What’s on your mind this March? Maybe it’s your exercise routine, how technology is changing the world or what to make for dinner. Whatever you’re thinking about, we may well have something that fits neatly beside it in our list of notable March books. These 10 books encompass everything from the evolution of American cities to a haunting visit to 1980s New York City. They represent a wide range of themes and subjects, but they’ll all keep you glued to the page.
Ben Ratliff, Run the Song: Writing About Running About Listening (March 18)
For a lot of people around the world — and on this website — running is a source of both recreation and exercise. And for plenty of runners, that activity is inexorably connected to listening to music. With his new book Run the Song, Ben Ratliff chronicled his own experiences listening to music while running and explored how it changed his relation to both.
Nicholas Lalla, Reinventing the Heartland: How One City’s Inclusive Approach to Innovation and Growth Can Revive the American Dream (March 4)
Can a city’s destiny be transformed? In 2020, Nicholas Lalla founded Tulsa Innovation Labs with the intention of growing said Oklahoma city’s tech industry. In Reinventing the Heartland, Lalla reflects on the lessons learned from there and how they could apply to other cities around the world. In a recent interview with Cities Today, Lalla made his intentions clear: “I want this book to inspire action and investment, not just conversation.”
Taku Kondo, Coastal Harvest: Fish – Forage – Feast: A Cookbook (March 25)
You might know Taku Kondo’s work through his popular YouTube channel Outdoor Chef Life, which is — you guessed it — about catching and preparing food while outdoors. He’s a trained sushi chef who knows a thing or two about sustainable food, and his vast array of knowledge is brought to bear on this new cookbook.
Will Bardenwerper, Homestand: Small Town Baseball and the Fight for the Soul of America (March 11)
Though it was somewhat overshadowed by other events in 2020, the world of minor league baseball was radically changed in 2020 — something that made a huge impact on towns and communities across the country. Will Bardenwerper’s Homestand tells the story of how one team in Batavia, New York was affected by these changes and how they and local residents sought to weather the storm.
Laurie Woolever, Care and Feeding: A Memoir (March 11)
Laurie Woolever is no stranger to writing about food. She spent many years as Anthony Bourdain’s assistant and collaborator; she’s also the author of the acclaimed biography Bourdain. With Care and Feeding, though, she’s telling her own story — a candid story of a career that’s taken her around the world and into the orbit of some of the famous (and infamous) names in the culinary world.
Alexis Madrigal, The Pacific Circuit: A Globalized Account of the Battle for the Soul of an American City (March 18)
If you’re following developments in technology and urban planning, you’re probably aware of the work of Alexis Madrigal, which encompasses everything from hosting a show on KQED to appearing at the Aspen Ideas Festival. Madrigal’s The Pacific Circuit takes a deep dive into the past and present of Oakland to explore how its history and industry have shaped it for good and for ill.
Leor Zmigrod, The Ideological Brain: The Radical Science of Flexible Thinking (March 25)
What can neuroscience tell us about the modern sociopolitical landscape? Turns out the answer is “plenty.” Neuroscientist Leor Zmigrod has spent a lot of time exploring how our brains work as it pertains to our own ideologies. The Ideological Brain is the culmination of that strand of her research, something that takes an unexpected look at what might be shaping how we think about the world around us.
The 10 Books You Should Be Reading This February
From thrilling fiction to candid memoirs — plus a book by a jazz legend
Elon Green, The Man Nobody Killed: Life, Death, and Art in Michael Stewart’s New York (March 11)
Elon Green’s 2021 book Last Call was a thrilling and unsettling look at a serial killer targeting New York City’s gay community in the 1990s. It established Green as a thoughtful chronicler of city life and threatened communities, and those are ideas he returns to in his new book. The Man Nobody Killed describes the 1983 death of Black artist Michael Stewart and the outrage by a host of high-profile New Yorkers that followed.
Karen Russell, The Antidote (March 11)
Whether she’s writing meticulous and uncanny short stories or sprawling and unpredictable novels, Karen Russell has established herself as one of the best chroniclers of the places where the real becomes the surreal. The Antidote is her latest novel, a memorably off-beat work set in Depression-era Nebraska. “Once again I found myself writing about what you might call willful amnesia,” Russell said in a 2024 interview — and this looks to be the most ambitious addition yet to her bibliography.
Fred Ritchin, The Synthetic Eye: Photography Transformed in the Age of AI (March 25)
For decades — literally! — Fred Ritchin has been writing about the ways technology can manipulate photography, and how that can in turn change our understanding of what may or may not be true. The advent of generative AI has made a big impact on Ritchin’s areas of expertise, and his latest book The Synthetic Eye grapples with the aesthetic and epistemological questions this new technology raises.
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