(Note: make sure you know what steps you need to go through at your specific library to get access to virtual tools or to have a new program approved. Those are going to vary by library.) Step One: Figure Out Your Theme/Audience No book club has to have a theme, but the ones that do are going to draw a more dedicated group. Even if it’s “Malcolm X Branch Fiction Readers’ Book Club,” that’s an indication of what you’ll be reading....
While a lot has been written about the ways books can make you smarter (besides the simple imparting of knowledge), the truth is that attaching a strategic goal to what’s supposed to be a relaxing activity can make it too intimidating. You don’t have to be the next Yo Yo Ma to enjoy Bach’s cello suites. Why should reading be any different? If you want to learn how to start reading more, but have been too intimidated to try, consider trying these tips....
By the time S-Town came out in 2017, I was far from a podcast newbie. Hooked on narrative-style podcasts, I’d built up a healthy episode playlist on my phone. But never before had I felt this way after listening to one of them — or listening to anything, actually. I’ve never been an audiobook listener. I prefer to consume not only books, but also TV shows and films in their original forms....
And the actor himself doesn’t seem to be different from the character he plays. Which is partially true. He does woodwork in real life. (I adore him on his and Amy Poehler’s show, Making It!) He loves the outdoors and is passionate about the world we live in. And, he’s also the owner of the best giggle in the universe. Hands down. Which made me wonder, as a perpetual homebody and bookworm, what kind of books does Nick Offerman?...
On the other hand, this term is often applied too liberally. I love a friends-to-lovers romance as much as the next reader, but just because the two characters haven’t known each other their whole lives doesn’t make it instalove. It’s perfectly reasonable to start building a connection with someone within a few weeks of meeting them. Sometimes just a handful of deep conversations can make it feel like you have a better understanding of each other than most of the people you’ve known for years....
I wanted to remember why it hit me so hard. Why did tough-guy Kyo and the gang show up so regularly in my cinematic insomniac dreams? What about it made me identify so hard with Tohru Honda? So I did the only natural thing: I reread the entire series in 5 days to figure it out. (Worth noting: I read the newer, 12-volume collector’s editions, translated by Sheldon Drzka, released by Yen Press in 2016 and 2017....
From Poe gifts to pop culture Poe to swiping right on Poe, we’re giving you all the Edgar content you need. Find all of our Poe Day content here:
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) December 19, 2019 What is a TERF? TERF is an acronym for Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist. In short, it means a person who calls themself a feminist but does not believe feminism applies to trans people. It most often manifests in the insistence that biological sex is real and trans women are men. The reality is that, like gender, sex is not a strict binary (there are many articles widely available on this—here is one from Slate, published last year)....
The Years After You is a tale of betrayal and forgiveness, family and friendship, loss and redemption. A painful but powerful modern love story, it explores the cost of marital infidelity and the challenges of single motherhood, the legacy of suicide, and the healing power of love. Families are a common topic for writers. From sibling squabbles to difficult marriages and the struggles of being a parent to the struggles of having parents, families are a true gold mine for writing fodder....
Wow, what a stately beauty. A post shared by Hannah Olivia (@hello.palindrome) on Sep 4, 2019 at 6:07pm PDT Incredible. A post shared by Fotografka kotów | Kociara (@fotografiamonikamalek) on Sep 4, 2019 at 10:48am PDT What a specimen. https://www.instagram.com/p/B2CHGd_oqJE/ Talk about a #KodakMoment. A post shared by Bookstagram by Edith 📚 (@alibraryinmyluggage) on Sep 5, 2019 at 6:43am PDT Consider me dead. A post shared by ariawanders🍃 (@arialoves_books) on Sep 5, 2019 at 3:42am PDT Om nom nom....
In fact, last month I had the pleasure of being a judge—along with authors Sarah McGuire and Peter Raymundo—for the Osceola Library System’s third annual literary contest for kids aged 8–17. The theme was “There’s a Monster in My Lit Mag!” and while the ceremony for the winners has been cancelled, the winners will be read in an upcoming episode of the library’s Nonfiction Friends podcast by Jonathan, the amazing Youth Specialist who coordinated the contest....
It’s fine. Just don’t think about it it’s fine. It’ll work out. Needless to say, no matter how much you love it (and Halloween), autumn can come with a certain amount of stress, even when the world isn’t crumbling around you during a pandemic. But nothing seems as bad as it could be with something warm in your hands, even if it’s only for about five minutes before you make the mistake of looking at the news or Twitter again....
What’s the wait? Take a trip to these magical cities today:
Grief makes us withdrawn, desperate, helpless against the permanence of death or loss or the what-could-have-beens littering our past. It’s one of the few times that when a character in a novel or movie makes a rash decision or leaps to some grand conclusion, I can understand it. In fiction, it can turn someone towards the horrific: a monster in the basement, a ghost walking through their walls. I can understand how desperate a character is for their wife to come back from the dead, how willing to believe in aliens or another world or magic spells if it means their son laughs at a silly joke again....
But as the social media cycle churned, I started to see the old Marvel/DC rivalry flare up. “Marvel just told DC to sit down and watch how the big boys do it,” said a friend of mine on Twitter. And I thought: well, wait though… all Marvel did was announce a whole bunch of titles… Which is exactly what DC did a few weeks prior. And, in fact, even as folks on Twitter were praising Marvel’s inclusion of films led by women and persons of color, it didn’t escape me that DC had announced the same thing with Wonder Woman and Cyborg, respectively....
Rest assured, though: find them I did. With the help of my fellow Rioters, wonderful romance reader friends, and many, many a database, I found ten 1950s romance books that explore that unique post-war period where it became obvious that the world had changed, and it was not about to go back to the way it used to be. The Civil Rights movement, the Baby Boom, women’s changing roles, it can all be found within the pages of these stories....
I always read a classic or two each year, and Lolita has been a noticeable gap in my literary fiction repertoire for years. Nabokov’s famous novel has been referenced in so many other books I’ve read over the years, and it never fails to appear on any Greatest Books of All Time lists that come out. I felt that I was derelict in my reading education for having skipped over it for so long....
As someone who’s seen Iron Fist, this seems like a good bet for Netflix. Netflix just found a new partner in Dark Horse Entertainment, the TV and movie arm of Dark Horse comics. The success of The Umbrella Academy on the streaming service motivated Netflix into signing an exclusive first- look deal with Dark Horse. In a statement, Netflix Vice President of Original Content Cindy Holland said: “Following the success of The Umbrella Academy, we’re excited to extend our relationship with Dark Horse Comics....
Now, in the manga world, I feel like we find more historical romance content inside fantasy manga, but there are still plenty of options to choose from. From falling for a duke to getting revenge on the villain by hooking up with their dad to going back in time, only to fall in love with someone that doesn’t exist yet in the current time. Or, how about a princess and a bodyguard running away from their childhood friend who wants them dead?...
And if you’re in the mood for that relationship to be sapphic, I get you. Again, fantasy novels can be great settings for WLW relationships, as the stories don’t necessarily have to be saddled with the hardships and obstacles that can befall earthly characters. One of the beauties of queerness is the freedom to create relationships in imaginative ways. And imbuing a sapphic relationship with magic is a beautiful notion, mirroring the real-life magic inherent in queerness....
