Essays

Recommended

A Feminist Coming-of-Age That’s Quiet, Powerful and Unforgettable

Marianna Marlowe’s Portrait of a Feminist isn’t your typical feminist memoir. It doesn’t shout its message or come armed with statistics and slogans. Instead, it invites you into the quiet, powerful moments that shaped one woman’s identity across years, continents and cultures. Told in a series of beautifully written personal essays that…

Kelsey HallJune 23, 2025

Listicles Pop Culture

Girl Dinner: A Feast of Short Stories & Essays by Women

Women’s voices in literature are as varied and nourishing as a perfectly curated “girl dinner” plate: sometimes indulgent, sometimes sharp, always satisfying. From bite-sized short stories to rich, thought-provoking essays, this collection celebrates women writers who serve up brilliance in every genre. Whether you’re craving stories of resilience, humor, identity…

Kelsey HallMarch 27, 2025

Nonfiction

Final Glimpse Into Life of Joan Didion in Posthumous Memoir, “Notes to John”

Joan Didion’s Notes to John is a posthumous gift, both to her readers and to literature itself. Addressed to her late husband, writer John Gregory Dunne, this quietly devastating collection of journal-like reflections was discovered in a file drawer close to her desk after her death in 2021. Composed during…

Kelsey HallMay 7, 2025

Miscellany Potpourri - Featured

Man’s Eloquent Alter Ego Doesn’t Hold Back His Opinions of Today’s “Woke” Culture

Have you ever watched the wildly popular Outlander series and thought, does it have to be this graphic? Did you read Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and question the merit of the construction of Gilead’s fascist regime? Are there any number of increasingly popular opinions in today’s “woke” culture that…

BookTribMay 25, 2022

Listicles Nonfiction

5 Essay Collections That Explore the Profound and the Mundane

The past few years have provided people with lots of chances for self-reflection. From isolation during COVID to major shifts globally, to personal changes like new jobs, friends or houses, we’ve all got a lot to think about. For many people, this time to think has been a welcome source…

Megan BeauregardApril 23, 2024

Nonfiction Recommended

Sweeping Essay Collection Muses on the Tumultuous Times of 2022

Some musings to consider: “Humanity is in crisis.” “The rise and supremacy of cell phone culture has helped diminish the importance of content.” “A shortage of fabric up top … a shirtless young male actor. The Oscars looked like a parade of people who had lost bets.” “Once everyone had…

Jim AlkonApril 11, 2024

Miscellany

In Defense of Ebenezer Scrooge: Why It’s Time to View the Christmas Curmudgeon in a New Light

Simply say the word and there's no explanation necessary. "Scrooge." It's often a playful insult, but when spoken seriously you know what it means: Heartless. Unforgiving. Spiteful on a day that calls for generosity. Well, this holiday season, I wish to go where even a "contrarian" may fear to tread:…

Robert FolsomDecember 24, 2021

Miscellany

What Working Behind the Scenes on Broadway Taught Me About Storytelling

Editor’s Note: BookTrib is proud to present this personal essay by guest contributor Amy Neswald, debut author of I Know You Love Me, Too (New American Press), a collection of linked stories inspired in part by her experiences working as a wig master on Broadway. The book was recently awarded…

Amy NeswaldDecember 8, 2021

Miscellany

What’s Pulsing in the Book World This Week

BookTrib wants to keep you in the loop! Here’s what has been pulsing through the book world this week: Just What Isolation Ordered: Eight Brick-Sized Books to Knock Out Your Pandemic-Induced Boredom — The Cut Anne Tyler’s Quirky Protagonist Keeps Taking the Same Romantic Tumbles in The Redhead by the…

BookTribApril 3, 2020

Miscellany

Lauren Groff Leads the Charge on Climate Change

(This story first appeared on the Greenpeace.org website as part of its Climate Visionaries series and is being reprinted with permission from Lauren Groff.) The church of my youth was antique and stern, shot through with light from the great stained-glass windows, its long plaster columns splitting when it reached…

