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There are brilliant women collected within. But there are many more to be celebrated. 1) Rania Mamoun Rania Mamoun’s Thirteen Months of Sunrise, translated by Elisabeth Jaquette, came out this year from Comma Press. They are also laced with music; I happily made a literary playlist for this collection. 2) Safia Elhillo Safia Elhillo is the author of the brilliant 2017 collection The January Children. She was winner of the 2016 Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets and a 2018 Arab American Book Award....

Now, technically, Morbius is not a vampire. He just, you know, injected bat DNA into himself to cure a rare blood disease and gave himself an insatiable bloodlust, an aversion to light, pointy teeth and pale skin, the ability to pass on his condition to others by biting them, flight, super-strength, super-healing…but he didn’t die, so he’s not a vampire. Because if there’s one thing comics love to do, it’s split hairs....

Who Was Margaret K. McElderry? Margaret Knox McElderry led a life as eventful and colorful as that of a literary heroine. Born in Pittsburgh on June 10, 1912, she went to Mount Holyoke College and followed it up by attending the Carnegie Library School in Pittsburgh. This wasn’t because of a deep interest in librarianship, but due to a college counselor telling her that she had nothing to offer the publishing industry....

It wasn’t until I transferred to a different school for my second year that things started looking up. I arrived on campus two weeks before the semester started, and the first place I decided to visit was the main library. Stepping into the tall building with sunlight streaming in from all sides, I felt myself breathe better. It was love at first sight: as soon as I saw those rows of bookshelves, I knew I’d feel right at home....

For some unplumbed reason, I’ve always hated it when people read over my shoulder. Anything I have in hand—whether a letter, a popular book, or an innocuous magazine—becomes a sensitive field of intrusion. When eyes drift onto it, I sense them latch on, and I get distracted, irritated, shifty. Even though I can quickly lose myself in reading, a looky-loo jars me right out of it. I’ve been so engrossed in a story that I’ll miss a bus stop, but let someone crane their neck a few degrees toward me and my hackles go up....

Etinosa Uwadiae: Tell us a little bit about yourself, Miss Thy Bui. Thy Bui: I’m a designer, letterer and illustrator and I work predominantly on book cover artwork. After a long stint in-house at various imprints within Hachette Children’s Group, I left the Art Director role to go freelance and develop my lettering and illustration work (and to get away from meetings!). EU: How did you become a book cover designer and illustrator?...

Whether you’re looking for something heartbreaking, something funny, or something to liven your spirit, there’s a bit of everything for everyone in John Green’s novels. While his catalog is still manageable for anyone who wants to read anything and everything he’s done, this list will focus on just a few to get you started. Meanwhile, hardcore John Green fans my also point you toward his video blogging project with brother Hank Green called VlogBrothers, in production since 2007; his work with Crash Course; his involvement in VidCon; his project known as the Foundation to Decrease World Suck; and many, many other things to explore if you decide Green passes your vibe check and you want more....

In my hometown for over a decade, this particular Barnes & Noble remained a constant. Every year, I carved out a square in my suitcase for bookish purchases. When I travel, I search for titles. Those bright spines become my souvenirs. I adored taking my grandma on shopping sprees. For the holidays, I bought her and my father gift cards, so they could holoholo together. He loves his music, and she loves her coloring books....

“Teenagers are notoriously unwilling to put down their phones and pick up a book to read, much to the frustration of parents and educators, but one app developer has come up with a solution. Prerna Gupta is the founder of Hooked, a mobile app that sends short stories in text-message format to subscribers’ phones. The result has been an astonishing 1.8 million downloads of the app, since its launch in fall 2015, which means a lot of teens are reading, phones in hand....

And believe me, after almost a decade studying the English language and its literature as well as making a living off of editing it for other writers, nothing makes me scratch my head more than the introduction of non-English terms into the lexicon. From an editing standpoint, the question is if the non-English term stays true to its original roots and clearly relays its meaning into English. Some terms, like zeitgeist, which is German, work perfectly into English and are used widely with no misunderstandings....

