes from a Loud Woman

Lindy West | 4.56

world of books essay

Matt Mcgorry "Shrill: Notes From a Loud Woman" by Lindy West @TheLindyWest # Lovvvvveeedddd, loved, loved, loved this book!!!  West is a truly remarkable writer and her stories are beautifully poignant while dosed with her… https://t.co/nzJtXtOGTn (Source)

Shannon Coulter @JennLHaglund @tomi_adeyemi I love that feeling! Just finished the audiobook version of Shrill by Lindy West after _years_ of meaning to read it and that's the exact feeling it gave me. Give me your book recommendations! (Source)

world of books essay

The Collected Schizophrenias

Esmé Weijun Wang | 4.52

world of books essay

Tiny Beautiful Things

Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar

Cheryl Strayed | 4.49

world of books essay

Ryan Holiday It was wonderful to read these two provocative books of essays by two incredibly wise and compassionate women. Cheryl Strayed, also the author of Wild, was the anonymous columnist behind the online column, Dear Sugar and boy, are we better off for it. This is not a random smattering of advice. This book contains some of the most cogent insights on life, pain, loss, love, success, youth that I... (Source)

James Altucher Cheryl had an advice column called “Dear Sugar”. I was reading the column long before Oprah recommended “Wild” by Cheryl and then Wild became a movie and “Tiny Beautiful Things” (the collection of her advice column) became a book. She is so wise and compassionate. A modern saint. I used to do Q&A sessions on Twitter. I’d read her book beforehand to get inspiration about what true advice is. (Source)

world of books essay

We Were Eight Years in Power

An American Tragedy

Ta-Nehisi Coates | 4.47

world of books essay

The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays

Albert Camu | 4.47

world of books essay

David Heinemeier Hansson Camus’ philosophical exposition of absurdity, suicide in the face of meaninglessness, and other cherry topics that continue on from his fictional work in novels like The Stranger. It’s surprisingly readable, unlike many other mid 20th century philosophers, yet no less deep or pointy. It’s a great follow-up, as an original text, to that book The Age of Absurdity, I recommended last year. Still... (Source)

Kenan Malik The Myth of Sisyphus is a small work, but Camus’s meditation on faith and fate has personally been hugely important in developing my ideas. Writing in the embers of World War II, Camus confronts in The Myth of Sisyphus both the tragedy of recent history and what he sees as the absurdity of the human condition. There is, he observes, a chasm between the human need for meaning and what he calls... (Source)

world of books essay

The Penguin Essays Of George Orwell

George Orwell, Bernard Crick | 4.46

world of books essay

Peter Kellner George Orwell was not only an extraordinary writer but he also hated any form of cant. Some of his most widely read works such as 1984 and Animal Farm are an assault on the nastier, narrow-minded, dictatorial tendencies of the left, although Orwell was himself on the left. (Source)

world of books essay

The Opposite of Loneliness

Essays and Stories

Marina Keegan, Anne Fadiman | 4.46

world of books essay

Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie | 4.45

world of books essay

The Tipping Point

How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference

Malcolm Gladwell | 4.45

world of books essay

Kevin Rose Bunch of really good information in here on how to make ideas go viral. This could be good to apply to any kind of products or ideas you may have. Definitely, check out The Tipping Point, which is one of my favorites. (Source)

world of books essay

Seth Godin Malcolm Gladwell's breakthrough insight was to focus on the micro-relationships between individuals, which helped organizations realize that it's not about the big ads and the huge charity balls... it's about setting the stage for the buzz to start. (Source)

world of books essay

Andy Stern I think that when we talk about making change, it is much more about macro change, like in policy. This book reminds you that at times when you're building big movements, or trying to elect significant decision-makers in politics, sometimes it's the little things that make a difference. Ever since the book was written, we've become very used to the idea of things going viral unexpectedly and then... (Source)

world of books essay

Selected Essays

Mary Oliver | 4.44

world of books essay

We Are Never Meeting in Real Life.

