Posts

A BROWN GIRL WAS GOING TO MARRY A LITERAL, REAL LIFE PRINCE. Being a brown girl myself, I had no delusions about how people would treat Meghan Markle. I had seen the way many white people reacted to Barack Obama’s presidency — to put it bluntly, no matter what they might say, there are a lot of white people who will, when actually faced with people of color being in positions of prestige or power, get real mad about the house n— getting uppity when they should have been happy with their proximity to whiteness (and thus proximity to respect) by simply being mulatto....

Graphic novels and comics hold a special place in my heart, so of course I’m all for graphic novels and comics that have these themes. The gorgeous art helping to better evoke their stories, their joy, sadness, and growth, and it gives you a deeper insight into the world around them. If you like such books, then you’re in luck. Here’s a list of graphic novels and comic books which feature characters seeking acceptance, both from themselves and others, and looking for a place to belong where they can finally be themselves....

Bitch Planet by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Valentine De Landro If the The Handmaid’s Tale and The Hunger Games had a comic baby, it would be Bitch Planet. In a near-future world, The Fathers rule the planet and women are expected to be beautiful, sickly thin, quiet, and compliant. The non-compliant women (or NCs) are sent away to Bitch Planet to live out their days in torture. Things get interesting when Kamau Kogo, a former professional athlete, lands on the planet and is recruited into the biggest sporting event of the year, the Duemila....

A glorious new volume of Sartore’s signature animal portraits, this time highlighting the fascinating shapes, patterns, and expressions of animals both familiar and little known. Joel Sartore, on a mission to photograph all the animal species in human care, now delights us with more photographs, this time selected to represent the amazing diversity of the world’s animals. Animal lovers young and old will get lost in the pages of this book, delighted by the spectacular diversity among these creatures and the wit of the photographer chronicling them....

Based in Toronto, Ontario, the website was developed in 2006 by Allen Lau and Ivan Yuen. The Wattpad of then wasn’t half as sleek and attractive as it is now. My memory of the old site is vague. I remember the homepage had a selection of its most popular works, while a search bar let you look up the kinds of stories you wanted to read. Whenever I read a book, there’d be a side panel listing similar stories....

But beyond the clear intent of the tone of the name, it was hard to get a clear definition for what the sub-genre encompassed. Was anything with darkish vibes grimdark? Or were there more specific motifs and elements to it, as run rampant through certain romance sub-genres? It threw me for a bit of a loop, so I avoided using the term for a time, and then finally decided to get to the bottom of it....

They are considered one of China’s officially recognized ethnic minorities. However, their status as an indigenous group is rejected by the Chinese government. Throughout their history, the Uyghurs lived in oases within the Tarim Basin. In the 10th century, the Uyghur people began to become Islamicized and by the 16th century, most of their population identified as Muslim. For centuries, their economy was mostly predicated on agriculture and trade, seeing increases with the growth of the Silk Road trading route....

The Black and Read is part bookstore and part record shop in Arvada, Colorado. Somewhere between Boulder and Denver, Arvada is a bedroom community mostly made up of people who commuted to and from one city or another. It made an effort to be an artsy place, with a turn of the century downtown and a big art complex, but it wasn’t immune to the corporate parking lots and boxy chain restraints that make up most of suburbia....

My first yoga classes were gentle and calming, an introduction to momentary peace that hooked me immediately. I know plenty of other teachers and students who tell similar tales: we do this because it worked when we first tried it. We felt calmer, stronger, more sure of ourselves. When I trained as a teacher in London, I learned to teach a vinyasa flow style, grounded in the Ashtanga Vinyasa teachings of K....

This year’s fiction prize went to Colson Whitehead for The Nickel Boys, a harrowing exploration of abuse at a reform school in Jim Crow–era Florida. This win makes him one of only four novelists (Booth Tarkington in 1919 and 1922; William Faulkner in 1955 and 1963; John Updike in 1982 and 1991) to win the Pulitzer twice. His novel The Underground Railroad won the award in 2017. — The Pulitzer Prizes (@PulitzerPrizes) May 4, 2020 Below is a list of winners in fiction, biography, poetry, and general nonfiction....