To make up for it, he decides to make a grand gesture. And what’s the best gesture he can think of? Rob a bank so that he can buy her a new home. What’s the worst that can happen? Finding funny YA novels can sometimes be a challenge. Book Riot has a list of funny YA here. It was great to find Tom Mitchell’s Debut How to Rob a Bank to add to the list....

The movie released in April, and will take off from the end of Infinity War, where Thanos eliminates 50% of the earth’s population with a snap of his fingers. Fans have been theorizing about what the ending means for the MCU for eight months now, and while we know that Captain Marvel will feature (and hopefully save the day), we don’t know if the superheroes who turned to dust at the end will all be revived....

How To Pronounce Knife by Souvankham Thammavongsa (Bloomsbury) This is a top contender for my favorite book of 2020. Heralding the arrival of a major new talent, this short story collection features prose that is incredibly poignant yet meticulously succinct. The writer draws our attention to the trivial events in the day-to-day lives of immigrants which make them question their identity and their place in the world they inhabit. Love After Love by Ingrid Persaud (Faber) A captivating debut with a richly textured story set against the vibrant backdrop of Trinidad....

Join me, dear reader, as we try to figure out why people who post book spine poetry are suddenly Enemies of the Book. Mang’s main point, if I am reading it correctly, is two-fold. First, Book People are shallow Bookstagramers who prefer complaining about the cis het white male canon, and hating on F. Scott Fitzgerald in particular, to any kind of Mang-approved literary aficionado behavior, defined as writing letters to former teachers thanking them for teaching Crime and Punishment....

I’ve written before about how I love fantasy but was reluctant to pick up a book of that genre before. While I enjoy fantastical tales and worlds, there was a time when I was a bit turned-off by how some stories relegated their female characters to the background, which led me to being more into contemporary fiction. I am happy to say that, lately, there are so many new and interesting fantasy stories out there for teens and adults to dig into....

Sounds ridiculous? Of course it does. But this is what happened with Garth Williams’ 1958 children’s book The Rabbits’ Wedding. That’s it. That’s the story. This is what a group of people in Alabama, led by State Senator Edward Oswell Eddins, found so enraging. Both the story and the illustrations are the work of Garth Williams, illustrator of beloved children’s classics Charlotte’s Web, Stuart Little, and Little House on the Prairie....

If you’ve never heard of the Best Translated Book Award before, let me introduce you to one of the most interesting and diverse book awards out there! This year alone the longlists feature authors writing in 18 languages, from 20 different countries. I’ve always thought of the longlist as a phenomenal discovery tool—over the years that I’ve followed the award, it’s introduced me to some amazing authors, translators, and independent presses—so I’ve included the whole longlist here but highlighted the finalists on the shortlist....

Malerman was tightlipped on further details, but we do know the Bird Box sequel, Malorie, takes place shortly after where the first book left off. Based off the title, I think it’s safe to assume that the sequel will focus on Bird Box‘s main protagonist, Malorie (portrayed by Sandra Bullock in the Netflix movie adaptation). “The Bird Box world is Malorie’s story,” Malerman told Esquire, “and I wanted to know more about her....

If you’re like me or are looking for a bookish motivator to get you (and maybe even your kiddos) out of the house, here are six book and outing pairings in Seattle to give a try. Some books were written with kids in mind, others adults, all of them are fascinating! I hope you Seattleites or tourists to the area can enjoy one of these book and outing pairings! For those of you not in the area, why not brainstorm something to do in your neck of the woods!...

I know that I’m not the only person who feels this way. Between the thrill of trying to solve a good puzzle and Sherlock’s enigmatic way of doing so, there’s a lot to love. Readers who loved Sherlock Holmes created one of the first examples of modern-day fandom, as strong today as it was over one hundred years ago. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle may have disliked the detective he created, but today, Sherlock Holmes is the most portrayed fictional character in media of all time....