Samantha Irby | 4.44

world of books essay

Complete Essays

Michel de Montaigne, Charles Cotton | 4.42

world of books essay

Ryan Holiday There is plenty to study and see simply by looking inwards — maybe even an alarming amount. (Source)

Alain de Botton I’ve given quite a lot of copies of [this book] to people down the years. (Source)

world of books essay

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns)

Mindy Kaling | 4.42

world of books essay

Angela Kinsey .@mindykaling I am rereading your book and cracking up. I appreciate your chapter on The Office so much more now. But all of it is fantastic. Thanks for starting my day with laughter. You know I loves ya. ❤️ https://t.co/EB99xnyt0p (Source)

Yashar Ali Reminds me of one of my favorite lines from @mindykaling's book (even though I'm an early riser): “There is no sunrise so beautiful that it is worth waking me up to see it.” https://t.co/pS56bmyYjS (Source)

world of books essay

Not That Bad

Dispatches from Rape Culture

Roxane Gay, Brandon Taylor, et al | 4.40

world of books essay

Henry David Thoreau | 4.40

world of books essay

Laura Dassow Walls The book that we love as Walden began in the journal entries that he wrote starting with his first day at the pond. (Source)

Roman Krznaric In 1845 the American naturalist went out to live in the woods of Western Massachusetts. Thoreau was one of the great masters of the art of simple living. (Source)

world of books essay

John Kaag There’s this idea that philosophy can blend into memoir and that, ideally, philosophy, at its best, is to help us through the business of living with people, within communities. This is a point that Thoreau’s Walden gave to me, as a writer, and why I consider it so valuable for today. (Source)

world of books essay

Confessions of a Common Reader

Anne Fadiman | 4.40

world of books essay

I Feel Bad About My Neck

And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman

Nora Ephron | 4.39

world of books essay

Holidays on Ice

David Sedaris | 4.37

world of books essay

An American Lyric

Claudia Rankine | 4.36

world of books essay

Cheryl Strayed A really important book for us to be reading right now. (Source)

Jeremy Noel-Tod Obviously, it’s been admired and acclaimed, but I do feel the general reception of it has underplayed its artfulness. Its technical subtlety and overall arrangement has been neglected, because it has been classified as a kind of documentary work. (Source)

world of books essay

Christopher Hitchens | 4.36

world of books essay

Le Grove @billysubway Hitchens book under your arm. I’m reading Arguably. When he’s at his best, he is a savage. Unbelievable prose. (Source)

world of books essay

Notes of a Native Son

James Baldwin | 4.35

world of books essay

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales

Oliver Sacks | 4.34

world of books essay

Suzanne O'Sullivan I didn’t choose neurology because of it but the way Oliver Sacks writes about neurology is very compelling. (Source)

Tanya Byron This is a seminal book that anyone who wants to work in mental health should read. It is a charming and gentle and also an honest exposé of what can happen to us when our mental health is compromised for whatever reason. (Source)

Bradley Voytek I can’t imagine one day waking up and not knowing who my wife is, or seeing my wife and thinking that she was replaced by some sort of clone or robot. But that could happen to any of us. (Source)

world of books essay

The Empathy Exams

Leslie Jamison | 4.33

world of books essay

This is the Story of a Happy Marriage

Ann Patchett | 4.31

world of books essay

Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs

A Low Culture Manifesto

Chuck Klosterman | 4.30

Karen Pfaff Manganillo Never have I read a book that I said “this is so perfect, amazing, hilarious, he’s thinking what I’m thinking (in a much more thought out and cool way)”. (Source)

world of books essay

Bird By Bird

Some Instructions on Writing and Life

Anne Lamott | 4.29

world of books essay

Susan Cain I love [this book]. Such a good book. (Source)

Timothy Ferriss Bird by Bird is one of my absolute favorite books, and I gift it to everybody, which I should probably also give to startup founders, quite frankly. A lot of the lessons are the same. But you can get to your destination, even though you can only see 20 feet in front of you. (Source)

