12 Modern Classics That Will Stand the Test of Time

by Ta-Nehisi Coates

This moving, potent testament might have been titled “Black Lives Matter.” Or: “An American Tragedy.” Full review >

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by Viet Thanh Nguyen

Both chilling and funny, and a worthy addition to the library of first-rate novels about the Vietnam War. Full review >

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by Matthew Desmond

This stunning, remarkable book—a scholar’s 21st-century How the Other Half Lives—demands a wide audience. Full review >

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by Cao Wenxuan ; translated by Helen Wang ; illustrated by Meilo So

Readers of all ages should be prepared to laugh, cry, and sigh with satisfaction. Full review >

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by Jesmyn Ward

As with the best and most meaningful American fiction these days, old truths are recast here in new realities rife with both... Full review >

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by Antonio Iturbe ; translated by Lilit Žekulin Thwaites

Though no punches are pulled about the unimaginable atrocity of the death camps, a life-affirming history Full review >

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by Masha Gessen

A superb, alarming portrait of a government that exercises outsize influence in the modern world, at great human cost. Full review >

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by Ibi Zoboi

This book will take root in readers’ hearts. Full review >

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by Frances FitzGerald

Overflowing with historical anecdote and contemporary reportage and essential to interpreting the current political and... Full review >

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by Carmen Maria Machado

An exceptional and pungently inventive first book. Full review >

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by Louise Erdrich

Electric, nimble, and perceptive, this novel is about “the phosphorous of grief” but also, more essentially, about the... Full review >

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by Christopher de Hamel

A rare, erudite, and delightfully entertaining history. Full review >

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