We asked the staff at the MIT Press Bookstore for some recent book recommendations. Head over to 314 Main St. in Kendall Square to continue the conversation.
“The Penguin Book of Existential Philosophy,” edited by Jonathan Webber. Penguin Classics, 2026.
Focusing on the work of Sartre, de Beauvoir, and Fanon, this recent collection will either take you back to your undergraduate café days or catapult you into them. It is a solid collection and ready reference to an important philosophical movement, dipping back as well to Existentialist inspirations like Kierkegaard, Heidegger, and, of course, Nietzsche. This book will look great with a creased cover and dogeared pages on that café countertop. — recommended by Rebecca
“Solid Wiggles: Recipes and Techniques for Phenomenal Jelly Shots and Cakes,” by Jena Derman and Jack Schramm. Ten Speed Press, 2026.
After you’ve finished sinking into the espresso-dark depths of midcentury Continental philosophy, bring yourself back up with the hot summer party vibes of “Solid Wiggles,” a collection of nearly 50 fun, fresh gelatin recipes. Perfect for entertaining, these colorful confections, swirled with spin art spirals and dots, are also perfect for enjoying as art even if you don’t intend to open a single Jell-O packet. If you are feeling creative, there’s a whole section about how to create these design effects yourself with basic kitchen and crafting tools. Wiggly bottoms up! — recommended by Rebecca
“Soviet Scientific Institutes,” by Eric Lusito. FUEL Publishing, 2026.
Photographer Eric Lusito trekked to over 20 scientific institutes across the former Soviet bloc, and the resultant small-format photo book is a record of ruin and of resilience, of beautiful murals trumpeting the triumph of science rising above disused mechanical hulks, and a record of scientific work continuing through years of tremendous upheaval. Scientists and technicians continue working at some of these facilities, and Lusito includes their images and stories, along with brief historical descriptions of each facility. — recommended by Rebecca
“This Census Taker,” by China Miéville. Del Rey, 2017.
A boy witnesses a murder. Or perhaps he doesn’t. And who, exactly, was killed?
China Miéville often builds his worlds through implication rather than cold accounting of specific histories, and he will frequently drop a tantalizing detail only to never elaborate on it, creating a sense that the story of the protagonist is only one part of a larger cacophony of life rather than the center of the universe. Personally, I’m a fan, but I can’t blame anyone who finds that approach frustrating. So it’s a real treat to see this habit crystallized into “This Census Taker,” a tone poem on the anxiety of uncertainty. Every piece of information reads like a history lesson from a child who wasn’t alive to see what he describes, and only half-remembers what he’s been told. As an extra stylistic flourish, the narrator cannot decide whether to refer to himself in the first or third person.
Not an easy read, but a fascinating curiosity for those already fond of Miéville’s antics. — recommended by Rae
“Stubby: A Pencil’s Journey,” by Sydra Mallery and John Hare. Greenwillow Books, 2026.
Is the pencil an object that spurs creativity? Yes, it is. The pencil creates as it is used and destroyed. But “Stubby: A Pencil’s Journey” is anything but a tale of destruction. It is a children’s book that celebrates this tool.
For the titular Stubby, life begins in the forest where a cedar tree grows big and straight, long before it will be turned into tiny planks to make pencils —and then to a life in a school doing math problems, creating art, and taking tests.
In this telling, the cedar tree gladly serves as a home for wildlife and provides sustenance for a mama bear and her cubs when its berries ripen. Then the loggers cut down the trees and clear the area. You might think this would be a dark turn in our tale, but it is not. The story shifts into a beautiful lesson about how things are made and the journey from woodlands to city.
Stubby is now a pristine pencil who arrives at a store to be bought for school. And that’s where the creativity really takes off. By the second half of the book, our Stubby is, in fact, a stub of a pencil — with teeth marks and all — who reviews a life of passing through hands, drawing pictures, playing with students, and doing math. — recommended by Carol
A stronger
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