Lauren GroffJanuary 25, 2020

Miscellany Pop Culture Pop Culture - Featured

Sisterhood of Storytelling: Oprah Magazine’s 28 Books for a Transportive Summer

“While our movements these days may be restricted, that doesn’t mean we can’t explore the world,” says Oprah Winfrey in the essay she penned to introduce Oprah Magazine’s annual summer reading list. This year, that list boasts 28 women writers from around the world, and its diverse range of titles…

BookTribJune 30, 2020

Nonfiction Nonfiction - Featured

Ann Patchett’s Latest and Greatest: Graceful and Forgiving Essays of Brave Self-Awareness

These Precious Days by Ann Patchett is a grace-filled, insightful compilation of narrative essays of her literary life. They are deeply personal, self-revelatory articles tackling themes recognizable and relatable to readers. Most of the essays have been previously published elsewhere, some appearing in the “Notes from Ann” and “Shop Dog…

Linda HitchcockNovember 23, 2021

Nonfiction Nonfiction - Featured

Alice McDermott Shares Writerly Wisdom in “What About the Baby?”

For almost four decades, award-winning fiction author, essayist and teacher Alice McDermott has impressed readers with novels about loss, resilience and nostalgia that bind strong-knit communities. What About the Baby? Some Thoughts on the Art of Fiction (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) is her newest work, a collection of essays about…

Gisèle LewisAugust 16, 2021

Nonfiction Nonfiction - Featured

Didion Toys with Subjectivity, Transcends Time in “Let Me Tell You What I Mean”

I should preface this review with a confession: despite being a born-and-raised Californian, I had never read any Joan Didion until last week. I couldn’t tell you why, except that I’d never had her on a syllabus, never serendipitously stumbled on her in a used bookstore — the opportunity had…

Savannah CordovaFebruary 4, 2021

Nonfiction

Gloria Steinem Biopic Will Bring the Icon’s Memoir to Life

Julianne Moore is set to star as Steinem, with director Julie Taymor at the helm. As acclaimed masters in their fields, both women bring as much to the table as the feminist icon herself. Moore had an Oscar-winning turn in Still Alice, the film of Lisa Genova’s novel about early-onset…

Early Bird BooksNovember 21, 2017

Better Self Nonfiction

Tall Poppy Review: Insightful and Empowering Essays in the Wake of #MeToo

Katie Rose Guest Pryal’s Even If You’re Broken (Blue Crow Books) is a collection of essays. It says so right on the cover. I expected, then, that the book would not be one narrative, but rather, many. But as I was reading, I was struck by how seamless the book…

Amy ImpellizeriMarch 26, 2020

A Feminist Coming-of-Age That’s Quiet, Powerful and Unforgettable

Girl Dinner: A Feast of Short Stories & Essays by Women

Man’s Eloquent Alter Ego Doesn’t Hold Back His Opinions of Today’s “Woke” Culture

5 Essay Collections That Explore the Profound and the Mundane

Sweeping Essay Collection Muses on the Tumultuous Times of 2022

In Defense of Ebenezer Scrooge: Why It’s Time to View the Christmas Curmudgeon in a New Light

What Working Behind the Scenes on Broadway Taught Me About Storytelling

What’s Pulsing in the Book World This Week

Lauren Groff Leads the Charge on Climate Change

Sisterhood of Storytelling: Oprah Magazine’s 28 Books for a Transportive Summer

Ann Patchett’s Latest and Greatest: Graceful and Forgiving Essays of Brave Self-Awareness

Alice McDermott Shares Writerly Wisdom in “What About the Baby?”

Didion Toys with Subjectivity, Transcends Time in “Let Me Tell You What I Mean”

Gloria Steinem Biopic Will Bring the Icon’s Memoir to Life

Tall Poppy Review: Insightful and Empowering Essays in the Wake of #MeToo

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