Books

For some reason, I’ve interpreted the umbrella of popular science books to mean speculative books with only a whisper of science in them. A better term, I thought, would be accessible science because these books aren’t fluff, but they aren’t hefty science journals, either.  Popular science books are written for the average person. They are

by Joshua Whitehead While in Toronto, a reporter, having researched me thoroughly, asked: “So Josh, can you tell me how the death of your grandmother has influenced your novel?” Being a fledgling writer at the time, I accommodated the request and reluctantly retold the story of my grandmother’s murder in the sixties — at which

A weakening journalism industry is one arm of the octopus which has allowed book bans and censorship to thrive in the current environment. It’s not just the loss of local news, though. Further contributing is the insistence of calling book censorship a matter of “culture war.” Censorship is not, nor has it ever been, a

The grumpy / sunshine trope is nothing new, but watching Wednesday and Enid becoming the best and unlikeliest of friends in the new Netflix show reminded me of just how much I love that dynamic whether in friendships or romances. There’s just something about a hardened, stoic character being soft for that one overly optimistic

Oprah Daily is the latest to publish its best-of-the-year book list. The list is 45 books long, was handpicked by Oprah Daily‘s editors, and includes fiction and nonfiction titles. The assortment ranges widely, with genres and topics spanning from romance to fantasy, biography to science. It also has a few books in common with other

I’ve been keeping close track of the New York Times bestseller lists for several weeks now, and one thing I’ve noticed is just how much it differs from the “buzziest” books. If I was going based off online buzz, I’d think Babel by R.F. Kuang had the longest time on the bestseller list, and if

More than 150 literary agents signed a letter promising to stop submitting new books to HarperCollins to support striking workers. The letter was organized by KT Literary Agency associate assistant Chelsea Hensley. Among the letter signers are other KT Literary Agency staff, some Aevitas Agency staff, and a number of Janklow & Nesbit staff. In

Are you a pun lover or are you a grinch? I am the first, and even if it is a groaner —like the worst imaginable pun possible — I am still going to appreciate it because of the way language can tell several stories at one time. It should come as little surprise then that

The staff of the New York Times Book Review released their 100 Notable Books of 2022 list a week ago featuring fiction, nonfiction, and poetry titles. They’ve since whittled this list down to 10 for their Best Books of 2022 list that was released today. The list is made of five fiction and five nonfiction

DonorsChoose is a crowdfunding platform where U.S. teachers raise money for classroom projects. Many teachers are looking to expand their classroom libraries. The past two years have seen censorship at an all time high, with diverse books as the target. At the same time, many teachers are leaving the profession from a combination of low

For Cyber Monday, a ton of Dungeons and Dragons rulebooks are on sale for about 60% off, from the basics to the more advanced. The prices listed are all for the physical copies, not PDFs/ebooks! This sale looks to be today only, so whether you’re curious about the game or want to expand your D&D

I’ve been making a few of these cover quizzes lately, from guessing the book by its first edition cover to pixelated sci fi books to Lego-style fantasy novel covers and even covers by their color palette. They’re a lot of fun, so I’ve been keeping an eye out for other variations on this theme that

Have you seen the Puma Rise Tie-Dye Sneakers? They are rainbows for your feet! They’re fun and so colorful they are my favorite thing. I have been wearing them recently whenever I need a little soul lift. They just make me smile the second I look down at them. I’ve always been a person attracted

My parents recently moved across Canada to Vancouver, which is where I’ve been living for the past six years. With them came a box full of my childhood report cards, letters, cards, graduation certificates, and swimming badges. Reading these was like attending a reunion with my childhood self, and among those momentos I came across

If someone in your life has just had a kid, and you’ve been wracking your brain with gift ideas, look no further! Board books are delightful gifts both for the parents and the baby. They are books that can be read to or even read by very small children. The pages are stuck to heavy

As much as possible, I try to not let my reading be guided by challenges and goals. I read what I can, when I can, and I am (mostly) happy about it. But I would be lying if I said that in certain months I don’t try to find ways to add an extra book

I’ve been on the bookish internet for more than 15 years, and in that time, I’ve watched platforms rise and fall. I remember talking about books on Livejournal, for Sappho’s sake. I started a book blog called the Lesbrary in 2011, because I couldn’t find an LGBTQ book blog that wasn’t 90% M/M books. Of

Because of the holiday in the U.S. this week, the roundup of book censorship news and insights will be shorter than usual. Although there are several right-wing groups eager to implement movie-style book ratings to library titles, the reality is, book rating systems are an exercise in futility and bias. Julia Rittenberg does an outstanding

There’s something to which I think we can all agree: social media can be toxic. Doesn’t anyone else yearn for the pre-Trump Twitter days where it felt like you could truly connect with like-minded people over shared interests or common complaints, and not be attacked by hidden avatars accusing you of being “woke”? Likewise, Instagram’s

As someone who is equally devoted to books and the internet, I am endlessly fascinated by the failure of online writing to live up to its potential as a form. Previously, I wrote about how interactive ebooks were once seen as the future of books, and how they have completely failed to live up to

The holiday shopping season is already in full swing and you might be shopping for a book lover. Maybe that book lover is you! No matter who you’re shopping for, if you’re looking for ways to shop small this season, check out Libro.fm’s Shop Small sale. For a limited time, you can purchase credit bundles

Looking to score great deals for the book lovers in your life? Itching to create your dream reading space and style over the upcoming season? Welcome to the annual roundup of great Black Friday deals for book lovers in 2022. We’ve rounded up some of the best deals from across the internet and are bringing

The paper of record has released their newest list of top books for the year. Selected by the staff of the New York Times Book Review, 100 books are celebrated as being notable additions to shelves. Spanning five categories, including Fiction/Poetry, Nonfiction, Memoir, History, and Science, the books showcase a wide range of genres, styles,

On the same day news broke about the loss of YA author Marcus Sedgwick, the YA community lost yet another legend in the field. Ellen Wittlinger, who wrote groundbreaking, hard-hitting realistic YA featuring queer characters in an era where such stories were exceedingly rare, died November 17, 2022. Wittlinger’s career began as a playwright in

On October 31st, a federal judge ruled against the merging of Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster, saying that it would “substantially lessen competition” in publishing. While that was a blow to the merger, it wasn’t officially over: Penguin Random House had been planning to appeal the decision. In order to do that, they

You know those reading memes and cartoons that circulate regularly that say something to the effect of, “Reading is just staring at slices of trees and hallucinating vividly”? I never understood that. Not just because that’s not what hallucinations are, but also because I don’t really visualize when I read. I don’t have complete aphantasia,

With President Joe Biden pardoning thousands of people convicted of marijuana possession and the rise of microdosing psychedelics as a treatment for mental illness, now is a good time to dive in to some books about drugs, especially of the recreational variety. Originally I wanted this list to be science-heavy, full of cool, weird books

Robots and children’s stories have gone together for decades, but in the modern era, it’s no wonder that robot books for kids are more popular than ever. A strong candidate for the first fictional robot comes from children’s fiction, before the word ‘robot’ itself even came into use — Tik-Tok, a mechanical character in L.

Alan Rickman had no idea who I was and that was probably for the best because neither did I. I have just finished reading Madly Deeply, the Diaries of Alan Rickman. In the last few weeks, I have had to work through what he actually meant to me beyond that I loved him when I

A warning: this quiz is not for the faint of heart. It was made for those who know their covers and to which titles those covers belong to. It was made for those who can spot a detail and hold it fast in their memory. It was made for those who like a challenge and