But in trying to answer this question, you’ll immediately run into problems. How do we determine what makes a top fantasy book? Sales? Let’s be honest. Some bestselling books may not be that good. We can use ratings but as Rioter Tasha discovered when she looked at the highest rated books on Goodreads, reader-generated rankings and lists lead to other problems. The actual number of ratings might be too low....
Last Night at the Telegraph Club author Malinda Lo returns to the Bay Area with another masterful queer coming-of-age story, this time set against the backdrop of the first major Supreme Court decisions legalizing gay marriage. Aria Tang West was looking forward to a summer on Martha’s Vineyard with her best friends—one last round of sand and sun before college. But after a graduation party goes wrong, Aria’s parents exile her to California to stay with her grandmother, artist Joan West....
Book Riot is teaming up with The Current to give away a 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 by Erika Lee, Better Not Bitter: Living on Purpose in the Pursuit of Racial Justice by Yusef Salaam, How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning With the History of Slavery Across America by Clint Smith, Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment by Daniel Kahneman!...
However, I must also note, that there isn’t much written about lighthouses by people of color. It makes sense because as beautiful as lighthouses are, they still in many ways are symbols of colonialism, trade, and European power. This doesn’t mean, however, that people of color didn’t save lives or keep the light burning. In fact, the earliest recorded black light keeper was in England in 1667, and many southern American light keepers kept slaves to do the actual labor up to the lamp room....
This challenge started four years ago, when I was working two jobs that required a lot of time and physical presence, but not a lot of brain power. I wasn’t reading as much as I used to. I wanted to read, but I was just tired and overwhelmed. So, being the stubborn sort of person that I am, I decided the best way to force myself back into reading as a habit and hobby was to read 30 books in a short amount of time....
If you’re here for comics, we have just a few that cover trans and genderqueer people! Also, did you know that Book Riot did a Read Harder challenge for trans and nonbinary authors? Check it out!
Because I believe in knowing what I’m doing, I took a deep dive into Reiki, which is an art of energy exchange. Reiki means life energy: rei is spiritual and ki is vital energy. Everything in and from nature shares energy, and this energy can be used to heal mentally and spiritually—and some believe physically, too. The good things about Reiki are that it doesn’t zap your own energy, and you also can’t give “bad” energy, like hexing someone because they’ve annoyed you....
But recently I was in a pretty bad slump, leaving me feeling like nothing will pull me out of it. I’m feeling better now, but the entire time I was trying to use my tried-and-true methods for combatting burn out and they weren’t working. And it’s not just our reading lives that gets affected. For some, it’s our whole lives. We set ourselves on automatic and push through each day....
After a wait of a year and a half (during which many of us rewatched the first three seasons multiple times), seasons four dropped and we hit play, hoping that the show would be at least as good as it had been before. It’s better. Like many streaming shows, however, The Expanse is a limited one: the new season is comprised of only nine episodes. It’s a little easier to tolerate knowing season 5 is already filming but, having finished the last episode, (and The Mandalorian), I now find myself out of sci-fi… Just kidding....
You are cordially invited to the wedding of the decade, when Christian Grey will make Anastasia Steele his wife. But is he really husband material? His dad is unsure, his brother wants to organize one helluva bachelor party, and his fiancée won’t vow to obey… Their passion for each other burns hotter than ever, but Ana’s defiant spirit continues to stir Christian’s darkest fears and tests his need for control....
But Plath’s legacy as a feminist icon — one who died just eight days before the publication of The Feminine Mystique — has largely been a patriarchal creation led by her widower Ted Hughes as well as his sister, Olwyn, who was the literary agent for Plath’s estate for decades after her death. In their lifetimes, much to the chagrin of the poet’s fanbase, Plath’s work was edited and manipulated in a way that helped the Hughes family control the growing celebrity Plath achieved in death, in a century that was notoriously tight-lipped about the realities of mental illness, especially among women....
