Books

Some people love summer. I get it. At least, I pretend to get it. I really cannot understand what summer has going for it that winter doesn’t (well, except swimming), but I can appreciate that some people love the heat the way I love the cold. So I nod along during the hottest months and

It is only in the last couple of years that I have fallen in love with cozy mysteries, which is in itself a mystery to me because there’s very little I love more than an episodic story. When I first encountered this subgenre, I texted a fellow bookish friend with an enthusiastic “OMG THESE ARE

I love eating! To me, food is a comfort, and it’s maybe a blessing and a tragedy that I seem to plan everything in my daily routine around meals. When I go on vacation, I wake up thinking about the plan for the day, and when and where we are going to stop for eating.

There were too many times when my mother would catch me reading a book with a flashlight under my sheets, demanding I go to sleep already. I can’t say that romance was ever my go-to genre as I was (ironically) falling in love with reading as a kid. I loved fantasy, mystery, and historical fiction,

Barbara Ehrenreich was an author, journalist, and activist who published more than 20 books, including Nickel and Dimed, which documents several months she spent working the lowest-paying jobs in the U.S.A. and trying to survive on that income. She wrote articles and book reviews for a wide variety of publications, including The New York Times,

Banned Books Week is coming, which means that waves of displays in libraries, classrooms, and bookstores are also incoming. We’re already seeing many, and while they are useful for highlighting the reality of censorship across America to those who are not as tapped into the news about it, too many banned books week displays are

The much-awaited series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is premiering today at 6 PM PT / 9 PM ET on Amazon Prime with two episodes. Fans of Tolkien’s Middle-earth—or curious newcomers—can sign up for a free 30 day Prime trial to watch the new series. The Rings of Power takes place

Welcome to Book Riot’s September 2022 Horoscopes and Book Recommendations! September and October are two of the biggest months for big, splashy, unputdownable new books. How to choose between all of the amazing new releases? Why, look to the stars, of course! Check out your horoscope below for a glimpse at the month ahead, along

The legal comedy She-Hulk: Attorney At Law is officially adding Megan Thee Stallion to their long list of cameo and guest appearances. The role comes after her guest appearance on the show P-Valley. In She-Hulk, Megan Thee Stallion will be represented in a legal case by attorney Augustus Pugliese, who is being played by Josh

What is it to reclaim a word like smut? For readers of romance novels with explicit sex scenes, beloved books have been derided as smut for ages. Scores of romance readers have kept their habits secret, fearing judgment about their intellects, their tastes, even their own sex lives. Reclaiming the word disarms it, making the

A new Missouri law has made it a misdemeanor for a school employee to provide “explicit sexual material” to minors, which could come with up to a year in jail and $2000 in fines. The law applies to images only, such as in graphic novels, and does not apply to material with “serious artistic significance,”

Nonfiction is great for all kinds of reasons: learning about the world around you, reading from points of view you wouldn’t otherwise have access to, and following timelines of historical events. But for me, it’s all about the weirdest facts nonfiction books can teach me. I love having something outrageous or silly to stick in

The story is performed in the Inverted Theater, which exists outside of time and can only be visited while one is dreaming. An unnamed spectator sits in the audience and is told that this story is a love story. It is summer, as it always is in the Old Country, and one fateful night, the

In case you missed it, at the halfway point of the year, Goodreads made lists of the overall best books of the year so far as well as the most popular books in several genres, including historical fiction. These books were selected because of positive early reviews from Goodreads users as well as the number

Every once in a while we all need some sweet, low-stakes reads to lift our moods. There are plenty of stories and genres capable of doing that, but there’s something about slice-of-life that stands out. It probably has something to do with the fact that these stories are so quotidian that it’s easy to see

If you’re someone who, like me, is an Elder born in the 1900s, you probably remember the early days of self-publishing. For those of you who don’t, it was a dark time. People were throwing their LiveJournals into .epub format and calling it a memoir, there was little-to-no editing, and anyone who wanted to write

The world, to say the very least, has been very challenging lately. And that won’t be changed by a fast and/or easy fix at all. So, I’ve been making it a point to find joy wherever I can because, yay, serotonin boosts. One thing that has always brought me happiness is music and I often

One of the things I love the most about Star Wars is that there are so many stories in the galaxy. There are so many characters, so many stories, and such a rich history available that the possibilities are endless (I’m of the opinion that you can never have too many SW books, shows, or

There is not a wrong time to read some great witchy YA books. That said, there is something particularly good about reading new witchy YA books as the seasons begin to shift toward shorter days and nights. Lighting a candle and cracking open the windows to dig into a story about people who have magic

As the new school year kicks off — or is already in progress in many places — it’s worth taking a look at the states which have enacted laws that ban books. This guide is not comprehensive, but gives an overview of the legislation currently on the books that will impact how teachers and librarians

Duval County Public Schools (DCPS), which serve Jacksonville and the surrounding area, is one of the largest districts in the state of Florida. The district serves roughly 130,000 students and employs over 8,000 teachers. It’s also one of the most diverse, with nearly 70% of its students from minority backgrounds and nearly 40% are economically

For the third year in a row, USDish.com is looking for a fan to watch 13 movies based on Stephen King novels. If selected, the fan will receive $1,300, a swag bag with a $350 value—which includes a FitBit—and tickets for the 2023 premier of Salem’s Lot. The only thing USDish.com asks in return is

If you have a library card, you’ve likely heard of the Libby App. Libby is a way to find tons of audio and ebooks from your local library and read them right on your phone. It makes borrowing easy as once your time runs out, the books return automatically so you don’t have to worry

Eastern Kentucky schools and libraries are still reeling from the effects of flash flooding that started on July 26. The flooding has not only killed 37 people, it’s also put already socioeconomically vulnerable areas at greater risk. The Letcher County school district superintendent shared one particularly devastating video of a school’s library that shows books

Halloween is coming up in a couple of months, which is close enough for me to start getting into the spooky mood. Given, a good horror story is timeless and welcome during any time of the year. For those seeking to get their fill of creepiness, look no further than horror short stories that you

On August 22nd, the Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District (GCISD) voted on a lengthy set of guidelines that included prohibitions against so-called “Critical Race Theory” in schools as well as chosen pronouns and promotion of “Gender Fluidity.” It’s been dubbed the “Don’t Say Trans” policy by some opponents. BREAKING: the Grapevine-Colleyville school district board (GCISD), my

Mysteries around food beautifully blend two of my favorite things in the world: food and suspense! Food is not just something that helps us live, it’s also something we turn to to cope with myriad emotions. Sometimes we eat our feelings in cupcakes, sometimes we celebrate our wins with pizza. This sub-genre of mystery novels

Florida’s election tomorrow, August 23, 2022, is a crucial one for schools across the state. Every school board has at least one seat on the ballot, and several counties also have additional school-related referendums up for vote. This election determines whether school board members will be outright elected–anyone earning over 50% of the vote will

Last month the internet exploded with people talking about the FX series The Bear, an eight-episode drama streaming on Hulu. If you somehow missed it, the series follows Carmen Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White), a CIA-trained chef (that’s Culinary Institute, not the other CIA) who leaves his upscale New York restaurant to return home to Chicago