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Three book covers displayed on a light background, featuring titles and authors.

Must-Read Harvard Books Winter 2025

From aphorisms to art heists to democracy’s necessary conditions 

by Gabriella Gage

Adriana Colón, a casually dressed, smiling young woman with curly brown hair, sits in a doorway.

Profile of voiceover actor Adriana Colón

Adriana Colón forges aural connections.

by Matteo Wong

Photograph of students in caps and gowns graduating from college

Excerpt from “Higher Education,” by Derek Bok

Derek Bok on curriculum reform

Headshot photograph of Ian K. Smith

Profile of novelist and TV doctor Ian K. Smith

Ian K. Smith’s turn toward detective fiction

by Lydialyle Gibson

A correspondence corner for not-so-famous lost words

A correspondence corner for not-so-famous lost words

Megha Majumdar

Profile of Megha Majumdar and her smash debut novel, “A Burning”

Megha Majumdar’s novel of India resonates in the United States.

by Lydialyle Gibson

Illustration about meritocracy: one mother penguin and chick wear college mortarboards, while another mother penguin and her chick don’t.

Michael Sandel’s “The Tyranny of Merit” reviewed by Spencer Lenfield

Michael Sandel makes the case against meritocracy.

by Spencer Lee Lenfield

Photograph of Richard Wagner

Recent books with Harvard connections

Recent books with Harvard connections

The cast of "The Hot Wing King"

Playwright Katori Hall on the joy—and trauma—of black life

Playwright Katori Hall on the joy—and trauma—of black life

by Stuart Miller

Multiple small paper tabs, each decorated with a simple line drawing of a different facial expression

Excerpt from Marjorie Garber, “Character: The History of a Cultural Obsession”

Marjorie Garber explores the word’s complexity and history.

Protestors with a large poster demanding reform of the Electoral College

Excerpt from Alex Keyssar “Why Do We Still Have the Electoral College?”

Problematic features of the Electoral College