Books

I recently spent an entire month in Edinburgh, Scotland. I had the absolute pleasure of being cast in a gender-swapped, American folk musical retelling of Pride and Prejudice called Prejudice and Pride. I played Luke Charlton, a pastiche of Charlotte Lucas. After three weeks playing in Kansas City, the show went to play at the

The dangerous thing about this iteration of the book banning brigade is that they are using strategies and resources that weren’t around in decades earlier. While book banners in the 1990s and the 2020s both equate queer books/kids/teachers/etc. with pedophilia, they are finding this (mis)information and spreading it faster than they ever could in years

★ Berry Song A reverent and joyful celebration of berry picking, Berry Song is the stunning authorial debut of Caldecott Medalist Michaela Goade, an enrolled member of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska.  As a girl and her grandmother pick berries in the Tongass National Forest, located not far from the author-illustrator’s home

By now, you are most likely aware that her highness, Taylor Alison Swift, has bestowed a new album upon the people of Earth. Midnights is her tenth full-length album since the self-titled Taylor Swift was released in 2006, and while I’ve enjoyed her work since she shifted over from the country scene, I wasn’t really

I love subscription boxes. I consider it a person failing of mine that I will pay mightily to have a stranger send me things they have decided I want. But it’s like presents! I love presents! And I have to say, after spending an entire year reading only books from bookish subscription boxes, many of

When award-winning British journalist Simon Parkin (A Game of Birds and Wolves) dug through the National Archives in London looking for a story idea, he literally found one: A newspaper called The Camp was mistakenly folded between some pages. Produced by German and Austrian internees at a camp for “enemy aliens” during World War II,

There are a lot of reasons to increase one’s information literacy and as we age, it may become even more important that we review how to evaluate useful information from information meant to mislead. For some, we may also work with older populations and may want to consider how to help them improve their information

In 2010, oncologist Siddhartha Mukherjee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning The Emperor of All Maladies provided a stunning history of cancer and medical scientists’ ongoing research into ways to overcome it. In 2016, he delivered a similarly breathtaking treatment of genetic biology in The Gene. Now, in The Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine and the

Publishers in the U.K. say that books prices will likely rise. The increase is due to a rise in paper and energy costs, as well as the influences of Brexit. Founder of Jacaranda Books Arts Music, Valerie Branded, said that the cost of all formats of books were likely to rise 10-20%. This rise in

In 1778, when future U.S. president John Adams arrived in Paris to solicit aid for America’s revolutionary cause, most Frenchmen were disappointed that they wouldn’t be meeting with John’s older cousin Samuel, the renowned theorist and provocateur of American revolution. In spite of this past fame, the man some have called the most essential Founding

My friends get a glint in their eye every time they talk about a celebrity whose show they are really into or someone who did something despicable. And while I cheer and gasp in all the right places, I do feel a sense of not-caring creeping up my spine. I barely have time to stay

In her debut novel, Sign Here, author Claudia Lux presents a modern vision of hell as a capitalist bureaucracy of the most inane, obnoxious variety. Souls arrive in Hell on different levels, depending on how badly they sinned in their former lives. The worst of the worst head to what is known as Downstairs. Some

Kindred, written by MacArthur Fellow and award-winning author Octavia Butler, has been adapted into a drama series that will premiere exclusively on Hulu Tuesday, December 13. Kindred was first published in 1979 and later adapted into a graphic novel in 2017. It follows Dana, a Black woman living in California in 1976. After celebrating her

Quinta has spent the seven years since her mother died searching for a curiosity shop called the Vermilion Emporium. With her last breath, Quinta’s mother gave her a vial of moonshadow and told Quinta that she would find its purpose there. When she finally finds the magical shop, it’s down an alley and around a

I didn’t used to read manga — or romance, or fanfiction. Despite happily consuming YA contemporary and other book that are often judged by literary snobs, I had my own genre hangups. I wasn’t a romance person — until I read Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert and I realized how good it

