Most read Art books

Told by three witches that he will be king, the Scottish general Macbeth, spurred on by his wife, murders King Duncan and takes the throne. But guilt and paranoia drive him to kill again and again, and his blood-soaked reign hurtles toward ruin. Shakespeare's darkest tragedy of ambition, prophecy, and moral collapse.

• villain protagonist
• betrayal
• morally grey

Art Spiegelman's Maus is a powerful graphic novel that recounts his father Vladek's experiences as a Polish Jew during the Holocaust. Through Vladek's harrowing memories, the book explores the immense trauma of the war and its lasting effects on family relationships. It's a deeply personal account of survival and the complex bond between father and son.

• multiple povs
• coming of age
• survival

Marjane Satrapi's landmark graphic memoir of growing up in Iran during and after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. In stark black-and-white panels, she recalls her childhood in Tehran as the outspoken daughter of secular parents, her teenage exile in Vienna, and her fraught return home. Funny, angry, and humane, Persepolis pairs a child's-eye directness with adult political clarity, making recent Iranian history intimate and immediate.

• coming of age

The fourth Magnolia Parks Universe novel returns to Daisy Haites and Christian Hemmes, whose romance grew in the shadow of London's underworld. As buried secrets, family loyalties, and old betrayals resurface, the walls they built to survive come down — and they must decide whether the life they want is one they can actually keep. A darker, rawer chapter in Jessa Hastings's interconnected saga.

• forbidden love

Imagine stealing $2 billion in art from seven countries over eight years, not for profit, but to build your own private museum. This is the astonishing true story of a French couple who executed one of history's most audacious art heists. Discover the daring plan and the peculiar obsession behind their incredible crime.

• heist
• morally grey

In 1967, two young artists — Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe — meet in New York and become lovers, then lifelong friends, sustaining each other through years of poverty and fierce devotion to their work. From Coney Island to the Hotel Chelsea and the edges of Warhol's Factory, Smith's National Book Award-winning memoir is a luminous portrait of two people becoming artists, and an elegy for a vanished New York.

• coming of age

The beloved anecdotes of Nobel physicist Richard Feynman, told to Ralph Leighton. From boyhood experiments to cracking safes at Los Alamos, from samba drumming in Brazil to decoding Mayan math, these funny, irreverent stories celebrate an insatiable curiosity and a refusal to take anything on authority. A perennial favorite about science, learning, and living unconventionally.

Neuroscientist Daniel J. Levitin explores the profound connection between music and the human brain. He investigates how we compose, perform, listen to, and enjoy music, arguing that it is fundamental to our species. Drawing on scientific research and diverse musical examples, Levitin reveals the mechanisms behind our emotional attachment to music, the nature of musical expertise, and why songs get stuck in our heads.

Austin Kleon says genius is not required for creative work, only being yourself. Ten lessons from a viral college talk show how to borrow from influences, follow personal interests and make room for daring work, with illustrations and exercises.

Jamie Watson and Charlotte Holmes hoped for a quiet winter break, but their growing feelings for each other are the least of their worries. When Charlotte's eccentric uncle vanishes amidst a German art forgery investigation, the duo is pulled into a dangerous chase. They'll race through Berlin's gritty underground and Prague's glittering art scene, uncovering secrets that could change everything they thought they knew about their families and themselves.

• friends to lovers
• heist

Following the fall of Troy, the Trojan hero Aeneas is destined to found a new city in Italy, a journey fraught with divine intervention, perilous voyages, and devastating wars. This epic poem chronicles his struggles, his loves, and his ultimate triumph in establishing the lineage that would lead to the Roman Empire. It explores themes of fate, duty, and the cost of empire.

• quest
• chosen one
• revenge
• sacrifice

Don't get caught unprepared when the dead rise! This book is your ultimate manual for surviving a zombie apocalypse. It covers everything from understanding the undead and mastering defense tactics to fortifying your home and adapting to a world overrun. Be ready for anything.

• survival

In 1591 Istanbul, a master illuminator is murdered, and his nephew Enishte is tasked with finding the killer. He enlists the help of a reclusive artist, who may be involved in the crime. As Enishte delves deeper, he uncovers a conspiracy involving forbidden love, political intrigue, and the clash between Eastern and Western art.

• multiple povs

This book guides creatives and entrepreneurs on how to share their work and get discovered in the digital age. It emphasizes generosity over genius, encouraging readers to open their process to others and build a network through authentic sharing. With ten practical rules and numerous examples, it serves as a user's manual for embracing the communal aspect of creativity. This inspiring manifesto offers lessons on finding your voice, the etiquette of sharing online, and practical tips for success.

• mentor figure

Antoine Duris, a respected professor of art history in Lyon, abruptly abandons his career and moves to Paris, where he takes a modest job as a room guard at the Musée d'Orsay. To the museum's human resources director, it makes no sense: why would a Modigliani specialist, so obviously overqualified, seek such a quiet, anonymous post? What is he running from? In a second strand that unfolds gradually, the novel tells the story of Camille, a shy and gifted young woman who discovers a consuming passion for painting — and whose life is bound to Antoine's by a hidden sorrow. As the two narratives draw closer, the drama linking them slowly takes shape. David Foenkinos's tender, understated novel is a meditation on beauty as refuge — the way art can hold us together when everything else falls apart.

Imagine humanity's journey across a billion years, from its humble beginnings to its most bizarre and terrifying futures. This book chronicles the evolution of our species, showcasing incredible adaptations and the strange paths life can take when spread across the stars. It's a look at what we become, and what we might have been.

• coming of age
• survival

From The New York Times's Jeremy Egner, the definitive book on Ted Lasso. When Ted Lasso first aired in 2020, nobody—including those who had worked on it—knew how a show inspired by an ad, centered around soccer, filled mostly with unknown actors, and led by a wondrously mustachioed “nice guy” would be received. Eleven Emmys and one Peabody Award later, it’s safe to say that the show’s status as a pop-culture phenomenon is secure. In Believe, entertainment journalist and Ted Lasso fan Jeremy Egner traces the show’s creation and legacy through the words of the people at its center. Drawing on dozens of interviews from key cast, creators, and more, Believe takes readers from the first, silly NBC Premier League commercial to the pitch to Apple executives, then into the show’s writers’ room, through the brilliant international casting, and on to the unforgettable set and locations of the show itself. Brimming with careful reporting and written to match the show’s heart and humor, Believe tells a story of teamwork, of hidden talent, of a group of friends looking around at the world’s increasingly nasty discourse and deciding that maybe simple decency still has the power to bring us together—a story about what happens when you dare to believe.