Ryan Holiday It was wonderful to read these two provocative books of essays by two incredibly wise and compassionate women. [...] Anne Lamott’s book is ostensibly about the art of writing, but really it too is about life and how to tackle the problems, temptations and opportunities life throws at us. Both will make you think and both made me a better person this year. (Source)

world of books essay

Zadie Smith | 4.29

Barack Obama As 2018 draws to a close, I’m continuing a favorite tradition of mine and sharing my year-end lists. It gives me a moment to pause and reflect on the year through the books I found most thought-provoking, inspiring, or just plain loved. It also gives me a chance to highlight talented authors – some who are household names and others who you may not have heard of before. Here’s my best of 2018... (Source)

world of books essay

What the Dog Saw and Other Adventures

Malcolm Gladwell | 4.28

world of books essay

Sam Freedman @mrianleslie (Also I agree What the Dog Saw is his best book). (Source)

world of books essay

The Witches Are Coming

Lindy West | 4.27

world of books essay

Against Interpretation and Other Essays

Susan Sontag | 4.25

world of books essay

How to Write an Autobiographical Novel

Alexander Chee | 4.25

Eula Biss Alex Chee explores the realm of the real with extraordinarily beautiful essays. Being real here is an ambition, a haunting, an impossibility, and an illusion. What passes for real, his essays suggest, becomes real, just as life becomes art and art, pursued this fully, becomes a life. (Source)

world of books essay

Changing My Mind

Occasional Essays

Zadie Smith | 4.25

world of books essay

Barrel Fever

David Sedaris | 4.24

Chelsea Handler [The author] is fucking hilarious and there's nothing I prefer to do more than laugh. If this book doesn't make you laugh, I'll refund you the money. (Source)

world of books essay

The Fire This Time

A New Generation Speaks About Race

Jesmyn Ward | 4.24

world of books essay

Why Not Me?

Mindy Kaling | 4.24

world of books essay

The View from the Cheap Seats

Selected Nonfiction

Neil Gaiman | 4.24

world of books essay

I Was Told There'd Be Cake

Sloane Crosley | 4.24

world of books essay

The Intelligent Investor

The Classic Text on Value Investing

Benjamin Graham | 4.23

world of books essay

Warren Buffett To invest successfully over a lifetime does not require a stratospheric IQ, unusual business insights, or inside information. What's needed is a sound intellectual framework for making decisions and the ability to keep emotions from corroding that framework. This book precisely and clearly prescribes the proper framework. You must provide the emotional discipline. (Source)

Kevin Rose The foundation for investing. A lot of people have used this as their guide to getting into investment, basic strategies. Actually Warren Buffett cites this as the book that got him into investing and he says that principles he learned here helped him to become a great investor. Highly recommend this book. It’s a great way understand what’s going on and how to evaluate different companies out... (Source)

world of books essay

John Kay The idea is that you look at the underlying value of the company’s activities instead of relying on market gossip. (Source)

world of books essay

Tell Me How It Ends

An Essay in Forty Questions

Valeria Luiselli | 4.23

world of books essay

Tina Fey | 4.22

Sheryl Sandberg I absolutely loved Tina Fey's "Bossypants" and didn't want it to end. It's hilarious as well as important. Not only was I laughing on every page, but I was nodding along, highlighting and dog-earing like crazy. [...] It is so, so good. As a young girl, I was labeled bossy, too, so as a former - O.K., current - bossypants, I am grateful to Tina for being outspoken, unapologetic and hysterically... (Source)

world of books essay

They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us

Hanif Abdurraqib, Dr. Eve L. Ewing | 4.22

world of books essay

Saadia Muzaffar Man, this is such an amazing book of essays. Meditations on music and musicians and their moments and meaning-making. @NifMuhammad's mindworks are a gift. Go find it. (thank you @asad_ch!) https://t.co/htSueYYBUT (Source)

world of books essay

This Is Water

Some Thoughts, Delivered on a Significant Occasion, about Living a Compassionate Life

