Books

Our ten favorite science books of the year covered everything from astronomy to undersea exploration.

The Ten Best Science Books of 2023

From stories on the depths of the ocean to the stars in the sky, these are the works that moved us the most this year

Leo Lionni with profile cut outs, c. 1970

How Children's Book Author Leo Lionni Urged His Readers to Be Change Makers

The multidisciplinary artist wanted us to imagine how we can shape society and uplift our communities

Jane Austen's signature is on the title page of the book.

Jane Austen's Annotated Copy of 'Curiosities of Literature' Is For Sale

The novelist used a pencil to underline roughly 15 passages from the text by Isaac D'Israeli

This year's top titles include The Last Ride of the Pony Express, Elixir, Airplane Mode, and more.

The Ten Best Books About Travel of 2023

Take a trip without leaving home with these adventurous reads from this year

At the beginning of the Civil War, Ulysses S. Grant wasn’t an abolitionist, admitting that his beliefs were “not even what could be called antislavery.” By August 1863, he had changed his mind, writing, “Slavery is already dead and cannot be resurrected.”

Unraveling Ulysses S. Grant's Complex Relationship With Slavery

The Union general directly benefited from the brutal institution before and during the Civil War

In our efforts to increase and diffuse knowledge, we highly recommend these titles this year.

The Best Books of 2023

Whether you are looking for some gift ideas or a great read to enjoy on the plane or cozied up over the holidays, consider our carefully curated lists

This year's list includes The Horses, Still Life, Believable: Traveling with My Ancestors, and more.

The Ten Best Photography Books of 2023

Our favorite titles this year will make readers feel the power of visual storytelling

This year's titles include Daughter of the Dragon, Whalefall and Witness.

Smithsonian Scholars Recommend Their Favorite Books of 2023

Curators and staffers satisfied their endless curiosity with novels, short stories, biographies, art collections and journalistic reporting

Icaria was guided by a single principle: “to each following his needs, from each following his strengths,” as Cabet put it.

The 19th-Century Novel That Inspired a Communist Utopia on the American Frontier

The Icarians thought they could build a paradise, but their project was marked by failure almost from the start

Why can't machines process CO2 the way trees do?

Why Can't Machines Process CO2 Like Trees? And More Questions From Our Readers

You’ve got questions. We’ve got experts

Smithsonian's picks for the best books about food of 2023 include Invitation to a Banquet, For the Culture: Black Women and Femmes in Food and More Than Cake.

The Ten Best Books About Food of 2023

Travel to Rome, Alaska, West Africa and beyond with this year’s best cookbooks, memoirs and historic deep dives

Smithsonian's picks for the best history books of 2023 include King: A Life, The Sisterhood and The Wager.

The Ten Best History Books of 2023

Our favorite titles of the year resurrect forgotten histories and illuminate how the United States ended up where it is today

A drawing of a musical lion from 14th-century France

Why Is Medieval Art So Weird?

Titled "Weird Medieval Guys," a new book examines illustrations of armless frogs, human-sized snails and more

Fred McDowell, 1965, Como, Mississippi

Meet the Man Who Recorded the Music of America's Front Porches and Backyard Parties

Chris Strachwitz, founder of Arhoolie Records, crisscrossed the United States photographing and recording musicians where they played

The Aftel Archive of Curious Scents has been drawing commercial perfumers with a nose for aromas, gardeners, cooks and others since 2017.

This California Museum Is Home to Hundreds of Nature's Scents

Perfumer Mandy Aftel's spellbinding collection of rare essences and artifacts is on display at the Aftel Archive of Curious Scents in Berkeley

Charlotte Brontë’s attraction to the strange and horrific was an early vehicle for her love of storytelling.

An Early Charlotte Brontë Story Speaks to the Author's Lifelong Fascination With the Supernatural

The 1830 account details an eerie encounter with a stranger who predicted the death of the writer's father

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How the Osage Changed Martin Scorsese’s Mind

“Killers of the Flower Moon” sets a new standard in its nuanced portrait of Osage life. Decades of prior films about Native Americans didn't even try

Norwegian writer Jon Fosse is the recipient of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Jon Fosse Wins the Nobel Prize in Literature for Work Probing 'Human Anxiety and Ambivalence'

The dramatist and author is the first-ever laureate in the prize's history to write in Nynorsk, a written form of the Norwegian language

The New English Canaan by Thomas Morton criticized the Puritan government in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

A Brief History of Banned Books in America

Attempts to restrict what kids in school can read are on the rise. But American book banning started with the Puritans, 140 years before the United States

John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy ride the presidential limousine through the streets of Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. Texas Governor John B. Connally Jr. is seated in front of them.

Ex-Secret Service Agent's Account of JFK's Assassination Could Cast Doubt on 'Lone Gunman' Theory

Paul Landis' new book refutes the idea that a single bullet injured both the president and Texas Governor John B. Connally Jr.

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