Books

The New York Times has reported on the passing of Hilary Mantel. Mantel, 70, died from a stroke on Thursday. The British author, two-time winner of the Booker Prize, was a prolific author of literature, including historical fiction, personal memoirs, and short stories. She authored Wolf Hall (Booker Prize winner), Bring Up the Bodies (Booker

Yesterday, in response to the increased number of book banning attempts across the country, the City of Chicago and the Chicago Public Library (CPL) have declared themselves safe spaces for endangered stories. The city of Chicago and the CPL have established “Book Sanctuaries” across 81 library branches and 77 neighborhoods. These sanctuaries are safe spaces

“Boys don’t cry” — this stale narrative has done a lot of harm. Men’s emotions are devalued. They are pressurized into a performative model of masculinity that completely removes empathy out of the equation. As a result, men are always expected to be strength personified. Their breakdowns and mental health issues are pushed under the

Oak Brook is a small town just outside of Chicago, Illinois. It is home to one of the state’s largest malls, as well as an array of restaurants, golf and sports clubs, and other markings of a typical middle to upper middle class suburb. Oak Brook is also home to one of the most unconventional

Months ago, the Brooklyn Public Library started its Books UnBanned project in order to counter increased efforts to ban books across the country. Through the initiative, teens and young adults ages 13-21 can obtain a Brooklyn Public library card for free and gain access to the full collection of 350,000 eBooks and 200,000 audiobooks. A

In anticipation of Banned Books Week, happening September 18–24, and in the wake of a sharp rise in book bans and censorship efforts across the country, the nonprofit EveryLibrary Institute conducted a national poll that found that the overwhelming majority of voters strongly oppose book banning. And notably, 75 percent of voters will consider book

Spotify subscribers will be able to find one new feature in their app today: audiobooks. The company launches its audiobooks feature today in the U.S. with a library of 300,000 books from major publishing houses, indie publishers, and amateur audiobook authors. Audiobook listeners will be able to sample books before buying them à la carte

“More” is the key word in a newly released report from PEN America, the free expression group which has been tracking and detailing censorship and gag order bills across the country. The report, which updates their “Banned In the USA” from April, includes new data and information about the rise of book bans in the

Orbit Discover an epic tale of magic, revenge, and an empire on the verge of ruin in the first ever novel set in the blockbuster universe of League of Legends. I fell in love with video games as a kid not by playing them all on my own first, but by watching my brothers play.

The longlists for the 2022 National Book Awards (NBA) were announced on September 14–16. The awards are divided into five categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Translated Literature, and Young People’s Literature. Among the judges for this year’s awards are Ben Fountain, Brandon Hobson, Pam Houston, Dana Johnson, and Michelle Malonzo for Fiction; Carol Anderson, Melissa Febos,

Did you know there’s an app where you can read pretty much any Marvel comic you can think of? It’s not free (womp womp), but with over 29,000 digital comics it’s a pretty good offer — at least, if you’re a Marvel fan. And I’m here to tell you exactly where to start since staring down

What story would your text messages tell? What about the letters you wrote home from camp as a kid, the journal you kept as a young adult, or the notes you jotted during meetings at your first job? Epistolary novels take artifacts such as these and form them into a compelling narrative told through documents.

Recently, there was a BuzzFeed Books article by a reader boasting that they had read 3,000 books in one decade. The article was angled more from the perspective of the writer sharing their reading journal from the last decade, since they’d kept track of each book they had read during that timeframe. “It’s like a

Every four years, I get obsessed with gymnastics. In between rounds of Olympic competition, I fall down the YouTube rabbit hole for yet another watch of Olga Korbut and Nadia Comăneci’s groundbreaking performances in 1974 and 1978 respectively. I watch documentaries. I look up phrases like double twisting double back. And I have it on

I’ve been running a school library podcast for the past five years. It’s been a lot of fun and I’ve really enjoyed helping to create it. The students are really involved with it and have taken it to whole new levels. I’m hoping to share some advice, things I’ve learned, and things that have worked

Players know that storytelling is of utmost importance in Japanese role-playing games (JRPGs), but alas, we can’t play games all the time. That’s why I’ve pulled together this list of 10 fantasy book series for Final Fantasy fans: so you can enjoy a fantastic narrative while giving your eyes a much-needed break from screen time.

Next week begins Banned Books Week, and rather than passively “celebrate” banned books, let’s spend this week regrouping and taking a series of small action steps toward actually curtailing the non-stop assaults on intellectual freedom and First Amendment rights. I’ve pulled together a list of seven action items for the week plus several bonus actions

Banned Books Week launches Monday, September 19, 2022, and the American Library Association (ALA) has released the latest numbers on book challenges in a new field report. Pulling from information reported directly to ALA’s Office of Intellectual Freedom (OIF), news coverage, and public records, the data show a marked increase in censorship and 2022 is

Authors using pseudonyms is nothing new. In fact, there are still five that are unknown, with another mystery author story fresh from the headlines this week. They choose a pseudonym for many reasons: to avoid the limelight, to remain anonymous, to avoid criticism, or to protect their identity. Some authors write under a pen name

Keller Independent School District staff were surprised to learn this week that they had a new charge as they prepared for a new school year. Staff received an email on Tuesday morning informing them that every book on the attached spreadsheet needed to be removed by the end of the day for review. “By the