Sadie Stein

Surprising, versatile, dark and funny, the British writer has something for (almost) everyone.

The author, considered by some to be the greatest French writer of her time, played with words and convention. Here’s where to start with her work.

The popular science writer, whose new book is “Replaceable You,” has steadily offered an embarrassment of trivia while going deep on our insides, outsides and more.

In “Ghosted,” Alice Vernon explores the human urge to pierce the veil — and the many mediums, charlatans and true believers who made it an enduring industry.

In the searing “Dirty Kitchen,” Jill Damatac tells the story of a fight for survival and culture in America.

His fairy tales are part of our cultural fabric, but “The Little Match Girl” still haunts me.

A classic coming-of-age novel; a cultural history of early America.

In a new book, Benoît Gallot explains what it takes to run Père-Lachaise, where he lives with his wife, children and, he insists, no ghosts.

In “Whack Job,” Rachel McCarthy James finds a connection between self-reliance and brutality. And for the record, she’s not so sure Lizzie Borden did it.

A poet’s letters; a collection of reminiscences.

Françoise Sagan’s first novel, “Bonjour Tristesse,” was published in 1954. With a new film adaptation, the book and its author still holds sway.

The British author, best known for her “Old Filth” trilogy, never paid much attention to literary fashion, and her 22 novels range widely in genre, tone and style.

Nan Shepherd’s meditative book on the great outdoors is an inspiring guide to stepping away from comforts and routine.

A collection of autobiographical sketches; a complicated Japanese mystery.

A cache of family documents led a journalist to discover the source of the wealth that allowed his family to remake life in Australia after surviving World War II in Europe.

A Scott and Zelda roman à clef; a photo collection of 1920s Paris.

In “Jane Austen’s Bookshelf,” a rare-book collector sets out to “investigate” a group of overlooked female writers.

Joan Aiken’s neo-Gothic; Joseph Roth’s family epic.

In a new collection about New York City, the writer turns his gimlet eye on its icons, its architecture, its hot spots — and its suits. “Clothes matter — especially when you get old,” he says.

No subestimes el sencillo poder de hacer un cumplido a un desconocido.