When I eventually saw the 2014 movie adaptation, I loved some of the actors and tried to be open-minded. However, my original impression persisted. The movie has to be in black and white with flashes of color, but this crucial detail is tantamount to a spoiler. In the book, I learned how Jonas’ dystopian society operates at the same time he did. The movie also exaggerates the conflict between Jonas and the Elders....

Cook Korean!: A Comic Book with Recipes by Robin Ha This is the first cookbook that I’ve just, like, read cover to cover. The comic format really lends itself to that, as does Ha’s habit of adding cultural context and details to recipes. The recipes are also interspersed with personal stories, like about how popular one dish was for kids to bring to school or how she learned how to cook something from her mom....

Joanna Cole, the author who wrote The Magic School Bus series, passed away last week, and she left behind a wonderful, adventurous legacy of learning in her wake. According to my research, Cole was a librarian before she started writing books full time in 1980, and she wrote the first Magic School Bus book in 1985, publishing 13 in total for the series with illustrator Bruce Degen. The beloved TV show ran for four seasons, and Netflix recently re-adapted the show in 2017....

As I sat down to write what I thought was going to be my usual quick Goodreads review, I found myself writing a lot more than I had intended. Once I was deliberately thinking about the bisexual representation, I realized Inkmistress was doing something I had never really seen before. Inkmistress is a story about love and found family above all things. One of the main plot lines that investigates those themes is the central romance, between Asra, the protagonist, and Hal....

Have you started this year’s Read Harder challenge? Once again, Read Harder 2020 has 24 tasks designed to help you break out of your reading bubble and expand your worldview through books. With new genres, new authors, and new points of view, the challenge will (hopefully) help you discover amazing books you wouldn’t have otherwise picked up. Read historical fiction that’s not about WWII, a retelling of a classic or fairy tale, horror from indie presses, and more in this year’s challenge....

Book Riot is teaming up with Workman Publishing to giveaway a parenting book bundle! Avoiding Reality Bookmark: For when you need a sarcastic response to “What are you doing?” Flying Books Mask Bag: Need a convenient wet bag to stash your masks in while you’re out and about? Get this fun bookish bag! Book Nerd Sticker: For when you need a solid sticker to proclaim who you are! Frankenstein T-Shirt: Grab this T-shirt with one of the most famous lines from Mary Shelley’s novel!...

Book Riot is teaming up with The Current to give away a current affairs non-fiction book bundle featuring one of each title: Controlling Women: What We Must Do Now to Save Reproductive Freedom by Kathryn Kolbert & Julie F. Kay, America for Americans … Books Over People Card: Send this one to your reader friends who also understand that friends are awesome, but books are amazing. Bookish Sticker Sheet: This sheet is so pretty, I want all the stickers for my planner and stationery!...

My Invented Country by Isabel Allende for $2.99 Last Chance to See by Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine for $2.99 Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan for $1.99 The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller for $2.99 Passage West by Rishi Reddi for $1.99 The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey for $1.99 New York 2140 by Kim Stanley Robinson for $2.99 Last Tang Standing by Lauren Ho by $1....

Horrorstor by Grady Hendrix for $2.99 Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid for $2.99 Night of the Mannequins by Stephen Graham Jones for $3.99 The Only Child by Mi-ae Seo for $1.99 Down Among the Dead Men by Michelle Williams for $1.99 Girl in Disguise by Greer MacAllister for $2.50 Disappearance at Devil’s Rock by Paul Tremblay for $1.99 My Invented Country by Isabel Allende for $2....

Previous Daily Deals Celestial Bodies by Jokha Alharthi for $3.99 The Lost City of the Monkey God by Douglas Preston for $3.99 Queen of the Conquered by Kacen Callender for $1.99 The Fact of a Body by Alexandra Marzano-Lesnevich for $2.99 The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra by Vaseem Khan for $2.99 This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper for $1.99 Aru Shah and the Song of Death by Roshani Chokshi for $0....