David Foster Wallace | 4.21

world of books essay

John Jeremiah Sullivan | 4.21

world of books essay

Greil Marcus This is a new book by a writer in his mid-thirties, about all kinds of things. A lot of it is about the South, some of it is autobiographical, there is a long and quite wonderful piece about going to a Christian music camp. (Source)

world of books essay

The Mother of All Questions

Rebecca Solnit | 4.20

world of books essay

The Partly Cloudy Patriot

Sarah Vowell, Katherine Streeter | 4.20

world of books essay

Essays of E.B. White

E. B. White | 4.19

world of books essay

Adam Gopnik White, for me, is the great maker of the New Yorker style. Though it seems self-serving for me to say it, I think that style was the next step in the creation of the essay tone. One of the things White does is use a lot of the habits of the American newspaper in his essays. He is a genuinely simple, spare, understated writer. In the presence of White, even writers as inspired as Woolf and... (Source)

world of books essay

A Field Guide to Getting Lost

Rebecca Solnit | 4.19

world of books essay

A Man Without a Country

Kurt Vonnegut | 4.18

world of books essay

No Time to Spare

Thinking About What Matters

Ursula K. Le Guin, Karen Joy Fowler | 4.17

world of books essay

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek

Annie Dillard | 4.16

world of books essay

Laura Dassow Walls She’s enacting Thoreau, but in a 20th-century context: she takes on quantum physics, the latest research on DNA and the nature of life. (Source)

Sara Maitland This book, which won the Pulitzer literature prize when it was released, is the most beautiful book about the wild. (Source)

world of books essay

Maggie Nelson | 4.14

world of books essay

Furiously Happy

A Funny Book About Horrible Things

Jenny Lawson | 4.13

world of books essay

Women & Power

A Manifesto

Mary Beard | 4.13

world of books essay

Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century

Timothy Snyder | 4.12

world of books essay

George Saunders Please read this book. So smart, so timely. (Source)

Tom Holland "There isn’t a page of this magnificent book that does not contain some fascinating detail and the narrative is held together with a novelist’s eye for character and theme." #Dominion https://t.co/FESSNxVDLC (Source)

Maya Wiley Prof. Tim Snyder, author of “In Tyranny” reminded us in that important little book that we must protect our institutions. #DOJ is one of our most important in gov’t for the rule of law. This is our collective house & #Barr should be evicted. https://t.co/PPxM9IMQUm (Source)

world of books essay

Small Wonder

Barbara Kingsolver | 4.11

world of books essay

The Source of Self-Regard

Selected Essays, Speeches, and Meditations

Toni Morrison | 4.11

world of books essay

Hyperbole and a Half

Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened

Allie Brosh | 4.11

world of books essay

Bill Gates While she self-deprecatingly depicts herself in words and art as an odd outsider, we can all relate to her struggles. Rather than laughing at her, you laugh with her. It is no hyperbole to say I love her approach -- looking, listening, and describing with the observational skills of a scientist, the creativity of an artist, and the wit of a comedian. (Source)

world of books essay

Samantha Irby | 4.10

world of books essay

Both Flesh and Not

David Foster Wallace | 4.10

world of books essay

David Papineau People can learn to do amazing things with their bodies, and people start honing and developing these skills as an end in itself, a very natural thing for humans to do. (Source)

world of books essay

So Sad Today

Personal Essays

Melissa Broder | 4.10

world of books essay

Hope in the Dark

Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities

Rebecca Solnit | 4.09

world of books essay

Prem Panicker @sanjayen This is from an essay Solnit wrote to introduce the updated version of her book Hope In The Dark. Anything Solnit is brilliant; at times like these, she is the North Star. (Source)

