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There’s a reason some people are claustrophobic with regards to the subway or cave-diving. There are so many things to be afraid of. The roof collapsing, for example, or the exits getting blocked. A flood and nowhere to escape. Or maybe what might be already down there in the depths, just waiting for someone to come along. Creatures that thrive in the depths that we haven’t found yet. The subway getting stopped on the tracks with hundreds of people crammed inside, their anger stewing as the minutes tick by....

“Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.” ― Maya Angelou Basically, good books and good music, ebooks and iTunes, go together like cherry pie and a damn fine cup of coffee. I recently read Jami Attenberg’s The Middlesteins, and spent at least half of the experience listening to John Williams’s immortal soundtrack to Jurassic Park. Attenberg’s writing is excellent to begin with, but the addition of the music gave even further depth to the desperation, the hollow-filling, that is the character Edie’s compulsive eating....

BookClubbish is a book club for people with or without a book club! Sign up to the newsletter to get fun bookish content, reading recommendations, and giveaways delivered right in your inbox. One thing I didn’t fully comprehend until I was in college was that library cards aren’t readily available for everybody. By this I mean, you can’t just go into a random library, get a card, and start borrowing books....

Cottagecore. I was reading it as cottagegore. Now I know what you’re thinking: “How in hell did you do that? How did you see the pictures that went with word and think that ‘gore’ had anything to do with it?” In my defense I… I actually don’t have an answer that doesn’t sound completely bananas; that’s just what my brain read. Even now I have to correct myself. It could be that I equate a lot of really good horror with cottage-esque settings....

In response, superintendent of the district Jeremy Glenn said, He went on to discuss “radicals” in school board meetings that he claims are sowing division in the community. The students speaking out at the school board meeting decided to take these accusations and use them to raise money to fight censorship. They are selling a tee shirt with the text “radical gaslighter” on it, and all proceeds go to the Freedom to Read Foundation....

People love those threads. — Andrew Leach (@4ndrewJames) March 26, 2018 Most of her Ten Things are specifically for writers, and I, for one, am more than happy to take advice from someone so successful. She has words of wisdom for those just starting out. — Joanne Harris (@Joannechocolat) September 20, 2018 She has plenty to say on writing about women. — Big Smoke Writing Factory (@bigsmokewriting) October 24, 2017...

And in 1971, he fought the Justice League. I’ve read literally thousands of comics, so when I say that Justice League of America #89 (May 1971) by Mike Friedrich and Dick Dillon is one of the weirdest I’ve ever read, that’s saying something. And when I dug into the background of this comic, it got even weirder. Let’s take a look! Right off the bat, things are strange, as the Flash hollers at the reader that it’s their (our?...

But before I share with you this list, I wanted to make a few observations. Get your calculators out, nerds, we’re going data-ing. It’s no big surprise that Michelle Obama’s Becoming is at the top of the list. What is also not a surprise, but still a disappointment, is how few other authors of color have made the most popular books on Goodreads for right now. Of the 20 books, only four were written by authors of color....

Here are this year’s full-length poetry collection winners. Once you’re finished with this year’s award winners, check out more speculative poetry here.

The great news is seasons 3 and 4 already have the green light, but it is a long wait until the next season starts. We have the best Bridgerton fan fiction to help scratch your itch if the books aren’t enough for you. Warning: there is a lot. There are eight (8) Bridgerton siblings, which gives enough material to work with. Add additional side characters, alternative love pairings, modern vs....

Without further ado, some fucking hilarious bookish items: Read a Fucking Book Enamel Pin: Because we could all be a bit more literate. Well-Read Bitch Pin: You are who you are, and you deserve a pin for it. Fuck Off, I’m Reading Mug: This can be your designated reading time mug. And maybe every use mug? Reading Murakami Book Print: This is an awesome print that I’d totally hang in my bedroom....

Becoming A Librarian The days of “librarian” being synonymous with “keeper of the dusty books” are long gone. Master’s of Library Science (MLS) degrees are acquired through specialized programs that are expensive and hard to come by. Right away, librarians are saddled with debt that often outstrips the salary they can expect when they finish their coursework. Salary.com lists the median librarian’s pay at approximately 67K per year as of June 2021....

Trevor Benson is a young Navy doctor who unexpectedly finds himself back in New Bern, North Carolina after a mortar blast leaves him wounded. His late grandfather’s dilapidated cabin seems like as good a place to regroup as any, and he finds solace tending to his grandfather’s beloved beehives. But unexpected encounters with two local women—the deputy sheriff, and a sullen teenage girl who lives in a nearby trailer park—will lead him on a journey of love and forgiveness....

It can be difficult to figure out where to start since there are many options at various price points. Some tablets are primarily for designers (I would not suggest, for example, the iPad Pro if you’re just going to be reading on it) and ebook files tend to be fairly small so you don’t have to go all-out on a top-of-the-line tablet with maximum storage. A lot of this is down to personal preference — are you an Apple user or an Android user?...

The word “gaslamp” certainly gives a clue to its definition. From my research, gaslamp fantasy is, at least today, a part of historical fantasy that includes sub-genres. In a nutshell, gaslamp fantasy is fantasy that takes places any time during the 1800s, with some exceptions. Under its umbrella are Regency and Victorian fantasy, and some gothic fantasy fits as well. Some may also dispute whether steampunk is a sub-genre of gaslamp fantasy or vice versa, though steampunk doesn’t always fit because it can lean more science fiction....

Of course promote literacy, including by sharing tips with parents Provide a sanctuary Improve educational outcomes Create community spaces Provide a wealth of digital materials (including to people who are homebound, in remote locations, or have mobility issues), allowing users to access books and information without needing to put on pants Preserve local history and culture Champion diversity, from English-language resources to after-school tech programs for Latina girls Open gateways to possible careers and lifestyles, including for future authors Drive tourism Offer all sorts of social and special services, from citizenship advice and social work to fishing poles and Halloween costumes Provide free indoor play spaces for children Even save lives...

Magical girl manga was made popular to audiences across the globe with Naoko Takeuchi’s Sailor Moon, but this isn’t where the magical girl genre began, and this isn’t where it ended either. Here’s a look at the evolution of the magical girl, how it started, how it became popular, and how this genre continues to thrive. The Origins of the Magical Girl The history of magical girl manga can be traced back to the 1960s, when writer and illustrator Fujio Akatsuka created Himitsu no Akko-chan (The Secrets of Akko-chan), which was published in Ribon between 1962 and 1965....

Vera Nabokov I had not, at the time, heard of Vera Nabokov (though I had read Lolita after my high school crush said it made her think of me, a comment that I have never figured out or gotten over), but if I had, that’s who I would have been trying to emulate. Vera met her husband Vladimir through her publisher father. According to a single clause in a single sentence on her Wikipedia page, she had a budding writing career at the time, which never went any further....

These are books which are seeing a lot of interest but haven’t necessarily stayed atop bestseller lists for months and/or books with particular interest locally. The data looks at adult fiction, adult nonfiction, and young adult books (which includes fiction, nonfiction, and comics). Panorama Picks groups public libraries by coordinating American Bookseller Association (ABA) regions, which allows for a really neat way of exploring interest on a regional level. A book might be especially popular in California but less so in the Midwest, and looking at that data provides a real opportunity for local bookstores and libraries....

Likewise, there’s such a fun array of bookish gifts for horror lovers out there. Slap a sticker on your notebook or laptop or wear your horror fandom across your chest with a sweet tee. Maybe you’ll take it to the next level and don a horror look while sinking into your next favorite horror read. In any case, you’re going to love these fun bookish goods for horror fanatics....