Slate recently started publishing a monthly roundup of all the things our critics like, since we figure you might like some of these things, too. Last month we recommended not only books, movies, and TV shows but also useful stuff, like ergonomic keyboards and some tasty Australian wines. Our latest favorites are listed below:
Books
Gerald Martin’s Gabriel García Márquez: A Life
(Recommended by Michael Wood in “The Myth of Gabriel García Márquez“)
Matthew Crawford’s Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry Into the Value of Work
(Recommended by Michael Agger in “Heidegger and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance“)
Aleksandar Hemon’s Love and Obstacles
(Recommended by Adam Kirsch in “Nowhere Man“)
Peter Robb’s Midnight in Sicily and Lawrence Millman’s Last Places
(Recommended by Stephen Metcalf in “The Culture Gabfest, the Performance Anxiety Edition“)
W.H. Auden and Louis MacNeice’s Letters From Iceland
(Recommended by Stephen Metcalf in “The Culture Gabfest, the Mature Adaptation Edition“)
George R. Stewart’s Names on the Land
(Recommended by Jody Rosen in “The Culture Gabfest, the ‘Boo-Effing-Hoo’ Edition“)
Marc Okrand’s Klingon Dictionary
(Recommended by Arika Okrent in “There’s No Klingon Word for Hello“)
Thomas McCormick’s China Market
(Recommended by Daniel Gross in “General Tso, Meet Colonel Sanders“)
Michael Oren’s Power, Faith, and Fantasy
(Recommended by Christopher Hitchens in “President of Which Israel?“)
Richard Golden’s Depth of Revenge and Cormac McCarthy’s The Road
(Recommended by Ron Rosenbaum in “The New Nuke Porn“)
Daniel Pinchbeck’s Breaking Open the Head
(Recommended by Ron Rosenbaum in “2012: Tsunami of Stupidity“)
Drinks
All of the wine importers on this handy list. Buy a bottle with one of their names on the back, and it’ll almost certainly be good. (Recommended by Mike Steinberger in “Never Buy a Bad Bottle of Wine Again“)
Movies
J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek
(Recommended by Dana Stevens in “Go See Star Trek“)
Stephen Soderbergh’s The Girlfriend Experience
(Recommended by Dana Stevens in “Ho Mortgage Crisis“)
Richard Berge, Bonni Cohen, and Nicole Newnham’s documentary The Rape of Europa
(Recommended by Dana Stevens in “The Culture Gabfest, the ‘Boo-Effing-Hoo’ Edition“)
Pixar’s Up
(Recommended by Dana Stevens in “Time To Get High“)
Music
Erlend Øye’s album Unrest
(Recommended by Stephen Metcalf in “The Culture Gabfest, the Franchise Reboot Edition“)
The Lucksmiths
(Recommended by Stephen Metcalf in “The Culture Gabfest, the Mature Adaptation Edition“)
The Pernice Brothers’ song “The Weakest Shade of Blue”
(Recommended by Stephen Metcalf in “The Culture Gabfest, the ‘Boo-Effing-Hoo’ Edition“)
GS Boyz’s single “Stanky Legg”
(Recommended by Jody Rosen in “Do Da Stanky Legg“)
The Black Eyed Peas’ single “Boom Boom Pow”
(Recommended by Jonah Weiner in “Over the Hump“)
Don Omar’s iDon and King of Kings
(Recommended by Jody Rosen in “Neuromántico“)
Television
Scrubs
(Recommended by Joanna Weiss in “ Scrubs“)
In Treatment
(Recommended by Julia Turner in “The Culture Gabfest, the Performance Anxiety Edition“)
Star Trek: The Next Generation
(Recommended by Juliet Lapidos in “There Are Four Lights!“)
Other
Titus, an adaptation of Shakespeare’s play Titus Andronicus by the Washington Ensemble Theater
(Recommended by June Thomas in “The Culture Gabfest, the Mature Adaptation Edition“)
“Into the Sunset: Photography’s Image of the American West” at the Museum of Modern Art
(Recommended by Sarah Boxer in “Ready, Aim—Dream“)
“Francis Bacon: A Centenary Retrospective” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
(Recommended by Christopher Benfey in “The Raw Vision of Francis Bacon“)
