Books

Remember that survey of literary agents put together a month ago to see what the reality is in publishing right now related to book bans? It was widely shared across social media, as well as through several other online literary outlets. Today, let’s look at what was said. . . . . Today In Books

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” as the saying goes. This expression celebrates acceptance, affirming that the appearance of a person or object doesn’t have to align with beauty norms to be lovely. It’s a refreshing theme that runs throughout The Ugly History of Beautiful Things: Essays on Desire and Consumption by art,

The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyers will be adapted for television by Lionsgate Television. The new Twilight show comes years after the film adaptation of the bestselling book series earned more than $3.4 billion internationally. Though the production is still in its earliest stages, what is known so far is that Sinead Daly (The Walking

Barbara Chase-Riboud’s The Great Mrs. Elias is based on the life of Hannah Elias, a Black woman who made a name for herself in early 20th-century New York City real estate, accruing enormous wealth along the way. But in 1903, a murder takes place at Hannah’s opulent home, and her carefully constructed existence changes forever.

Honoring the finest works of translated fiction from around the world, the International Booker Prize has announced its 2023 shortlist. The prize is awarded every year to a single book translated into English and published in the UK and Ireland. It aims to encourage more publishing and reading of international fiction from all over the world

When we think about how life will look in 10, 50 or 100 years, we might not consider the poetry that those societies will produce. But if we think about how those societies will look back at us, here in 2023, I would argue that these poetry collections are the perfect snapshots of our world.

If you want a peek into the workroom, the real T on the untucked lounge, and perspectives on what’s next in drag, check out these books by RuPaul’s Drag Race contestants and winners. These drag queens bring humor, heart, and plenty of originality from the main stage to the book page. Some of them even

The subway train runs right past Nari’s lively New York City apartment building, and she imagines riding it to far-flung destinations that offer quiet spaces away from the bustling city and her boisterous family and neighbors. A beach, a forest, outer space—Nari envisions what it would be like to visit all these places and more.

Have you ever wanted to visit space? Reading public astronomer Philip Plait’s Under Alien Skies: A Sightseer’s Guide to the Universe is the next best thing. Beginning with that closest rock, the moon, Plait describes at length what it would feel like to land on the lunar surface, from the bizarre sensation of shuffle-walking because

Mystery writer Anne Perry has died at 84. The author, born Juliet Marion Hulme, passed away in a Los Angeles hospital months after having a heart attack. A prolific mystery and crime writer, Perry published more than 100 books that collectively sold more than 26 million worldwide. But crime wasn’t only in Perry’s books —

In Home Away From Home, Newbery Honor author Cynthia Lord returns to some of her signature storytelling themes: displacement, friendship, families, animals and summer. Fans of Rules, A Touch of Blue and Because of the Rabbit will enjoy learning about the intriguing animal at the novel’s center, a white gyrfalcon typically seen in the Arctic.

Sometime in the early morning of April 7, an anti-book ban billboard in Abita Springs, Louisiana, was set on fire. The billboard was created by a woman involved with the St Tammany Library Alliance and designed by her trans child. It was meant to raise awareness of book bans in the Parish and it was

The books I’ve written so far began almost accidentally. Not the day-to-day, year-to-year accumulation of words—no accidents there. But the inciting moment or the controlling idea that ended up as the buttress for the whole contraption was unplanned, and usually came from me just playing around with words. With Big Fish, I was passing the

Analog horror books are a riff off of the ever-popular found footage sub-genre of horror that came to popularity in the late 2000s notably on YouTube. The sub-genre is often full of grainy, “dated” looking footage, mysterious circumstances, and in the style of analog electronics like television, VHS tapes, FM radio, etc. Viewers are presented

Did you know that the margarita is a “tribute cocktail,” a drink named in honor of a person? In this case, the honoree is Margarita Henkel, daughter of a German ambassador. In Buzzworthy, Vancouver-based author Jennifer Croll (Free the Tipple, Art Boozel) builds on this concept, introducing cocktails inspired by female writers from the 19th

When book banning started to heat up two years ago, many wondered how long until a library worker would be seriously hurt over defending the right to read. Now, we know it’s not going to be long at all. Over the last month, several libraries have faced bomb and shooting threats as a direct result

