Books

This week, PEN America released a report on the current state of book bans in the USA. The report discusses the 50+ “parents’ rights” groups operating across the country, both on the national and local levels, and how these groups are responsible or connected to at least half of the book bans that have taken

“Grandma’s been staying with us since she got sick,” reads the opening line of The Bird Feeder, which gently ushers readers into a difficult, necessary story. “That means now I can visit with her anytime I want,” reads the next line, letting the reader know that, while this story might be sad, there are also

Fall is officially here, and with it, a bounty of new books for your towering TBR. Find here your ultimate guide to books hitting shelves in the final quarter of the year, including brand new books from beloved authors and new voices, standalones to series books, and fiction to nonfiction. There’s something here for every

Cassie Blake, the girl at the heart of Jodi Lynn Anderson’s powerful and timely Each Night Was Illuminated, was raised as a believer in the religious town of Green Valley. She even wanted to grow up to become a nun. But when Cassie was 11 years old, everything changed.  First, Cassie’s mother abandoned her family.

“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

Listening to music is a uniquely personal experience. It can evoke strong feelings and memories. It can unite us or be a source of debate. In This Is What It Sounds Like: What the Music You Love Says About You, Susan Rogers (cognitive neuroscientist and Berklee College of Music professor) and Ogi Ogas (mathematical neuroscientist

Escape, by definition, is rarely easy, and in Uncultured, Daniella Mestyanek Young illustrates just how difficult it can be. Leaving the Children of God, the cult she was born into, and surviving the U.S. Army, a group she chose to enlist in as a young adult, have both left many scars. Lucky for readers, she

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

Renowned filmmaker Werner Herzog has written more than a dozen books and screenplays, but The Twilight World (3.5 hours) is his first novel. Translated by Michael Hofmann and short enough to qualify as a novella, it’s the fictionalized story of Lieutenant Hiroo Onoda, the real-life intelligence officer in the Imperial Japanese Army who defended Lubang

It’s still calendar and meteorological summer in the Northern Hemisphere, but before you know it, the calendar — and the leaves, the temperature, the weather, etc. — will begin their transition into autumn. We’ll be sporting our favorite hoodies with cozy leggings, trading in sunglasses for scarves, and enjoying a delicious warm pumpkin spiced beverage

Comics artist Kate Beaton, creator of the award-winning satirical webcomic “Hark! A Vagrant,” demonstrates her remarkable range and storytelling prowess with her debut graphic memoir, Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands. With strong prose and striking art, she captures the complexities of a place often defined by stark binaries: the Alberta oil sands, one

Mary Roach investigates the uneasy relationship that exists between humans and wildlife in Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law. Traveling to India, Vatican City and other locales, she meets with a wide cast of characters that includes predator attack investigators, a bear manager and a human-elephant conflict specialist, all in an effort to understand how

When Orthodox Jewish teen Hoodie Rosen sees a girl dancing on the sidewalk outside the window of his yeshiva classroom, he has no idea that the connection they’ll form will lead them to question everything they believe and change both of their lives forever. Debut novelist Isaac Blum’s The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen

Fifteen-year-old Yehuda “Hoodie” Rosen and his Orthodox Jewish family, along with many members of their community, have recently moved to Tregaron, Pennsylvania, because the cost of living in their previous town became too expensive. When Hoodie meets Anna-Marie Diaz-O’Leary, the daughter of Tregaron’s mayor, he’s instantly smitten. Yet after he and Anna-Marie are spotted cleaning

The America Library Association reported 729 book challenges in 2021 that impacted nearly 1,600 titles, the highest number of challenges the organization has recorded in 20 years. Despite this increase in challenges, only 43% of the librarians who took the School Library Journal’s (SLJ) 2022 Controversial Books Survey reported facing a formal book challenge— which

Lizzie Blake knows that she’s a lot. A lot of energy and enthusiasm. A lot of creativity and vibrant warmth. But also a lot of mess and chaos. Her attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder can make things difficult, given that she lives in a world built for people whose brains don’t function like hers. After a lifetime of

Author Peter Straub died this past Sunday in Manhattan due to complications of a broken hip. Straub, born in Milwaukee on March 2, 1943, was a popular horror novelist with a somewhat unorthodox pedigree— before turning to writing about the fantastical, he had published short collections of poetry. Although he was reluctant to label his

Poet and author Ander Monson has seen the 1987 movie Predator, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger on the run from an alien in a Guatemalan jungle, 146 times. To explain why, he wrote Predator: A Memoir. Through a scene-by-scene exploration of the film, which he describes as “satire wrapped in gun pornography,” Monson reckons with his lifelong

The much-awaited series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is premiering today at 6 PM PT / 9 PM ET on Amazon Prime with two episodes. Fans of Tolkien’s Middle-earth—or curious newcomers—can sign up for a free 30 day Prime trial to watch the new series. The Rings of Power takes place

A new Missouri law has made it a misdemeanor for a school employee to provide “explicit sexual material” to minors, which could come with up to a year in jail and $2000 in fines. The law applies to images only, such as in graphic novels, and does not apply to material with “serious artistic significance,”

The story is performed in the Inverted Theater, which exists outside of time and can only be visited while one is dreaming. An unnamed spectator sits in the audience and is told that this story is a love story. It is summer, as it always is in the Old Country, and one fateful night, the

As the new school year kicks off — or is already in progress in many places — it’s worth taking a look at the states which have enacted laws that ban books. This guide is not comprehensive, but gives an overview of the legislation currently on the books that will impact how teachers and librarians

Eastern Kentucky schools and libraries are still reeling from the effects of flash flooding that started on July 26. The flooding has not only killed 37 people, it’s also put already socioeconomically vulnerable areas at greater risk. The Letcher County school district superintendent shared one particularly devastating video of a school’s library that shows books

Florida’s election tomorrow, August 23, 2022, is a crucial one for schools across the state. Every school board has at least one seat on the ballot, and several counties also have additional school-related referendums up for vote. This election determines whether school board members will be outright elected–anyone earning over 50% of the vote will

If you’ve been seeing the chatter on Twitter about Barnes & Noble not stocking debut hardcovers, you’re not alone. Writers recently sounded the alarm after hearing from various sources (other writers, B&N reps, former B&N employees, other industry professionals, etc.) that the chain’s stores would only be stocking hardcovers that had proven sales records. When

Fantasy and paranormal romance are booming, the rom-com revival shows no signs of stopping and a new wave of angsty love stories is about to hit. This autumn will boast an absolute bounty of love stories.  Aphrodite and the Duke by J.J. McAvoyDell | August 23 And lo, the “Bridgerton”-inspired romance novels have arrived. J.J.

PEN America has analyzed the state of educational gag orders in the United States as of August 2022 and release a report sharing its findings. Educational gag orders are defined as efforts to legally restrict education on topics like race, American history, gender, and LGBTQ+ identities in K-12 and higher education. PEN America’s report outlines

Some of our most beloved, stalwart series return and a handful of promising sleuths make their debuts in the mysteries and thrillers we’re most excited to read this autumn. Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna RaybournBerkley | September 6 The author of the Veronica Speedwell series, which are easily some of the best historical

In an interview with Vanity Fair, George R.R. Martin spoke about the new Game of Thrones prequel series, House of the Dragon, but he also commented on how he and his work is discussed online. Martin said he has “given up on any hope of predicting the end” of the Song of Ice and Fire