essay collection recommendations
a comprehensive list of well known and underrated gems in my favorite sub-genre of nonfiction
I never really shut up about how much I love essay collections, so this post is very long overdue. Most of my reading preferences last year were split between fiction and essay collections, as these are so convenient and easy to read on my commute to work or for half an hour after I wake up in the morning. I feel like there are so many underrated gems in this sub-genre, and I have read some of the most brilliant pieces of writing through essays.
For those of you who are looking for more recommendations or don’t know what essay collection to start with, here are some recommendations from yours truly. I tried my best to categorize them by subject (memoir, art, history, culture, philosophy, psychology, science, history etc) with a condensed synopsis and a mini review. And as always, I also linked the Goodreads page for each!
Let me know any good essay collections in the comment section because I’m always looking for good recommendations.
PERSONAL / MEMOIR
These Precious Days by Ann Patchett
“Life often takes turns we do not see coming. Patchett ponders this truth in these wise essays that afford a fresh and intimate look into her mind and heart.” These Precious Days is an amalgamation of everything I love in books: beautiful writing, memoir essays, this subgenre, Ann Patchett, and that feeling when your heart hurts in a good way and the bridge of your nose stings.
Conversations on Love by Natasha Lunn
“A celebration of love in all its forms.” An ode to love and its many variants and manifestations in our daily lives: from falling in love to friendships to grief. Just like the definition of love, this book will mean different things to everyone who reads it. If you liked Everything I Know About Love, you will love this book. It manages to describe moments in life in the electrifying and beautiful way it’s meant to be described.
Tiny Moons: A Year of Eating in Shanghai by Nina Mingya Powles
“Through childhood snacks, family feasts, Shanghai street food and student dinners, she attempts to find a way back towards her Chinese-Malaysian heritage.” A beautiful and comforting memoir that made me hungry and nostalgic for everything. Feels like a really hot bowl of soup my mom made on a cold winter day.
The Science of Last Things by Ellen Wayland Smith
“Ellen Wayland-Smith probes the raw edges of human existence, those periods of life in which our bodies remind us of our transience and the boundaries of the self dissolve.” The essays are an amalgamation of deeply personal ones and many interesting historical, scientific, cultural, and literary anecdotes and tangents. Through it all, she never leaves out the heart and emotions of things, which celebrates human connection and our ties to this world. It left me with this dull ache in my chest that coalesced into an insurmountable boulder of emotion at the end.
In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
“Carmen Maria Machado's engrossing and wildly innovative account of a relationship gone bad.” I am not exactly sure if I can call this an essay collection, but I am including it anyway. Machado writes with devastating vulnerability and a propulsive cadence; this reads like folklore or fairytale anthology. This book feels like a manifestation of real memories—fragmented, dreamlike, hazy vignettes that are not quite prose but not quite poetry.
No Country for Eight Spot Butterflies by Julian Aguon
“Part memoir, part manifesto; a coming-of-age story and a call for justice—for everyone, but in particular, for Indigenous peoples.” Told in short pieces and vignettes, this book is rife with political commentary and personal anecdotes from Aguon himself. Aguon’s fierce love for everything he talks about is evident, and leaves the reader with empathy, reciprocated love for the environment, and an urgency for change. If our way of experiencing feelings is layered like the Earth, Aguon’s writing stripped away the crust and mantle.
Timecode of a Face by Ruth Ozeki
“What did your face look like before your parents were born? Who are you? What is your true self? These are the questions in Ruth Ozeki's mind as she challenges herself to spend three hours gazing into her own reflection, recording every thought and detail.” Ozeki stares at herself in the mirror for three hours and pens a collection of deeply introspective essays that stem from the meditative activity—topics ranging from personal history, Japanese culture, the act of aging, and so on. One of the most unique essay collections I’ve ever read.