Books

The end of 2022 is fast approaching. How was your reading life this year? Did you read a ton of amazing books? Did you struggle through reading slump after reading slump? Did you discover any amazing new authors, or stick to your tried-and-true favorites? Are you feeling satisfied with what you read, or do you

Yesterday, the U.S. Postal Service announced seven new subjects that will be featured on stamps in 2023. Among the list is prolific children’s book author Tomie dePaola (1934-2020) and civil rights activist and author John Lewis (1940-2020). After participating in vital civil rights protests — even becoming one of the Freedom Riders in the early

After solving two notorious cold cases, Stevie and her friends from Ellingham Academy are off to jolly old England to uncover the truth about a double murder that took place at a wealthy country estate in 1995. Meanwhile, they’re also dealing with college applications, academic pressures, romantic entanglements and more. In Nine Liars, bestselling author

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression is a nonprofit dedicated to defending free speech. To draw attention to the censorship happening in Texas schools and libraries right now, they’ve put up two billboards. The first, which is up in Keller now, says “Free Speech Makes Free People.” The second will go up December 18th,

Teen sleuth Stevie Bell is back! It’s the autumn of her senior year at Ellingham Academy, and she and her friends Nate, Janelle and Vi have been invited by Stevie’s boyfriend, David, to join him in London to solve another cold case. One rain-soaked night 1995, nine inseparable friends played a game of hide-and-seek on

‘Tis the season for “best of” book lists, and we’ve rounded up quite a few on Book Riot. The newest addition is the first “The Atlantic 10,” which the magazine defines not quite as the best books of the year, but the books that “impressed us with their force of ideas, that drew us in

Since September, I’ve been putting together this combined list of all the bestselling books, according to all the big bestsellers lists: the New York Times, both Combined Print & E-Book Fiction and Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction lists; Amazon Charts, both Fiction and Nonfiction; USA Today; and Publishers Weekly. To be honest, there aren’t usually

About 250 HarperCollins employees have been on strike for more than a month (it began November 10th), fighting for better pay, union protections, and diversity initiatives. An open letter of support for the employees striking has reached 8,500 signatures according to the union, but a separate letter was signed by over 500 authors, both ones

“Solitude is tolerable, even enjoyable at times. But when you realise that you’ve given your life to someone, yet you know nothing but his name? That kind of solitude is loneliness. That’s what kills you.” In An Yu’s ethereal Ghost Music, a woman’s grip on her suffocating life loosens as she is drawn into a

When people set out to “read around the world,” too often they neglect Indonesia, despite it being the fourth most populous nation in the world, with more than 270 million inhabitants. So let’s fix that, shall we? I’ve done the research and compiled a list of nine wonderful books translated from Indonesian, or bahasa Indonesia,

December is here, and you know what that means? It’s time to throw on some cozy clothes, prepare a warm beverage, and read until we can’t keep our eyes open anymore! All jokes aside, that’s one of the reasons why I love December so much. It provides a collective opportunity for people to take their

Renowned writer Hilary Mantel, who passed away in September at the age of 70, was widely known and respected for her Wolf Hall trilogy, as well as the scores of other books and essays that she wrote during her career. Her treatment of the political machinations of Thomas Cromwell in the court of Henry VIII inspired

Determining the best audiobooks of all time is a highly subjective process. What makes an audiobook the best? Do they have to have famous narrators or an ensemble cast? Are the most popular audiobooks the best, or do they have to be award-winning to be the best? Audiobooks have come a long way since their

“Fake news” has been the news for years, thanks to a president who helped empower distrust in people and institutions which have experience, expertise, and history in delivering information. But from “fake news” has been the larger discussion of mis- and disinformation, which themselves have been used to weaponize authority. But what exactly does misinformation

As 2022 comes barreling to an end, there’s only one thing I’m looking forward to, my favorite holiday of the year. No, it’s not Christmas. It’s New Year’s Eve. NYE is truly the best holiday because it’s all about optimism. It’s about celebrating everything the last year represented and hoping for the best in the

