It’s amazing how visceral and real that memory still feels. I can still see it. The hippogriff on the cover, the stained library carpet, the old broken coffee pot on the librarian’s desk. I knew right there that I was holding on to something special. Harry Potter remained a constant in my life from that very moment. I was 28 when I fell in love with someone for the first time....
Sign up for TBR Would you like personalized picks of the best modern romance novels? Who wouldn’t! Sign up for Book Riot’s Tailored Book Recommendations (TBR) and let a professional bibliologist find a romance novel for you. Here’s how it works: when you sign up, you tell us about what kind of books you like and what you’re looking to read. A bibliologist (aka reading expert) selects three books and sends those recommendations to you....
Romance book series set in small towns are probably some of my favorites. You can have a series with 3-5 books where they’re all set in the same town. The amazing thing is that they’re all going to be very different from each other. Yeah, what unites them is the setting, the warmth of a small town that can always be there for you. But we know that no one has the same experience....
I’ve always been an avid reader, and before I got pregnant, it was pretty normal for me to read 200–300 books a year. Pregnancy and motherhood, though, threw quite the wrench into that. Between constant nausea and tiredness that seeped into my very bones during pregnancy, and then the chaos of single motherhood (by choice), it was only natural that my reading volume was affected. As time has gone on, however, my reading habits have slowly gone (almost) back to normal, thanks to caffeine, a natural ability to read fast, and staying up too late....
Superman debuted in Action Comics #1 (June 1938) in a story by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. He’s generally considered the first comic book superhero, so there was no set formula for how this kind of character should behave. Let’s take a look at what would someday birth a new, billion dollar genre. Superman, no! Don’t smash that car, it’s vintage! My favorite thing about this cover by a country mile is the guy on the bottom left....
Especially since the COVID-19 stay-at-home orders, I’ve felt the impulse to travel (or at least leave the house) more. Obviously that won’t be happening anytime soon, so I’ve had to make do with books. Not only have I found myself gravitating to books about nature, but also to books about travel and different geographical locations—and many of these also involve food or cooking. Some books I’ve read aren’t categorized as either of these but contain elements of both....
via GIPHY Now you can like “vulgarities” or not, it’s a personal taste/preference after all, but women are told to leave it to the fellas and behave like ladies instead. Say what? Even at a young age I was very aware of gender double standards: Why couldn’t I pee behind a bush if I suddenly couldn’t hold it? Why did I have to wear a shirt if my chest looked no different then the boys?...
Carrie (original or 2013 remake)Children of the CornChristineCreepshowCujoIt (original or 2017 remake)It: Chapter TwoMiseryThe MistPet Sematary (original or 2019 remake)Salem’s LotThe ShiningDoctor Sleep To measure which one truly gets your rate racing and gives you nightmares, you’ll be wearing a Fitbit, and you’ll also journal your experiences. In addition to the prize money and the Fitbit, USDish will provide access to all 13 movies as well as a goodie bag to complete your movie watching experience, which includes popcorn, candy, a blanket, and some Stephen King goodies....
Now my daily poetry dreams have been answered: U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith is launching a weekday podcast to introduce people to poetry in 5-minute episodes. A collaboration between the Poetry Foundation, the Library of Congress Poetry and Literature Center, and American Public Media, the podcast (titled The Slowdown) will begin regular episodes at the end of November. Smith, a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, will read works from both American and international poets and explore the role that poetry can have on our daily lives....
To be clear, psychological horror plays a big role in many horror manga. Sure, some titles rely more on graphic violence and gore, but the best series delve into the dark emotions behind those acts. It’s too bad this sub-genre is dominated by male creators, especially when we look at what’s available in English. There are some interesting looking manga in this sub-genre that are created by women but unfortunately, they remain unlicensed....
One of the main things that seems to have really caused a stir and division in Romancelandia is the the idea of the “clean” romance. Hear me out before you click away. To be clear, I have nothing against romance novels that don’t include sex scenes. Much as I don’t believe that the act of sex defines a romantic relationship, I don’t believe sex on the pages defines a romance novel....
Paul Adams has always been short, but he’s an excellent rock climber. And his small size means he can hide from the bullies of his high school. When Paul, Big, and Small are assigned to the same group project, they form an unlikely friendship. Paul and Lily team up for a rock-climbing competition, but when Lily is diagnosed with leukemia, Paul ends up with Conor on his team. When Paul learns that Conor is dealing with bullies of his own—as well as some deep emotional pain—he realizes that the bullying in his school has got to stop....
One swipe can change your entire life…or end it! Finding himself alone in a posh New York City hotel room for the night, Aidan does what any red-blooded seventeen-year-old would do–tries to hook up with someone new. But that lapse in judgement leads him to a room with a dead guy and a mysterious flash drive…two things that spark an epic case of mistaken identity that puts Aidan on the run–from the authorities, his friends, his family, the people who are out to kill him–and especially from his own troubled past....
This list creatively kicks off the system’s 125th anniversary celebrations. They’ve also prepared all sorts of rad events and new merchandise to commemorate the occasion. I spend about 89% of my waking hours wishing I lived in New York, so with these events happening, my yearning will bump up to be all consuming. There is new merchandise—please cast your eyes upon the super cute tote!—and two special limited edition library cards honoring the 1st place book, which is Ezra Jack Keats’s The Snowy Day....
There’s a long-running joke that, after “coming out,” a lesbian, gay guy, bisexual, or trans person should receive a membership card and instruction manual. THIS IS THAT INSTRUCTION MANUAL. You’re welcome. Inside you’ll find the answers to all the questions you ever wanted to ask: from sex to politics, hooking up to stereotypes, coming out and more. This candid, funny, and uncensored exploration of sexuality and what it’s like to grow up LGBT also includes real stories from people across the gender and sexual spectrums, not to mention hilarious illustrations....
What I find especially appealing about brass bookends is that they’re often vintage and unique, so you won’t see the same bookends on every other person’s shelf. I’ve got a set holding my books that are themselves big open books and I’ve never seen bookends like them. Plus, they hold up the really heavy piles with zero issue. But because many brass bookends ARE vintage, they might be one-of-a-kind or in limited supply....
The winning authors receive $10,000, and three books were honored: The Kissing Bug: A True Story of a Family, an Insect, and a Nation’s Neglect of a Deadly Disease by Daisy Hernández The Radiant Lives of Animals by Linda Hogan In the Field: A Novel by Rachel Pastan You can find out more about the award and this year’s winners at AP News. Find more news and stories of interest from the book world in Breaking in Books....
With their strange mythologies and quirky, complicated story lines, you just can’t be too serious about your fandom, no matter which of the multiverses you hail from. Superman once fought against a dragon called Flame-Dragon! The X-Men once battled inside the computer, then went to Pizza Hut! Donna Troy of the Titans started as a younger version of Diana Prince for the spinoff comic Wonder Girl! It’s fine! And, well, bless the internet....
