For his new bookshop installation, One Grand, the editor Aaron Hicklin asked people to name the 10 books they’d take with them if they were marooned on a desert island. The next installment in the series comes from the conceptual artist Glenn Ligon, who shares his picks exclusively with T.

“Citizen: An American Lyric,” Claudia Rankine

Claudia Rankine’s book-length poem Citizen was nominated for National Book Critics Circle awards in the categories of poetry and criticism. It is one of the most devastating takes on American culture I have read in a long time, laying bare the stakes of being black in a country long ambivalent about our presence here.

“DUETS: Stephen Andrews & Gregg Bordowitz in Conversation”

One of the most honest, clear, wide-ranging and engaging conversations between two artists that I have ever read, each in his own way stretching the boundaries of what we imagine art to be.

“Open City,” Teju Cole

A flanêur of the first order, Cole walks the streets of New York with eyes and ears open, presenting a fictional account of the tastes, sounds and smells of this dynamic city.

“A Book of Silence,” Sara Maitland

Sara Maitland’s cultural history of silence is a stunning investigation of what it means to leave the world of human interaction behind for a world of quiet.

“In the Break: The Aesthetics of the Black Radical Tradition,” Fred Moten

Less a book of criticism and more a book-length poem, In the Break is a book that keeps giving long after you have finished the last chapter.

“Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef,” Gabrielle Hamilton

I don’t cook and I don’t care to, but Gabrielle Hamilton made me realize that food is about love and connection. And she has had a hell of an interesting life.

“Yes, Chef: A Memoir,” Marcus Samuelsson

Marcus is a friend, but until I read his haunting memoir I hadn’t realized how extraordinary his journey was. How does a refugee from rural Ethiopia end up a world-class chef? Read the book and find out.

“On the Move: A Life,” Oliver Sacks

Look at that cover image of him all Marlon Brando in leather and jeans astride a motorcycle. Hot. And the book is good too.

“Kippenberger: The Artist and His Families,” Susanne Kippenberger

Kippenberger was kind of a monster, but he was a hard-working monster. Written lovingly by his sister, this biography is a perfect introduction to a time when bad boys ruled the art world.

“Lightning: A Novel,” Jean Echenoz

A novel based on the life of Nikola Tesla, Lightning is a tale about the invention of just about every electronic device we use today and the psychic cost of genius.