Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Changing My Mind | 2009 | Zadie Smith | Buy |
| 2 | Stop What You’re Doing and Read This! | 2011 | Zadie Smith | Buy |
| 3 | Feel Free | 2018 | Zadie Smith | Buy |
| 4 | Intimations | 2020 | Zadie Smith | Buy |
| 5 | Dead and Alive | 2025 | Zadie Smith | Buy |
Zadie Smith’s non-fiction writing sits alongside her celebrated novels and short stories. Her first essay collection, Changing My Mind (2009), gathers pieces on books, films, and personal experiences, written in a style that feels more like a smart friend talking than a formal critic lecturing. She followed it with Feel Free (2018), another wide-ranging collection that takes on everything from Brexit to the paintings of Mark Bradford to the experience of getting older.
Intimations (2020) was a shorter, more personal book, written during the first months of the COVID-19 lockdowns. Smith donated all proceeds to charity. Her most recent non-fiction work, Dead and Alive (2025), continues her practice of examining contemporary life through personal and political lenses. Across all five books, Smith writes with the same sharp observation and dry humor that readers know from her fiction.