I feel the same way now reading books about teens who inadvertently go viral! As someone who went to high school before anyone had cell phones that connected to the internet, the idea of living your normal life one day and having something you do go viral the next day feels like the same kind of fantasy and escapism that Meg Cabot’s book did for me (gulp) 15 years ago....
I’m really excited to see so many new original graphic novels, some great sequels, and even a few re-releases of webcomics and classics. It’s a truly eclectic mix, which just means that you’re sure to find something that appeals to you no matter what your tastes might be — we’ve got queer witches solving murders, a Shadow and Bone prequel, queer and trans memoirs, DC characters, and early aughts original stories!...
It’s not surprising that superhero comics would want to exploit shapeshifters in this way. After all, they already depend heavily on themes of identity and alter egos, so what better foe for our valiant defenders to face than someone who takes the concept of secrecy to a scary extreme? More to the point, what do you do when even your closest friends might be someone else? Let’s take a look…and then maybe take a look at the person next to you....
Many of these holidays have dates that are dependent on factors outside the Gregorian calendar; for convenience of the majority of our readers, I have marked both the Gregorian date (for 2019) and the traditional date when possible. Please note that purchase and streaming options are accurate as of this writing, but are subject to change. January 21: Martin Luther King Day Selma The events portrayed in Selma took place on March 7, 1965, and are also known as “Bloody Sunday” (not to be confused with the 1972 Bloody Sunday in Ireland)....
Books Like Little Fires Everywhere Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane Francis Gleeson and Brian Stanhope are rookie cops and neighbours in a suburban town. Their respective children, Kate and Peter, are born a few months apart and their friendship is severely tested one fateful night. We follow them over the next 40 years and watch as these events reverberate down the decades, shaping their love story. “Ask Again, Yes is a powerful and moving novel of family, trauma, and the defining moments in people’s lives,” says Meg Wolitzer....
Who was Langston Hughes? Langston Hughes was the chronicler of African American life in Harlem, New York City, from the 1920s through the 1960s. Hughes set out to portray the stories of African-American life that represented their actual culture—including the piercing heartbreak and the joy of everyday life in Harlem. Hughes listed Paul Laurence Dunbar, Carl Sandburg, and Walt Whitman as his poetic influences, but the influence of jazz also found its way into Hughes’s work....
Essential reading for our youngest generation, aimed at opening a dialogue about systemic racism—inspired by the New York Times bestselling book Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man. Show young people they have the power to affect sweeping change. Senate House, London The Senate House library is in Bloomsbury, a historical neighborhood for book nerds. Built between 1932 and 1937 and consisting of 19 floors, the library itself is on the fourth to the 18th floors, though only three of those are accessible to the public....
So here you go, curious friends. Not a curriculum, per se, but a curated list that will yield some new knowledge and perspectives. Maybe you like graphic novels and mixing it up with some nonfiction sounds good. Or maybe you’re a nonfiction reader who hasn’t ventured into the graphic format. Perhaps, like me, your tastes are broad, you read by mood, and you found this list on vibes alone. Given the breadth of amazing graphic nonfiction out there, these titles definitely reflect my tastes....
(You may have noticed I skipped over December. It’s historically a slow month for publishing, so I thought we’d skip it and get right to the good stuff. There are definitely a few I am interested in reading, like The Dakota Winters by Tom Barbash and In Our Mad and Furious City: A Novel by Guy Gunaratne, but I haven’t read enough great ones to make a list.) Mouthful of Birds: Stories by Samanta Schweblin (January 8) From the author of the creepy and haunting Fever Dream comes a collection of creepy and haunting stories....
A personalized wax seal for your pen pal? Check. Bookish-themed tarot cards? Check. A set of cooking-themed bookends? Check! It’s endless! Add social media into the mix, and a small business can go viral overnight. One TikTok or Instagram post can change an entrepreneur’s life. The Silk Labs, a silk scrunchie business, jumped on the “small business check” TikTok trend and got over 600,000 likes resulting in 200 orders, all from a minute-long video!...