Earth has a lot of problems. There’s global warming, politics, viruses, injustice, the long stretch between winter and spring break. Sometimes a person needs to escape. Not just with stories and happily ever afters but out of this world completely. Off planet. Another galaxy even. When you’re feeling blue, what better solution than to read a romance about a people who are literally blue? Submerging yourself in the world of romance is a great way to build hope again when this world gets you down....
The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey, Narrated by Renee Raudman I’m no stranger to being stuck on my couch or in bed for weeks at a time. But while I typically spend my days watching my Corgi’s fur float around and accumulate on my side table, Elisabeth Tova Bailey spends her days watching her pet snail move about its terrarium. With the perfect combination of nature writing and contemplation of what it means to be chronically ill, Bailey’s The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating has quickly become one of my go-to recommendations....
Many people—even fans—don’t know about the picture books she co-wrote with her son, Slade Morrison. These Toni Morrison picture books challenge traditional perspectives in books by including diverse characters and unconventional morals. They are written in a mixture of rhyming poetry and free verse. All are such a gift to the world of children’s literature. The Big Box by Toni Morrison and Slade Morrison, illustrated by Giselle Potter Morrison’s first picture book invokes the same nonlinear, dreamlike magical realism readers recognize in her novels for adults....
If you’ve ever bumped into me online, you probably know about my West Wing, um, obsession. I even moved to DC because I love the show so much. (Yes, really.) But before living here was a reality, I spent a lot of time living here in my head by reading novels set in the political world. I’ve rounded up those novels here so you can do the same, and added other books you’ll likely enjoy if you’re a fellow Wingnut, whether fiction or nonfiction (no poetry yet, but if you know of some, feel free to recommend it!...
A post shared by Jen Bartel (@heyjenbartel) on Nov 14, 2019 at 2:08pm PST Jen Bartel (@heyjenbartel) Jen Bartel’s art is instantly recognizable for its strong lines and gorgeously bright, sometimes outright fluorescent, color palette. Her subjects are all over the geek map and include, among other characters: Captain Marvel, the women of Star Wars, Sailor Moon, and a variety of original characters. One of my favorite pieces of Bartel’s is an image of Captain Marvel and Wonder Woman together—those with Opinions felt it was necessary to pit the two heroines against one another when, in fact, Jen’s vision of them fighting evil together is far more in keeping with the mission held sacred by both women (yes, I own this one)....
The Deep by Rivers Solomon with Daveed Diggs, William Hutson, and Jonathan Snipes This short, stunning novella is directly inspired by the song of the same name by group clipping. (Daveed Diggs, William Hutson, and Jonathan Snipes). Both tell of water-dwellers who descended from pregnant African slave women thrown overboard. In the novel, Yetu, the historian, is being destroyed as she tries to hold all of the traumatic and violent past of society herself, sharing it with her community only once a year....
Adultolescence by Gabbie Hanna This book of illustrated poetry is a gem. So many confused kids are navigating the world in adult bodies. Gabbie Hanna uses humor to bring out the existential dread that has reached epidemic levels in millennials. It’s raw, it’s funny and intensely engaging making it a powerhouse of yuppie emotions. You will find solidarity in your insecurities, and for nights when your bed has anything but company this book will provide a strange sense of comfort....
I began reading Sedaris at around the same time I was reading other male humorists: columnist Bill Ervolino, memoirist Augusten Burroughs, travel writer Bill Bryson. There’s no doubt that reading them made me shift the focus of my own writing. But as I finished Calypso (which was a true delight), I wondered why, way back when, I hadn’t read any women writers. Were women writers just—gasp!—not funny?! (Spoiler alert: No....
And now. May the books be ever in your favour. 7 of the Best Educational Comics for Homeschooling Hilda and the Troll by Luke Pearson Okay, I’m easing you in with this. Hilda and the Troll is the first of a series of comic books, recently made popular by Netflix series. It is suitable for all ages; both soft and whimsical for kids as young as 6 while inspiring and educating college students....
