Book Recommendations for Men
Maybe the fellas should pick up “Belch! An Oral History of the Burp.”
Maybe the fellas should pick up “Belch! An Oral History of the Burp.”
January 5, 2026
A new study . . . depicted record lows for Americans who are reading for fun, showing a “significant” decline of 40 percent in the past two decades. . . .Women were also more likely to read for pleasure than men.
—The Daily Beast.
Kristina Libby is an artist, a writer, and a film and TV creator. Her one-woman show premièred at the United Solo festival in October, 2025.
Zoe Si has been contributing cartoons and articles to The New Yorker since 2020. In 2022, she was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in illustrated reporting and commentary.
Read More
Comic Strip
[
Gahan Wilson, Hilarious and Terrifying
](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/12/22/roz-chast-on-gahan-wilson#intcid=_the-new-yorker-article-bottom-recirc_19f007f5-f59a-4f81-bde3-687c37e92d3f_roberta-similarity1)
He had his own world: a place where the funny and the horrific crossed paths.
Comic Strip
[
William Steig, Bursting with Joy
](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/12/22/liana-finck-on-william-steig#intcid=_the-new-yorker-article-bottom-recirc_19f007f5-f59a-4f81-bde3-687c37e92d3f_roberta-similarity1)
He shies away neither from harshness nor from unadulterated sweetness. He also writes great female characters.
Comic Strip
[
J. J. Sempé, Deity of Whimsy
](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/12/22/ali-fitzgerald-on-j-j-sempe#intcid=_the-new-yorker-article-bottom-recirc_19f007f5-f59a-4f81-bde3-687c37e92d3f_roberta-similarity1)
His urban idylls are populated by bald businessmen who escape reality by biking and daydreaming.
Sketchbook
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The People You Imagine Reading Your Letterboxd Posts
](https://www.newyorker.com/humor/shouts-murmurs/the-people-you-imagine-reading-your-letterboxd-posts#intcid=_the-new-yorker-article-bottom-recirc_19f007f5-f59a-4f81-bde3-687c37e92d3f_roberta-similarity1)
“I must hire this reviewer to write the screenplay for my next project!”
Comic Strip
[
Alice Harvey, Humor Pathfinder
](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/12/22/emily-flake-on-alice-harvey#intcid=_the-new-yorker-article-bottom-recirc_19f007f5-f59a-4f81-bde3-687c37e92d3f_roberta-similarity1)
My hand twitches with instinctive joy at how you draw a woman’s hat, coat, stance.
Comic Strip
[
Helen Hokinson, a Happy Woman
](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/12/22/summer-pierre-on-helen-hokinson#intcid=_the-new-yorker-article-bottom-recirc_19f007f5-f59a-4f81-bde3-687c37e92d3f_roberta-similarity1)
Her version of the middle-aged matron was a gentle innocent who faced the world with an unself-conscious enthusiasm.
Humor
[
So You Want to Come to My New Vinyl-Listening Bar
](https://www.newyorker.com/humor/shouts-murmurs/so-you-want-to-come-to-my-new-vinyl-listening-bar#intcid=_the-new-yorker-article-bottom-recirc_19f007f5-f59a-4f81-bde3-687c37e92d3f_roberta-similarity1)
You may get up to use the restroom, but only between sides. During songs, please remain still. Any movement above shoulder level will be interpreted as dance.
Shouts & Murmurs
[
Holiday Gifting
](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/12/22/holiday-gifting#intcid=_the-new-yorker-article-bottom-recirc_19f007f5-f59a-4f81-bde3-687c37e92d3f_roberta-similarity1)
Ideas for under the tree: Expired canned goods? Nonworking appliance? Unwanted adult child?
Comic Strip
[
James Thurber, Consummate Doodler
](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/12/22/navied-mahdavian-on-james-thurber#intcid=_the-new-yorker-article-bottom-recirc_19f007f5-f59a-4f81-bde3-687c37e92d3f_roberta-similarity1)
It wasn’t until I started cartooning myself that I realized he only made it look easy.
Comic Strip
[
The Show Must Go On
](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/12/15/the-show-must-go-on#intcid=_the-new-yorker-article-bottom-recirc_19f007f5-f59a-4f81-bde3-687c37e92d3f_roberta-similarity1)
A location shoot’s hierarchy of needs.
Shouts & Murmurs
[
Premeditated
](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/12/29/premeditated#intcid=_the-new-yorker-article-bottom-recirc_19f007f5-f59a-4f81-bde3-687c37e92d3f_roberta-similarity1)
Close your eyes. Breathe in. Experience “Titanic” and “The Wizard of Oz” the Chloé Zhao way.
Shouts & Murmurs
[
Dear Pepper: Slaying the Self-Doubt Dragon
](https://www.newyorker.com/humor/shouts-murmurs/dear-pepper-slaying-the-self-doubt-dragon#intcid=_the-new-yorker-article-bottom-recirc_19f007f5-f59a-4f81-bde3-687c37e92d3f_roberta-similarity1)
It is easier for me to write my truth than to speak it.