In which the author explains how books about real life are better than fiction.

First editions from her grandmother feature prominently in Jennifer Gilmore’s library.

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

A spin through Stacked Up’s greatest hits with our awesome guest authors.

A reformed comedian finds her voice in fiction.

A reformed slob turned Dewey-Decimal devotee.

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

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

Kathryn Harrison offers some book picks and advice on hypnotizing bunnies.

Saïd Sayrafiezadeh can and does judge books by their covers.

Landscape architect Diana Balmori’s shelves mix the radical with the practical.

Michael Showalter’s debut is all about the funny.

David Goodwillie tackles two of his favorite subjects, radicalism and New York.

Anne Trubek curates Dave Cullen.

Best-selling author Julie Klam talks dogs, Maus and baseball.

From sex cults to black metal, DC Pierson finds books naughty and nice at PowerHouse Arena.

Comics vets Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colón talk about their new graphic biography.

…and some secret books.

For Jennifer 8. Lee, reading a Kindle is like eating Chinese food.

Mary Gaitskill takes a stand against literary snobbery.

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

It’s official: he really, really does.

A Paris travelogue and a slice of Americana help pass the time.

The comedian’s island cure-all mixes reference and fantasy.

Just the classics, please–the bigger, the better.

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.

The author wins the battle to understand World War II.

Authors Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colòn make a comeback with their graphic adaptation of The 9/11 Report.

The incredible story of Miep Gies’ safekeeping of Anne Frank’s diary.

David Goodwillie doubts a friend who brags about going to a Yankee game with Don DeLillo and Paul Auster.

Saïd Sayrafiezadeh on the lasting influence of his uncle, writer Mark Harris.

Growing up in the shadow of the Socialist Workers Party.

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

Ken Wheaton on the finer points of the blogosphere.

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.

Ken Wheaton is unashamedly attached to monkeys.

Adultery, nymphet obsession and nervous breakdowns.

Two memoirs, one Bildungsroman, all truth.

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

Is Madonna really a fan of Darin Strauss?

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