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I’ve been teaching for a long time, and I’ve had the pleasure of bringing comics into my college and university classrooms on a number of occasions. The thing I often find with new comics readers is that they forget to look closely at the illustrations. They’re so accustomed to reading for plot and evaluating text that the images can slip completely to the back of their minds. Or perhaps they glance over the images, but they don’t study them fervently enough to see the clues that enrich the story....

I can often judge whether I trust people’s Game of Thrones opinions by how much they appreciate Sansa as a character, as many people, perhaps with sexist undertones, insist on thinking of her only as the childish romantic she was in season 1. Yet she is one of the series’s best and most complex characters, with one of the most wide-ranging and interesting storylines: a young girl with romantic notions who grows up alone and through a ton of hardship, and learns a ton....

Not coincidentally, around this time I wrote my first story. Shortly thereafter, I wrote my second, and my third. They were all simple, and as half-realized as you might expect the writing of a 10-year-old to be, but they were mine. I loved those stories of dragons and wizards that I scrawled out in spiral-bound notebooks. When I wrote them, in conjunction with devouring The Seventh Tower and Redwall, it occurred to me, for the first time, that I wanted to be a writer....

This post originally ran on May 5, 2015. _______________ Sam Maggs has put together The Fangirl’s Guide to the Galaxy, a diminutive book subtitled “a handbook for GIRL GEEKS” (seriously, this thing is the size of my hand). As I picked it up and started going through it, my thoughts went in this order over the 200-ish pages: “Hrm, this is cute… this woman is on the money… this book is IMPORTANT....

The Official Graphic Novel Adaptation of Denis Villeneuve’s Epic Film DUNE! A mythic and emotionally charged hero’s journey, Dune, based on Frank Herbert’s seminal novel, tells the story of Paul Atreides, a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding, who must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family and his people. As malevolent forces explode into conflict over the planet’s exclusive supply of the most precious resource in existence—a commodity capable of unlocking humanity’s greatest potential—only those who can conquer their fear will survive....

This chilling graphic-novel version of Mary Downing Hahn’s popular page-turner will thrill readers who love spooky stories!They say that a ghost witch lives in the woods, up on the hill. They say her companion has a pig skull for a face and stands taller than a man, his skeleton gleaming in the moonlight. They say that the witch takes young girls, and no one ever sees them again.Daniel doesn’t believe the stories....

In Four Lost Cities, acclaimed science journalist Annalee Newitz takes readers on an entertaining and mind-bending adventure into the deep history of urban life. Investigating across the centuries and around the world, Newitz explores the rise and fall of four ancient cities. Four Lost Cities is a journey into the forgotten past, but, foreseeing a future in which the majority of people on Earth will be living in cities, it may also reveal something of our own fate....

Enter: Friday Fund Days. Book Riot readers have helped fund hundreds of classrooms over the last few years, and we’ll help bring funds to hundreds more. Each Friday, we’ll highlight two classrooms or other literacy-focused, important projects in hopes you’ll help them reach their goals to bring literature, advocacy, and education to others. Even if you can’t spare money, any social sharing you can offer to the projects each week absolutely helps: you never know who’ll find it and have the means by which to make the project’s fundraising goals reached....

Here’s a list of some fascinating medical memoirs that tell incredible stories of human beings’ experience with health: A Life Everlasting: The Extraordinary Story of One Boy’s Gift to Medical Science, by Sarah Gray When Sarah Gray learned in her first trimester that one of the twins she was carrying had anencephaly, a condition where a fetus’ brain fails to develop, she spent the remainder of her pregnancy preparing for Callum’s birth while searching for a way to give meaning to what would be Thomas’ brief life....

I’m currently reading Kelly Link’s short story/novella collection, Pretty Monsters, and am really liking it, especially the amount of detail she gives each of the stories. And as I looked over my book shelves today, I saw that I have a number of short story collections, probably much more than the average reader (especially in the Fantasy/Sci-Fi department). After spending about an hour in nostalgia-land, I took together five of my all-time favorite short-story collections, all recommended reading....

The Secret Life of Prince Charming by Deb Caletti When Quinn discovers that her father has been stealing artwork from former wives and girlfriends for years, she teams up with her little sister and the older half-sister she barely knows to embark on a karmic road trip and return the items. I loved reading about the strange bond the three sisters form as their relationship shifts from being defined by a shared father, and instead is shaped by their experiences exploring their father’s past and getting to know each other....

Throughout the month of November, join in on readathons and events built to help kickstart your nonfiction reading adventure! Reading initiatives like this are a great way to connect with the book community, challenge yourself to read more, check off a stack of books from your ever-growing TBR list (yes, we know), and/or pick up new books you might not have thought to read otherwise. In other words, there are approximately one million reasons to participate in Nonfiction November and absolutely zero reasons to not give it a try....

What is a rare book? If you look at the Econ 101 version of rare books, simple supply and demand determines a given book’s rarity. If demand outstrips supply, the book is rare and its price will increase. Demand itself is tricky to understand. There’s demand for a book if it’s collectible. A book can be collectible for a variety of reasons, including the author, title, and topic; the press that printed it; the artwork inside it; and its significance in the history of the books, to name just a few....

What better way to celebrate the holidays than with some new furry friends (on the pages of books, of course)! Running Press brings you the perfect gifts for all of the animal-lovers in your life: BEST BEAR EVER and THE LITTLE WORLD OF LIZ CLIMO MAGNETIC SET for web comic fans, CATS ON CATNIP and I DON’T REALLY LOVE YOU for photographers who like to laugh, THE LITTLE BOOK OF GOAT YOGA and YOGA FROG for mindful meditators, and SUPERSTAR CATS AND DOGS and MY CAT AND DOG BOOKS for young pet owners....

As the only doctor in the Wyoming Territory, Gideon needs the help of a nurse. And maybe something more. So he sends away for a mail-order bride with nursing experience. But when Miriam arrives in Savage Wells ready to work, she finds herself as the bride at an unexpected wedding. She refuses to marry Gideon, and embarrassed by the misunderstanding, the good doctor offers her a job, and romance begins to blossom....

Red Lady, Red Lady, show us your face… In 1991, Heather Cole and her friends were members of the Dead Girls Club. Obsessed with the macabre, the girls exchanged stories about serial killers and imaginary monsters, like the Red Lady, the spirit of a vengeful witch killed centuries before. Heather knew the stories were just that, until her best friend Becca began insisting the Red Lady was real—and she could prove it....

Win a copy of this gorgeous YA fantasy duology – full of secret magic & stunning romance and perfect for fans of Kristin Cashore and Malinda Lo! Princess Denna has kept her forbidden magical powers a secret her entire life. Now, she is engaged to be married to the handsome prince of a neighboring kingdom. Everything seems to be going well, until Denna begins to develop feelings for Mare, the prince’s sister, instead of the prince....

The Haddonfield Friends of the Library (FOL) organized a members-only, Zoom Drag Queen Story Time as a replacement for the traditional book sale, due to COVID-19. FOL is a nonprofit booster group that raises money for the library but is independent of the library itself. Although the majority of the community has been supportive, some community members were concerned that the Story Hour “would expose kids to sex at an early age” or questioned whether the event “would be a live sex show or simply a reading of children’s books, with no sex acts being performed, discussed, simulated, or referenced in any way....

The inclination to hate popular things, whether you have a reason to or not, becomes so much easier when popular culture, let alone social media, is constantly bombarding you with it. Read this book, it’s an international bestseller! Watch this movie, it’s nominated for 14 Oscars! It makes your bitterness or hatred all the more valid when you typically like critically acclaimed books or movies, but you personally did not enjoy it....