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
Asymmetry
Lisa Halliday
It’s so good, it’s so elegant, and it’s so sharp, it’s just so intelligent and it’s delightful to watch her pull this off, it keeps you surprised, it’s not overly invective, it’s entertaining, it’s thought provoking, it’s really good.
Paperback, 2018
$16.00$8.00 + Free shipping50% off your first book
The Colony
Annika Norlin
Disturbing, engrossing ... Norlin is in full command of her characters’ histories and marshals a tremendous level of detail ... The story’s open-ended questions...arise organically, without forcing stale answers.
Paperback, 2025
$20.00$10.00 + Free shipping50% off your first book
Culture: The Story of Us, from Cave Art to K-Pop
Martin Puchner
A Harvard professor goes wide in this study of the humanities and human creativity... As he guides readers along a Nefertiti to TikTok continuum, he shows how cultural exchange and innovation help societies address some of life’s most existential questions.
Paperback, 2024
$18.99$9.49 + 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.
Paperback, 2024
$18.99$9.49 + Free shipping50% off your first book
Recitatif: A Story
Toni Morrison
Honorée Fanonne Jeffers reviews "Recitatif," Toni Morrison's only short story that's now been published as a standalone book. It follows two friends, one Black and the other white, but never confirms the race of either character. https://t.co/4mFJivGfgf
Hardcover, 2022
$16.00$8.00 + Free shipping50% off your first book
Beloved: Pulitzer Prize Winner
Toni Morrison
“If you focus on five passages, you’ve got obscenity,” Ms. Caldwell-Stone said. “If you broaden your view and read the work as a whole, you’ve got Toni Morrison’s ‘Beloved.’” https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/30/books/book-ban-us-schools.html
Paperback, 2004
$17.00$8.50 + 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
Trust (Pulitzer Prize Winner)
Hernan Diaz
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://t.co/vtzfUIYtSg
Paperback, 2023
$17.00$8.50 + Free shipping50% off your first book