“Some things are meant to be a secret (we won’t judge). But if you don’t quite need the maximum security and high price tag of an uncrackable safe, a well-placed hiding spot can do the trick. That’s where we turn to the trusty book safe. This simple, one-day project only needs a 300-page hardback book (the more boring the better), an X-Acto knife (or oscillating tool if you’re fancy), and a little bit of patience....
Whether you want to improve your language skills through reading, or just want to be able to read original language texts now, you actually probably can. Once upon a time, I really, really wanted to be able to read French literature in French. The only problem was that I had pretty much entirely forgotten the French I’d learned in high school. Over time, though, I worked my way up to an advanced French reading level, and a lot of how I got good at reading was by…wait for it…reading....
There’s something about Pulitzer Prize winning novels that irks me when I read them. I don’t know what it is, but perhaps my expectations for the book goes up when I see it’s won a prestigious writing award. I’m not usually reading heavy literary fiction. Don’t get me wrong, I like to read literary fiction every once in a while. A lot of the books I read are also heavy with thematic elements, diverse stories, and plot devices....
Book Riot is teaming up with FSG’s Work in Progress Newsletter to give away a year’s subscription to TBR at the hardcover level! Our book subscription service pairs you with a professional book nerd who creates your own tailored book recommendations. You get the best books you didn’t know you were looking for, and a reading experience that’s expertly-curated with recommendations that are as diverse and exciting as books and readers are....
It’s an absolute delight to see more LGBTQ books getting published, and more readers picking them up. I love following other creators who also delight in reading sapphic books. No matter how many times it happens, I still can’t get enough of the hum of recognition of reading a book with a character whose experiences resonate with mine. Even if we are different in many other ways, it’s a way into the story....
The Foundation Trailer Can we just take a moment to say, “WOW!?” If I’m being honest, most of my current memory of reading the series is focused on the moment when one character is learning how to make soap from scratch, because obviously civilization cannot survive without hygiene, but also how is it possible that making soap with urine is hygeinic?! The more you know, I guess. I do also remember being obsessed with psychohistory as a possible real thing, and it’s entirely likely that obsession played into my eventual History B....
The increase has been led by young adult novels, specifically books like They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera, which had the biggest gains, and Hearstopper by Alice Oseman. Though the increase hasn’t been as big, LGBTQ book sales have also risen for adult fiction, with books like The House In The Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune, One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston, and On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong leading the way....
You might remember him for his role on the final season of The West Wing. I first became familiar with his work as a narrator when I listened to American Like Me by America Ferrera. This is a full cast recording, so I didn’t realize he was one of the readers until I heard his familiar voice. I was immediately transported back to that last, high-tension season of The West Wing, and delighted by his talent as a narrator....
Though female representation has increased, it still lags behind. This is especially noteworthy when books are broken down by category — fiction or nonfiction — and the types of characters featured. Non-human characters in fiction were male much more than female, and nonfiction books with a human character were also more likely to be male. The second finding is especially worthy of consideration when it takes into account the historical people being represented in these nonfiction titles; they’re far more likely to be men than women....
I love writing lists of must-read books because there are truly so many you must read, but this list is comprised of several that I love. They range from the 12th century to the 20th century, and I’ve broken them down into five general categories. But honestly, some of them could fall under more than one. (Also, I wanted to include Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind, but I couldn’t decide what category it falls under....
There are endless types of ASMR content that can be found on YouTube, Patreon, Spotify, and more. Many of the typical favorites — role plays, unintelligible whispering, object triggers, and soft spoken or whispered rambles — exist in a bookish context. Emily Martin wrote an amazing article explaining the phenomenon of ASMR and the many ways it can rear its bookish head. ASMR Book Sounds is where to head to get more background info and some great suggestions....
They thought they left the fight behind on the battlefield. But their greatest struggles are just beginning. Honorably discharged from the Army after an explosion nearly killed her, former military psychiatrist Brooke Adams has set up shop to help others. Former Army Special Ops Asher makes an appointment with a counselor. When he arrives at her office she isn’t there—but a dead body is. When it becomes clear that Brooke was the real target of the attack—and that her secrets go even deeper than his own—Asher vows to protect her no matter what....
If Men, Then: Poems by Eliza Griswold, read by the author From a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist comes a humorous but profound, albeit short (47 minutes), collection. Griswold narrates with a strong voice and moderate pacing. “What can we offer the child at the border,” she begins with her poem “Prayer.” Then she continues with her other pieces about race, immigration, and spirituality. If Men, Then is Griswold’s second poetry collection after Wideawake Field....
There are other times, however, when I don’t want to deal with the familiar. It might be that I want to escape from my part of the world. It might be that I want to understand someone else’s perspective on the world. It is always, always because I want to be a citizen of the world and not just my little corner of it. At these times, I have always looked to books....
American Dirt dropped on January 21 and was published by Flatiron Books, an imprint of Macmillan Publishers. The book’s author, Jeanine Cummins, who identified as white as recently as four years ago, decided to write a narco novel about a culture, history, and people she simply cannot identify with. Despite her shortcomings, she went ahead and wrote the book, as she states in her afterword, to “humanize the faceless brown mass....
When people think about historical fiction, they think of WWII fiction. Maybe not always. Definitely not everyone. But it seems like it’s true for a lot of people. And there’s good reason for that. There’s a lot of WWII historical fiction out there and a lot of really great books about WWII. But the oversaturation of stories about WWII can be overwhelming at times. I see plenty of requests from people for historical fiction books that aren’t about WWII....
Last year, I read a book for every week in the year, topping last year’s record by 12 titles, but I did not read a book weekly. My quickest book, Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur, took one night. May it be those 62-hour weeks or the Great Godchild Watch of 2018 or whatever keeps us from books, The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein clocked in as my longest read, which took one month and 19 days after first starting it in July 2017....
“Everyone has received at least one and now they’ve been elevated to poetry: a US teacher has highlighted corporate opportunism during the coronavirus outbreak, in a viral poem titled First Lines of Emails I’ve Received While Quarantining. Jessica Salfia, an English teacher and writer in West Virginia, posted the poem on Twitter on Saturday. ‘In these uncertain times / as we navigate the new normal, / Are you willing to share your ideas and solutions?...
