Be Persistent Whether you’re launching one or just looking to join, my first advice is to be persistent. If my previous experience is any indication, starting or joining book clubs for seniors might take a little time. I don’t mean to discourage anyone, but it might not just happen overnight. So it’s a good idea to pack some patience, reach out to whoever you think might help or be knowledgable, and keep it up until you find the right community....
First, an important note for anyone who works in public service, be it public libraries, public school libraries, public higher education institutions, government information services, or similar: if you don’t already know, you should know that any emails you send to and from your work email are subject to FOIA requests. This is why it’s imperative to keep a personal email and to do any personal emailing off work-related servers....
How the Tournament Works I’ll admit that I’ve been a fangirl for Tournament of Books ever since I discovered it in 2010. The competition started in 2005 with the basic premise: every March, books published in the prior year go head to head until one reigns supreme. It’s March Madness but for literature. Each judge considers two books from the brackets and then explains how they decided on the winning book....
Women have of course written books throughout history, and the best ones reflected the difficult realities of the time. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë focused on a woman making her way through the world with limited options. The Millstone by Margaret Drabble (published in 1965) follows a woman who decides to raise a baby alone, despite the intense societal pressure to marry. After Roe v. Wade, stories written by women for women became much more common and not all were focused exclusively on marriage and motherhood....
I haven’t started a new project for 2019. But I am kind of feeling the itch of wanting to try out a new genre again. And since I had such a particularly interesting time confronting my assumptions about the gendered genre of romance, I was thinking I might try chick lit. I wonder if my expectations can be thwarted once more! I know sometimes people get romance and chick lit confused....
This quiz is meant to test you. It’s hard. Like, harder than Edward’s granite, sparkly skin. So if you don’t break 50%, don’t feel too bad. In fact, if you can hit 70%, I’ll be massively impressed. Grab your Team Edward T-shirt, your Forks, WA mug, and the memories of Twilight that you’ve squirreled away in the corners of your mind and let’s go! Need more Twilight in your life?...
It really has only been painfully recently that we’ve seen a range of identities represented. Not long ago, queer books were limited to cis, white, gay or lesbian “issue” books that were mostly about homophobia and coming out. They were extremely limited, and these “issue” books were often written by straight authors who got a lot of things wrong. The early days of LGBTQ lit had a lot of stereotypical and offensive characterizations....
I have spent a lot of time this past year reading Indian history. Here is a round up of 14 books that will help you understand the history of this diverse country and its impact on the rest of the world. Additional Reading A Woman’s History of Partition: Life, Loss, and Identity 8 Great Books Set in India 6 Books on Caste to Read After Isabel Wilkerson’s Caste
As someone who has been in queer online spaces from Livejournal to Tumblr to TikTok, I can absolutely attest to that. It’s frustrating to see the same conversations circulate over and over, as if we haven’t moved forward at all. The “lesbian sex wars” are still raging. Bisexuals in M/F relationships are still often considered “straight” or “not queer enough.” We’re still arguing about BDSM, butch/femme relationships, who and what is allowed at Pride — arguments that have been going on for decades....
In 2018, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez became the youngest woman ever to be elected to Congress. Her commitment to speaking truth to power and her ability to shape the national conversation have made her one of the most fascinating political figures of our times. The new book AOC: Fighter, Phenom, Changemaker recounts how a 28-year-old Latinx democratic socialist and bartender from the Bronx ousted a ten-term Congressman against all odds and the remarkable life story that got her there....
My inexplicable lack of interest in YA means I totally missed the Harry Potter craze. When the books began to become really popular, I was 17- Too Old to Read Things That Are Even Slightly About/For Children, FOR I AM A GROWN UP. Once I got over that, the series had become longer and more complex, and I didn’t want to jump into the middle of a story. And then it was 10 years later and the phenomenon was essentially over, and I had missed one of the largest pop culture experiences in the last 50 years....
If parents feel this law is being violated, they can sue the school district at the district’s expense. DeSantis stated that the bill “will make sure that parents can send their kids to school to get an education, not an indoctrination.” Just two days later, Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP and the National Center for Lesbian Rights filed a lawsuit on behalf students, parents, a teacher, and the LGBTQ rights group Equality Florida....
One of the convenient things about library puns (and book puns more generally) is how nice they are for pulling together book displays and book lists. They’re perfect for engaging patrons because they’re impossible to walk by and not take a second glance. Find below an assortment of 54+ delicious, hilarious, and downright cringe-worthy library puns. I’m starting this list with the 13 I put in my larger book puns collection, and from there, I promise nothing but…well, I promise nothing but some smiles, somewhere, from fellow pun lovers....
The Southern Baptist affiliate company announced in January that it intended to close a portion of their brick and mortar stores around the U.S. As of this week, however, the company has announced it will close all 170 stores amid continuously decreasing profits. A local bookstore is a treasured place in any community. Whether it’s corporate or independent, it’s a place to go, wander, read, and meet your fellow readers....
Book Riot is teaming up with Inkyard Press to giveaway one YA Fantasy & Sci-Fi book bundle! I’ve spent the last week listening to these authors’ incredible debut novels, so let’s celebrate them and their work!
So the next time you’re struggling to find new books, authors, or bookish interests while avoiding the rest of the internet, check out these online literary columns. Dana Snitzy’s This Week in Books on Longreads This column gathers the best of the bookish internet for you. Each week, you get a list of literature-related online content (including essays, reviews, articles, stories, and excerpts) along with a personal intro from Snitzky, the books editor at Longreads....
But readers don’t have to stick to the mythical to find cool fictional places to visit. There are plenty of real life locations that have been featured prominently in fiction and give readers the chance to plant their feet (and take the obligatory selfie) on the sites of some truly impressive literary landmarks. Here are just a few: Reichenbach Falls (“The Final Problem” by Arthur Conan Doyle) Site of Sherlock Holmes’ most suspenseful encounter with the villainous Dr....
If you are into everything I’ve been saying, this list is quite perfect for you. I promise you won’t be able to stop reading these stories until you are done with the last page. Let’s take a look at 15 of the best erotic short stories you need to read right now. (You can also find more here!) Best Erotic Short Stories Best Free Erotic Short Stories Online You can also sample some authors’ writing before buying their full novels!...
Do you? Mass market paperbacks span the gamut of romance representation. Every publisher and imprint that offers romance puts out majority mass markets. These are the books they sell not just in bookstores, but in convenience stores, grocery stores, newsstands, Target, Walmart (the last of which has a bigger impact on publishing trends than even Barnes & Noble). The majority of them feature clinch covers (a couple embracing, fully clothed or not), but there are also the ones with a photo of just one of the protagonists, or an Adirondack chair on a beach....
