In witch mystery books, witches might become involved in detective work to solve a case, or they may keep their day-to-day work but need to follow a series of clues to save the world. Either way, these witches are solving a problem that must be solved. For me, the overall stakes of the case do not really matter. I just want to be invested in the problem and shocked at the end reveal....
What is occultism? Occultism is the belief in or study of the supernatural — which is usually hidden or secret. It generally involves practices like divination, magic, witchcraft, or alchemy. But it also deals with supernatural forces or beings such as ghosts or vampires. It can be considered a genre that encompasses sub-genres like supernatural and paranormal. The occult genre generally differs from fantasy books because it doesn’t involve any world-building; it uses creatures and practices that people believe in....
First, the Reader’s Tarot Spread: Position 1: My relationship with reading Position 2: How can I stretch myself as a reader? Position 3: What goals should I pursue in my reading life? Position 4: How can I grow my reading practice? Position 5: How can I engage with reading on a deeper level? To better understand how this tarot spread works, let’s look at an example… Now let’s go through a sample generic reading based on the randomly chosen cards....
The Twitter meme actually began with a pretty genius reference to the children’s book Holes by Louis Sachar. Then a tweet about Romeo and Juliet really blew the meme up. — trash jones (@jzux) June 8, 2021 And someone decided to bring Hamlet into it as well (not Shakespeare’s most romantic play…alas). — SparkNotes (@SparkNotes) June 9, 2021 Dating apps also might be preferable to being stalked like Christine in The Phantom of the Opera....
Here’s a reading list inspired by The Secret Garden. I’ve picked a mixture of sequels, spin-offs and re-interpretations for adults, children, and everybody in between. If you’ve never read The Secret Garden, you don’t have to worry—a lot of these books stand by themselves and you can always read it after you’ve done. In fact, you should totally do that. I’ll also do that, once I’ve finished thinking about Colin Firth in the upcoming adaptation…...
The ALA reported 347 challenges to library, school, and university materials and services in 2018. A total of 483 books were challenged or banned, and this year earned an extra title in the usual Top 10 Most-Challenged Books list, making it the Top 11 Most-Challenged Books. Of these 11 books, three are picture books, three are middle grade, and five are young adult. Half of the books (actually, more than half—six!...
Horror Gifts for Book Lovers This sweet little witchy cat atop a book stack sticker is going on every empty space I have. $5. Honor horror comics with this retro bookmark. $9.50, with some choices on your comic. A wooden bookmark featuring an array of Stephen King tomes. That cat is sure creepy. $7. A trio of spooky quotes from outstanding horror writers. $17.70 and up, depending on your frame choice....
The official Twitter account for the new adaptation has finally started tweeting. They first teased us a month ago with the exciting quote from J.R.R. Tolkien himself: “I wisely started with a map.” — The Lord of the Rings on Prime (@LOTRonPrime) February 13, 2019 Earlier today we got the map itself, gorgeous, full, and bigger than the one we would see from the Lord of the Rings films; more ancient, too....
Anne Rice’s son, Christopher Rice, wrote a note to his mother’s fans on her facebook fan page: “Dearest People of Page. This is Anne’s son Christopher and it breaks my heart to bring you this sad news. Earlier tonight, Anne passed away due to complications resulting from a stroke. She left us almost nineteen years to the day my father, her husband Stan, died. The immensity of our family’s grief cannot be overstated....
It was a magnificent book, and there was always a mild disappointment that there wasn’t a second. The book community is remarkably impatient (myself included), and even though seven years is a reasonable amount of time to write a book, it seems like it’s been forever since I first entered the Night Circus with Celia and Marco. I wondered more than once if we would get another taste of Morgenstern’s magic....
The brave soul who made certain the Resistance was going to live to see another day. You may have gotten the impression that Amilyn and Leia had more history together than was shown on screen, and you’d be right; as we find out in Leia, Princess of Alderaan, they’ve known each other for decades. One of the joys in reading the Leia, Princess of Alderaan manga adaptation is that we get to see their first meeting and watch their friendship grow as they navigate life and join the Rebellion together — especially since once we get into movie territory, Leia has very little opportunity to enjoy female friendship....
Here are the ten best quotes from Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus to celebrate the beloved Junie B. and Barbara Park’s illustrious series. My name is Junie B. Jones. The B stands for Beatrice. Except I don’t like Beatrice. I just like B and that’s all. My name is Junie B. Jones shirt from OwlHollowSchoolhouse Kindergarten is where you go to meet new friends and not watch TV....
Etsy shops are one of my favorite spots for gifting inspiration because there’s so much available, even though 99 times out of 100 I end up spotting something that I just can’t live without and adding it to cart for myself instead of staying on task. Still, even with that challenge, they’re treasure troves — and more and more of them are beginning to ship internationally, too! One of the other great things about Etsy shops is that it’s often a lot easier to make a request to customize or alter a product to fit your specifications....
Be Gay, Do Comics Edited by Matt Bors (IDW, August 11, 2020) This book has 30+ LGBTQIA writers and artists telling the whole rainbow of stories, their own and others. Many of the stories are straightforward testimonies, and there are also history lessons, autofiction, and great musings on LGBTQIA life. The art is great and as widely varied as the stories themselves. I was a little sad there was only one intersex story in the whole collection, but one is better than none!...
But as the medium aged, DC and Marvel both sought to bring unique new characters into the fold. By the 1960s, this occasionally meant creating heroes from other nations, including Russia. Marvel unknowingly created the most famous of all Russian superheroes in 1964: Natalia Romanova, alias the Black Widow! With the Black Widow movie swinging into theaters soon, this seems like a good time to take a brief look at the broader history of Russian superheroes in American comics....
So with respect to that, here are some middle grade books with black kids on the covers. Enjoy! Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia, Designed by Eric Wilkerson This cover is stunning. In case you’re curious, Yes, Tristan really did punch a hole in the sky, or rather the Midpass. To fix this, he teams up with African American gods to find Anansi the Weaver, who is the only one who can fix it before the world is consumed by the Iron Monsters....
It’s a new year, and that means new perks. We’ve sweetened the current Short Story and Novel levels and introduced a brand new Epic level, and you can try any level out for free for two weeks! The highlight is our new group read, available to all Epic members — and there’s no cap on Epic, so the more the merrier. Each quarter we’ll read a book, voted on by Epic subscribers, that will fulfill at least one task of the 2020 Read Harder Challenge, and cap off our read-along with a live chat....
Return to the magical world of the Trylle with The Lost City and The Morning Flower, the first two books in a brand new trilogy from New York Times bestselling author Amanda Hocking. Welcome to the kingdom of the Omte—a forest realm where secrets and danger, human nature and ancient mythology collide… Boyfriend Material Pencils: Are you a fan of the new romance novel Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall? Then you need these pencils!...
Looking for a great gift for your favorite booklover? With most author events cancelled by COVID, there’s still an easy way to get autographed copies of your favorite books. VJ Books works closely with over 1,000 authors and publishing houses to offer signed copies of bestselling titles. Plus it has a huge backlist of books from authors like John Grisham, George R.R. Martin, David Baldacci, Clive Cussler, and many others....
TBR is Book Riot’s subscription service offering Tailored Book Recommendations for readers of all stripes. Been dreaming of a “Stitch Fix for books?” Now it’s here! Tell TBR about your reading preferences and what you’re looking for, and sit back while your Bibliologist handpicks recommendations just for you. TBR offers plans to receive hardcover books in the mail or recommendations by email, so there’s an option for every budget. TBR is also available as a gift to give to the readers in your life!...
