A feature story on the University homepage spotlights publications from Princeton professors in humanities and social sciences that have been selected for at least one 2023 year-end “best of” list. Books from humanities faculty include:
- “The Pensive Citadel” by former Humanities Council Chair Victor Brombert (Romance Languages and Literatures, Comparative Literature, emeritus) is included in The New Yorker Best Books 2023. Read more about Brombert’s book and centenary celebration hosted by the Council in the fall.
- “Journeys of the Mind: A Life in History” by Peter Brown (History, emeritus) is included in History Today’s Books of the Year 2023 and the Times Literary Supplement’s Best Books of the Year 2023.
- “Seven Crashes: The Economic Crises That Shaped Globalization” by Harold James (History, SPIA) is included in the Financial Times’ Best Books of 2023-Economics.
- “How Data Happened: A History from the Age of Reason to the Age of Algorithms” by Matthew Jones (History) co-authored with Chris Wiggins, is included in The New Yorker Best Books 2023.
- “Wednesday’s Child: Stories” by Yiyun Li (Lewis Center for the Arts’ Program in Creative Writing) is included in The New Yorker Best Books 2023, NPR Books We Love 2023, New York Magazine’s Best Books of 2023, and Esquire 20 Best Books of 2023, among many others.
- “The Lost Wife,” a novel by Susanna Moore (Lewis Center for the Arts’ Program in Creative Writing), is included in The Wall Street Journal 10 Best Books of 2023 and the New Statesman Books of the Year 2023.
- “Take What You Need,” a novel by Idra Novey (Lewis Center for the Arts’ Program in Creative Writing), is included in The New Yorker Best Books 2023, NPR Books We Love 2023, The New York Times 100 Notable Books 2023, the Los Angeles Times 13 best novels (and 2 best short story collections) of 2023, among others.
- “Same Bed Different Dreams,” a novel by Ed Park (Lewis Center for the Arts’ Program in Creative Writing), is included in The Washington Post 50 Notable Works of Fiction, Publishers Weekly Top 10 Books of 2023, and The New York Times 100 Notable Books 2023, to name just a few.
- “The Ruble: A Political History” by Ekaterina Pravilova (History, PIIRS’ Program in Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies) is included in History Today’s Books of the Year 2023. Read a Q&A with her about the book on the Humanities Council website.
- “Unshuttered: Poems” by Patricia Smith (Lewis Center for the Arts’ Program in Creative Writing) is included in the New York Public Library’s Best Books of 2023.
- “The Life and Death of States: Central Europe and the Transformation of Modern Sovereignty” by Natasha Wheatley (History) is included in the New Statesman Books of the Year 2023 and Just Security Year-End Book Recommendations 2023.
Throughout the year, the Humanities Council Faculty Bookshelf highlights humanities scholarship. The Lewis Center for the Arts also recognizes new works of creative writing on its Featured Faculty Publications.
