Books

Last year, as we waited with great anticipated for Ted Lasso season 2, I wrote Overanalyzing Every Book in Ted Lasso to Predict Season 2 as a transparent excuse to rewatch season 1 for the fourth time. I have to be honest with you, though: my predictions were not exactly accurate. I am proud of

In Act 1 of Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth questions his plan to commit regicide against King Duncan, saying, “I have no spur / To prick the sides of my intent, but only / Vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself / And falls on th’other.” Vaulting ambition and the willful blindness that can accompany it form the tragedy

Love is in the air this March. For romance readers, March brings a magical fake dating story featuring witches and demons. It brings an adventure down the Pacific Crest Trail that turns into a journey to love. March has got stories about people falling in love in airports. It’s even got adventures at a comic

Tomiko Brown-Nagin pays tribute to a history maker in Civil Rights Queen: Constance Baker Motley and the Struggle for Equality. Born in Connecticut in 1921, Constance Baker Motley studied law at Columbia University and went on to serve as a federal judge, becoming the first Black woman to do so. She was instrumental in ending

It’s only 239 more days until Halloween — who’s ready??? Okay, maybe it’s a little early to start celebrating the biggest night of scares, but you can treat your brain to a happily horrifying time with books every day of the year! That’s why we present a monthly round-up of amazing upcoming horror books, including

Acclaimed children’s author Aida Salazar tells the story of Jovita Valdovinos, a revolutionary figure to whom she is distantly related and who is sometimes described as “Mexico’s Joan of Arc,” in Jovita Wore Pants. Molly Mendoza’s dazzling art enhances this thrilling picture book biography, which transports readers to early 20th-century Mexico as Valdovinos transforms from

For me, and I suspect for many of us, the best reading is the kind of reading that feels truly immersive. You’re not half-thinking about work, you’re not vaguely aware that a child needs your attention, you’re not bothered by some distant construction noise. You’re in the book, completely. And it might seem like a

Second-generation Syrian American Khadija Shaami lives to buck the expectations of others, especially her overbearing mother. She loves driving her huge, luxurious Mercedes-Benz G-wagon, has decked out her bedroom with Syrian flags and artwork and is the only Muslim girl who boxes at her gym. Leene Taher, a refugee from Syria, seems to embody all

I have always found the blank page of a notebook so very daunting. Everyone always talks about the virtues of keeping a journal, but I sit down to write and simply have no idea where to start. I was always that kid in school who couldn’t cope with an open topic essay or a vague

Edith Bolling Galt Wilson, the controversial first lady of 28th president Woodrow Wilson, had some impressive predecessors. There was women’s rights advocate Abigail Adams, wife of second president John Adams and mother of sixth president John Quincy Adams. During the War of 1812, Dolley Madison, wife of fourth president James Madison, rescued the nation’s treasured

Of the many Nobel Prize in Literature winners from the past two or so decades, who should you read — and where do you begin? Award-winners of this caliber can often feel inaccessible. Many of us have a small barrier in our heads that says that authors who are big award winners must also be

Canadian author Kathy Stinson and illustrator Lauren Soloy’s A Tulip in Winter is a vibrant biography of folk artist Maud Lewis from two creators familiar with the Nova Scotian landscape that Lewis called home.  Although Lewis had a happy childhood, she was also “teased . . . for how she looked, her crooked walk, and

One very easy way to learn about and discover new books and authors is through the cover reveal. This was not a possible avenue of discovery before the age of book talk on the internet, and in an era where visuals are becoming more and more important — and indeed, book cover designers are taking

Madeline Hathaway grew up traveling the country with her family and working a circuit of Renaissance faires. While living in an RV and going to school online, Maddie spent her days surrounded by faux kings and wizards. She was happy with this unconventional upbringing until her mother died of cancer.  Now, almost a year after

The 2023 PEN American Literary Award Winners have been announced! This year’s awards conferred $350,000 to writers and translators in eleven different categories that include fiction, nonfiction, poetry, biography, essay, science writing, literature in translation, and more. The winners were announced live at the PEN America Literary Awards Ceremony on March 2, at The Town