A sweet and touching portrayal of friendship, heartbreak and healing, The Key to My Heart by Lia Louis is a poignant romance with astute observations about life after loss. It’s been two years since her husband, Russ, died, and 32-year-old Natalie Fincher is still grieving. She’s lost her passion for the dreamy cottage she lives

One of the biggest readers’ choice book awards–and one that certainly captures the excitement and attention of the bookish internet–is the Goodreads Choice Awards. It’s an opportunity for Goodreads users to weigh in on the books they think were the best of the best that year. For 2022, it’s clear that the power of BookTok

In this trio of suspense novels, a seasoned spy, a clever reward-seeker and a thief extraordinaire take on complicated, dangerous assignments as they race against time and attempt to elude their equally determined enemies.  JUDAS 62 At just under 500 pages, Charles Cumming’s JUDAS 62 is a commitment, but those who love immersive espionage thrillers

I love a good bookish gift and I especially love giving good bookish gifts. While there are so many options out there, as someone who keeps a tight budget on gifting, many of the guides I peruse outside the book world in particular focus on things that are outside my tax bracket. I love my

Love stories set during the holidays are almost always good-natured, but this year’s standouts take good cheer and good will to another level. Personal transformations and turning points abound in these empathetic and festive happily ever afters.     ★ So This Is Christmas Author Jenny Holiday takes readers on a third trip to the fictional country

If you’re a fan of all things Middle-earth, here’s your opportunity to spend the night in the famous Hobbiton. AirBNB is offering three people the chance to win an overnight at The Shire’s New Zealand filming location in March 2023. Although the site has always been open to visitors, this experience is new in celebration

The Double Agent The problem with being a double agent is that if you put a foot wrong, there is always someone ready—even eager—to kill you. In the case of Alexsi Ivanovich Smirnoff, the situationally heroic hero of William Christie’s The Double Agent, there are not two but three agencies poised to be either his

Historically, the New York Times has not been known for its romance novel coverage. Its writing about books tends to skew towards literary fiction and away from anything genre — but especially romance. Things have looked a little different in the past few years, though, as romance novelist Olivia Waite — author of The Lady’s

Blackmail, jealousy and murder haunt a luxury ski resort. Can two sleuths crack the case before a blizzard traps them alongside a killer? Darby Piper and Tate Porter are still getting used to working together as PIs when they agree to take on a case brought to them by Tate’s ex-girlfriend, Cecily Madd. Cecily’s husband,

Now that so many of us spend all day on screens, there’s something about using a paper calendar. From bullet journalling to maintaining a wall calendar, having reminders in a physical form can make them more effective — and it’s nice to get a break from screens and pinging reminders. Daily calendars (fun fact: “Page-A-Day

The art of letter writing seems all but doomed in our age of digital communication, and one wonders where future literary biographers will turn for the singular insights that a writer’s correspondence affords. Scholars of John le Carré will have no such concerns. Le Carré, real name David Cornwell, who died in December 2020, was

Don’t worry, there are still a few weeks left to meet your Goodreads (or Storygraph, or reading bujo, or mental) reading goal for the year! Today, though, Goodreads shared some data about this year’s reading challenge. More than 6.5 million people set a Goodreads goal this year, hoping to read a collective 320 million books.

In Lauren Groff’s Matrix, 17-year-old Marie de France becomes prioress of a run-down abbey in 12th-century England. Ill-suited to a life of privation, Marie struggles in her new role, but she forms strong bonds with the women in her charge, and the abbey begins to flourish. When tensions rise between the abbey and the outside

‘Tis the season for Best Of lists! We’ve discussed the top books of the year according to the New York Times, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and more, and today Buzzfeed has released their own. It was chosen by nine Buzzfeed contributors, reporters, and writers, including our own Margaret Kingsbury! The list is divided into genres,

Science journalist Sabrina Imbler dives deep into the waters of human and marine life in their luminous essay collection, How Far the Light Reaches. In the book’s 10 essays, Imbler cannily observes the lives of sea creatures, drawing out lessons about resilience, survival and wildness and tying those insights to their own experiences as a