world of books essay

The Faraway Nearby

world of books essay

How to Be Alone

Jonathan Franzen | 4.08

world of books essay

Regarding the Pain of Others

Susan Sontag | 4.08

world of books essay

The Essays of Warren Buffett

Lessons for Corporate America, Fifth Edition

Lawrence A. Cunningham and Warren E. Buffett | 4.08

world of books essay

One Day We'll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter

Scaachi Koul | 4.07

world of books essay

Amy Poehler | 4.06

world of books essay

The Souls of Black Folk

W.E.B. Du Bois | 4.05

Barack Obama According to the president’s Facebook page and a 2008 interview with the New York Times, these titles are among his most influential forever favorites: Moby Dick, Herman Melville Self-Reliance, Ralph Waldo Emerson Song Of Solomon, Toni Morrison Parting The Waters, Taylor Branch Gilead, Marylinne Robinson Best and the Brightest, David Halberstam The Federalist, Alexander Hamilton Souls of Black... (Source)

world of books essay

In Praise of Shadows

Jun'ichiro Tanizaki | 4.05

world of books essay

Kyle Chayka Tanizaki is mourning what has been paved over, which is the old Japanese aesthetic of darkness, of softness, of appreciating the imperfect—rather than the cold, glossy surfaces of industrialized modernity that the West had brought to Japan at that moment. For me, that’s really valuable, because it does preserve a different way of looking at the world. (Source)

world of books essay

Ways of Seeing

John Berger | 4.04

world of books essay

Robert Jones He’s a Marxist and says that the role of publicity or branding is to make people marginally dissatisfied with their current way of life. (Source)

David McCammon Ways of Seeing goes beyond photography and will continue to develop your language around images. (Source)

John Harrison (Eton College) You have to understand the Marxist interpretation of art; it is absolutely fundamental to the way that art history departments now study the material. Then you have to critique it, because we’ve moved on from the 1970s and the collapse of Marxism in most of the world shows—amongst other things—that the model was flawed. But it’s still a very good book to read, for a teenager especially. (Source)

world of books essay

Tackling the Texas Essays

Efficient Preparation for the Texas Bar Exam

Catherine Martin Christopher | 4.04

world of books essay

The Book of Delights

Ross Gay | 4.04

world of books essay

Mere Christianity

C. S. Lewis | 4.04

Anoop Anthony "Mere Christianity" is first and foremost a rational book — it is in many ways the opposite of a traditional religious tome. Lewis, who was once an atheist, has been on both sides of the table, and he approaches the notion of God with accessible, clear thinking. The book reveals that experiencing God doesn't have to be a mystical exercise; God can be a concrete and logical conclusion. Lewis was... (Source)

world of books essay

I Remember Nothing

and Other Reflections

Nora Ephron | 4.04

world of books essay

On Photography

Susan Sontag | 4.03

world of books essay

Susan Bordo Sontag was the first to make the claim, which at the time was very controversial, that photography is misleading and seductive because it looks like reality but is in fact highly selective. (Source)

world of books essay

Notes from No Man's Land

American Essays

Eula Biss | 4.03

world of books essay

The Doors of Perception

Heaven and Hell (Thinking Classics)

Aldous Huxley, Robbie McCallum | 4.03

world of books essay

Michelle Rodriguez Aldous Huxley on Technodictators https://t.co/RDyX70lnZz via @YouTube ‘Doors of Perception’ is a great book entry level to hallucinogenics (Source)

Auston Bunsen I also really loved “The doors of perception” by Aldous Huxley. (Source)

Dr. Andrew Weil Came first [in terms of my interests]. (Source)

world of books essay

The Geek Feminist Revolution

Kameron Hurley | 4.02

world of books essay

Wow, No Thank You.

Samantha Irby | 4.01

world of books essay

A Modest Proposal

Jonathan Swift | 4.01

world of books essay

At Large and at Small

Familiar Essays

Anne Fadiman | 4.00

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IMAGES

  1. World Book Day Essay 2023 : History, Importance & Quotes

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COMMENTS

  1. The 10 Best Essay Collections of the Decade ‹ Literary Hub

    Hilton Als, White Girls (2013) In a world where we are so often reduced to one essential self, Hilton Als' breathtaking book of critical essays, White Girls, which meditates on the ways he and other subjects read, project and absorb parts of white femininity, is a radically liberating book.

