Bob Balaban
“I pretend for a living. But in real life, I’m a reality junkie”: the actor recommends his favorite nonfiction books
You Can Take Galileo Out of Rome …
The author of a new history of the astronomical revolution explores the radical scientist’s conservative side
Caroline de Maigret
De Beauvoir, Didion, Ernaux: the French style star on the essential women writers
New York’s Got Game
Walk south on Sixth Avenue toward West Third Street at any time of the day or night and you’ll be hard-pressed not to see a basketball game in play. It’s a perpetual motion—has been for decades—throughout the city
L.A. Confidential
When it comes to Los Angeles in the 60s and 70s, Andee Nathanson was to photography what Eve Babitz was to literature, recording the exploding scene from within. A new book of her photographs illustrates that golden age
On Topics
The millennial novelist Miranda Popkey has more to say about #MeToo than you can fit in a hashtag
Claire Tomalin
Recommends four books spanning three centuries
Sex (Time) Machine
A new history of sex reveals tales of Clarice Clatterbollocks, testicle thefts, and women keeping live fish in their knickers
Olivia Chantecaille
Start them young: on the best children’s books for budding activists
This Town
A new book of photographs chronicles the evolution of New York City’s downtown over a century, from Radio Row to a post-9/11 World Trade Center
Bad Romance
The author of a new book on the Borgias’ infamous personal lives uncovers the facts behind the Italian family’s long-standing myths
