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In November 2020, Penguin Random House, the biggest book publisher in the United States, expressed interest to buy Big 5 competitor Simon & Schuster for $2.175 billion. Two years later, the Department of Justice moved to block the proposed merger in a civil antitrust lawsuit. According to the DOJ, the merger of the two publishers would “create a publishing behemoth” that would presumably harm authors and consumers. The justice department’s complaint declares that Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster compete for manuscripts by providing bigger advances, better services, and more attractive contract conditions to writers....

If you are one of those people who has no trouble putting a book aside — or maybe has trouble, but does it anyway — when it is not working for you, I have a (perhaps new) initialism and concept to propose: NRN, which means Not Right Now. It has happened several times that I have picked up a book, just to find myself struggling to get through it. Admittedly, sometimes it is the “book’s fault” — if books can ever be faulted for not clicking with you — but often, even when you understand that some books are indeed not made for you, you know that there is another reason why you are having trouble getting across the stories, turning this journey from front to back cover into a tricky one: it is not the right time, place, or moment to consume that story....

Edward Stratemeyer was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, on October 4, 1862. His father Henry Stratemeyer had immigrated from Germany in 1837, had been a ‘49er — gold rush prospector — and returned to Elizabeth, where he married his brother’s widow Anna, who had three children. They had three more children, the youngest of whom was Edward. An avid reader, when Edward was a teenager, he began printing original stories for his friends — we would now likely call his pamphlets zines — on a printing press in the basement of his father’s tobacco shop....

Before D&D was the game as we know it, it grew out of a medieval war game called Chainmail. The game was built to simulate medieval combat, but there was a 14-page supplement included at the end of the game that explained how to apply the rules to a fantasy setting. When Dungeons & Dragons was first published, the game came in the form of three booklets in a woodgrain-colored cardboard box: Men & Magic, Monsters & Treasure, and Underworld & Wilderness Adventures....

Fight For The Future is a group of technology experts, policy makers, and creatives who work to use the power of the internet for good and to ensure it remains a tool for all to use equitably. This latest project emerges as a direct result of highlighting disparities when it comes to inequalities in digital publishing and specifically, how public schools and libraries, independent booksellers, rural, disabled, and low-income readers are being further pulled away from the future of our digital reality....

Who was Agatha Christie? Agatha Christie’s work was hugely influential, not only on the detective genre, but on broader popular culture; she’s been parodied in everything from The Simpsons to Muppets Tonight. Christie popularised the country house mystery, and the trope of gathering all the suspects together in one place for the denouement is strongly associated with Christie’s work. In addition to many Christie-inspired spoofs and pastiches, from Murder by Death to Knives Out, Agatha Christie’s work has also influenced multiple serious detective stories....

“Craig Thompson’s story of his high-school love (and childhood trauma in an Evangelical family), Blankets, still resonates beyond the college crowd it captivated back in 2003. Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi’s graphic memoir chronicling her experience growing up during the Islamic revolution, has made its way onto high school syllabi across the country. And then there’s the long, long list of graphic novels that have inspired notable TV shows (Watchmen, The Umbrella Academy, The End of the F***ing World), movies (V for Vendetta, Watchmen again, Ghost World), and in the case of Alison Bechdel’s (yes, of the Bechdel Test) Fun Home, musicals....

A day or so later I learned about Zoom backgrounds, and I now attend meetings from inside various Impressionist paintings. If we know each other and there’s a bookshelf in your house or office, chances are I’ve planted myself in front of it the minute you left the room. I looked for books we have in common, books I’d wanted to read but had forgotten about. If I noticed that you had a lot of books about a particular location, I would have assumed you had perhaps dreamed of living in that place....

But what about reading? I mean we all know that we talk to our animals whether or not we go about admitting that on the internet, but do you read to your pets? Have you tried it? I have, and I do, and it’s become one of my favorite parts of my day. There is something so special about putting aside time to sit and read to someone or something....

