Books

Yesterday, I was standing in front of my desk, piled high with books I had checked out from the library or received for review, trying to decide what to read next. I shifted from foot to foot and gave myself a pep talk. “Pretend you are a normal reader. You’re just picking whatever book looks interesting. You can read whatever you want.” -record scratch- You’re probably wondering how I got here. Why am I not a normal reader? What does picking out something to read feel like such an intimidating...

Since about 2014, I’ve always kept an eye on Pantone’s Color of the Year. I like this idea of a color defining or giving shape to an upcoming year, much in the way I like thinking not about resolutions but about words or phrases as a means of organizing the next 12 months. Over the years, I’ve found some Pantone Color of the Year choices to be excellent — 2018’s Ultra Violet was great, as was 2019’s Living Coral — while other choices have left me really underwhelmed — the...

Making its rounds on social media over the past two weeks is a story from The Atlantic about the end of high school English class. It’s not necessarily what you think it might be. The author, a high school teacher in Berkeley, California, explores how ChatGPT, a conversational Artificial Intelligence (AI) system, might radically alter the future of English education. Students can, for example, feed the system a prompt for class and develop an essay with the help of the AI, never needing to do the actual work of writing...

Here at Book Riot, we publish 8-10 posts every weekday, not counting news stories, deals round ups, and other miscellanea. That’s thousands of posts in a year. Some of them blow up, and some of them are snubbed by social media algorithms. Regardless of the views, likes, or shares, though, our contributors have written some incredible content this year, from posts that made us laugh out loud to journalistic explorations of forgotten moments in bookish history to useful lists and moving personal essays. There are so many posts we’ve loved...

Yesterday, the U.S. Postal Service announced seven new subjects that will be featured on stamps in 2023. Among the list is prolific children’s book author Tomie dePaola (1934-2020) and civil rights activist and author John Lewis (1940-2020). After participating in vital civil rights protests — even becoming one of the Freedom Riders in the early ’60s — John Lewis spent over three decades in Congress continuing the fight for equality. This fight was carried over into the books he wrote, with some of the most recent ones being March, Run,...

‘Tis the season for “best of” book lists, and we’ve rounded up quite a few on Book Riot. The newest addition is the first “The Atlantic 10,” which the magazine defines not quite as the best books of the year, but the books that “impressed us with their force of ideas, that drew us in not because of some platonic ideal of greatness, but because they got our brains working and presented fresh angles on the world. In a phrase, they were good to think with.” The editors introduce their...

About 250 HarperCollins employees have been on strike for more than a month (it began November 10th), fighting for better pay, union protections, and diversity initiatives. An open letter of support for the employees striking has reached 8,500 signatures according to the union, but a separate letter was signed by over 500 authors, both ones represented by HarperCollins and writers who are associated with other publishers. Some of the authors who signed include Barbara Kingsolver, Jacqueline Woodson, and Kwame Alexander. The authors who are published through HarperCollins expressed that they...

Renowned writer Hilary Mantel, who passed away in September at the age of 70, was widely known and respected for her Wolf Hall trilogy, as well as the scores of other books and essays that she wrote during her career. Her treatment of the political machinations of Thomas Cromwell in the court of Henry VIII inspired legions of readers to pick up the trilogy, which was completed in 2020 with The Mirror and the Light. Mantel’s gift was not just in accurately describing the historic events of the royal court, but...

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...