  2. Importance of Books Essay

    500 Words Essay on Importance of Books. Books are an invaluable part of our lives. They are the inevitable tool for knowledge, and entertainment and have been proven to be stress relievers. Books can help us experience new worlds, explore deep insights into the world and help us form a wider perspective. Books have the power to inspire and ...

  3. Essay on Books for Students and Children

    500 Words Essay on Books. Books are referred to as a man's best friend. They are very beneficial for mankind and have helped it evolve. There is a powerhouse of information and knowledge. Books offer us so many things without asking for anything in return. Books leave a deep impact on us and are responsible for uplifting our mood.

  4. Essay on Importance of Books

    250 Words Essay on Importance of Books The Quintessence of Books. Books have been an integral part of human civilization, serving as repositories of knowledge, wisdom, and creativity. They have the power to transport us to different realms, stimulate our imagination, and broaden our understanding of the world. Books as a Portal to Knowledge

  5. Importance of Books in Our Life

    Here are the top 20 benefits of the importance of books in our life: Books are our best friends. Books illuminate your imagination. Books help you form your unique perspective of the world around you. Books build confidence. Books help you grow mentally and emotionally. Books enhance your vocabulary.

  6. The Magic of Books

    The magic and wonder of books is one of the most powerful forces in my world. Ultimately it comes down to this: I would not be the same person if I had never picked up a book! This entry was posted in Composing , Junior Cert , MSM students , Teachers and tagged junior cert english , junior cert essay , magic of books .

  7. 100 Must-Read Essay Collections

    Art & Ardor — Cynthia Ozick. 5. The Art of the Personal Essay — anthology, edited by Phillip Lopate. 6. Bad Feminist — Roxane Gay. 7. The Best American Essays of the Century — anthology, edited by Joyce Carol Oates. 8. The Best American Essays series — published every year, series edited by Robert Atwan.

  8. Best Essays: the 2021 Pen Awards

    2 Unfinished Business: Notes of a Chronic Re-Reader by Vivian Gornick. 3 Nature Matrix: New and Selected Essays by Robert Michael Pyle. 4 Terroir: Love, Out of Place by Natasha Sajé. 5 Maybe the People Would be the Times by Luc Sante. W e're talking about the books shortlisted for the 2021 PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the ...

  9. The Best American Essays 2021 by Kathryn Schulz

    A collection of the year's best essays, selected by award-winning journalist and New Yorker staff writer Kathryn Schulz "The world is abundant even in bad times," guest editor Kathryn Schulz writes in her introduction, "it is lush with interestingness, and always, somewhere, offering up consolation or beauty or humor or happiness, or at least the hope of future happiness."

  10. Essay on Importance of Books 200+ Words

    Essay on Importance of Books 200+ Words. Books have been our faithful companions for centuries, providing knowledge, inspiration, and escape. They are more than mere objects with pages; they are windows to the world and portals to imagination. In this essay, we will delve into the profound importance of books in our lives, touching on their ...

  11. ️Essay On Books: Free Samples for Students

    Essay on Books in 150 Words. Books are considered true friends of humans, as they can teach us life lessons. Books are the repositories that impart wisdom and knowledge. From ancient times to today's digital world, books have served as a source of inspiration, expanding the thought process and imparting education.

  12. The Best Reviewed Essay Collections of 2021 ‹ Literary Hub

    -Alex Witchel (The New York Times Book Review). 2. Let Me Tell You What I Mean by Joan Didion (Knopf) 14 Rave • 12 Positive • 6 Mixed Read an excerpt from Let Me Tell You What I Mean here "In five decades' worth of essays, reportage and criticism, Didion has documented the charade implicit in how things are, in a first-person, observational style that is not sacrosanct but common ...