John Randolph, a wealthy enslaver from Virginia, member of Congress for almost 30 years, strong defender of states’ rights and prominent public speaker, died in 1833. In the will that he created in 1821, he stipulated the freeing of every enslaved person on his plantation, which would amount to one of the largest manumissions in

I love a good YA paperback, so I’m really excited to see such a wonderful assortment of 2023 spring YA paperbacks. What I don’t love about paperbacks, though, is their rising costs; it’s becoming too clear that even the “cheaper” option for buying books is becoming untenable for so many, especially teenagers (and if your

One house that deserves a second chance meets two hearts that deserve the same . . . Buying a haunted house was never in Ashley Scott’s plans, but when an intriguing opportunity drops into her lap after a major life setback, she finds herself trekking cross-country to Hope Harbor on the Oregon coast to launch a new

As she approached the age of 40, Dionne Ford, co-editor of the 2019 anthology Slavery’s Descendants, wondered how she had become “an invisible woman.” Who was she behind the mask she’d created to survive white supremacy and evade her struggles with mental illness? In Go Back and Get It: A Memoir of Race, Inheritance, and

Grace Linn is a 100-year-old widow of a WWII veteran, a grandmother, and a craftivist. On Tuesday, she spoke at a Martin County, Florida school board meeting to protest the removal of 80+ books from the school library. Her statement has gotten a lot of media coverage, and she was later interviewed on MSNBC, Fox

“I could see why so many stories were set in lighthouses,” thinks Julia, the titular narrator of Julia and the Shark, upon reaching her family’s unusual new home for the summer. “It’s a good place for adventures even before you go inside.” In this illustrated middle grade novel, award-winning British writer Kiran Millwood Hargrave (The

The 2023 Audie Award winners were announced Tuesday by the Audio Publishers Association. The award ceremony, in its 28th year, honors audiobooks in 26 categories, including Audiobook of the Year, Autobiography, Memoir, Best Female Narrator, Best Male Narrator, and more. 2023 Audie Award Winners AUDIOBOOK OF THE YEAR Finding Me, written and narrated by Viola

Although Leta McCollough Seletzky wasn’t born until eight years after the 1968 assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., she has always been haunted by the photo of that tragic night—one of the most recognizable images of the 20th century. And no wonder, since in it, her then 23-year-old father, Marrell “Mac” McCullough, can be

Emily Henry is a household name for her bestselling romance novels Beach Read, People We Meet on Vacation, and Book Lovers, with her newest novel, Happy Place, coming out in April. Fans will rejoice to hear that one of her novels is getting the feature film treatment: the movie rights for Book Lovers have been

It’s been six years since Victor LaValle published his acclaimed modern fairy tale, The Changeling. Now the author returns with another fantastical story that could only take place in America. Set in 1914 Montana, Lone Women follows Black homesteader Adelaide Henry, who, after the mysterious death of her parents, flees her home in California with

The winners of the 2023 National Book Critics Circle Awards were announced last night at the New School. Books published in English in 2022 were eligible to win in six categories — Nonfiction, Fiction, Biography, Autobiography, Poetry and Criticism. Additionally, the best first book won the John Leonard Prize award, and this year is the

In previous bestselling, award-winning books such as The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Wonderstruck and The Marvels, author-illustrator Brian Selznick has centered his richly imagined, deeply cinematic stories on children growing up alone and navigating worlds both dangerous and wonderful. Selznick explores similar themes in Big Tree, but this novel’s children aren’t human; they’re the seeds

For years, hundreds of high-profile manuscripts — including early versions of books by Margaret Atwood and Sally Rooney — were stolen in a phishing scheme. The most puzzling part of the case was that nothing seemed to come from these thefts; uthe manuscripts were not leaked or sold, as far as anyone could tell. So

Dani’s drab days are revived by color and beauty when a tree is planted in the “sometimes dusty, sometimes puddly” hole in the sidewalk in front of her home. Now, instead of waking each morning to the clamorous cacophony of city traffic, Dani greets her day with birdsong from nesting friends outside her window.  Dani