Read: “How Sondheim Can Change Your Life” by Richard Schoch. Four years after his death at 91, Stephen Sondheim’s legend only continues to grow on Broadway and beyond. In this thoughtful examination, Schoch, a theater historian, makes a compelling case that Sondheim wasn’t just a musical genius, but also a modern-day philosopher. Drawing on lyrics from shows like “Company,” “Follies,” and “Sunday in the Park with George,” Schoch explores how Sondheim’s lyrics about ambition, love, and the messy business of becoming yourself offer practical wisdom for navigating real life. It proves that the smartest insights can come in 3/4 time. – Tony
Read: “The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny” by Kiran Desai. Shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2025, this novel follows the story of two young Indian immigrants who come to the United States to study in the late 1990s. The plot is simple, but what makes the book exceptional is how Desai describes the feeling that almost every immigrant faces: the fear of loneliness. It also dives deep into societal pressures by overbearing families, political climate, racism, and toxic relationships. The near-700-page saga quickly became one of my favourites of 2025. – Suhani
Read: “Pachinko.” Min Jin Lee’s historical fiction from 2017, named after a parlor game that has allowed Japanese people to circumvent gambling rules, is a glorious read. The book follows a Korean family that migrates to Japan in the early part of the 20th century, around the time that Japan annexed Korea. With Japan-China tensions rising today, and South Korea attempting to build bridges with Beijing, this novel beautifully encapsulates some of the older tensions between all three of these countries, as well as some of the horrendous sins committed, making for an important, insightful and emotional book. – Zac
Read: “Motherland.” How did Russia go from being one of the most progressive feminist countries in the world under Lenin to a self-styled bastion of ultra-traditional values under Putin? Part history, part family memoir, part contemporary reporting, Russian-born journalist Julia Ioffe’s book “Motherland: A feminist history of modern Russia tells the country’s story from the perspective of the women — in the Kremlin, on the fronts, and in the factories — who shaped, and were shaped by it. As she tells it, the lassitude and machismo of Russian men ultimately left women with a “double burden”: full-time work and full-time homemaking. At a time when questions of gender roles are at the center of debate in so many countries, Julia’s book is relevant far beyond the Motherland. – Alex