I read it quickly. The writing is easy to read, and the book is a very compulsive page-turner. It reads like a diary from inside the head of a 14-year-old girl. I don’t mean that in the dismissive way that many adults talk about the interests of 14-year-old girls. I was a 14-year-old girl once too. And that’s a fine thing to be. But, I’m also fine with never having to return my consciousness to that tiny, rigid, obsessive world again....

I fully admit this is a matter of taste, and I’ll elaborate on that further. The world of romance is so broad. It shouldn’t be too terribly hard to find things that cater to my tastes. Still, I’m picky. And when I read a romance that falls short for me, my fix-it instinct often tells me that a friend’s presence in the novel could have solved at least some of my issues....

While books with weird covers may look odd and may be a hard sell, the contents can often surprise you. If you want to support smaller authors or want to explore the backlist, weird book covers are your way in. Used bookstores will have loads of them for good prices. Indie authors will presently surprise you with their ebooks too. Listen, if you enjoy the feeling of opening up a mystery box, unwrapping a blind date with a book, or enjoying stories that surprise you, books with weird covers might just be for you....

With every great trope I love, though, there is one that I don’t like. And nothing makes my blood boil more than the miscommunication trope. The miscommunication trope, for those who may be unfamiliar with the term, describes when characters interact with each other in some way, but miss saying something which would very likely — and often, very easily — solve whatever misunderstanding they’re now facing. Sometimes, characters will say the wrong things in all the wrong ways, or a character will understand something in the complete opposite way of what was meant....

That is because these books all use social media as more than just something happening in the background. Social networks and social media fame actively influence the plot in each of these YA novels, whether social media is used to spread vicious rumors, engage in flirtatious banter, or enable teens to create entire lives away from their real world high schools. They engage in big questions about social media. Like, is social media a force for good or bad in the world?...

April is National Poetry Month and it seems like a fitting time to highlight YA titles where poetry plays a role in the story. Back in January, I featured three historical fiction titles that were written in verse, and in a future post, I’ll talk about three more solid books written entirely in verse. For today, though, I thought it’d be fun to look at books where the main character is a poet....

Where the Crawdads Sing Reading Guide Where the Crawdads Sing is author Delia Owens’ debut novel (but not her first book). Since its release in August 2018, Where the Crawdads Sing has become a #1 New York Times bestseller. It was also a book club pick for Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine book club. If it’s good enough for Reese’s book club, it’s good enough for yours, right? But what is the book about?...

TBR is Book Riot’s subscription service offering Tailored Book Recommendations for readers of all stripes. Been dreaming of a “Stitch Fix for books?” Now it’s here! Tell TBR about your reading preferences and what you’re looking for, and sit back while your Bibliologist handpicks recommendations just for you. TBR offers plans to receive hardcover books in the mail or recommendations by email, so there’s an option for every budget. Visit mytbr....

Sixteen-year-old Nicholas Cox is the illegitimate son of a retired fencing champion who dreams of getting the proper training he could never afford. After earning a place on the elite Kings Row fencing team, Nicholas must prove himself to his rival, Seiji Katayma, and navigate the clashes, friendships, and relationships between his teammates on the road to state championships. The first installment of this original YA novel series by Sarah Rees Brennan, rich with casual diversity and queer self-discovery, explores never-before-seen drama inspired by C....

What is grimdark? It was coined from the tagline for Warhammer 40,000, “In the grim darkness of the far future there is only war.” Grimdark describes fiction, usually speculative, that is dark, amoral, violent, and often dystopian or anti-utopian. Settings are often bleak. Protagonists and antagonists alike are often morally questionable or bankrupt. Problems are solved in violent, irreversible ways. Content warnings abound. As the days shorten and the nights elongate, we break out the blankets....

Comprehensive Dog Training Books How to Be Your Dog’s Best Friend: The Classic Training Manual for Dog Owners (Revised & Updated Edition) by The Monks of New Skete You might like this if: You appreciate details and want an extremely comprehensive guide to classic, AKC (American Kennel Club)-style obedience training. About the book: Written by a team of monks who have been raising and training dogs for more than 30 years, this book teaches you everything you want to know about dog ownership....