“What is clear at this point, though, is that beyond the covers and critics, the signings and sequels, the bestsellers and the best-ofs, our love of reading exceeds the traditional ways books have been discussed. We don’t want to be pitched, scolded, flattered, implored, or instructed; we want to revel in reading and to find others who share our passions. Engaging with fellow readers feels so crucial because what we want from books is impossible....

Bestselling authors Natalie D. Richards and Darcy Coates bring us stories that chill us to the bone and keep us up all night reading—haunting reads perfect for Halloween! A hitched ride home in a snowstorm turns sinister when one of the passengers is plotting for the ride to end in disaster in New York Times bestseller Five Total Strangers. From USA Today bestselling gothic horror author Darcy Coates comes The Haunting of Leigh Harker, a chilling story of a quiet house on a forgotten suburban lane that hides a deadly secret… I’m not sure what is causing this renaissance of sorts in that regard, although I do have theories....

This roundup of book puzzles is broken up by piece count, and as of this writing, every single one is in stock. Put your orders in now for yourself or for treating your friends and family to great gifts for the holidays. Note: if you’re serious about puzzles—however you define serious—or want the opportunity to move your work without hassle, I cannot recommend purchasing a puzzle piece sorter and puzzle board enough....

Mina is trying to focus on her job as a flight attendant, not the problems with her five-year-old daughter back home, or the fissures in her marriage. But as the plane takes off, Mina receives a chilling note from an anonymous passenger: “The following instructions will save your daughter’s life…” When one passenger is killed and then another, Mina knows she must act. But which lives does she save: Her passengers…or her own daughter and husband who are in grave distress back at home?...

Then the high-holler—the Rebel Yell—and the Confederate Army charging weapons raised through morning suddenly dark with gun smoke. And as that first volley drops men on both sides of where he stands, General William Tecumseh Sherman mounts his horse, shouts at men to fill the lines, raises his pistol, and is shot through the hand. It is Sunday, April 6, 1862, the Battle of Shiloh begun, and no one ducking and running from the faltering Union line or surging in the Confederate charge could know how history might be transformed come sundown....

“The fossilised bones of Targaryendraco wiedenrothi, which lived 130m years ago, were discovered by Kurt Wiedenroth in 1984 in northern Germany. The specimen was originally classified within the Ornithocheirus group of pterosaurs, as Ornithocheirus wiedenrothi, but the toothy pterosaur has now been reassigned to the new genus Targaryendraco. Six other already known pterosaurs were also found to be closely related to the group, which features pterosaurs with wingspans between 10 and 26 feet, and narrow snouts....

Though the myth persists, the truth is that librarians do not just get to read all day. Despite this, for most librarians (and, sometimes, other library staff), there is an expectation that we have either read every book in the building or at least have a list of every book in the building in our heads, which in theory allows us to recommend books to patrons. This just isn’t reality....

Some of these teen magazines are still being published, either in print or digitally. Others ceased operation completely or pivoted to online-only. This will be an incomplete list but one that should tap the nostalgia button for readers who loved their monthly or semi-monthly subscriptions or trips to the corner store for the latest edition. The bulk of these publications will be U.S.-based, but many of these periodicals had sister publications across the world....

In 2021, I decided to start collecting my favorite manga, but also to start buying physical copies of new manga. The sad thing is that many romance manga have been discontinued over here in México, so it’s hard to find copies of my all-time favorites, like Ouran High School Host Club, Maid-sama! or Kimi ni Todoke. Hopefully, with the success of Fruits Basket (and its new Collector’s Editions), they decide to start selling them again!...

There are many ways one can remind themselves of the fantasy of horror in film. I recently listened to the episode of The Scaredy Cats Horror Show podcast that features A Nightmare on Elm Street. In the episode, the hosts discuss the film with Rachel Talalay, a self-proclaimed former scaredy cat who worked on the movie. She described imagining Freddy Kruger at the snack table between takes to help quell her fears....

