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Craft and Criticism
Literary Criticism
Craft and Advice
In Conversation
On Translation
Fiction and Poetry
Short Story
From the Novel
Poem
News and Culture
History
Science
Politics
Biography
Memoir
Food
Technology
Bookstores and Libraries
Film and TV
Travel
Music
Art and Photography
The Hub
Style
Design
Sports
Lit Hub Radio
The Lit Hub Podcast
Awakeners
Fiction/Non/Fiction
The Critic and Her Publics
Windham-Campbell Prizes Podcast
Memoir Nation
Beyond the Page
First Draft: A Dialogue on Writing
Thresholds
The Cosmic Library
Culture Schlock
Reading Lists
The Best of the Decade
Book Marks
Best Reviewed Books
CrimeReads
True Crime
The Daily Thrill
Log In
The Color Purple
Friend, Foe, Family, Stranger: Fourteen Books on Black Motherhood by Black Daughters
Tramaine Suubi Recommends Toi Derricotte, Toni Morrison, Deesha Philyaw, and More
By
Tramaine Suubi
| May 9, 2025
The Gift of Reading Toni Morrison to My Black Daughter in an Age of Book Bans
Rae Giana Rashad on the Importance of “Beloved,” Being a Black Mother in Texas, and Innocence Versus Experience
By
Rae Giana Rashad
| February 13, 2024
Ten LGBTQ+ Authors on the Books That Taught Them
James Frankie Thomas, Amelia Possanza, Richard Mirabella, Gina Chung, and Many More Reflect on Their Formative Texts
By
Samantha Paige Rosen
| June 1, 2023
"Who Are Your People?" A Reading List of Strong, Spirited Southern Ladies
Mimi Herman Recommends Alice Walker, Karen Russell, and More
By
Mimi Herman
| January 23, 2023
Intimacy and Manipulation: A Reading List of Fictional Diaries
Elizabeth Brooks Recommends Books by E.M. Delafield, Margaret Forster, and More
By
Elizabeth Brooks
| September 28, 2022
The Lion Speaks: On the Potency of the Epistolary Form
Daniel Black Considers Letters and Linguistic Freedom
By
Daniel Black
| February 4, 2022
Best Reviewed
Books of the Week
The Meaningful Mundane:
6 Classic Books That Depict Black Girlhood
By
Kai Harris
| February 2, 2022
Celebrating the 2021 Audie Awards: Best Female Narrator
By
Behind the Mic
| March 24, 2021
The Color Purple
and the Language of Healing from Trauma
By
Salamishah Tillet
| January 11, 2021
Isabella Hammad: A Book is Like a Letter—Not Often Addressed to Us
6 Great Books of Correspondence
By
Isabella Hammad
| April 22, 2019
In Praise of the Epistolary Novel
Evan Fallenberg on His Favorite Form of Literary Eavesdropping
By
Evan Fallenberg
| September 6, 2018
From
Gatsby
to
Giovanni's Room
, the Stories Behind 5 American Classics
Jake Grogan on the Origins of 5 Great Books
By
Jake Grogan
| November 3, 2017
7 Novels That Explore Motherhood's Complexities
November 4, 2025
by
Donna Freitas
To Break Up with Friends, or to Murder Them: 5 Novels Featuring Fatal Friendship Failings
November 4, 2025
by
Jenna Satterthwaite
The Trauma Behind the "Good Old Days": Christina Henry on the Dark Trap of Nostalgia in Fiction
November 4, 2025
by
Christina Henry
The Best Reviewed Books of the Week
"Not much happens In fact there is much in the text that is not made…"