By Maira Kalman
325 pages; Penguin

Musings, noodlings, ramblings, reflections—there's no one word to describe Maira Kalman's wildly original The Principles of Uncertainty (Penguin), mainly because there's nothing else even remotely like it. Illustrated by her colorful, witty paintings, these personal, autobiographical, and universal mini-essays on family and friendship, philosophy and fashion, love and loss, the sorrows of mortality and all the happy reasons to go on living (hats and food and bobby pins are big ones) make this hilarious, wise, and deeply moving volume the ultimate picture book for grown-ups.

— Francine Prose