# The Best Essays & Criticism Books

> Answers the query: “best essays & criticism books”

_Last updated: 2026-07-25_

## The list

1. **Hard to Love**, Briallen Hopper (ISBN 9781632868800)
   https://www.altbook.net/book/hard-to-love
2. **Why Didn’t You Just Do What You Were Told?**, Jenny Diski (ISBN 9781526621900)
   https://www.altbook.net/book/why-didnt-you-just-do-what-you-were-told
3. **Bamboo**, William Boyd (ISBN 9780747597681)
   https://www.altbook.net/book/bamboo
4. **Kicking Off**, Sarah Shephard (ISBN 9781472913838)
   https://www.altbook.net/book/kicking-off
5. **A Thousand Plateaus**, Gilles Deleuze, Félix Guattari (ISBN 9781780935379)
   https://www.altbook.net/book/a-thousand-plateaus
6. **100 Ideas for Secondary Teachers**, Mike Ollerton (ISBN 9781408194874)
   https://www.altbook.net/book/100-ideas-for-secondary-teachers-4874
7. **The Little Book Of Sequencing Skills**, Keri Finlayson (ISBN 9781408180297)
   https://www.altbook.net/book/the-little-book-of-sequencing-skills
8. **THE BOOK OF INDIAN ESSAYS [Hardcover] [Hardcover] [Hardcover] [Hardcover] [Hardcover] [Hardcover] [Hardcover] [Hardcover] [Hardcover] [Hardcover] [Hardcover] [Hardcover] [Hardcover] [Hardcover] [Hardcover] [Hardcover] [Hardcover] [Hardcover] [Hardcover] Arvind Krishna Mehrotra [Hardcover] Arvind Krishna Mehrotra [Hardcover] Arvind Krishna Mehrotra [Hardcover] Arvind Krishna Mehrotra [Hardcover] [H**, Arvind Krishna Mehrotra (ISBN 9789389253634)
   https://www.altbook.net/book/the-book-of-indian-essays-hardcover-hardcover-hardcover-hardcover-hardcover-hardcover-hardcover-hardcover-hardcover-hardcover-hardcover-hardcover-hardcover-hardcover-hardcover-hardcover-hardcover-hardcover-hardcover-arvind-krishna-mehrotra-hardcover-arvind-krishna-mehrotra-hardcover-arvind-krishna-mehrotra-hardcover-arvind-krishna-mehrotra-hardcover-h
9. **Caste Away**, Na Vanamamalai, Joshua Gnanaselvan (ISBN 9789357317320)
   https://www.altbook.net/book/caste-away
10. **Calypso**, David Sedaris, Aurora Ballester (ISBN 9780349141893)
   https://www.altbook.net/book/calypso
11. **Happy-Go-Lucky**, David Sedaris (ISBN 9780349144689)
   https://www.altbook.net/book/happy-go-lucky
12. **Best of Me**, David Sedaris (ISBN 9780349144603)
   https://www.altbook.net/book/best-of-me
13. **World of Wonders**, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Fumi Nakamura (ISBN 9781788168915)
   https://www.altbook.net/book/world-of-wonders
14. **Art Matters**, Neil Gaiman, Chris Riddell, Montse Meneses Vilar (ISBN 9781472260109)
   https://www.altbook.net/book/art-matters
15. **Inciting Joy**, Ross Gay (ISBN 9781399716017)
   https://www.altbook.net/book/inciting-joy
16. **Book of Delights**, Ross Gay (ISBN 9781529349771)
   https://www.altbook.net/book/book-of-delights
17. **The Book of  Delights**, Ross Gay (ISBN 9781643756356)
   https://www.altbook.net/book/the-book-of-delights
18. **Hunger**, Roxane Gay (ISBN 9781472153791)
   https://www.altbook.net/book/hunger
19. **Opinions**, Roxane Gay (ISBN 9781472158642)
   https://www.altbook.net/book/opinions
20. **Story Smuggler**, Georgi Gospodinov (ISBN 9781399623117)
   https://www.altbook.net/book/story-smuggler
21. **Mothers, Fathers, and Others**, Siri Hustvedt, Aurora Echevarría Pérez (ISBN 9781529376715)
   https://www.altbook.net/book/mothers-fathers-and-others
22. **American Beast**, Jill Lepore (ISBN 9781399810180)
   https://www.altbook.net/book/american-beast
23. **Critical Hits**, Carmen Maria Machado, J. Robert Lennon (ISBN 9781800814523)
   https://www.altbook.net/book/critical-hits
24. **Memoir of My Former Self**, Hilary Mantel (ISBN 9781399813891)
   https://www.altbook.net/book/memoir-of-my-former-self
25. **All Things Are Too Small**, Becca Rothfeld (ISBN 9780349016245)
   https://www.altbook.net/book/all-things-are-too-small
26. **Exophony**, Yoko Tawada, Lisa Hofmann-Kuroda (ISBN 9780349704197)
   https://www.altbook.net/book/exophony
27. **Christopher Nolan**, Dan Jolin (ISBN 9781529444612)
   https://www.altbook.net/book/christopher-nolan
28. **James Cameron**, Dan Jolin (ISBN 9781529444599)
   https://www.altbook.net/book/james-cameron
29. **TCM Imports**, Alicia Malone (ISBN 9780762488483)
   https://www.altbook.net/book/tcm-imports
30. **Wes Anderson All the Films**, Christophe Narbonne (ISBN 9780762488643)
   https://www.altbook.net/book/wes-anderson-all-the-films

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Source: AltBook, https://www.altbook.net/collections/best-essays-criticism-books