Books

It’s the most wonderful time of the year — spooky season! I’m not usually one for seasonal decorating, but Halloween is the special holiday that gets me excited to pull out my skeletons and witch hats to spread the spine-chilling cheer. If you love books and the haunting magic of October 31, then these bookish Halloween decorations are just what you need to ring in the holiday spirit(s). We’ve got adorable, creepy, and downright jump-scare worthy home goods sure to fright and delight. And some of them may be so...

So why do book banners insist that they don’t ban books? Because the level of doubling down as book banning increases is, on one hand, impressive and on the other hand, is concerning about several key components of literacy. During Banned Books Week, Tiffany Justice — one of the founders of Moms For Liberty — got clever in dodging the question asked of her by Tamron Hall. Justice, who insists what her group does is simply “remove” books, which is different than banning, was asked several times to explain the...

The Swedish Academy has awarded the 2022 Nobel Prize in Literature to French writer Annie Ernaux for “the courage and clinical acuity with which she uncovers the roots, estrangements, and collective restraints of personal memory.” Ernaux is the author of over thirty works of fiction and memoir and is considered by many to be France’s most important literary voice. At the time of Thursday’s press conference the Nobel committee said they had not yet been able to reach Ernaux on the phone. Born in 1940, Ernaux grew up in the...

October may be primarily known as spooky season. But to me, it’s also “curl up in a cozy spot and stay indoors with the thickest book you can find” season. As it gets colder outside, I feel like the weather gives me a chance to take things slow and really enjoy the books I read. The new sci-fi and fantasy reads out this month align with these plans because so many wonderful reads are being released. From the first week of October to the last, you can find plenty of...

The Downers Grove Public Library in Illinois had planned to hold a Drag Queen Bingo event October 11th, to recognize National Coming Out Day. It has since been cancelled after the library received threats. The library was mailed a letter from “Your Friends at Maga” with a confederate flag, a note that says “ Lover Commies: More to Come For Downers Grove Library,” and a bullet. The Downers Grove Public Library cancelled a drag queen bingo event hosted for teens due to alleged threats made and details for the incident...

Welcome, welcome to another edition of Riot Roundup! We’ve asked contributors to share the best comics, graphic novels, and manga they’ve read within the past few months. In this list, you’ll find everything from battles with mental illness to battles with literal devils, journeys of self-discovery and journeys through the cosmos. Some of the stories are raucous and bloody with nonstop action, while others are subtle and sweet portrayals of everyday life. Whether you decide to pick up one of the standalones mentioned here or one of a series, you’ll...

Books are an ideal helpmate when dealing with mental health issues. I don’t mean self-help books, although they can certainly help if you like them. I mean books in general: literary and genre fiction, nonfiction, poetry. To be clear, books aren’t a substitute for professional help. But they can be an addendum: there is a reason bibliotherapy is a thing, after all. Over the years, I’ve been building my own bookish mental health toolkit. It’s made up of the books I turn to when the world is a little extra...

“Moms for Liberty” and similar groups say that they are fighting for “parents’ rights” by trying to remove books from schools. They claim to speak for all parents. The truth is, though, that most parents (and people in general) do not support book bans. When given the choice to opt their children out of access to their choice of school library books, less than 1% of Florida parents did. Groups like this advocating for “parental rights” assume that parents are inherently conservative. They treat their perspective as “common sense,” that...

It’s almost October, which is prime horror reading season. If you’re preparing to pack your seasonal TBR, now is the time to start exploring the best the genre has to offer. Like many genres, there are a few authors and titles that are classics that show up on every list, like Stephen King’s older works or The Haunting of Hill House. But horror is so much more than the classics: many authors have pushed the genre forward in recent years, publishing experimental, surprising, and just plain fun horror novels that...

Transcendent Kingdom is one of those rare books that is about so much, and yet fits together flawlessly. Yaa Gyasi tackles science, faith, work, addiction, grief, complicated family relationships, immigrant experiences, race, Black girlhood and womanhood, and more. It is a richly layered novel full of seemingly endless stories, and it is also intensely focused and full of a breathless interiority. The protagonist, Gifty, is working on her PhD in neuroscience, grappling with her relationship to faith, grieving the death of her brother to a drug overdose, and trying to...

I’ve never met a Tolkien fan who couldn’t use some more Lord of the Rings gifts, and I’ve never seen 10 more perfect Lord of the Rings gifts for LOTR fans than the ones I’ve collected here. Seriously, Tolkien-heads, you’re in for a treat. I’m talking sweatshirts fit for the finest hobbits, Shire cottagecore from here to Hobbiton, bookmark maps of Gondor and Rohan, and more! Truly, the Etsy gods shine down upon us on this day. And personally, I would add any of these Lord of the Rings gifts...

One of the interesting things about the book industry is that you can never get a straight answer on just how many copies a book has sold. Amazon keeps its information to itself, and they control a large part of the market. Different lists are based on their own sources and criteria. No single bestseller list is completely accurate. But what if we combined the lists? Would that paint a clearer picture? I’ve taken four of the most well-known bestseller lists — the New York Times, both Combined Print &...

What better way to celebrate the season of crisp air, pumpkin spice, butternut squash, juicy apples, plaid, longer nights, and crunchy leaves than with new paperback books? Paperbacks let you tote your latest read around with you like no big deal, and at a lower price point, let you snag more at your local indie or for your library. Get ready to do even more outdoor reading, perhaps with a yummy candle, or indoor reading beneath a cozy blanket, with this roundup of fall 2022 YA paperbacks. Find below some...

Recent political events have me considering the way our history shapes the books that writers write and publishers publish. After the summer of protests in 2020, publishers have made an attempt to push forward more books by authors of color and diversify the industry overall. As for recent events, I’m wondering how the overturning of Roe v. Wade will influence book trends. Women have of course written books throughout history, and the best ones reflected the difficult realities of the time. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë focused on a woman...