Posts

Clearly, that luxury doesn’t exist anymore, and environmental savviness is part of most of our everyday lives, I’d like to think: reducing use of single-use plastics, recycling, making more earth-friendly choices, reducing our carbon footprint, etc. We are seeing public lands and sacred land being destroyed for profit and national monuments being altered in devastating ways. This Earth Day (which happens to be its 50th anniversary!), here are some nonfiction books to add to your TBR pile that examine climate change, nature, public lands, and more....

And that’s that. That’s all I’ve got. But, considering how long it has been since I read it, I’m happy I even remember that little bit. Romance anthologies are a great way to get a taste of an author’s particular writing style without committing to a whole book. I know how that sounds, but not every author is for everyone. There’s nothing wrong with not liking an author, no matter how hyped or established they are in a particular genre....

This can be taken one of two ways. The first is the really patronising reading. The Kiwi band is so beige, according to the reviewer, that it appeals only to people indifferent to music’s life-altering charms. You know the sorts, the ones who engage with music on a purely functional level, treating it as sonic wallpaper. The second reading is a bit more hopeful. Neil Finn et al are so skilful that their way with a melody evangelises the cloth-eared musical masses....

Get Booked has added a weekly bonus episode called The Handsell! Jenn and Amanda, former booksellers, take 5 minutes every episode to pitch you a book they think you’ll love, with notes about what readers the book is perfect for. The hosts will be focusing on books they haven’t talked about much or at all on the show before, so come hear about a new-to-you read! Regular episodes of Get Booked will continue to come out every Thursday, with bonus episodes of The Handsell coming out every Monday....

After accepting that it is, in fact, perfectly fine to dislike (or even hate) the things everyone else seems to like, I had to ask myself why I ever felt the need to be so jerkish when expressing my meanie opinions instead of issuing a simple “just not my thing.” Naturally, I found that it had to do with perception or, more honestly, caring way too damn much what other people thought....

I didn’t discover Neil Gaiman until I was 18, a little past the young reader’s age. We read Neverwhere in a British Fantasy course in undergrad and I was o-b-s-e-s-s-e-d. I read everything from American Gods to the Sandman series. It wasn’t until I started working at Scholastic that I knew Neil even had books that were actually for kids. I mean, I knew of Coraline and Stardust, but picture books?...

This post originally ran on November 10, 2015. _______________ Twenty-seven years after its premiere, reading Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman (Vertigo) and its related books can be daunting, especially now with the publication of the prequel miniseries The Sandman: Overture. Where should you start reading? What is skippable? What is the difference between The Sandman and The Sandman Presents? Where will you keep all of this after you buy it? Read on and find out!...

This collection of audiobooks features classic stories and favorite fairy tales and reimagines them with modern flair. Marissa Meyer takes on Rumpelstiltskin in Gilded, Lauren Blackwood gives an Ethiopian-inspired fantasy twist to Jane Eyre in Within These Wicked Walls, Alix E. Harrow puts her own spin on Sleeping Beauty in A Spindle Splintered, and more. Hear them all now! Romance is a genre built for retelling stories. Much like a classic tale full of characters and plot points we’ve known for as long as we can remember, there’s a predictable pattern for most romance novels — a framework within which an author is working....

I honestly can’t explain my fascination, and it’s always one I’ve attributed to anxiety: if I read about all the different ways I can be murdered, I’ll be more prepared in a situation if I were to almost be murdered. But I really don’t know if that’s it anymore. Perhaps it’s the “can’t look away because I’m scared” situation, perhaps it’s because I do want a good story, particularly one that puts away the bad guys for good, or perhaps it’s none of those things and I’ll never really know why I’m interested in the genre....

Now the first thing you should know about reading mystery series, or any series for that matter, is that there is no rule anywhere that says that you have to read a series in order. You can read any book at any time, whatever you want, if that’s what you really want to do. Read the last book first, read the second book first, go wild. It might not always make sense, and you might spoil some things for yourself, if you go back and read earlier books....

What drives different books sizes? The simplest answer is money. Hardcover and other large books cost more to print and carry a higher price. Many (though not all) debut and literary authors see their books go straight to paperback because the publisher isn’t willing to take that kind of risk. As Edward Wyatt of The New York Times said, “Even critically acclaimed literary novels often have a short shelf life in hardcover, with one-half to three-quarters of the books shipped to stores often being returned to the publisher, unsold....

McCullough’s writings were greatly celebrated, winning him Pulitzer Prizes for his biographies of two U.S. presidents— for Truman in 1992 and for John Adams in 2001— as well as National Book Awards for The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal in 1977 and Mornings on Horseback in 1981. The time and care McCullough put into his works, some taking 10 years to complete, shone through to readers, who kept some of his books on best-selling lists for months....

Look at that adorable grin. We don’t get to experience Leia as goofy teenager often. Hypercompetent politician? Yes. Tactical genius? Absolutely. Take no bullshit commander? Yep. Blushing fangirl? Not so much and it’s nice. It’s nice to know she got to have those moments once in a while. That she had the chance to make googly eyes at an emo boy with an attitude problem who probably wore too much cologne and she thought had a nice butt....

Find more news and stories of interest from the book world in Breaking in Books.

Another important aspect of wordless picture books is that many of these are about shy or lonely children, those who don’t live in worlds of chatter. It’s important for quieter children to see themselves and their experiences represented, and many of the following do exactly that. Once you’ve read these and got a storytelling vibe between you, here are suggestions for great read alouds to share. Another by Christian Robinson A girl and her cat go to sleep and find themselves in another world—one inhabited by a mirror image of her and the cat....

Transgender YA Fiction Recommendations: Need to spice up your TBR list? Get a jar of stars—each star is a YA book recommendation curated by a librarian. Reading Elle Stickers: Perfect for planners, notebooks, and stationery, I think these stickers will become a new personal logo for many readers. Jane Austen Phone Case: Deck your smart phone out like a pretty Austen classic! Dawn Treader Enamel Pin: Calling all C.S. Lewis fans!...

Two addictive reads for fans of twisty psychological thrill-rides from New York Times bestselling author Mary Kubica. In The Good Girl, what seems like a safe one-night stand turns out to be the worst mistake of Mia Dennett’s life. A tautly written, compulsive read that reveals how even in the perfect family, nothing is as it seems… In The Other Mrs. we meet Sadie and Will Foust, the new couple in town....

David Abrams Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain: Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk is like a poison-tipped knife stabbed into the belly of America. It is a scathing, effective criticism of how the nation flounders in a time of war. Well-meaning as some of the eye-bulging, neck-vein-popping post-9/11 patriotism may have been, Fountain sees it as misplaced and misguided. If you’re one of those who say “Cut me–I bleed red, white and blue” or who reverently kneel at the Altar of George Dubya or who still believe there are weapons of mass destruction somewhere out there in the Iraqi sands, then you’d best steer away from this novel....

Today’s edition of kids’ book deals is sponsored by HarperCollins.