  13. The 25 Greatest Essay Collections of All Time

    After the jump, our picks for the 25 greatest essay collections of all time. Feel free to disagree with us, praise our intellect, or create an entirely new list in the comments. The Book of My ...

  14. The Best Reviewed Essay Collections of 2022 ‹ Literary Hub

    4. Body Work: The Radical Power of Personal Narrative by Melissa Febos. "In her new book, Body Work: The Radical Power of Personal Narrative, memoirist Melissa Febos handily recuperates the art of writing the self from some of the most common biases against it: that the memoir is a lesser form than the novel.

  15. 50 Must-Read Contemporary Essay Collections

    Insomniac City: New York, Oliver, and Me by Bill Hayes. "Bill Hayes came to New York City in 2009 with a one-way ticket and only the vaguest idea of how he would get by. But, at forty-eight years old, having spent decades in San Francisco, he craved change.

  16. The Benefits of Growing Up and Reading Books

    Growing up with books has profoundly shaped my life, enriching it in myriad ways. From early literacy development to a lifelong passion for reading, the benefits of being surrounded by books are immeasurable. Reading has offered me the gift of escapism, transformation, and personal growth, allowing me to view the world through different lenses.

  17. Essay on books

    The Importance of Books. This article Essay on Books gives you more insight on the importance. Books play an essential role in one's life by introducing a world of imagination, supplying knowledge of the outside world, improving reading, writing, and speaking skills, and upgrading memory and intelligence.

  18. Books Essay for Students in English

    Reading books helps in the overall development of the brain as well as the character. History of Books. Books introduce us to a world of wisdom and knowledge. Nowadays knowledge can be gained from anywhere as books have gone through years of evolution. The first book that was ever printed was the Gutenberg bible, it was printed in 1455.

  19. The Best Reviewed Essay Collections of 2020 ‹ Literary Hub

    Zadie Smith's Intimations, Helen Macdonald's Vesper Flights, Claudia Rankine's Just Us, and Samantha Irby's Wow, No Thank You all feature among the Best Reviewed Essay Collections of 2020.Article continues after advertisementRemove Ads Brought to you by Book Marks, Lit Hub's "Rotten Tomatoes for books." * 1. Vesper Flights by Helen Macdonald (Grove)Article continues after ...

  20. The 20 Best Essay Collections of 2019 to Add to Your TBR

    Erosion: Essays of Undoing by Terry Tempest Williams (Sarah Crichton Books, October 8) This volume collects essays written between 2016 and 2018 covering the topic she has always written so beautifully about: the natural world. The essays focus on the concept of erosion, including the erosion of land and of the self.

  21. 100 Best Essays Books of All Time (Updated for 2021)

    A Room of One's Own. Virginia Woolf | 4.75. A Room of One's Own is an extended essay by Virginia Woolf. First published on the 24th of October, 1929, the essay was based on a series of lectures she delivered at Newnham College and Girton College, two women's colleges at Cambridge University in October 1928.

  22. John McMurtrie crafts 'Literary Journeys' for the ...

    John McMurtrie's new book is a collection of original essays by a team of more than 50 critics, scholars and writers. Former Chronicle book editor John McMurtrie is the general editor of "Literary Journeys: Mapping Fictional Travels Across the World of Literature," due out in September. Photo ...

  23. The Best Books to Improve Your Essay Writing Skills

    Explore the best books for essay writing to further refine your techniques and unlock your full potential. Unlock Your Creativity. Unleash your imagination and expand your creative horizons with the best books for essay writing. Dive into a world of inspiration and learn how to express your thoughts and ideas in new and innovative ways.

  24. Book review: 'Planes Flying Over a Monster' by Daniel Saldaña París

    The essay collection "Planes Flying Over a Monster" by Daniel Saldaña París explores the writing process and the texture of cities around the world. ... See our picks for the 10 best books ...