Books

The Pursuit of Love The best sweets always have a pinch of salt, and this is why, I suspect, Nancy Mitford’s 1945 novel, The Pursuit of Love, has endured—despite being, at first glance, the literary equivalent of a bowl of whipped cream. British aristo Linda Radlett is on a madcap hunt for true love, but

As many fans of Sherlock Holmes know, Arthur Conan Doyle had a real-life inspiration when he created the world’s most famous fictional detective. His muse was Joseph Bell, the surgeon who taught Conan Doyle when the future author was a medical student in Edinburgh. In Sleuth-Hound: The Case of the Real Sherlock Holmes, author Lindsey

We’re thrilled to announce that Zero to Well-Read has won two Signal Awards! The podcast, which is part book club, part English class, took home silver for Best New Podcast and bronze for Arts & Culture. In each episode, hosts Jeff O’Neal and Rebecca Schinsky present a deep dive into a classic or cultural significant

If you’ve ever brought a toddler to the grocery store, you know what it’s like to write a novel. You can prepare all you want, but it will never go the way you expect. There’ll be surprises, distractions, accidents, meltdowns and the occasional detour down the wrong aisle. Sometimes you might impulsively throw something in

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During a tough time, my cousin surprised me with a care package that included a fabulous homemade card, and the personal touch provided me with a much-needed boost. You, too, can create similar gifts with Martina Calvi’s The Art of Snail Mail: 20 Mail Art Craft Projects for Crafting Connection. For adults and children alike,

Ready or not, the season of Best Books of the Year lists has arrived. As usual, Barnes & Noble is leading the pack. It feels a little early to say farewell to 2026, especially when so many buzzy books are out in October, but here we are. Barnes & Noble has named their picks for

Want to turn an ordinary T-shirt into a work of art? Or create a lasting message for yourself or others? All you need is some basic supplies and Ciara LeRoy’s Lettered in Thread: Creative Techniques for Designing and Embroidering Meaningful Messages. LeRoy, founder of the Cincinnati-based Pretty Strange Design, is an artist specializing in hand-lettering

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In Elizabeth Hand’s seductive, slow-burning gothic novel Unspeakable Things, 18-year-old Olivia Madden enjoys a privileged yet precarious life in the 1920s. She’s the neglected daughter of Peter, a closeted, once famous actor whose career has long been in decline and now lives at Kerrith Hall, a rented, understaffed estate on the Cornish moors. Despite living

After many, many years of user requests, Goodreads now allows half-star and quarter-star ratings. How’s everyone feeling about it? I sifted through thousands of comments on Instagram and Reddit, and here are the top sentiments being shared: ⭐ Hooray!: There are a lot of party popper emojis in the Goodreads Instagram comments, but it’s not

“To me, the uncanny isn’t defined by fear. It’s about objects with shadow, undocumented history, the past and other lives.” That’s how author and photographer Mark C. O’Flaherty describes his aesthetic in Sanctum: At Home With the Uncanny, a book that celebrates eccentric collections of objects and the moody, luxurious interiors where they reside. A

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Say it ain’t so, Joe! After 36 years and 15 novels (not to mention short stories, graphic novels and a TV series), Edgar Award-winning author Joe R. Lansdale is retiring his indomitable duo, Hap Collins and Leonard Pine.  At Petrified Dreams’ opening, the two are already retired from the detective business, or so they think.

Canadian poet Anne Carson is the winner of the 2026 Nobel Prize in Literature. Carson was selected “for her bold and inventive oeuvre that, in playful dialogue with the classical tradition, has created new forms for contemporary literature,” according to a Nobel Prize Outreach 2026 press release. If you’re not familiar with Carson or her

Richard Osman (The Thursday Murder Club) continues his winning lighthearted mystery ways with We Chase Shadows, a sequel to We Solve Murders. While The Thursday Murder Club series features four sleuths who have banded together in a retirement home, the We Solve Murders mysteries spotlight an unlikely trio who, in book two, have formed a

Hide by Carolina Ebeid “It adds up to a memorable and skillful excavation of identity and inheritance.” —Publishers Weekly “Carolina Ebeid interlaces American English, Palestinian Arabic, and Cuban Spanish as she excavates memories—of her Palestinian father and Cuban mother’s forced migrations—in order to reconstruct her own ancestry and chart her path forward.” —National Book Awards

Partita is, in a way, a love story, though the central love in question is not for a person, but for classical piano. Livia Bohusz grows up on a dairy farm in rural east Tennessee, her most prized possession a copy of the key to the local church where she practices piano day after day.

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Jessica is a stay-at-home mom to a teen named Sandy, who dabbles in witchcraft. Her husband, Greg, works at some internet company where he does things she doesn’t fully understand. Jessica wouldn’t exactly call herself happy, but tries not to think too hard about why, especially when it comes to her own sexual identity.  When

October is bursting with 2026 anticipated releases. Because it’s hard to keep track of the many notable new books out this month, I combed through some prominent lists to make sure you know which books are the talk of the town. If you want to browse the full lists, here are the ones I consulted

Choose your perfect Halloween adventure from these four festive reads, ranging from middle grade to young adult novels. View original source here.

Since 2006, the Center for Fiction has been highlighting the best debut novels of the year through its First Novel Prize. This year’s 180 eligible titles were published in the US between January 1st and December 31st, and were narrowed down to seven books by more than 500 writers, librarians, booksellers, and others. In early

Hernan Diaz’s extraordinary latest work, Ply, is set amid modernity’s wreckage, but it is not quite a postapocalyptic novel. There was no capital-C Calamity, just the inevitable entropy greed engenders. The antagonists are primarily executives, chief financial officers of utility companies with private armies (except the one who’s more of a tech giant a la

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Elzbieta “Libby” Lakoski thought the hardest thing she’d have to do all year would be watching Carter Coldwell (her longtime best friend and longtime crush) marry someone else. Instead, she finds herself pushed into solving an old Coldwell family mystery before the wedding—because if she doesn’t, a curse could cost Carter his life. Her sidekick

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Dream More There are four core pieces of advice the “Dolly Mama” (as she sometimes calls herself) offers in her motivational book: dream more, learn from everything, care for everyone and be more. Read more View original source here.

The Choose Your Own Adventure series is getting an imprint for adults. CYOA Unbound will be the first imprint “dedicated to publishing nonlinear, multiple-ending gamebooks for adults.” The inaugural lineup, out fall 2027, includes: CYOA Unbound will publish titles that span genres and categories like reimagined classics, horror, mysteries, thrillers, and romance. Launched by one

Who hasn’t wondered what it would be like to soar high in the sky, perhaps flapping alongside surprised birds or soaring through fluffy clouds? In the endearing The Fantastic Floating Mr. Finnegan, translated from German by Tammi Reichel, Swiss duo Rebecca Gugger and Simon Röthlisberger (partners in creativity and in life) contemplate that possibility via