Books

Determining the best audiobooks of all time is a highly subjective process. What makes an audiobook the best? Do they have to have famous narrators or an ensemble cast? Are the most popular audiobooks the best, or do they have to be award-winning to be the best? Audiobooks have come a long way since their first iteration in 1932. Back then, the American Foundation for the Blind created book recordings on vinyl records, which only held about 15 minutes of speech per side. Over the following decades, cassette tapes and...

“Fake news” has been the news for years, thanks to a president who helped empower distrust in people and institutions which have experience, expertise, and history in delivering information. But from “fake news” has been the larger discussion of mis- and disinformation, which themselves have been used to weaponize authority. But what exactly does misinformation or disinformation mean? Let’s break it down. Misinformation is incorrect or misleading information. Misinformation is not deliberate — you might see a tweet from a reliable source share something that has some of the facts...

One of the biggest readers’ choice book awards–and one that certainly captures the excitement and attention of the bookish internet–is the Goodreads Choice Awards. It’s an opportunity for Goodreads users to weigh in on the books they think were the best of the best that year. For 2022, it’s clear that the power of BookTok has made itself known in not only the winners, but in the slate of finalists from which readers could choose. Insights from Goodreads: “With more than 5.7 million votes cast and counted, the 14th Annual...

If you’re a fan of all things Middle-earth, here’s your opportunity to spend the night in the famous Hobbiton. AirBNB is offering three people the chance to win an overnight at The Shire’s New Zealand filming location in March 2023. Although the site has always been open to visitors, this experience is new in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Hobbit‘s first film. Tickets to enter for the two night stay in the two bedroom house go on sale December 14, at 10 AM New Zealand time (that’s December...

Now that so many of us spend all day on screens, there’s something about using a paper calendar. From bullet journalling to maintaining a wall calendar, having reminders in a physical form can make them more effective — and it’s nice to get a break from screens and pinging reminders. Daily calendars (fun fact: “Page-A-Day Calendars” is a trademarked brand) have the added bonus of being a little daily ritual. There’s a new picture/factoid/puzzle to reveal every day with a satisfying tear off of the day before. Look, the little...

‘Tis the season for Best Of lists! We’ve discussed the top books of the year according to the New York Times, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and more, and today Buzzfeed has released their own. It was chosen by nine Buzzfeed contributors, reporters, and writers, including our own Margaret Kingsbury! The list is divided into genres, with more picks in some genres than others. Here are their picks for the best books of the year. Today In Books Newsletter Sign up to Today In Books to receive daily news and miscellany...

A weakening journalism industry is one arm of the octopus which has allowed book bans and censorship to thrive in the current environment. It’s not just the loss of local news, though. Further contributing is the insistence of calling book censorship a matter of “culture war.” Censorship is not, nor has it ever been, a culture war. A “culture war” is what happens between two (or more) factions working to assert dominance for their belief system. Keeping to this part of the definition, censorship might fall under the umbrella of...

The grumpy / sunshine trope is nothing new, but watching Wednesday and Enid becoming the best and unlikeliest of friends in the new Netflix show reminded me of just how much I love that dynamic whether in friendships or romances. There’s just something about a hardened, stoic character being soft for that one overly optimistic person in their life, and that soft character showing their hard edges in return, that makes me go all warm and fuzzy inside. And fortunately there is no shortage of grumpy / sunshine duo books...

Oprah Daily is the latest to publish its best-of-the-year book list. The list is 45 books long, was handpicked by Oprah Daily‘s editors, and includes fiction and nonfiction titles. The assortment ranges widely, with genres and topics spanning from romance to fantasy, biography to science. It also has a few books in common with other best-of lists we’ve covered, like Barnes & Noble (Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin), Amazon (Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver), The Washington Post (Afterlives by Abdulrazak Gurnah), and The New York Times (An Immense World by...

More than 150 literary agents signed a letter promising to stop submitting new books to HarperCollins to support striking workers. The letter was organized by KT Literary Agency associate assistant Chelsea Hensley. Among the letter signers are other KT Literary Agency staff, some Aevitas Agency staff, and a number of Janklow & Nesbit staff. In the letter, the agents address the HarperCollins People Team and show their support for the HCP Union, saying “we and our clients have benefitted greatly from the passion and expertise of HarperCollins’ staff, and we...

The staff of the New York Times Book Review released their 100 Notable Books of 2022 list a week ago featuring fiction, nonfiction, and poetry titles. They’ve since whittled this list down to 10 for their Best Books of 2022 list that was released today. The list is made of five fiction and five nonfiction titles and is as follows: Unsurprisingly, the list has books in common with other best-of lists, like Barnes & Noble’s (An Immense World), Amazon’s (Demon Copperhead), and The Washington Post’s (Demon Copperhead, Trust, and Stay...

For Cyber Monday, a ton of Dungeons and Dragons rulebooks are on sale for about 60% off, from the basics to the more advanced. The prices listed are all for the physical copies, not PDFs/ebooks! This sale looks to be today only, so whether you're curious about the game or want to expand your D&D library, this is the time to get them....

As much as possible, I try to not let my reading be guided by challenges and goals. I read what I can, when I can, and I am (mostly) happy about it. But I would be lying if I said that in certain months I don’t try to find ways to add an extra book or two to my reads. Especially since I usually manage to read an average of five books a month, when I pick up tougher reads and I know I’ll be able to finish maybe two...

I’ve been on the bookish internet for more than 15 years, and in that time, I’ve watched platforms rise and fall. I remember talking about books on Livejournal, for Sappho’s sake. I started a book blog called the Lesbrary in 2011, because I couldn’t find an LGBTQ book blog that wasn’t 90% M/M books. Of course, I started an accompanying Tumblr for it at about the same time, because I spent most of my time there. Years later, I’d join BookTube, and years after that, I even gave BookTok a...