Books

Martin Amis died Friday in his Lake Worth Florida home from esophageal cancer. Amis was born to a novelist father, Kingsley Amis, in 1949 Oxford, England, and won the 1974 Somerset Maugham Award for his first novel, The Rachel Papers. He became a big part of the literary scene in London in the ’80s and

In early September 2021, before most of the country knew what Moms for Liberty or No Left Turn were — both of which were operating — Central York High School in Pennsylvania was leading the way in book bans. But they weren’t just being leaders in restricting the First Amendment Rights of students. Students themselves

The social horror genre takes societal issues and exaggerates them, turning them into a major source of horror in the story in order to make it all the more obvious how broken society is. This can include things like sexism, racism, or other oppressive systemic issues facing the protagonist(s) and the world they live in.

Young adult fiction has a certain reputation with people who don’t normally read it. Since the books are about teens, the themes must be juvenile, right? What literary adult wants to read about whiny teenagers with their naive problems? Admittedly, some YA books are wall-to-wall with whiny teenagers. That isn’t what defines YA, though. In

I’ve seen the term “disaster girl novels” floating out there in the ether. In particular, BookTokker Mari (mynameismarines) used the label to describe one of her recommendations, Luster by Raven Leilani. Luster is about a young Black woman who gets involved with an older white man in an open marriage. And it’s messy. The book

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic circa 2020, there came the rise of virtual book clubs. With the strict adherence to social distancing rules, many started virtual book clubs in schools, libraries, or even just among friends. These virtual book clubs work in a similar way as those from Oprah Winfrey and Reese Witherspoon.

Why do I pay attention to AAPI Heritage Month? As a school librarian, I spend a lot of time thinking about the diversity of my collection. I’m a white woman working in a school where white kids are a slight minority. I know that my ingrained racism keeps me from selecting books that are appropriate

A couple of weeks back, I shared a roundup of pending legislation across several states and at the national level which would ensure the right to read. There is another bill worth highlighting during this legislative session that is making positive progress in Connecticut. Senate Bill 2, called the Act Concerning the Mental, Physical, and

The Killers of the Flower Moon trailer was released today. Martin Scorsese’s highly anticipated new movie is based on the book by the same name that shows how the Osage Nation — who were the richest people per capita in the world in the ’20s — were slowly killed off. Leonardo DiCaprio plays Ernest Burkhart,

In 2019, we had Greta Gerwig’s Little Women, but in 2022, we were gifted with the Korean adaptation of the 19th century American classic. “Loose interpretation” might be a better term for the K-Drama that works as espionage thriller, high-stakes political drama, supernatural mystery, and Cinderella story. Each episode clocks in at over an hour, drawing viewers into the twisted

PEN America and publisher Penguin Random House, as well as a few authors and parents, filed a federal law suit today against Florida’s Escambia County School District. The authors who joined the suit — all of whom have had their books either removed or restricted by the school board — are Sarah Brannen, David Levithan, George

If there is one thing I love as much as I love books, it is coffee. I buy my beans through a subscription service, and start every day with a hot cup of freshly brewed “hairbender” roast. I take it black, and I have more funny mugs than fit in my cupboard. Most mornings, my

A recent poll asked 10,000 US and Canadian TikTok users between the ages of 18 and 45 if they are reading more because of BookTok, the bookish community on the social media platform. BookTok is widely believed to have driven a big bump in book sales and increased the popularity of reading in general. The

The world is tough. Living in the modern world involves grappling with pressures from all sides, and if you are a marginalised person, you have added structural barriers and pressures to deal with. We’re all harmed by capitalism, bigotry, and other social factors, as well as having to live with medical issues, mental health problems,

The Nebula Awards were first awarded in 1966, and they recognize the best writing in science fiction and fantasy published in the U.S. the previous year. The winners of the 58th annual Nebula Awards, which consider works published in 2022, have just been announced! You can watch the whole ceremony on YouTube, or scroll down

Kazuo Ishiguro is the critically-acclaimed Nobel Prize-winning author of eight novels. Ishiguro has also written short stories, screenplays, lyrics, and more. Recently, Ishiguro was even nominated for an Academy Award for his screenplay for the film Living. The author is widely celebrated — nearly all Kazuo Ishiguro books have been nominated for awards — and

Sanora Babb is unlikely to be your immediate answer when asked “who wrote the Great American Dust Bowl novel?” Instead, you’ll probably think of John Steinbeck, and his classic The Grapes of Wrath. That’s what I thought, at least, before I saw this fascinating Twitter thread by Skyler Schrempp. It turns out that Sanora Babb

I was scrolling through TikTok recently when I stumbled across a video recommending some morbid nonfiction. As a genre, I hadn’t really considered it before, but the term so perfectly describes much of what I’m drawn to in the world of nonfiction. True crime has never been my thing. I get the appeal — I

The Cure has been my favorite band since I was about 14. This was not too long after Wish came out, and while I enjoyed “Friday I’m in Love,” it was pretty far on the light side of pop for my 8th grade punk-grunge taste; I liked it, but I listened to Nirvana and the

Researching and reading books for this piece has been an unexpectedly needed experience for me. I may be speaking for myself, but when I think of “Asian horror” my first thoughts are of works in translation and their movie adaptations that make me want to pour bleach on my eyeballs. And I say that as