Literary Hub
Literary Hub
  • Craft and Criticism
    • Literary Criticism
    • Craft and Advice
    • In Conversation
    • On Translation
  • Fiction and Poetry
    • Short Story
    • From the Novel
    • Poem
  • News and Culture
    • History
    • Science
    • Politics
    • Biography
    • Memoir
    • Food
    • Technology
    • Bookstores and Libraries
    • Film and TV
    • Travel
    • Music
    • Art and Photography
    • The Hub
    • Style
    • Design
    • Sports
  • BUY A HAT
  • Lit Hub Radio
    • The Lit Hub Podcast
    • Awakeners
    • Fiction/Non/Fiction
    • The Critic and Her Publics
    • Windham-Campbell Prizes Podcast
    • Memoir Nation
    • Beyond the Page
    • First Draft: A Dialogue on Writing
    • Thresholds
    • The Cosmic Library
    • Culture Schlock
  • Reading Lists
    • The Best of the Decade
  • Book Marks
    • Best Reviewed Books
  • CrimeReads
    • True Crime
    • The Daily Thrill
  • Log In
  • Craft and Criticism
  • Fiction and Poetry
  • News and Culture
  • Lit Hub Radio
  • Reading Lists
  • Book Marks
  • CrimeReads
  • Log In
Six Very Depressing Books That Might Just Cheer You Up

Six Very Depressing Books That Might Just Cheer You Up

Rabih Alameddine Recommends Gerbrand Bakker, Hans Fallada, Leo Tolstoy, and More

By Rabih Alameddine | September 2, 2025

Rabih Alameddine Recommends the Best (Short) Books He Read in 2022

Rabih Alameddine Recommends the Best (Short) Books He Read in 2022

One of Our Very Favorite Lit Hub Traditions

By Rabih Alameddine | December 16, 2022

“One Rapper’s Dreams of FBI Stardom”

“One Rapper’s Dreams of FBI Stardom”

A New Short Story by Rabih Alameddine From the Anthology Small Odysseys

By Rabih Alameddine | March 25, 2022

Rabih Alameddine Asks His MFA Students for <em>Their</em> Favorite Novels of the Year

Rabih Alameddine Asks His MFA Students for Their Favorite Novels of the Year

Students Weigh in on Their Favorite Titles

By Rabih Alameddine | December 17, 2021

Rabih Alameddine's Year in Reading: Poetry Edition

Rabih Alameddine's Year in Reading: Poetry Edition

"You know that I hate end-of-year lists..."

By Rabih Alameddine | December 17, 2020

Rabih Alameddine Recommends Some Gay Books You Might Not Have Known Were Gay

Rabih Alameddine Recommends Some Gay Books You Might Not Have Known Were Gay

Happy Pride, Everyone

By Rabih Alameddine | June 26, 2020

Best Reviewed
Books of the Week

  • The Beginning Comes After the End: Notes on a World of Change
  • Repetition
  • Night Night Fawn
  • El Paso: Five Families and One Hundred Years of Blood, Migration, Race, and Memory
  • Gunk
  • The Glorians: Visitations from the Holy Ordinary

How to Bartend

By Rabih Alameddine | April 8, 2020

Rabih Alameddine: The Oddest Books I Read This Year

By Rabih Alameddine | December 19, 2019

Rabih Alameddine: The Novels I Loved This Year

By Rabih Alameddine | December 14, 2018

    • Technofascism in Thrillers: A Reading ListMarch 11, 2026 by Ani Katz
    • The Greatest Dangerous Female Characters in LiteratureMarch 11, 2026 by Lisa Unger
    • Lenore Nash on Writing International, Character-Driven Detective StoriesMarch 11, 2026 by Lenore Nash
    • The Beginning Comes After the End: Notes on a World of Change
    • The Best Reviewed Books of the Week
    • "Slim but powerful Solnit writes with moral clarity and philosophical vigor in a voice that…"
  • Literary Hub

    Created by Grove Atlantic and Electric Literature


    Masthead

    About

    Sign Up For Our Newsletters

    How to Pitch Lit Hub

    Advertisers: Contact Us

    Privacy Policy

    Support Lit Hub - Become A Member

  • If you buy books linked on our site, Lit Hub may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookstores.