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The Best Crystal Books The Book of Stones: Who They Are and What They Teach by Robert Simmons and Naisha Ahsian If you’re serious about working with crystals and stones, you definitely need to add The Book of Stones to your library. Also known informally as “the crystals bible,” this comprehensive book lists both healing and spiritual properties of 455 gems and minerals. Each stone’s entry includes keywords, elemental associations, relevant chakras, an affirmation, and spiritual, emotional, and physical associations....

1. If you love Game of Thrones world-building: The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin Fascinated by the geography of Westeros and Essos and how the climate shapes characters’ lives? Check out The Broken Earth, the Hugo and Nebula-winning science fiction trilogy by N. K. Jemison. On a post-apocalyptic planet with only one main continent, called the Stillness, frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions rule the characters’ lives. Several characters are orogenes: people with the power to control earthquakes....

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid Alix is a privileged white blogger, influencer, and mother. Emira is a Black twentysomething trying to figure out where her life is headed and how to afford health insurance. While babysitting Alix’s daughter, Emira is stopped by a grocery store security guard who accuses her of kidnapping. From there, a string of good intentions and bad behavior spirals their relationship into something that can’t be repaired....

Pig-Heart Boy by Malorie Blackman In this near-future sci-fi story by former Children’s Laureate Malorie Blackman, Cameron Kelsey, a young boy with a serious heart condition, is given the chance to have a transplant that will hopefully help him live a longer life, and let him do all the things he wants to do – including diving down to touch the bottom of his local pool. The catch? Instead of being from a human donor, the heart will come from a genetically engineered pig, as one of the first attempts at xenografting....

Leigh Bardugo took the heist genre to new levels in YA with the publication of Six of Crows, but hers isn’t the only great YA heist novel you’ll want to sink your teeth into. Here are eight incredible heist novels set everywhere from real-life California to magical Paris to incredible fantasy lands that you won’t be able to put down! Outstanding YA Heist Novels Want to discover more great heist books?...

One tradition that I always follow is that I pick a nice thriller or two to enjoy at the time, especially during my days off from teaching around Thanksgiving. There’s something about this time of year that makes me want to enjoy a good book filled with twists and turns that will keep me on the edge as I quickly flip the pages. I adore those stories that weave a little mystery with their character development and keep us wondering what happens next....

April Sawicki is living in a motorless motorhome and scraping to get by. When she attends an open mic night, she realizes her life could be so much bigger. She decides to pack her stuff and leave for good, setting off on a journey to find a life that’s all hers. She chronicles her life in the songs she writes and discovers that where she came from doesn’t dictate who she has to be....

Obviously, I’m being a little cheeky, but I’m not lying. A lot is happening in the brains and bodies of middle schoolers. Thanks to the onset of puberty, they’re self-conscious, stressed, and moody. Additionally, they are at high risk for depression and anxiety. Often, this results in risk-taking behaviors like experimenting with drugs and alcohol. Tweens struggle to parse their own feelings and to interpret the emotions of others. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, during the tween years, kids’ brains produce more gray matter, affecting their prefrontal cortex....

But it seems like in recent years, that’s changing. More stories in SFF are containing explicitly Jewish themes and characters (although, yes, this is still a very small percentage of the SFF books). These Jewish fantasy books and sci-fi novels include not just Jewish characters, but Jewish themes, stories inspired by Kabbalistic elements or Jewish folktales/fables, or spiritual elements. Sometimes it feels like religion can lend itself to fantasy themes and stories, and when done well, weaving the two together can be powerful....

Zoom Zoom Zoom, We’re leaving very soon. If you want to take a trip, Climb aboard my rocket ship. Zoom Zoom Zoom, We’re going to the moon. Zoom Zoom Zoom, We’re leaving very soon. 5,4,3,2,1—BLAST OFF! My 1-year-old loves this song. And with uber nerdy, Star Trek loving parents, you better believe we’re packing her library full of space books. Science books for preschoolers must strike a balance between fun and informative, and honestly, fun must outweigh informative in the end....

First published in 1935, it is the satirical tale of the rise of an American authoritarian leader and the slow, almost unnoticeable way that could happen. Here are a few It Can’t Happen Here quotes that are way too real. It Can’t Happen Here Quotes “He was an actor of genius. There was no more overwhelming actor on the stage, in the motion pictures, nor even in the pulpit. He would whirl arms, bang tables, glare from mad eyes, vomit Biblical wrath from a gaping mouth; but he would also coo like a nursing mother, beseech like an aching lover, and in between tricks would coldly and almost contemptuously jab his crowds with figures and facts—figures and facts that were inescapable even when, as often happened, they were entirely incorrect....

In case you missed it, yesterday FOX axed fan-favorite Brooklyn Nine Nine after five seasons. And the internet (rightfully) exploded. If you’re not familiar with the show, B99 follows the fictional 99 police precinct in New York City. The group of officers is super diverse, with a variety of races, ethnic backgrounds, and sexual orientations all POSITIVELY represented. If you haven’t watched, this show is seriously a gem. It’s even a favorite among fellow Rioters....

Kids read more when they have access to ebooks and audiobooks from both their school and public library. Public Library CONNECT makes it easier than ever to connect them with your library’s digital resources. With the Sora K-12 reading app, you can enable young readers in your community to borrow age-appropriate ebooks and audiobooks from your library for both classroom learning and recreational reading. Kids not only read more, it also means more checkouts for your digital collection....

I talked on Monday about the upcoming erotic short featuring the Headless Horseman, which got me to thinking about other supernatural romances. Not necessarily dark or monster ones, but ones where the world either is completely in or coexists with the paranormal. Now, I know the go-to for paranormal romances (or PNR) are vampires and shifters. But there are a plethora of other supernatural hotties out there if you’re looking for a little bit of variety in your reading world....

I find just as much recent adult and YA fiction filled with disability stereotypes and tropes. A much-anticipated new release I recently finished, To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara, has a character become autistic after taking medication for a virus. This is problematic because of the myths that surround vaccines, medicine, and their link to autism when in fact there is clear evidence vaccines do not cause autism. Another autistic-coded character threatens to stab students with a virus-filled needle unless they befriend them....

A quarter of Americans still do not have broadband internet access at home. This segment of Americans includes young people who are in school. Can AI impact those students utilizing it at school? Absolutely. But the fact of the matter is, this shouldn’t be the concern of the shifting face of high school English classes. Censorship should be. Censorship, happening across the country at never before seen speed by right-wing Christian nationalists, fueled by group think, by big pocketbooks, and well-connected politicians, is the true threat to what a high school English class offers....

As a millennial, I grew up when the internet was wild and untamed. My generation were there when all the grossest memes were born and we lived to tell the tale. (Put simply, it takes a lot to scare us.) Those of you who were there might be thinking, But what could be worse to have in your search history than “2 girls 1 cup” or — God forbid — “1 man 1 jar”?...

Only you knew how it took all my childhood energy some days to not think about the possibility of getting sick. Was that a twinge in my side? An onset of the stomach flu, or appendicitis? I would hug your worn covers and smooth pages closer, The Boxcar Children, and swim into the stories of courageous Henry, capable Jessie, sweet Violet, and fun-loving Benny. With those four at my side, I could ride the swells of panic and break through the surface with breath left in my lungs....

And now, award-winning author E.J. Mellow (Jacqueline) and book blogger Natasha Minoso of Book Baristas have launched a charity project called She Is Booked, selling bookmarks with inspiring messages towards women, and all their profits go to charity – the current organization being RAINN (Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network). The bookmarks are an empowering and aesthetically gorgeous amalgamation of our love for accessories – especially ones that are highly Instagrammable – and our desire to affect change, particularly in today’s climate and advocacy for women’s issues....

The History Of Josei Manga Manga started off being very male-centered. According to Jappleng, most of the characters, creators, and stories centered on men and young boys, but there was an audience for manga targeting women readers. In the early ’80s, only a couple of publishers were creating what were previously known as girl or lady comics. Josei Manga vs. Shouju Manga The easiest way for me to describe the difference between josei and shouju is to think of it in terms of YA versus general fiction....