I put quotations around the word “unlikable” because I don’t believe that these strong-willed characters are truly unlikable. They may not be every reader’s cup of tea, but they aren’t inherently unlikable. Women in fiction are unlikable because they don’t conform to what women are often expected to be, i.e. quiet, passive, perfect, polite, perfect. Women, in society and novels, must take up as little space as possible. They aren’t allowed to speak out or make mistakes....

If you don’t know what primary literature is, the term refers to articles written for a specialized and educated reader. Scientific work of this kind appears in journals such as Nature and Science. Primary papers and articles are typically peer reviewed, which means they are thoroughly vetted by a team of people who are experts in their respective fields. This literature is not simple. Often, peer-reviewed papers are intended for other people in the same or related fields....

BLACK SUN, the new epic fantasy novel from New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Roanhorse, is made for readers who enjoyed the lush worldbuilding and beautiful prose of N.K. Jemisin’s The Fifth Season and Marlon James’ Black Leopard, Red Wolf. Inspired by the indigenous civilizations of the Americas before European colonization, BLACK SUN follows warring matriarchies, all vying for power in a world filled with celestial prophecies, political machinations, and forbidden magic....

Set at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, The Museum of Modern Love by Heather Rose is a cleverly captivating work that explores where life ends and art begins. Inspired by famed performance artist Marina Abramović’s 2010 installation at MoMA, this dazzlingly original, international award-winning novel is “a love letter to every woman who has dared to pursue her art,” as the author put it. “Framing a love story around a long-durational performance work, where the passage of time is essential, is a profoundly original idea....

The term own voices resonated with many people, encapsulating ongoing conversations regarding diversity and authenticity in publishing. Prioritizing authors who share marginalized identities with their protagonists might seem obvious now, but it was a game-changer. Ironically, even when acknowledging the need for diverse books, publishing still often sidelines diverse authors. Because of centuries of systemic oppression, white, wealthy, allo cis het, non-disabled, Christian writers still have huge advantages over marginalized people at every step of the publishing process....

I became a poet and poetry reader during my time in undergrad (in my 30s) and continued through my MFA program and today. I’ve published some poems and want to publish my own books. Since finishing my MFA, however, I’ve struggled to write poetry with any regularity. When I read about The Sealey Challenge, it seemed like a great way to kickstart my poetic brain, post to Instagram more, and generally dig into my poetry TBR pile....

History Of Ink There’s years of trial and error behind the smooth ink that flows out of the tips of our pens. Next time you pick a pen, take a moment to really marvel at all the thought and effort that’s gone into making this simple, accessible tool. Let’s hear Brian Allison, an esteemed historian and author, talk about the making of ink in the 18th century. The early and abundant availability of black and blue inks has been a contributing factor to them still being used as standard inks....

Unfortunately, many do not. And the same thing goes for movie adaptations of the original story, for that matter. He’s often misunderstood, misrepresented, and mistaken for something he isn’t. There is, not to put too fine a point on it, an awful lot of confusion about what it is, precisely, that makes our Fitzwilliam the hero that he is. Which is terribly ironic, given that the entire premise of Pride and Prejudice is that Mr....

These recommendations share a crushing, beautiful sadness with Zusak’s novel, but they do not share a setting. I didn’t pick up the book because it was about the Holocaust, but rather because it was about books and love and surviving. As I flipped through it, reading a paragraph here and there, while deciding whether to buy it, I found it odd and compelling. I suppose that makes two common threads: crushing sadness and compelling oddness....

What Are Locked Room Mysteries? Locked room mysteries, also called “impossible mysteries,” is fairly simple on the surface: a crime is committed with no possible way for a murderer to get in or out of an area, or, a locked room. But the beauty of the genre is in the details, and the writer provides the reader all the clues they need to solve the case at the very beginning, layering in evidence and red herrings in expertly plotted mysteries that keep readers guessing....