Books

How is the happy ending in a romance “earned?” What sort of redemption arc or emotional growth does a main character need to go through to “deserve” love? What mistakes are “unforgivable” for romance characters to make? These kinds of questions trouble me as a romance reader because they can require the genre to provide

There are dozens of censorship bills under consideration across the country. You can keep tabs on them and their status over at EveryLibrary, who have been diligently tracking them and getting people to write and show up to put an end to them. It will shock absolutely no one to see how many of those

The Illinois Senate has passed HB 2789, a bill whose terms dictate that state funding from public or school libraries that remove books from circulation will be withheld. As per the bill, the $62 million of funding that goes to the state’s libraries will only be eligible for said funding if they “adopt the American Library

Even after the start — and stop — of using labels like #OwnVoices, and the increased effort for diversity across literature that began in 2020, publishing maintains its cis, white status quo. But why? Well, for one, success in publishing, as with many other fields, can depend on who you know. As a result, people

The trailer for Dune: Part Two is here! The trailer teases for the second part of the onscreen adaptation of Dune, published in 1965 by Frank Herbert. Dune is a multi-award winning and nominated book that is recognized as one of the most influential works of fantasy. The trailer released today opens with Paul Atreides

The category of young adult literature is 55 years old, and since its “official” beginning with The Outsiders in 1967, it has not only grown in popularity, its reputation as a body of thought-provoking literature has, too. This is due to too many factors to name, but it is a welcome shift in perspective both

A group of University of California at Berkeley (UCB) students are entering the second full week of occupying the school’s Anthropology Library, slated for closure. The silent protest organized by students has had them setting up makeshift beds among the library collections, and they plan to remain inside until the school agrees to keep the

Summer is right around the corner and what does that mean? It means that you (hopefully) have more time to read! If you don’t, at least the children in your life do. Enter the best summer reading programs 2023 has to offer. Kids are on summer break, and they have a lot more time on

Following his death in 2014, rumors swirled among readers and scholars that several never-before-seen works by Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez existed. Some speculated they were held by family and others thought maybe they existed somewhere in the author’s vast archives at the University of Texas’s Harry Ransom Center. Fans no longer need to speculate:

I love mysteries! It was my first favorite genre when I was little, and I read all the popular series. (Except the Bobbsey Twins, for reasons I don’t remember now.) There was something about seeing so many of a series on the shelf at the library that made me want to read them. As an

Keyword stuffing in product names is a handy Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tool to get an item to sneak up to the top of search results — the more keywords, the better! You’ve probably seen it for a variety of products, from books to sustainable bamboo reusable makeup removing pads. See what I did there?

Back in 2017, The Guardian ran a piece calling up lit “the new book trend with kindness at its core.” As they noted, one of the earliest iterations of this was Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman, a story whose protagonist is a misfit and a bit of a loner, but gradually learns

I grew up on Star Wars, so you can imagine that science fiction, space fantasy, and science fiction romance have a special place in my heart. After all, what is Star Wars if not an epic science fiction love story? (Don’t try to fight me on this.) There’s just something about the combination of science

In 1894, a group of women banded together to honor their history and legacy. These women, all white, established themselves as the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) in Nashville and set to work venerating the history of the Confederacy. UDC established both a national chapter and chapters throughout member states in the south, their

ThriftBooks, where teachers get FREE BOOKS! Buy 4 used books, get a 5th one free with ThriftBooks teacher-only promo code! Teachers, faculty, and staff members at accredited K-12 schools and universities, as well as homeschool instructors, childcare workers, and library staff can qualify for our educator program, ThriftBooks 4 Teachers™. Get more for less with

For fans of Agatha Christie and other mystery writers, wills — and trusts to a lesser extent — come up a lot in plots. Greed and jealousy prove extremely good motives for murder. Who inherits, who does not, and any conditions of the will can create endless reasons for one character to off another. Or

The 2023 Women’s Prize shortlist as been announced. The six books were judged by broadcaster and writer Louise Minchin, journalist and writer Bella Mackie, novelist Rachel Joyce, writer Irenosen Okojie, and member of parliament, Tulip Siddiq. They were described by judges as being “ambitious, eclectic, and hard-hitting” Half of the shortlisted authors are debut novelists,

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret is one of the only books by beloved author Judy Blume to be adapted to screen. And despite needing to wait over 50 years for it to arrive, it is worth the wait and will be an intergenerational viewing experience for decades to come. Directed by Kelly Fremon

Barnes & Noble is taking 25% off certain pre-order books, ebooks, and audiobooks with the code PREORDER25. The list of eligible books and audiobooks include popular series and books by bestselling authors. You can pick up the Bridgerton prequel Queen Charlotte by Julia Quinn and Shonda Rhines, the cozy fantasy sequel to Legends & Lattess

Netflix’s Heartstopper, based on the graphic novels by Alice Oseman, was an immediate hit, quickly becoming one of the top 10 shows on the streaming service. Season one has a 100% approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes and a 96% audience score. Since then, fans have been eagerly awaiting season two, and Netflix has

Independent Bookstore Day is this Saturday Apr 29, 2023 and bookstores around the country are gearing up for the celebration. More good news: Libro.fm, the audiobook platform that allows you to support the independent bookstore of your choice with each purchase, is getting in on the fun too. They are offering over 1,000 audiobooks on

Paper Daughters of Chinatown | Heather Moore & Allison Hong The Candy Shop War: Carnival Quest by Brandon Mull: When weird dreams start to plague everyone who has visited the carnival, the worlds of magic and reality collide. / Just Gus by McCall Hoyle: Return to the world of devoted working dogs and the humans

The American Library Association has released their list of the top 13 most challenged books in 2022. This is usually a top 10 list, but several books tied for their spots this year, so it’s been expanded to the top 13. According to the ALA, “A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based

Chances are you’ve seen the dark academia aesthetic by now: tweed, cardigans, piles of worn books, skulls next to dying candles — all with that dirty brown filter that we used to apply on all of our Instagram photos. Think of schools like Oxford and Cambridge, more often boarding schools. Given the current fascination, especially

A did a funny thing a few months ago. I went to a local tattoo shop to get some new ink. That isn’t the funny part. Since I knew I was going to be there for at least a few hours, I brought reading material. Specifically, I brought three poetry books with me. I didn’t

Many of us first met Frog and Toad in childhood classrooms. I had a teacher who would read to us from a lovely, glossy compendium version that I deeply envied. They were silly, cute tales of friendship that we could answer easy reading comprehension questions about. It took adulthood and the internet to bring Frog

Parenting can be a deeply fulfilling and exciting experience, but it can also be stressful or even scary — especially if you’re at the beginning of your parenting journey. Parenting and pregnancy books can help with navigating uncertainties but often, they don’t reflect the questions and experiences that are unique to queer families. Nothing compares

With human activities directly and indirectly leading to the decimation of the diversity of animals on the planet, scientific study of animals, in order to understand how best we can protect them, is more important than ever. At a time when human lives are becoming more and more isolated, both from nature and from meaningful

Remember that survey of literary agents put together a month ago to see what the reality is in publishing right now related to book bans? It was widely shared across social media, as well as through several other online literary outlets. Today, let’s look at what was said. . . . . Today In Books

In a story that repeats itself again and again, book bans are at an all time high. PEN America’s latest report, Banned In The USA: State Laws Supercharge Book Suppression in Schools, released today, April 20, 2023, underscores the calls advocates and activists have been shouting over and over. There are more books being banned