Skip to main content

Books

Looking for book recommendations? What to read, what not to read, and the latest news in the world of books.

A new book suggests a path forward for Democrats. The left hates it.A new book suggests a path forward for Democrats. The left hates it.
Politics

Cutting red tape is a social justice issue.

By Eric Levitz
It’s spring. Take a breath. Read a book.It’s spring. Take a breath. Read a book.
Culture

A deceptively comic novel of transitioning, a beautiful divorce memoir, and more recommendations.

By Constance Grady
The Facebook tell-all Mark Zuckerberg doesn’t want you to read, briefly explainedThe Facebook tell-all Mark Zuckerberg doesn’t want you to read, briefly explained
Technology

The Meta CEO’s commitment to free expression doesn’t apply to embarrassing memoirs.

By Adam Clark Estes
The great American classic we’ve been misreading for 100 years
Culture

The Great Gatsby is more than cocktail parties and color symbolism.

By Constance Grady
“Help me find a new author with the same vibe as my old favorite”“Help me find a new author with the same vibe as my old favorite”
CultureThe Highlight

Plus, novels for the chronically online, and other recommendations.

By Constance Grady
The weird, joyful book that’s getting me through this winterThe weird, joyful book that’s getting me through this winter
Books

Taking life lessons from an anthropomorphic owl.

By Anna North
A hippie memoir that will send you on a trek through KathmanduA hippie memoir that will send you on a trek through Kathmandu
Culture

And other books that will broaden your horizons.

By Constance Grady
The surprising theory that explains modern American lifeThe surprising theory that explains modern American life
Housing

Why don’t you move?

By Rachel Cohen
A major book publisher announced a change. The industry freaked out.A major book publisher announced a change. The industry freaked out.
Culture

How those little quotes on book covers became a flashpoint.

By Constance Grady
The public domain keeps culture vibrant. Why is it shrinking?The public domain keeps culture vibrant. Why is it shrinking?
CultureThe Highlight

Use this article … 95 years after I’m dead.

By Jorge Just
Ask a Book Critic: How do I get back into reading after a break?Ask a Book Critic: How do I get back into reading after a break?
CultureThe Highlight

Books to help you understand the world.

By Constance Grady
He was created to be a bloody monster. Now he’s an internet hero.He was created to be a bloody monster. Now he’s an internet hero.
Culture

How American Psycho became men’s favorite sigma icon.

By Constance Grady
Neil Gaiman and the problem of faux feministsNeil Gaiman and the problem of faux feminists
Culture

What happens to supposedly “enlightened” men in the post-Me Too era?

By Constance Grady
Swashbuckling adventure novels to start your yearSwashbuckling adventure novels to start your year
Culture

Plus trippy detective novels for when you just miss Twin Peaks.

By Constance Grady
Are men’s reading habits truly a national crisis?Are men’s reading habits truly a national crisis?
Culture

The questionable statistic at the heart of the “men don’t read fiction” discourse.

By Constance Grady
The movies, shows, books, and music we couldn’t stop thinking about this year The movies, shows, books, and music we couldn’t stop thinking about this year 
Culture

Vox’s cultural obsessions of 2024.

By Vox Staff
The best books of 2024The best books of 2024
Culture

8 books that made the case for art in a fraught year.

By Constance Grady
The housing movement is divided against itselfThe housing movement is divided against itself
Policy

What 3 new books reveal about where the housing movement goes next.

By Rachel Cohen
“I want a book that will give me hope that things will get better.”
CultureThe Highlight

Books to get you through the next four years.

By Constance Grady
A hopeful post-apocalyptic novel for right nowA hopeful post-apocalyptic novel for right now
Podcast
The HighlightThe Highlight

Author Eman Abdelhadi on imagining a better world.

By Jorge Just
Why Wicked’s politics feel so bizarrely timelyWhy Wicked’s politics feel so bizarrely timely
Culture

America and Oz have always had a lot in common.

By Constance Grady
America’s literacy crisis isn’t what you thinkAmerica’s literacy crisis isn’t what you think
Culture

This is what happens when kids don’t read for pleasure anymore.

By Anna North
Why libraries need librariansWhy libraries need librarians
Explain It to Me

Public librarians have to be coders, social workers, and book rec machines. They’re irreplaceable.

By Constance Grady
“I’m looking for a fever dream of a book.”
The HighlightThe Highlight

In November’s edition of Ask a Book Critic, novels to scratch the surrealist itch, lesbian necromancers in space, and more.

By Constance Grady
How the wealthy are redrawing the world mapHow the wealthy are redrawing the world map
Future Perfect

A new book explores the world of tax havens and techno-utopias, and asks if they can be used for good.

By Joshua Keating
Ta-Nehisi Coates’s troubled American conscienceTa-Nehisi Coates’s troubled American conscience
Culture

The acclaimed writer takes on another intractable problem.

By Constance Grady
Ask A Book Critic: I want a murder mystery that happens somewhere pretty
The HighlightThe Highlight

Plus short stories to dip into when life gets busy, and small-town longings.

By Constance Grady
Sally Rooney’s new book is an exquisite return to formSally Rooney’s new book is an exquisite return to form
Culture

In the deeply-felt Intermezzo, the celebrity novelist plays chess with God.

By Constance Grady
What George Orwell’s 1984 can teach us about 2024What George Orwell’s 1984 can teach us about 2024
Podcast
The Gray Area

Orwell prized clear communication, so why are people misusing his name?

By Sean Illing
Why readers love — and love to hate — Colleen HooverWhy readers love — and love to hate — Colleen Hoover
Culture

It Ends With Us is at the center of Hoover’s very polarizing body of work.

By Constance Grady
Ask a Book Critic: Novels to send you down a historical rabbit hole
The HighlightThe Highlight

Vox’s book critic gives you recommendations to scratch your next reading itch.

By Constance Grady
The short shelf-life of the White House tell-allThe short shelf-life of the White House tell-all
Culture

White House tell-alls age like milk. Why do journalists keep writing them?

By Alexander Sorondo
The art and science of swearingThe art and science of swearing
Podcast
Culture

And why you feel bad swearing around your friends’ kids, according to a philosopher.

By Sean Illing
The best books of the year (so far)The best books of the year (so far)
Culture

From debut character studies to beloved franchises, here are the best books of the last 6 months.

By Constance Grady
Revisiting Hillbilly Elegy, the book that made J.D. VanceRevisiting Hillbilly Elegy, the book that made J.D. Vance
Culture

The bestseller proves Trump’s VP pick has abiding disdain for absolutely everyone.

By Aja Romano
What do we do about Alice Munro now?What do we do about Alice Munro now?
Culture

Reckoning with the late author and Nobel Prize winner’s complicity in her daughter’s abuse.

By Constance Grady
The existential struggle of being BlackThe existential struggle of being Black
Podcast
The Gray Area

A conversation with author Nathalie Etoke on Black existentialism and the case for tragic optimism.

By Sean Illing
Looking for your next great read? We’re here to help.Looking for your next great read? We’re here to help.
Culture

Introducing Vox’s Next Page.

By Constance Grady
A new book tackles the splendor and squalor of reality TV A new book tackles the splendor and squalor of reality TV 
Culture

Critic Emily Nussbaum makes the case for the guilty pleasure as an art form.

By Kyndall Cunningham
What this summer’s age-gap escapist fantasies are missing about romance and middle ageWhat this summer’s age-gap escapist fantasies are missing about romance and middle age
Culture

In her new novel All Fours, Miranda July romps where The Idea of You fears to tread.

By Constance Grady