Dear Madam President: An Open Letter to the Women Who Will Run the World By Jennifer Palmieri The 2016 presidential election results were like taking a cold shower outside in the winter during a hale storm. Really, really unpleasant and painful. I coped with my disappointment by reading a million think pieces and consuming copious amounts of spaghetti. Jennifer Palmieri coped by penning Dear Madame President, an open letter to the future first female president....
Bill Clegg returns with a deeply moving, emotionally resonant second novel about the complicated bonds and breaking points of friendship, the corrosive forces of secrets, the heartbeat of longing, and the redemption found in forgiveness. Narrowing down the best manga friendships is tough. There are so many. Even so, I hope this list covered a wide range of dynamics and that you find one you like. And if you want to find more series to read where relationships take center stage, check out this list of slice of life manga....
Don’t forget that August is Women in Translation Month! If you are celebrating (and why wouldn’t you be??) and are looking for recommendations, five of the books below are translated books by women. You will find great discussion and many more recommendations on the #WomenInTranslation twitter feed run by Meytal Radzinski, Women in Translation Month founder. Now on to the books. Check out the list to find some great new reads and maybe a new favorite independent press!...
I really like trees. Did you know that trees can share information through an underground fungal network that ties their roots together like the neural networks in a brain? Did you know that the largest organism on Earth looks a whole lot like a forest of 47,000 trees in Utah, but is actually one aspen named Pando? Did you know that trees can release airborne signals that drive away insects or even attract the predators of the insects that threaten their own survival?...
Back in the day, before subscription boxes were all the rave, there was a book club called Black Expressions and the first book I received was Octavia E. Butler’s Kindred. I remember the synopsis being a little vague to me but I gave it a try anyway and after a few pages, I was hooked. It took me a couple of days to finish it and it was the only thing I could talk about....
Maybe it’s because I love listening to people geek out over the same things I enjoy. Maybe it has me feeling a little less alone in my fandoms. I have been super lucky to find a comic book club where I felt welcomed but during COVID-19 lockdowns, it was hard to keep going. Some of the best comic book podcasts helped get me through. The discussions kept me reading, they kept me thinking, and best of all they encouraged me to keep looking for more comic books....
8–12 Years Hilo: All the Pieces Fit (Hilo #6) by Judd Winick Hilo looks like a regular kid, but he’s actually a robot who came to Earth because he’s on the run from the evil Razorwark. In this action-packed installment, Hilo and his human friends finally battle Razorwark in an epic, ground-scorching battle. Get ready for affecting moments of sacrifice, bravery, and love. Though it isn’t the end of the series, it does tie up the arc that has run through until now....
Setting kids up for comfy, cozy reading can be as elaborate as a reading nook with matching bookshelves, furniture, and lighting — or it can be as simple as a well-chosen reading pillow. The best reading pillows for kids make it so that the world fades away and they can focus completely on the story instead of the discomfort of being hunched over a book. Kids’ bodies may be more forgiving than the average adult’s, but that doesn’t mean they don’t appreciate a comfortable reading spot!...
Jade, Jenny, Mads, and Summer rule their glittering LA circle. Untouchable, they have the kind of power other girls only dream of—until the night of Jade’s sweet sixteen, when they crash a St. Andrew’s Prep party. The night the golden boys choose Jade as their next target. They picked the wrong girl. Sworn to vengeance, Jade transfers to St. Andrew’s Prep. She plots to destroy each boy, one by one....
Compiling a list of famous mangaka can be tricky. What are the criteria? Is it fame? The number of works in their back catalog? Their legacy? Keeping these questions in mind, I looked across all genres, all categories, and all time periods. I won’t lie. I didn’t include every significant manga creator here, but I made a point to cover names we should recognize and acknowledge, and whose works are readily available in English....
