Books

In The Ministry of Time, an unnamed narrator serves as “bridge” (read: guide and guardian) to Victorian polar explorer Graham Gore, who’s been transported from his doomed mission to present-day London. From there, what at first seems to be a fish-out-of-water comedy unfolds into a meditation on the lure of bureaucracy, an exploration of both
0 Comments
This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Happy May, everyone! I hope you’re getting nice weather where you are. We’ve been alternating between rain and sunny skies here — often on the same day — as spring is wont to do. Luckily, both rain and
0 Comments
Welsh author Carys Davies (West) is still breaking into American readership, but it won’t take her long. Her latest historical novel, Clear, which thoughtfully explores a passionate friendship set against religious and civic changes in mid-19th century Scotland, is bound to expand her audience. John Ferguson is a poor Presbyterian minister struggling to provide for
0 Comments
This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Erica Ezeifedi, Associate Editor, is a transplant from Nashville, TN that has settled in the North East. In addition to being a writer, she has worked as a victim advocate and in public libraries, where she has focused
0 Comments
The Internet of Animals: Discovering the Collective Intelligence of Life on Earth is a bonkers, delightful read if you are interested in any of the following: space and satellites, animal migration and behavior, analog versus digital technology, and the many complications that come from following through on the whiff of a very good idea. Scientist
0 Comments
Welcome to Today in Books, where we report on literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more. The Brag is Coming From Inside the House Book Riot’s Kelly Jensen has spent the last few years becoming a leading name in book banning coverage, and we couldn’t be prouder to see her named as one
0 Comments
Paul Auster, prolific author and screenwriter, died Tuesday evening at 77 from lung cancer. Originally from New Jersey, Auster settled into Brooklyn in 1980, and became what The New York Times calls the borough’s literary “patron saint.” In the ’80s and ’90s, Auster’s novels — which were often about things like identity, loss, and the
0 Comments
There’s no such thing as a spoiler alert when a story’s subject is taught in most every American history class across the country. Injecting hold-your-breath suspense into a narrative history, particularly one in which we already know the story’s ending, is a task that Erik Larson has mastered. In the Garden of the Beasts took
0 Comments
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
0 Comments
Acclaimed journalist Tracie McMillan’s muckraking, experiential methods have earned her prizes, acclaim and the special animosity of Rush Limbaugh, a sure sign of the power of her investigative work. With The White Bonus: Five Families and the Cash Value of Racism in America, McMillan offers a powerful and necessary exposé of the financial benefits of
0 Comments
Young Adult Deals Kelly Jensen Apr 27, 2024 This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. $2.99 Rubi Ramos’s Recipe for Success by Jessica Parra Get This Deal $2.99 Enduring Freedom by Trent Reedy and Jawad Arash Get This Deal $2.99 Once Upon a Broken Heart
0 Comments
Barbara Walters may forever be remembered as Barbara Wawa, thanks to Gilda Radner’s 1976 performance on “Saturday Night Live.” Radner, Rachel Dratch and Cheri Oteri played the character for the next four decades, illustrating that Walters and her contributions to television journalism had become enduring features of popular culture. Indeed, her presence would dominate television
0 Comments
This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Every week, when I put together a Read Harder recommendation post, I’m balancing two goals. The most important one is to give you relevant recommendations, of course. But because this will also go up on Book Riot, I
0 Comments
How complicated can breakfast possibly get? In Zao Fan: Breakfast of China, Michael Zee writes that the enormity of Chinese cuisine is “both terrific and terrifying”—and what is usually the simplest, smallest meal of the day is no exception. Yet Zee demonstrates a knack seldom seen in English-language cookbooks for succinctly yet fully conveying the
0 Comments
It’s the mid-1960s, right at the start of Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution, and the Red Guards are methodically upending—many would say demolishing—the cultural heritage of China. Books are burned, artifacts are smashed, history is erased. But two plucky biology students, Mei and Peng, are determined to rescue a lotus seed from the university library.  This
0 Comments
Writing saved Janet Frame’s life. In 1951, the 27-year-old writer was scheduled for a lobotomy. She’d spent her adulthood in psychiatric facilities, and the extremely damaging practice was in its heyday. But after Frame’s debut book won a literary award, a doctor called off the procedure. Frame is one of many authors Suzanne Scanlon references
0 Comments
This originally appeared in our Today in Books daily newsletter, where each day we round up the most interesting stories, news, essays, and other goings on in the world of books and reading. Sign up here if you want to get it. _____________________________________________________ The Most Beautiful Libraries in the World In my time on the
0 Comments
We all have our routines. And while the otherworldly fellow in The Spaceman may have a very different mode of transportation from the rest of us— a super cool silver spaceship—he too has a routine: “I collect soil samples. I label the soil samples. And I file the soil samples. Then I move on to
0 Comments
Though my tastes have changed over the years, one thing that has always been true (at least, since I started reading) is that I love fantasy. I used to be more of a dragons and chosen hero type girlie — I mean, who wasn’t once? — but these days, I favor the softly weird, the
0 Comments
June 1939: British naval sub HMS Thetis sinks in sea trials. Ninety-nine people die. August 1942: Allied forces raid the coastal town of Dieppe in German-occupied France. Thousands are killed, captured or wounded, in part because coastal scouting was minimal. September 1942: British-manned torpedoes attack German battleship Tirpitz. All crewmen are captured or killed. Catastrophes
0 Comments
What’s the difference between witchcraft and a miracle? According to The Familiar, beloved fantasy author Leigh Bardugo’s latest novel, the answer is simple: politics. This distinction is of life-and-death importance for Luzia Cotado, a scullery maid in a less-than-fashionable Madrid household whose milagritos, or little miracles, can lighten a heavy load or make flowers bloom
0 Comments