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Following the Yukon Quest The Yukon Quest, is a ~1,000 mile dogsledding race between Fairbanks, Alaska, and Whitehouse, Yukon Territory. While it may be less well-known than the Iditarod, it’s considered by many to be a tougher, more challenging race. My friend and I had driven from Fairbanks to the first four checkpoints in rural Alaska before the race turned inward and roads did not connect to the additional checkpoints. I had picked up books by famous mushers for the trip....

Of course, just because some readers hate a trope or writing style doesn’t mean most or all do. In fact, the most complained about authors are usually also the ones that sell the most. It’s easy to see a handful of people online talk about something and get the impression it’s a universally agreed upon truth. Personally, the hate for pop culture references in books has always baffled me. It’s usually described as “cringey”....

But Judy was not my first love. My first real book love was Beverly Cleary. In first grade, our school librarian Miss Heck (is that not the best elementary school librarian name ever?) read Henry and Ribsy out loud to us. It was a monumental event, because when she was finished reading that book we could check out the “grown up” books. At least we thought they were grown up books because they had chapters....

Many ghost tales have ghosts that seem to follow a set of rules. They are frightening and combative, they have an unfinished agenda that needs completing before they can move on, they only come out when its dark. (Why are so many ghosts nocturnal?) In these eight great novels, yes, the ghosts might abide by some of these things, but there’s something different about each of them. They might be a dead relative in need of your help....

I’m particularly fond of a quote by Pico Iyer that I borrowed from one of my teachers. He writes in his book The Art of Stillness: “In an age of speed, nothing could be more invigorating than going slow. In an age of distraction, nothing can feel more luxurious than paying attention. And in an age of constant movement, nothing is more urgent than sitting still.” When I pull this one out, either as student or teacher, I desire nothing more than to slow down, to close my eyes, and to listen to the world around and inside me....

To Speak is a Revolution. I Am Yours tells of Reema’s unwavering fight to free her voice from those who have sought to silence her. Moving from Bangladesh to Thailand, New York, and Oregon, it explores her struggles with racism, misogyny, abuse, and anorexia in incisive, poetic prose. I Am Yours is the first English-language memoir by a woman from Bangladesh that so powerfully explores the intersection of personal and political, for the sake of creating a world where all voices are welcome and respected....

Keller ISD, whose board is backed by Patriot Mobile, voted 4-2 to ban any and all books featuring trans and nonbinary people from classrooms and libraries. Among those pushing against this policy was the ACLU, calling it an attempt to erase these identities and tell students they do not belong in the district. Shaw Smith, a Moms for Liberty candidate who won her seat in the recent spring election, cited the most recent list of potential book purchases for the district as her cause for concern....

Palestine Writes Back promises to be the first major fest “dedicated to the celebration and support of Palestinian literature in the United States.” To this end, organizers hope to raise $150,000. At last look, they had secured just over $38,000 to support three days of films, talks, readings, and music. Festival organizers have released a schedule packed with acclaimed and award-winning writers. Among the participants are Palestinian graphic novelists Leila Abdulrazzaq and Marguerite Dabaie; novelists Huzama Habayeb, Adania Shibli, and Ibrahim Nasrallah; and memoirist Raja Shehadeh....

We live in an age of dating apps and instant gratification. While technological advancements do promise us an easy life and we no longer need to attend elaborate dances to find a partner, the perils of modern dating are aplenty and rear their ugly heads every now and then. From ghosting to love bombing, our lexicon is now rich with words that make modern dating sound like an extreme sport we are yet to get the hang of....

What else do you call it when you read the same perfect graphic novel five times in ten days? I’m almost afraid to tell you anything about Beautiful Darkness by Fabien Vehlmann and Kerascoët, for fear of ruining some of the black pleasure of reading this inventive fantasy for the first time. It’s just not what you expect. We have fairies, more or less, but they’re more human than they ought to be....

