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This launched a flurry of discourse about racist depictions in books, a conversation which is taking place in the context of the larger reckoning with racism and legacies of racism — the toppling of Confederate monuments, etc. — occurring in the United States at the moment. A common argument for keeping the Seuss books, or other racist materials for that matter, in the public, is that it is “for the benefit of the historical record....

From Ernesta Snoop‘s bestselling crime novels to Oolon Coluphid’s trilogy of philosophical blockbusters, from the dastardly Darkhold to Professor Moriarty’s mathematical treatise on asteroid dynamics, the world of fiction is filled with fascinating reading material. My fellow Rioters and I have listed the unattainable tomes we’d most like to read below, along with why they fascinate us so. They’re very white, unfortunately, but tempting nonetheless. Your imaginary to-read list is about to get a whole lot longer!...

“The bookshop, which has proudly spelled out its support for trans and non-binary people in the past, announced its plans in a February 12 tweet. ‘Making a donation to Mermaids every time we sell J K Rowling,’ The Second Shelf tweeted. The bookshop, which opened in Soho in 2018 and only sells books by women, added: ‘Donation made this morning! A small amount, but we look forward to more opportunities to contribute to this vital organization....

Similar to book banning groups in the U.S., conservative groups like ParentsVoice B.C. are targeting books like All Boys Aren’t Blue, which is the coming-of-age story of a queer Black boy, citing concerns of inappropriateness. Meanwhile, Willow Reichelt, a Chilliwack school trustee who is running for election to the school board in October, has stated how the book is available in high school and is suitable for older students. Concerning book banning, she’s also said “It’s not a concept that makes any sense to anyone who actually understands how education works....

In addition to writing and illustrating for children’s books, Nelson’s work has graced the covers of numerous magazines, as well as album covers and more. Nelson’s work once again takes center stage in a pair of new print covers for national print magazines. The July issue of Rolling Stone Magazine is of Nelson’s “American Uprising,” featuring a young Black girl and young Black boy at the center of the image....

The next meeting of the board was preceded by approximately 100 people protesting the ban, including speakers such as the president of York NAACP and the commissioner for the City of York Human Relations Commission. Despite parents and teachers alike voicing their frustration at the board’s “freeze” on these resources that has been in place since November of 2020 — the board kept insisting they would have a curriculum committee review it soon — they decided to uphold the ban....

via GIPHY Books and cereal are a natural pairing; both best suit the palate early in the morning, but both are frequently, pleasingly, consumed late at night, when the sun has set and adherence to social niceties along with it. Both require little forethought or preparation. The mere taste of both will leave you wanting more. If you’re still with me, if you too understand the value of a good book propped up in front of a full box of cold cereal, for you I have compiled a list of strategic cereal and book pairings below....

This is the kind of thought I regularly have, and that I can spend hours turning over and over in my head, checking and rechecking my memories of conversations and events to make sure that I hadn’t actually done the socially unacceptable things that my brain kept whispering might have happened. For a long time, I thought I just had an overactive imagination. Then I thought it was part of my Generalised Anxiety Disorder....

I love Sarah Dessen’s novels, and have read and reread all of them over and over. They remind me of my beloved North Carolina, and I remember when I saw her in Whole Foods in Chapel Hill and quickly ducked into another aisle because I was so overwhelmed. (I regret my choice every day, believe me). I recently read her newest book, The Rest of the Story, and though I loved it, something about it felt…different....

Okay so maybe we haven’t all been there, but that is what happens in Dial A for Aunties, the hilarious and fast-moving mystery caper and rom-com from Jesse Q. Sutanto that kept readers in stitches this spring. Now the aunties are at it again in a sequel billed as Crazy Rich Asians meets The Godfather (yessss). We’re so excited to bring you the cover reveal for Four Aunties and a Wedding!...