Peyote Trip is an office drone on the Fifth Floor of Hell, which resembles a particularly soul-crushing corporation. But a promotion is within Peyote’s grasp, and all he has to do is snag a fifth soul from the wealthy Harrison family. Peyote sets out with Calamity, his potential new workplace bestie, to snare his final

The Young Adult Library Services Association has announced their Teens’ Top Ten winners of 2022. These books were nominated and voted on by teenagers (ages 12-18) in book groups in 16 schools and libraries, and all the titles were published in 2021. YALSA also has an annotated version of the list available for download, making

Kevin Chen’s dark and eerie novel opens with a question: “Where are you from?” This seemingly simple question reverberates throughout Ghost Town, and though its many characters are all desperate for an answer, satisfaction eludes them. Watching them try—as they tumble through their lives and wrestle with their complicated relationships to both home and family—makes

October is witchy season, of course, but that doesn’t just mean fantasy novels or paranormal romance — it also extends to real-life witches. Presumably, that’s why a ton of witch nonfiction is on sale right now on Amazon, from history books to witchy interior design to spell books. There’s no indication of how long this

When the sun sets in the forests of Hemlock Falls, a heavy mist rises, bringing with it a host of horrifying creatures. From banshees to were-beasts, these living nightmares exist to wreak terror and destruction and must be killed or contained within the boundaries of the forest. If they were to escape, they would destroy

Don’t check that calendar: it is only October, not the end of the year. Regardless, many outlets seem to be racing to see who can release their best of the year lists fastest. Barnes and Noble already posted their Best Books of the Year list earlier this month, but they have just posted a separate

Susan Dennard kicks off a darkly magical, action-packed new series with The Luminaries, which introduces a mysterious world filled with monsters. It’s the story of a teen girl named Winnie Wednesday and her quest to rejoin the secret organization of monster hunters who keep her town—and the world—safe. Dennard chatted with BookPage about her novel’s

One of the things Asia is most known for is horror. In fact, Japan and South Korea have produced many horror films throughout the years. Who hasn’t been terrified by The Ring or Sadako? Or those films featuring scary Japanese dolls? How about the zombies in Train to Busan? The Asian continent also has plenty

The mornings are crisp. The days are shorter. Tomatoes and peaches have been replaced by apples and pumpkins at the farmer’s market. And the fall books are here! Autumn is always a busy time of year for books, with publishers releasing their big titles in the hope of capturing the interest of readers shopping for

I love big, sprawling, fantasy series as much as anyone. But for the past few years, I’ve also been craving more self-contained stories that don’t demand as much time and attention from me. Which is why I began reading standalones — and let me say that they are more than capable of telling complete and

The Mennonite community is at once an evangelizing religious group and a “tribe.” As novelist Sofia Samatar (A Stranger in Olondria) explains, the tribe consists of the white descendants of its Swiss, German and Dutch founders, but the religion is growing fastest in Africa. Samatar embodies that duality: Her white American mother met her Black

It’s Monster Mash season, baby! My favorite time of year. Porches are decorated with pumpkins and ghouls, bowls of candy are everywhere you look, and the options for your costume are endless. And with that comes all of the scary movies, books, and comics just waiting at your fingertips. You want vampires, you’ve got them.

It’s difficult to have a conversation with Ross Gay and not think of a moniker he’s picked up over the years: “the happiest poet around.” Gay is relaxed, genial and clearly excited about his second essay collection (and sixth book overall), Inciting Joy. With its 14 chapters, or “incitements,” covering subjects as disparate as death

In education there’s a distinct jargon used. Acronyms and idioms and particular turns of phrase. This isn’t unique to education, but ubiquitous in most occupations. While we do the best we can to reflect on our teaching processes and make corrections where necessary, sometimes we don’t even think about a term that needs to be

Poet Ross Gay’s powerful sixth book and second collection of essays, Inciting Joy, opens with an imaginary house party to which people bring their sorrows as plus-ones. Soon the living room becomes a raucous dance floor, and in the middle of this unexpected mirth, Gay poses two central questions: What incites joy? And more importantly,