• The best books about friendship and grief (and pandemics)
• The best books that predicted the pandemic
• The best books that model older women unabashedly enjoying sex
• The best middle grade novels where the dog lives
• The best books about everyday life during the COVID-19 pandemic
• Lauryn S. Mayer's favorite novels set in the Middle Ages (by a medievalist)
• The best young adult books for spooks and thrills
• The best books to understand how epidemics relate to bigger narratives
• The best books about environmental catastrophe
• The best binge-worthy apocalyptic reads
• The best historical novels of the ancient world
• The best books with science fiction and fantasy world-building
• The best fiction with Jesus as a character
• The best picture books to read when you don’t have the answers
• The best books to understand the human reaction to the Covid-19 pandemic
• The best books that “read” cities in an unconventional way