Books

Illustrator, children’s author, and theatrical set designer Ian Falconer died Tuesday in Connecticut. The author is best known for his children’s book series Olivia, which is about a clever young pig. The award-winning series, with its stylish color scheme, debuted in 2000 and went on to include seven more books that altogether sold more than 10 million copies. Falconer was born in Ridgefield, Connecticut, studied art history at New York University and painting at Parsons School of Design and the Otis Art Institute. He later designed theater sets and costumes...

Economist Joel Waldfogel looked at how women and men have influenced the publishing industry for the last 70 years and found that since 2020 at least, women have been publishing more books than men. Data Waldfogel analyzed from “Goodreads, Bookstat, Amazon, and the National Library of Congress” revealed that the percentage of books published by women increased from 20% in the ’70s to more than 50% by 2020. This is the first time this has happened in the U.S. With this increase in books published by women comes another increase:...

It’s only 239 more days until Halloween — who’s ready??? Okay, maybe it’s a little early to start celebrating the biggest night of scares, but you can treat your brain to a happily horrifying time with books every day of the year! That’s why we present a monthly round-up of amazing upcoming horror books, including this list of 11 Harrowing New Horror Books to Read in March 2023! And what a list it is today! There are debut novels and books from seasoned authors we love, like Victor LaValle. (A...

One very easy way to learn about and discover new books and authors is through the cover reveal. This was not a possible avenue of discovery before the age of book talk on the internet, and in an era where visuals are becoming more and more important — and indeed, book cover designers are taking the reality of the online world into account when determining how to create a book’s image — covers can do a lot of service for readers. In this new weekly feature, we’ll round up some...

We’re all tired. The coordinated attacks on everything from Drag Queen story hours to Pride displays to individual books in libraries is going into its second year. While many have been waking up to this — which happens when it’s not just in those red communities, but in your own as well — we’re hitting the point of quitting. In this week’s recap of the American Booksellers Association’s Winter Institute, the response to book bans was a resounding…we don’t have solutions. What do you mean you don’t have solutions? In...

The 2023 PEN American Literary Award Winners have been announced! This year’s awards conferred $350,000 to writers and translators in eleven different categories that include fiction, nonfiction, poetry, biography, essay, science writing, literature in translation, and more. The winners were announced live at the PEN America Literary Awards Ceremony on March 2, at The Town Hall in New York City, hosted by actor, author, and former Obama White House aide Kal Penn. This year’s lifetime achievement awards were given to comedian and author Tina Fey, writer Vinod Kumar Shukl, considered...

At a heated school board meeting this week in Volusia County, Florida, two books under fire were retained. Both Ellen Hopkins’s Glass and Erika L. Sanchez’s I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter will stay on shelves. This is a sign of the process working, as books like these (and nearly every other book being challenged) do not meet the three-pronged Miller Test criteria for being labeled “obscene.” But what happened during this meeting should raise the alarm in other ways. The discussion turned to “investing” in BookLooks. BookLooks, as...

Barnes & Noble (B&N), who has been working to rebrand themselves as more of an independent bookstore over the last couple of years under new leadership, is making changes to its membership programs. The former program, which cost $25 a year, gave members 40% off hardcover bestsellers, 10% off all in-store purchases, free shipping online, and a few bonus perks through the year. Now the last remaining major bookstore brick and mortar chain is creating two new tiers of programs. The first, B&N Premium Membership, will cost $40. B&N Premium...

Green Hill School in Chehalis, Washington is, as described on its website, a “medium/maximum security fenced facility that provides older males sentenced to Juvenile Rehabilitation treatment with education and vocational training.” Graduate students in University of Washington’s Information School are holding a book drive to upgrade the books available in the Green Hill School library. Grad students are asking for help upgrading books available at the library of a prison for men under 26 years old in Chehalis, WA. The goal is 200 new books from a wishlist compiled by residents....

65 years after How the Grinch Stole Christmas was published, and 31 years after Theodor Geisel aka Dr. Seuss’s death, it’s getting a sequel: How the Grinch Lost Christmas. It’s set a year after the original book, and the Grinch is determined to prove he now knows the true meaning of Christmas. When he doesn’t win the Christmas Crown, he almost turns his back on the holiday — before Cindy Lou Who reminds him it’s not about winning. The sequel is written by Alastair Heim and illustrated by Aristides Ruiz....

One Piece is one of the most popular anime series out now. It got its start as a serialized manga getting published in Weekly Shōnen Jump in 1997 and by 1999 it was made into an anime, and has since aired over 1,000 episodes. While it’s not quite the longest-running anime, there’s something to say about a series that can keep viewers interested past the usual dozen or so episodes anime have. Suffice to say that fans of the massive series have been rocking with Monkey D. Luffy on his quest...

One very easy way to learn about and discover new books and authors is through the cover reveal. This was not a possible avenue of discovery before the age of book talk on the internet, and in an era where visuals are becoming more and more important — and indeed, book cover designers are taking the reality of the online world into account when determining how to create a book’s image — covers can do a lot of service for readers. In this new weekly feature, we’ll round up some...

Last week, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker delivered his State of the State address. It is the first time a governor in the country has directly spoken about the wave of censorship, book banning, and harassment being seen by schools and libraries. While some legislators in other arenas have addressed the topic — Jamie Raskin, a Congressional Representative from Maryland, for example — it continues to be a topic that not enough of those who have the power are using to discuss. Meanwhile, over a dozen bills have been proposed across...

The Audie Awards, presented annually by the Audio Publishers Association, described itself as the “premier awards program in the United States recognizing distinction in audiobooks and spoken-word entertainment.” Each year, they recognize audiobooks in several categories, and they’ve just released their list of finalists. Here are the finalists in just a few of the Audie Awards categories. Audiobook of the Year The 1619 Project created by Nikole Hannah-Jones and The New York Times Magazine; edited by Caitlin Roper, Ilena Silverman, and Jake Silverstein; and narrated by Nikole Hannah-Jones, January LaVoy,...