Artemisia is training to be a Gray Sister, a nun who cleanses the bodies of the deceased so that their souls can pass on. When her convent is attacked by possessed soldiers, Artemisia defends it by awakening an ancient spirit bound to a saint’s relic: a revenant. As she unravels a sinister mystery of saints, secrets, and dark magic, her bond with the revenant grows. And when a hidden evil begins to surface, she discovers that facing this enemy might require her to betray everything she has been taught to believe—if the revenant doesn’t betray her first....

Why the extreme pushback? For those out of the loop, Woody Allen has been accused of pedophilia and sexual assault, and he married his ex-wife Mia Farrow’s adopted daughter. Yet, he somehow still gets the green light to make movies and share his thoughts with the world. Even after Hachette dropped the memoir, Arcade Publishing picked it back up and quietly it released last month. As those who have read it have reported, the memoir is pretty disgusting....

Your books frighten me. No, wait: that’s the outward posture, not the truth. Your books wake me up. Your characters stir something in me that I’ve not yet needed, or not yet dared, to activate: the vindictive inner schemer, the careful vengeful plotter, the steely, brutal survivor. They speak to the parts of women that aren’t ladylike—our socially unacceptable, best, most creative bits. They exist at the point where feminine meets feline, where wily takes over, and by which societies are conquered and patriarchies are toppled....

A young interfaith chaplain is joined on her hospital rounds one night by an unusual companion: a rough-and-ready dog who may or may not be a ghost. As she tends to the souls of her patients—young and old, living last moments or navigating fundamentally altered lives—their stories provide unexpected healing for her own heartbreak. Balancing wonder and mystery with pragmatism and humor, Ellen Cooney returns with a generous, intelligent novel that grants the most challenging moments of the human experience a shimmer of light and magical possibility....

For my 18th birthday, a friend gave me a copy of Geek Love. I was captivated from the first page by the Binewski circus family and their experimental children, in love with this strange family and with Oly, the narrator. Geek Love is not a pleasant book; it’s ugly and mean, and my inclination to like all of the characters was not supported by how cruel they all were to one another....

BOYCOTTING I know several people who have not seen Doctor Strange and aren’t planning to. They have various reasons for their abstention. Some people just aren’t into comic books and related media. Those who do have that interest may not be Marvel Cinematic Universe completists. Many find themselves opposed to what this film represents and they choose not to subject themselves to it, or they hope to negatively affect the movie’s bottom line and thereby send Hollywood a message while reserving their spending money for something less distasteful....

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett (Bloomsbury) No one spins a better family saga than Patchett, and she doesn’t disappoint with her latest outing. Featuring unforgettable characters, this richly textured drama about the indelible bond between siblings is a must-read book of 2019. Doxology by Nell Zink (4th Estate) With her signature blend of idiosyncratic and exhilarating prose, Zink is in top form here. In Doxology, she has crafted an edgy and sharply relevant state of the nation novel which exposes America’s anxieties after 9/11....

A third, new crop of platforms are digital book clubs that offer online space for community and discussion. One such platform, Fable, bills itself as a “social reading platform” where readers can join clubs moderated by celebrities, authors, and influencers from TikTok, or start their own clubs. One of Fable’s signature book clubs is hosted by Levar Burton, so the app is clearly wooing those of us raised on Reading Rainbow....

Four people live in my house: myself (41, F), my husband (42, M), my son (10, M until/unless I am otherwise informed), and my daughter (7, F/same caveat as son-person). We are all comic fans. I’ll admit to having steered the spawn in that direction, though they’re old enough to make their own choices now and have continued down the path of this particular geekdom on their own recognizance. We all have different favorite comicverses but do come together for various incarnations of the Batverse, which means we all have favorite Robin stories....

“She’s not alone. With many parts of the world on lockdown or reeling from the effects of it, fanfiction is booming, even in China, where the government has banned access to the non-profit Archive Of Our Own (AO3), the top website for readers and writers of fanfiction, in part because of the sexual content in the stories, Zhang says. AO3 announced “emergency measures” at the end of March after weekly page views rose to 298 million over two weeks and, on April 7, the no-frills site recorded an all-time daily high of 51....