It seems pretty logical that books about certain groups would be more authentic if they were written by people from those groups. Unfortunately, publishing has long followed white supremacist, heteronormative, ableist, patriarchal trends. The Cooperative Children’s Book Center, School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison compiles data on books by and about people of color and from First/Native Nations published for children and teens. As the chart above shows, in 2018 only 49% of books about Black people were actually written by Black people....

At their fundamental level, these pearl-clutching rants about the death of good lit crit as we know it all have something in common, and it’s something I agree with. They’re all basically saying that we need good, solid, thoughtful literary criticism in order for the world of literature to thrive and evolve. But then the pearl-clutchers (including Sir Peter) get stuck on this laughable idea that good, solid, thoughtful literary criticism has only one face, and that’s usually the face of a Very Serious And Probably Aging White Guy With A College Degree Unless You’re Michiko Kukatani, In Which Case, Fine You Can Come In BUT JUST YOU, NO OTHER LADIES OR BROWN PEOPLE....

Maybe you already knew that. After all, this season features a few anticipated series based on some beloved manga. We’re finally getting the second season of superhero satire, One-Punch Man. Baseball lovers get to rejoice: Ace of the Diamond returns for an astonishing 52-episode third season. (Confession: I’m not a baseball lover but I love this anime.) And of course, as a Book Riot contributor, I would be remiss not to mention the literary-inspired Bungo Stray Dogs....

Find your astrological sign below for your March horoscope, perfectly paired with a newly released book. All signs will be affected by Mercury retrograde, which will take place March 5 through 28. This can lead to communication errors, technology problems, and general weirdness. My advice for surviving Mercury retrograde? Stay inside with a good book! Aries (March 21–April 19) February gets all the credit for romance, but March will be the love-filled month for you, Aries....

Lanny by Max Porter (Faber) Hands down my most anticipated book of the year, this is the follow up novel from the writer of the exquisite Grief is a Thing with Feathers. A beguiling story of strange little boy Lanny and the village he lives in. Lanny is a visionary piece of fiction in which Porter has created a world which is curiously compelling and poignant. Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli (4th Estate) Hailed by Ali Smith as ‘A novelist of a rare vitality’, Valeria is a formidable Latin American voice and this is her debut novel written in English....

Fast forward to 2005, when I met my poetry therapy community. Month after month, I would visit and share valuable poetry. Memorization reentered my world, but now through an artistic lens. As a result, I made many valuable friendships with people I still (virtually) gather with! Learning by rote shifted to a more approachable way of comprehension. My reflections prompted a deep dive as to why memorizing poetry is essential to well being....

In other words, Becoming is unavoidable. And why would you want to avoid it? Mrs. Obama’s story is inspirational and relatable. She thoughtfully covers issues of racism, sexism, identity, motherhood, and of course politics. Her story is one that is easy to connect with, and yet at the same time her journey is uniquely hers. As an added bonus, if you get the audiobook (as I did) Michelle Obama reads it herself....

The agony of those preteen years is perfectly suited to the graphic novel format. It’s both an interesting and deeply monotonous time of life because you still can’t really do anything. You desperately want freedom, but are not responsible enough yet to be given any. For the most part, I spent empty summer days writing in my bedroom and talking with my best friend outside our local video store. These would not make for especially engaging prose – in a novel, action has to move the story forward – but the graphic novel format can capture boredom and lift it into a nostalgic literary confection....

How do I feel about Nick Offerman and Leslie Knope writing books? I feel like this: via GIPHY When I got done flailing, I started imagining other memoirs by Parks & Rec cast members. I mean, I sure hope there’s a lot of Leslie Knope in Leslie Poehler. Now Let’s do this. Add your own in the comments, fellow P & R fans! Chris Traeger’s Guide to Making Every Day Literally the Best Day Ever by Rob Lowe, foreword by Chris’s therapist, Dr....

The short story is: a mystery person (now believed to be Bernardini) was posing as various publishing industry professionals and soliciting pre-publication manuscripts of assorted books, some of them high profile like The Man Who Chased His Shadow, the fifth installment in the Stieg Larsson/David Lagercrantz Millennium series of Lisbeth Salander books and some from debut authors who were not yet big names. He pretended to be everyone from publicists to book scouts to agents....