Eight books that share The Great Gatsby's obsessions — wealth, desire, illusion, and the American dream curdling at the edges. From Donna Tartt to Sally Rooney.

Eight short masterpieces worth every hour of a stolen day — from Camus to Vonnegut, Baldwin to Barnes. Each one under 200 pages and none of them wasting a single one.

Eight Oprah Book Club selections that hold up as serious literature — from One Hundred Years of Solitude to Night, The Corrections to A Fine Balance.

Nine films that earn their tears honestly — from The Pursuit of Happyness to Up, Manchester by the Sea to Brian's Song. Films about love, loss, perseverance, and the things fathers do for their children.

Eight films that share Lost in Translation's mood — quiet dislocation, beautiful strangers, the feeling of being between versions of yourself. From Before Sunrise to Certified Copy.

Eight films to watch after Interstellar — science fiction that takes its ideas seriously, films about fathers and time, and cinema that earns its emotional ambition.

Eight essential books for backpacking Europe — from Hemingway's Paris to Kerouac's open road, these are the books that belong in your pack.

Five Greek islands worth visiting instead of Santorini — Naxos, Ikaria, Hydra, Folegandros, and Paros. Less crowded, just as beautiful, and in some cases more rewarding.

Eight essential temples, shrines and gardens in Kyoto — from Fushimi Inari and Ryoan-ji to Daitoku-ji and Kurama. When to go, what to look for, and the Philosopher's Walk to connect them.

Eight books to read after Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow — novels about creativity, friendship, ambition, and the long arc of loving someone you can't quite hold onto.