Posts

We’re giving away $250 to spend at Barnes and Noble! All you have to do is sign-up for our Giveaways newsletter and get notified every time we run a giveaway for free books and bookish stuff! at Autostraddle: 8 Great Queer Scandinavian Books, from Tender Novels to Supernatural Horror at Bustle: 20 Reimaginings Of Classic Myths & Legends To Read After Cursed at BuzzFeed: 17 New YA Thrillers And Mysteries You Won’t Want To Put Down at Crime Reads: Seven Mysteries Featuring Senior Citizens as Secondary Characters at Electric Lit: 9 Books About Being Homesick for A Place That Doesn’t Exist Anymore at Epic Reads: 23 Young Adult Mystery Books That Will Keep You Guessing Until the Very End at Essence: The 50 Most Impactful Black Books Of The Last 50 Years at Get Literary: 6 Brilliant Audiobooks We’re BookCationing with This Summer at Marie Claire: 12 Books by Latinx Authors You Need to Read, Like, Yesterday at Insider: 9 Afrocentric Fantasy Books to Read Right Now at POPSUGAR: 15 Uplifting Books You Need to Add to Your Summer 2020 Reading List at Riveted: Books about History That Will Give You a Different Perspective

Will You Still Love Me If I Wet the Bed? by Liz Prince Liz Prince is maybe better known for her Alone Forever collection of comics on life as a single lady, but this one is an adorable (and pocket-sized!) collection about her life with her boyfriend. Themes include: Butt grabs, cuddle farts, and silly talks. Cat Person by Seo Kim Seo Kim’s collection is similar to Liz Prince’s, where each page is a separate slice-of-life comic....

This year, I find myself reaching for memoirs. I don’t know what it is about someone telling me about their life, but I find their stories comforting, like I’m sitting across the table from them, listening as they share their fascinating story. So if you find yourself, like me, in the memoir mood, here are a few of my favorites.

We read history to comprehend how the present moment has been determined by our collective pasts. Chickasaw poet and novelist Linda Hogan portrays the white man’s insatiable greed against the 1920s Oklahoma oil boom in Mean Spirit. James McBride introduces the reader to the greatest American hero of all, John Brown, in his novel The Good Lord Bird. A policeman becomes paralyzed incident in a 1968 Detroit anti–Vietnam War march changes the lives of two sisters, as well as their families and friends, in Her Sister’s Tattoo....

Never fear!! Book Riot is here!! And like any good superhero-squirrel, we have a list of books like Terrible Things That Can Happen to You for your kids to read in its place. They may not be the exact same book, but they are definitely as funny and inspiring as Terrible Things That Can Happen to You. And maybe they’ll help your little Flora (or Ulysses) when they’re in trouble too....

Holidays are one of those things that you can’t avoid, even if you don’t celebrate or participate. They are literally everywhere. From movies to books to drinks to food, almost everything you’re going to see has been “holiday-ized.” In those situations, I tend to take a “If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em” mentality. For me, this means that I consume more holiday related books. And I don’t just read ones that are considered pure holiday stories, like A Christmas Carol....

Thankfully, there is a happy medium for readers who want a broader plot line but also may not want to dedicate themselves — either money- or time-wise — to thousands of pages of plot. I’ve mentioned before that I prefer books that have “volume 1” printed on the spine, but lately I’ve been feeling scatterbrained both in my regular life and my book choices. There’s so much to read out there, and the world is so strange these days that it’s tough to focus on anything for hours upon hours....

I was hooked on books about ballet, too. I love the gritty determination of dancers to follow their dreams against all the odds — something I can relate to. And I really enjoy reading about the lengths that dancers can go to amid the competitiveness of the dance world — the contrast with the beauty of the art that they are striving for makes it all the more intriguing and fun to read about....

Comics and graphic novels range in genre and age group, like the book industry in general. Superhero comics are still hugely popular, but you can also find comics for basically anyone in your life. Comics and graphic novels add a visual storytelling component that enhances the reading experience. The wide array of comics available makes them a huge part of the publishing industry, and an integral part of literature in general....

Flowers Are Calling by Rita Gray and Kenard Pak This book is all about different pollinators, with flowers calling out for different animals and insects to drink them. Kenard Pak’s digital watercolors are beautiful, Rita Gray’s prose is simple and rhythmic, and this makes for a tranquil and informative read for little ones who want to know more about the life cycle of plant life. Little Turtle and the Changing Sea by Becky Davies and Jenny Poh This cute book is about a little turtle in love with the vibrant and beautiful ocean who grows up and begins to realize that her beloved home is beginning to change, and so too is her journey through it....

The following books all feature just that, delivering compulsively readable tales set in apartments where nothing is quite what meets the eye. In these novels, every building is hiding some dark history behind its walls. From a buzzy new thriller set in a residence in Paris to an acclaimed Japanese novel that mixes elements of horror and mystery, these captivating works of fiction all have one thing in common: their sinister settings are just as memorable as their characters....

We were recently having a discussion about reading Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome for a work-related initiative. And I remember telling her that this would definitely foster a good discussion. I also suggested that it would be a good idea to also focus on ‘lighter’ books. Don’t get me wrong. It’s important to read books like that, as well as titles like How to Be an Anti-Racist and The New Jim Crow....

These are also all translated works, and some will even fit the categories for your Read Harder Challenge! I don’t know about you, but I’m about to download every single one of these for my library. You can download them for free until April 24, 2019, so hurry! The Murmur of Bees by Sofía Segovia, translated by Simon Bruni Check off an #ownvoices novel set in Mexico for your Read Harder Challenge with this work of literary fiction....

But, I’d like you as a reader to take this poetic journey with me. Even though I am familiar with the topics that are discussed on this list, I still feel as though I am a novice when it comes to reading and dissecting poetry. Some of the poetry might seem traumatic as issues such as misogynoir, patriarchy, homophobia and racism can be topics that are addressed, but there are a lot of Black joy themes as well....

According to the Chilean author: “I am a writer because I was blessed with an ear for stories, an unhappy childhood, and a strange family. (With relatives as weird as mine there is no need to invent anything. They alone provide all the material for magic realism). Literature has defined me. Word by word, page after page, I have invented this hyperbolic, flamboyant me.” Allende is one of the most commercially successful authors from Latin America, and her stories have often explored the region....

I let writing projects pile up until I finally end up with reader’s block, which is kind of like a reading slump that stems from pure guilt. Because: I need to write a Book Riot Post. I need to submit three (3) personal essays to potential homes, but they need polishing, of course, which I don’t want to do. I need to finish the second round of novel edits—a novel, I must add, that I never planned to write until I was writing it....

First, I thought I’d list all the Best Play-winning titles written by women. But I discovered there were only FOUR. Then I thought I’d look for all the authors of color who had won. Only THREE. Yikes. So in the end, I am presenting you with a list of ALL of the shows that have won a Tony Award for Best Play that were not written by white men. Sadly, it is a short list....

But what happens when you do get to the end of her works? What if you’ve already read all of her books? Where do you go from there? Well, one place to start is the long list of books she’s recommended. (She always balked at naming her “favorite” books.) Here are more than 75 of them: books she mentioned in interviews, or wrote about on her blog, or gave to the Strand for her “authors bookshelf,” or books she blurbed....