
10 Essential Summer Reads of 2026
No matter your literary leanings, these elevated picks will make your downtime all the more memorable

No matter your literary leanings, these elevated picks will make your downtime all the more memorable

These nonfiction gems help you find joy and astonishment in trying times

The bestselling author welcomes a new, authentic adaptation of her world-famous debut novel 'The House of the Spirits'

Add these literary and non-fiction takes on the subconscious to your to-be-read list

Our Zed writers offer up three fiction gems from last year – covering a wide emotional spectrum – that left an impression.

Some books just stick with you, and our Zed contributors are still talking about these memoirs by beloved writers Susan Orlean and Miriam Toews, as well as a meticulously researched investigation by Sarah Weinman into a little-known – and very disturbing – aspect of criminal history.

Ambition, love, gossip and betrayal. Oh…and owls. All is on the agenda when you snag a moment with Philippa Gregory, the queen of historical fiction. With umpteenth books under her belt, and a menagerie to call her own, she lives in the British countryside with four horses, many hens and ducks, and numerous birds of […]

There’s the Oscar, and a photo of him with Salman Rushdie – another with Courtney Love – and endless images of men in singlets. A framed 1981 Time magazine image, where he’s sitting on the trunk of a car with a “GARP” vanity plate, has faded with age. But then, a blown-up Barneys New York fashion […]

Nearly two dozen of the 291 films hitting the big screen at TIFF are plucked from the bookshelves – a reader’s paradise. Buzzy star-studded adaptations of enduring classics like Frankenstein share the slate with more obscure literary fare, like French dramatist Bernard-Marie Koltès’ brutal dissection of colonialism, Black Battles with Dog, is interpreted by Claire […]

Whether it is a sermon on “chiffon cake” or a précis on the “perfect roast chicken,” Lesley Chesterman is a font of information when it comes to all things culinary – as is her dishy, weekly Substack newsletter, Lick My Plate. And while the one-time restaurant critic for the Montreal Gazette (a job she commanded […]