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On February 5, 2020, World Read Aloud Day celebrated its tenth anniversary. This annual celebration was started by nonprofit organization Lit World. According to their website, World Read Aloud Day is “an opportunity for people all around the globe to celebrate the joy of reading aloud, and advocate for literacy as a fundamental human right that belongs to everyone.” Participants organize read alouds at local libraries, schools, book stores, and other gathering places in the community....

What’s Hey YA: Extra Credit? It’s one part book club and one part appreciation for the ways that YA has evolved, grown, and changed over the last 50+ years. This year, I’ll be digging into the work of YA pioneer Norma Klein, whose work spanned the 1970s and ’80s. Klein was a contemporary of Judy Blume and died at the age of 50—far before she was able to see the real golden era of YA that came in the late ’90s through today....

Because, seriously. If you thought Netflix’s The Witcher was a little messed up with timelines, then you will need to take notes for the books and graphic novels. In the same manner, if you thought the Netflix series was good, then you are going to LOVE the books. Let’s have a look at the different ways to settle in with some Witcher reading. What are The Witcher Books? It all started with a short story contest with Polish SF/F magazine, Fantastyka....

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Then they inevitably ask me, “Do you…like it there?” Surely I couldn’t! Not me, who’s lived in Chicago, San Diego, and various other large cities that seemingly have nothing in common with Iowa City. But then I blow their minds by throwing two facts at them. First, I live a mere 40 minutes from the World’s Largest Truckstop! And then I give them a fact that’s actually impressive: Iowa City was the third-ever UNESCO City of Literature and the first in the Americas....

Note: this does not include privately owned libraries. There is some debate about exactly which libraries are the biggest, but these are the numbers I think are truest. 10 Biggest Libraries in the World #1. The British Library, United Kingdom I’m proud to announce that, despite having a budget that’s only about a third of the Library of Congress, the British Library clocks in as the world’s biggest library. It has between 170 million and 200 million items, squeezed onto 388 miles of shelves....

“You didn’t get the email?” was a constant refrain in my life. When I went back to check, I had, in fact, gotten the email. Inevitably, the email was 4-5 big, block paragraphs full of important information. None of it was bulleted, highlighted, or bold. It was all just there and I was expected to find it, like a professional adult. But I couldn’t do it. The school year went on, started again in the fall, and it kept getting worse for me....

Basically, I understood this tweet to be 100% true (and honestly still feel that way when it comes to what you see covered in legacy newspapers and the like): Look, you can pry kid lit and YA out of my cold, dead hands. I don’t feel any sense of shame or immaturity in being a fan of it, and neither should you! But in the spirit of reading diversely, growing as a person, and finding more mirror books, I’ve tried to make a point of reading more Grown Up Books recently....

I hate that part. We’re not talking the travel-inspiring books. We’re talking the more practical side of travel planning. And seriously, there are so many travel guides on the market, it is a nightmare of global proportions to choose only one. Add to that how quickly the information can date, and you are left wondering if this really is such a good idea. The thing is, each travel guide has its pros and cons....

Whether a book is self-published or traditionally published, the paratext or gift wrap of a story is carefully considered. At the end of the day, bad paratext can misrepresent the genre of a novel and turn readers off. But, you know you have amazing paratext when you sink into a book seamlessly as the wrapping perfectly complements and sells the content. So, now that we are all acquainted, why don’t we crack open the spine of the topic and look into the history?...

In 2016, after ordering a batch of fictionalized novels featuring famous people, I picked up The Paris Wife, by Paula McLain. The book’s main character is Hadley Richardson, Ernest Hemingway’s first wife. I liked the story; it did not try to hide Hemingway’s often assholeish tendencies (especially towards his wives), but there is a scene in the book that still haunts me to this day. At some point in the story, Hadley and Hemingway are in two different countries: Hadley is in their home in Paris, and Hemingway in Switzerland....

If you’re not familiar with the show Ted Lasso (totally okay if you’re not!), its’ about Ted Lasso, a former football coach, who gets hired as the new coach of a struggling U.K. soccer team. We meet a varied cast of people, like Rebecca, the newly-divorced team owner; Roy Kent, the mature, grumpy soccer player who has been playing for years; and Keeley, the fun, beautiful model-turned-PR consultant. They each give something special to the show and it’s so fun to follow their stories along with them....

Perhaps the most chilling revelations from A Christmas Carol is the acknowledgement from London’s wealthy (and not so wealthy) citizenry to perceive themselves as very fine people by ignoring those less fortunate. After all, they work hard for their money and the poor deserve their fate—a strong sentiment at work today. However, Dickens did provide a solution to this apathy towards those suffering from hunger and pain in plain sight: empathy....

Combatting fake news is hard enough, as is determining a website’s perspective, their tone, and their reputation. Numerous charts have floated around social media, including this excellent chart on media bias developed by Ad Fontes Media, a public benefit corporation whose goal is to use rigorous methodology to keep consumers informed about the news they’re consuming. There’s been a further wrench thrown into understanding media bias and fake news in more recent times....

And if you’re lucky enough to be a reader for 50 years, at a rate of 50 books per year, you’ll only be able to read 2,500 books. Laura Vanderkam, author of a wealth of books about time and resource management, shared this on Twitter last week in a conversation with Jeremy Anderberg (a former Book Rioter) and Adam Morgan. Anderberg shared the Tweet again, adding that even reading 100 books a year, that only brings the total number of possible books read in a lifetime to 5,000....

From childhood, Katherine knows she is different, and that her parents are not who they seem to be. On her quest to conquer the Riemann hypothesis, the greatest unsolved mathematical problem of her time, she turns to a theorem with a mysterious history that holds both the lock and key to her identity, and to secrets long buried during World War II in Germany. In The Tenth Muse, Catherine Chung offers a gorgeous, sweeping tale about legacy, identity, and the beautiful ways the mind can make us free....

“Indeed, the majority of challenges to Blume’s books have come from what she dubbed the ‘Moral Tone Brigade,’ whose main objection to her work is the characters’ use of “obscene language, their sexual curiosity, and the fact that they have the temerity to question the existence of God”—in other words, things that teenagers everywhere have always done, and will continue to do, no matter how many books get banned. But Blume cautions that the targets of the censors are difficult to predict....

Aries (March 21–April 19) You’re on the hunt for intellectual stimulation this month, Aries. You love a good debate, especially when you win. You’ll meet new people who can challenge you intellectually in June, perhaps a new romantic interest or professional connection. It’s also a good time for travel or taking on a new educational pursuit. Take any opportunity you can to engage your mind! You might enjoy Ayesha at Last (June 4, Berkley Books) by Uzma Jalaluddin....

In Don’t Date Rosa Santos, a Gilmore Girls meets Jane the Virgin love story, Rosa Santos wants to go to Cuba and end her family’s curse. However, her grandmother Mimi, who escaped years ago at the sacrifice of her husband, forbids it. Reading books about Cuba was not at the top of my list, but I chose this book because I related to the first generation conflicts. So far, Miami-born college student Rosa has only known her Cuban culture through “the food she ate…and stories from the bodega....

Libraries in Missouri, New York, Pennsylvania, California, Ohio, Oregon, and other places have been providing refuge from searing heat and humidity. Visitor numbers are up as a result. Ana Raquel Nunes, a public health researcher at the University of Warwick in the UK, recently referred to visits to libraries and community centers as a wider support action during heatwaves. This is especially useful for people who are both particularly vulnerable to heat and less likely to have many resources to beat the heat....