Books

In October, Barnes & Noble posted their list of the top 11 books of the year, as selected by their booksellers. The list included bestselling novels, a picture book, a New Orleans cookbook, a history of hip-hop jewelry, and more. Some of these books overlap with the previous editorially-selected Barnes and Noble Best Books of

“And The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin, who’s a problematic author,” spits Bruce Friedman into the microphone at the October 6 Clay County District Schools board meeting. Baldwin’s classic is among the nearly 2,000 books on a list that Friedman, president of the Florida chapter of No Left Turn in Education, claims to have

The 2022 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction has been awarded to Khadija Abdalla Bajaber for her debut YA novel The House of Rust. The novel is a coming-of-age story steeped in Swahili and Hadrami culture in which Aisha, a young girl in Mombasa, Kenya, embarks on a sea journey in an enchanted boat

One of the projects on my never-ending to-do list is to update my reading journal. I keep a notebook of every single book I’ve ever read, and it’s been a few years since I have added to it. I love this kind of record keeping because as much as it is nice to keep reading

Back in August, Kelly Jensen wrote about how conservative propaganda led to Jamestown, Michigan voting down the library millage (tax) rate that was on the ballot, making it impossible for the library to stay open for more than a few months. Jamestown Conservatives called the librarians “groomers” who were “indoctrinating” children because they refused to

I wince every time I see the book I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy, which is often, considering it’s in my Libro.fm library. It’s pretty safe to assume the title and cover are meant to elicit a strong, immediate reaction. Which: A+ job. It’s not meant to be a joke, as the book

The 2022 Kirkus Prize Award winners were announced Thursday October 27 in a hybrid ceremony at a public library in Austin, TX. The literary award was first given in 2014 and is among the highest paying, granting each of its winners $50,000. The winners are as follows: Fiction Trust by Hernan Diaz Trust shows the

I never thought of myself as a sci-fi or fantasy reader, not until several years ago. When my son was born, I started reading comics, which led into reading Star Wars books, and thanks to fellow Rioters, found myself exploring SFF books. I realized that I had been largely basing my assumption that I wasn’t

Amazon bought Goodreads in 2013, but for the most part, there hasn’t been much integration between the retailer and the social reading site. Recently, though, some authors have spotted Goodreads average ratings showing up on Amazon listings of their books, although Amazon has its own ratings system. So. Amazon is starting to add Goodreads ratings

When I first heard this question, my gut reaction was an emphatic “Yes!” So many self-help/self-improvement books, business books, even some financial advice books are full of unnecessary fluff. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People easily lends itself to a numbered list with a couple-sentence description for each. Atomic Habits is focused around four

Once upon a time, space was only something that humankind could gaze upon and dream about. People wrote outlandish stories about what might be up there, but for most of recorded human history, no one actually knew. Sure, they could see stars and moons and planets, but no one could visit. That all changed in

There’s a chill in the air, color in the leaves, and we’re all breaking out our blankets and sweaters. If you’re here, you like snuggling up with a good book especially as the weather turns colder, and comic books are no exception. There’s no better time to grab a hefty omnibus than when I have

As you mark your calendar for November events, remember to have your plan to vote in place and a nice stack of books to read, or admiringly stare at. Collecting unread books is also valid — you do you! For this month I’ve got a wide variety of moods and crime books. I’m doing my

Book bans in prisons are nothing new. In fact, censorship thrives in the prison system. Whether the prison is public or private and part of a state-wide system or independent impacts the materials allowed to be sent to individuals (and the method by which they can be sent) and the materials allowed in prison libraries

We know that the same books show up again and again in these bans and challenges across the U.S. Beyond the copycat effect, what’s driving this push for specific titles to be pulled are book ratings systems created by groups like Moms For Liberty, Utah Parents United, and others. These book ratings systems are homegrown

This past weekend, Jessie Graham, a woman from Columbia, TN, passionately defended the queer community during a Maury county board of trustees meeting. The speech was in response to Zachary Fox, the Maury county’s former public library director, resigning at a previous meeting. The resignation came after months of complaints about the library’s Prime Month

Let me preface this post by saying that I like reading manga, and it’s a format that includes a wide variety of genres, tones, art styles, and more. I also recognize that translation is a delicate art, and sometimes humor or connotations get understandably lost in translation. That being said: there are some truly weird

This November, some of the things I’m thankful for include all of the great nonfiction books that are out this month (there are a lot of great books out this month, but as usual, I’m partial to nonfiction, I admit). Whether you’re looking for memoir, works in translation, nature writing, biography, or anthologies, there’s more

We need to be reading books by Native American authors year-round. We need to be turning to books by Native American authors to support different themes, as the kickoff to many different kinds of lessons, and as bedtime stories even in the middle of July. However, November is Native American Heritage Month, and it’s also

Stair Galleries in Hudson, New York is hosting Joan Didion’s estate sale from now until November 15. Included in the sale are all kinds of Didion’s possessions, including her iconic sunglasses, unused notebooks, decorations and artwork, portraits of the author, and more. Many of the lots are made up of her library, loosely divided by