Ken Wheaton’s desert island pick appropriates a Czech classic from a friend.

Debut novelist and blogger Ken Wheaton’s shelves are a lot like his recipe for gumbo.

Rich Cohen charges headlong at his subjects, from cover to cover.

A reformed comedian finds her voice in fiction.

Breakin’ rules, praisin’ Faulkner and raisin’ chickens.

Life is one big experiment for the ever-so-rational A. J. Jacobs.

A reformed slob turned Dewey-Decimal devotee.

…and some secret books.

The reading series that dares to be different.

True life trumps fiction for the hard-hitting journalist.

A Stephen King recommendation spun into PR gold.

Swann’s Way: In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust
Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
On Writing by Stephen King
English Composition and Grammar by John E. Warriner

Rich Cohen finds a wormhole to another era with Chess Records.

Rich Cohen on why celebrities matter in his work.

Baseball legends Phil Rizzuto and Bill White crash Rich Cohen’s party.

Finding answers to life’s big questions in an unlikely source

Naming a character gets tricky

Susan Orlean gives Dr. Doolittle a run for his money.

Stacking up with Susan Orlean, A. J. Jacobs, Darin Strauss and Laurie Sandell

The should-read that somehow never gets read.

Nothing but her whole library will do.

Cookbook porn that’s safe for work.

A. J. Jacobs’ desert island revenge fantasy takes aim at William F. Buckley.

Adultery, nymphet obsession and nervous breakdowns.

Two memoirs, one Bildungsroman, all truth.

Why E. B. White’s story is not safe for bedtime.

From the civil rights era, one irreplaceable book in A. J. Jacobs’ library.

Is Madonna really a fan of Darin Strauss?