Books

Kelly Jensen is out this week, so Erica Ezeifedi and I are filling in on censorship news. Unfortunately, none of us can be Kelly, even with our forces combined, so we’re trying something a little different in the censorship news round-up. Instead of one big story and dozens of bullet points, we have each picked a few book ban stories this week to write a paragraph about — think Today in Books: Censorship Edition. Don’t forget that today is the last day to get Book Riot’s ebook How to Fight...

Today, the Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to Norwegian novelist and playwright Jon Fosse. Fosse’s work has been highly acclaimed across Europe, and is gaining more and more of an audience in English-speaking portions of the world. The Nobel Prize in Literature is awarded for entire bodies of work, and Fosse’s win comes as a result of his “innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable.” His work spans genres, is written in Norwegian Nynorsk, and includes everything from plays to novels and children’s books. He joins...

Children’s author and illustrator Ed Young passed away at the age of 91 on September 29th in his home in Hastings-on-Hudson, NY. He leaves behind a vast legacy — the multiple Caldecott Medal-winning author wrote 17 children’s books and illustrated over 80. His books often contained the fantastical — fairy tales, folktales, and poetry, rounded out with details of his life as a Chinese immigrant and traditional Chinese storytelling. Though his career as a children’s author was long and illustrious, it’s wasn’t always what he had in mind. After he...

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr was published in 2014 and quickly became a bestseller, staying on the New York Times Bestseller list for 200 weeks. It also won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and was shortlisted for the National Book Award. The book has been adapted into a limited Netflix series, and the first trailer has just been released. The description is: “All the Light We Cannot See tells the story of Marie-Laure Leblanc (Aria Mia Loberti), a blind French girl taking refuge with her...

Just in time for Banned Books Week (October 1-7), two California library systems — San Diego Public Library and LA County Library — have joined the Books Unbanned initiative. In 2021, the Brooklyn Public Library started the initiative as a way to counteract the deluge in book banning in schools across the country. Though this year has seen a 33% rise in book bans, opposition to book bans have also increased. The San Diego and LA County library systems join not only Brooklyn Public Library, but also the Seattle and Boston...

Jaime Herndon finished her MFA in nonfiction writing at Columbia, after leaving a life of psychosocial oncology and maternal-child health work. She is a writer, editor, and book reviewer who drinks way too much coffee. She is a new-ish mom, so the coffee comes in extra handy. Twitter: @IvyTarHeelJaime View All posts by Jaime Herndon Jaime Herndon finished her MFA in nonfiction writing at Columbia, after leaving a life of psychosocial oncology and maternal-child health work. She is a writer, editor, and book reviewer who drinks way too much coffee. She...

On September 27th, we shared the results of EveryLibrary and Book Riot’s survey on parent perceptions of public libraries. This has been such a valuable partnership, and the results are fascinating — in both promising and concerning ways. This is the first of three planned surveys, so expect to see more of our results very soon. Kelly and I have been working on this for quite a while, so we’re excited to share the results with you. She’s out on a well-deserved break for the next week, so I’m filling...

California’s Senator Dianne Feinstein passed away Thursday night after a long struggle with health that started with a case of shingles months ago. At 90, she had served as a senator for 30 years, making her the longest-serving woman senator ever. Feinstein details some of her career as a trailblazing democrat in Nine and Counting: The Women of the Senate alongside other woman senators. Governor Gavin Newsom has stated his plans to name a Black woman to Feinstein’s position to carry out the rest of her term. Feinstein is survived...

Kelly is a former librarian and a long-time blogger at STACKED. She's the editor/author of (DON'T) CALL ME CRAZY: 33 VOICES START THE CONVERSATION ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH and the editor/author of HERE WE ARE: FEMINISM FOR THE REAL WORLD. Her next book, BODY TALK, will publish in Fall 2020. Follow her on Instagram @heykellyjensen. View All posts by Kelly Jensen Kelly is a former librarian and a long-time blogger at STACKED. She's the editor/author of (DON'T) CALL ME CRAZY: 33 VOICES START THE CONVERSATION ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH and the editor/author...

Carolina Ciucci is a teacher, writer and reviewer based in the south of Argentina. She hoards books like they’re going out of style. In case of emergency, you can summon her by talking about Ireland, fictional witches, and the Brontë family. Twitter: @carolinabeci View All posts by Carolina Ciucci Carolina Ciucci is a teacher, writer and reviewer based in the south of Argentina. She hoards books like they’re going out of style. In case of emergency, you can summon her by talking about Ireland, fictional witches, and the Brontë family....

Book Riot and the EveryLibrary Institute have teamed up for a survey that examines parents’ perceptions of public libraries and book bans. The survey asked questions like, “Do you feel your child is safe at the library?” “How comfortable are you with LGBTQ+ characters and themes in children’s books?” and “At what age should children have access to age-appropriate puberty and sexual education books?” The survey found that most parents and guardians (67%) think book bans are a “waste of time” and 74% agree or somewhat agree that book bans...

In September of 2022, I wrote a post called The Bestselling Books of the Week, According to NYT, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, and Amazon. It got a lot of views, so it became a weekly feature, soon retitled The Bestselling Books of the Week, According to All the Lists. In this feature, which I’ve been faithfully writing weekly for the past year, I take a look at the biggest bestseller lists (The New York Times, Publishers Weekly, USA Today, Amazon, and the Indie Bestseller List) to see where the overlap...

Alex Luppens-Dale won the “Enthusiastic Reader Award” all four years of high school. She is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and received her MFA in Creative Writing from The New School. Her favorite genres are memoir, witches, and anything with cults. She lives in New Jersey. You can keep up with Alex's latest work at her website. View All posts by Alex Luppens-Dale Alex Luppens-Dale won the “Enthusiastic Reader Award” all four years of high school. She is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and received her MFA in...

Ashlie (she/her) is an educator, librarian, and writer. She is committed to diversifying the reading lives of her students and supporting fat acceptance as it intersects with other women’s issues. She's also perpetually striving to learn more about how she can use her many privileges to support marginalized groups. Interests include learning how to roller skate with her local roller derby team, buying more books than she'll ever read, hiking with her husband and sons, and making lists to avoid real work. You can find her on Instagram (@ashlieelizabeth), Twitter...