Joumana Khatib Book Recommendations & Book Mentions
This list consists of recommendations or mentions of books spotted in media, social media accounts, podcasts or other public websites.
Joumana Khatib on X
Joumana Khatib is an editor and books columnist. editor and columnist, @nytimesbooks

The Iliad
Homer
This translation is done by Emily Wilson, who is a classicist. She really made waves with her previous translation of the Odyssey... I love the idea of people across America waking up and saying, 'Honey, a new Homer just dropped.' That seems like a beautiful world to me.
Paperback, 2024
$19.99$9.99 + Free shipping50% off your first book
A Story Lately Told: Coming of Age in Ireland, London, and New York
Anjelica Huston
Read this memoir for the thrilling, improbable sentences that stop you cold...Most of all, read it for the sheer pleasure of listening to someone render a memory so tactile you can astrally project yourself there.
Paperback, 2014
$17.99$8.99 + Free shipping50% off your first book
Godwin
Joseph O'Neill
It's an adventure story. It's a weird family story. So this is really fun.
Hardcover, 2024
$28.00$14.00 + Free shipping50% off your first book
Pageboy: A Memoir
Elliot Page
Page rose to prominence for roles in “Juno” and “Inception,” and came out as trans in 2020... In his story, he offers moving descriptions of what it’s like to experience gender dysphoria, and details the happiness and self-acceptance he now feels.
Hardcover, 2023
$29.99$14.99 + Free shipping50% off your first book
Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont
Elizabeth Taylor
RT @levistahl: “You could die from it,” she declared, meaning that party. —Elizabeth Taylor, Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont
Paperback, 2021
$16.95$8.48 + Free shipping50% off your first book
Margo's Got Money Troubles
Rufi Thorpe
There's a lot going on here, but I promise that she pulls it off...it really does come together, and it's just a-- it's just a romp.
Hardcover, 2024
$28.00$14.00 + Free shipping50% off your first book
The Latecomer
Jean Hanff Korelitz
what a joy to talk with @KCRWPressPlay about some recent books I've loved (all good for summer!), feat: "Trust," by Hernan Diaz "Also a Poet," by Ada Calhoun "The Latecomer," by Jean Hanff Korelitz & "Carnality," by Lina Wolff (trans. by Frank Perry) https://www.kcrw.com/news/shows/press-play-with-madeleine-brand/insurrection-real-estate-reading-music/summer-books
Paperback, 2023
$18.99$9.49 + Free shipping50% off your first book
Cue the Sun!: The Invention of Reality TV
Emily Nussbaum
This is a really serious engagement with the history of reality TV and its genesis and its role in American culture. It just actually takes it seriously on its own terms and really helps understand this very uniquely American phenomenon.
Hardcover, 2024
$30.00$15.00 + Free shipping50% off your first book
Isola: Reese's Book Club
Allegra Goodman
A work of tremendous imagination that draws on harrowing historical records to spin a story of self-determination, courage and faith.
Hardcover, 2025
$28.99$14.49 + Free shipping50% off your first book
The Garden Against Time: In Search of a Common Paradise
Olivia Laing
She brings up, in a very thoughtful way, what gardens really do for us, and, you know, the act of caretaking or of creating beauty that should be accessible to everybody. And it makes you appreciate just like how many species on Earth we've got and how every little thing contributes in its own way.
Hardcover, 2024
$27.99$13.99 + Free shipping50% off your first book