Journalism professor Michelle Dowd was raised in California’s Angeles National Forest as part of an ultrareligious cult known as the Field, which was begun by her grandfather. She grew up fearing the apocalypse might arrive at any moment, and public education was shunned and largely avoided. “Outsiders” were never to be trusted. As Dowd writes

We’re all tired. The coordinated attacks on everything from Drag Queen story hours to Pride displays to individual books in libraries is going into its second year. While many have been waking up to this — which happens when it’s not just in those red communities, but in your own as well — we’re hitting

For a literary spin on the movies, there’s But Have You Read the Book?, a compendium of 52 stories taken from print to screen. You won’t be surprised to discover titles such as To Kill a Mockingbird and Blade Runner here, but did you know Jaws was first a book? Goodfellas? The Social Network? Author

At a heated school board meeting this week in Volusia County, Florida, two books under fire were retained. Both Ellen Hopkins’s Glass and Erika L. Sanchez’s I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter will stay on shelves. This is a sign of the process working, as books like these (and nearly every other book being

Maddie Hathaway grew up on the Renaissance faire circuit, living in an RV and attending school online. After her mom’s death from cancer, Maddie has been looking forward to returning to Stormsworth, her mom’s favorite faire. But Stormsworth’s new owners are making big changes, and their son, Arthur, thinks Maddie should play the role of

I think most of us are vaguely familiar with the bestselling fantasy books of all time. After all, to be bestsellers they have to be pretty popular. But I’ve also found that the most well-known fantasy bestsellers tend to be middle grade or YA. That means books like Twilight, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Little

Artist and critic Jenny Odell’s How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy was a New York Times bestseller and a critical favorite. The 2019 book considered the ways we spend our attention in a world full of technologies vying for (and profiting from) that attention. Now Odell returns with Saving Time: Discovering a Life

Barnes & Noble (B&N), who has been working to rebrand themselves as more of an independent bookstore over the last couple of years under new leadership, is making changes to its membership programs. The former program, which cost $25 a year, gave members 40% off hardcover bestsellers, 10% off all in-store purchases, free shipping online,

During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Cathleen Schine sat lounging in her glorious, sweet-smelling Los Angeles garden, feeling miserably stuck. She knew she wanted to write about Jewish German exiles in Hollywood during World War II but feared that a strictly historical novel might become “a pit of phony insertions of detail,” a

Welcome to Book Riot’s March 2023 Horoscopes and Book Recommendations! As we tiptoe into the spring season, new books are blossoming onto shelves. Which one is destined to be your favorite? Ask the stars! Check out your horoscope for the month ahead, along with a book recommendation perfect for your sign. Get ready for the

From the author of the sensational bestseller The Lost Apothecary comes a spellbinding tale about two daring women who hunt for truth and justice in the perilous art of conjuring the dead. 1873. At an abandoned château on the outskirts of Paris, a dark séance is about to take place, led by acclaimed spiritualist Vaudeline D’Allaire. Known worldwide

Green Hill School in Chehalis, Washington is, as described on its website, a “medium/maximum security fenced facility that provides older males sentenced to Juvenile Rehabilitation treatment with education and vocational training.” Graduate students in University of Washington’s Information School are holding a book drive to upgrade the books available in the Green Hill School library. Grad

Veronica Speedwell returns in A Sinister Revenge, the eighth mystery in a series best described as Agatha Christie in the world of Victorian science and natural history. Natural historian and butterfly hunter Veronica has been separated from Stoker, a fellow scientist who had become her sleuthing partner and lover. But Stoker’s brother Tiberius, Lord Templeton-Vane,

It’s 2023, and while fat representation has come a long way since Shallow Hal, it’s still a media minefield. If you’re looking for fat-positive or body-neutral reads, check out the YA books with fat protagonists I’ve picked out for you below. Millennials remember the serious dearth of fat representation in children’s media back in the