A good book makes the best gift. Check off your holiday shopping list with the best books for friends and family. The season of snow, gifting, and time with friends and family is upon us. When possible, you and your family gather for the various holidays in November and December. If you are like many families, you have kept some of the old holiday traditions and set aside others to make room for new ones....
Gifted and cursed with the ability to see the future, Mildred Groves takes a position at the Hanford Research Center in the early 1940s. Hanford tests and manufactures a mysterious product to aid the war effort. Only the top officials know that this product is processed plutonium, to make the first atomic bombs. Inspired by the classic Greek myth, this 20th-century reimagining is based on a real WWII compound. A timely novel about patriarchy and militancy, The Cassandra uses both legend and history to examine man’s capacity for destruction, and the compassion it takes to challenge the powerful....
In a democracy, especially a robust and vibrant one like in the United States, there shouldn’t be anything easier than voting. But that’s not the reality. Why Reading Books About Voter Suppression Matters In early July, Texas Democrats decamped from the capital of Austin to Washington, D.C., to break a quorum while Texas Republicans were in the process of pushing forth controversial voting legislation that would restrict access to voting, especially for lower income communities and communities of color....
In a way it’s not surprising, considering how indigenous communities all over the world have been and continue to be discriminated against in many ways. And that includes in Latin America. This is wrong, without a doubt. At the same time, there are activists and allies that continue to fight for the rights of Indigenous communities, despite it all. That’s amazing. One way to teach youngsters about Indigenous people is through books....
And what is it that I love so much about sci-fi? Not only do we explore a fantasy that makes us wish there was more to just us in the universe, but we also get to explore amazing characters and their development thanks to fantastical situations. From stellar romance to strong friendships and even bonds between groups that are facing a challenge together, I always seem to relate to some sort of struggle in the book, and even some of their wins....
As a decade-long Sanderson fan, I have been recommending his books in the Cosmere, the Cytoverse, and his other worlds for quite a long time. I look forward to his god-level magic systems, dense world histories, and complex political systems. Often, all three are at the brink of collapse or dramatic change due to the actions of odd little dorks trying their best. So I seek out authors like Brandon Sanderson to experience the same magic....
And then there’s the world of comic book stores that feed our love of comics and the beauty and wackiness of comic book conventions where fans and creators gather and celebrate their favorite works. Of course, there are text-based books that take a page from the superhero world that we are used to seeing in floppies (and yes, I am seeing how many times I can use page as a pun) and books about people who really love comics....
In the Shadow of Spindrift House by Mira Grant This book was so delicious. Just a delightful, sea-soaked, Lovecraftian horror about a grown up and disillusioned Scooby gang of paranormal investigators. Harlowe Upton-Jones hasn’t known, or wanted to know, anything but the strange and unusual since her parents were murdered by a mysterious cult. In her search for answers, she ended up as part of a tight-knit team of teen investigators, but they’re all grown now, ready to leave the “teen” part of their lives behind....
Hermione Granger, Harry Potter ISTJ (Introversion + Sensing + Thinking + Judging) The Logistician Personality Hermione Granger, from the Harry Potter series, is known for her integrity, practical logic and tireless dedication to duty. Just like a Logistician (ISTJ) in the Myers-Briggs scale. She likes responsibilities—a little too much—and takes pride in the work she does. A bookworm from the very beginning, Hermione used logic in everything she did, including in her adventures with Harry and Ron....
The Memory of Souls is the third epic fantasy in Jenn Lyons’ A Chorus of Dragons series. Demons are free to rampage across the empire, and the fulfillment of the ancient prophecies—the end of the world—is closer than ever. To buy time for humanity, Kihrin needs to convince the king of the Manol vané to perform an ancient ritual which will strip the entire race of their immortality—which certain vané will do anything to prevent....
The StrangeWorlds Travel Agency by L.D. Lapinski In this debut novel, young Flick Hudson discovers the titular travel agency, where you can journey to a multitude of magical worlds by jumping into different suitcases. The StrangeWorlds Travel Agency is a fun middle grade romp that lets you travel through worlds which push the boundaries of your imagination, particularly the mysterious city of Five Lights. The Tough Guide to Fantasy Land by Diana Wynne Jones If you love tropes, this parody travel guide by veteran fantasy author Diana Wynne Jones is a hilarious and illuminating read....
Alas, magic is not something that exists in our world (that we know about), but it’s still always fun to read about. And at a time when we need a way to help keep kids distracted from the news, middle grade books are a wonderful source. The Harry Potter series made magic really popular when it was released, and is usually the go-to middle grade magic series. Sure, Earth is full of boring Muggles, but not when the kids are whisked off to Hogwarts!...
Celebrated author Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrator Floyd Cooper provide a powerful look at the Tulsa Race Massacre, one of the worst incidents of racial violence in our nation’s history. The book traces the history of African Americans in Tulsa’s Greenwood district and chronicles the devastation that occurred in 1921 when a white mob attacked the Black community. News of what happened was largely suppressed, and no official investigation occurred for seventy-five years....
What can we do to help children process their worries, whether large or small? These picture books about anxiety are a start. My kids appreciated the following books during our nightly read-aloud time. I found it gave them a way to name and understand fear, both the little fears and the big ones. Some books provided the emotional release of laughter, while others provided some child-sized tips for managing anxiety....
Many stories have been told about the famous Lost Boys, but now for the first time, a Lost Girl shares her hauntingly beautiful and inspiring story. One of the first unaccompanied refugee children to enter the U.S. in 2000, after South Sudan’s second civil war took the lives of most of her family, Rebecca’s story begins at the age of four, when her village was attacked. Fleeing from gunfire and dodging life-threatening predators and soldiers alike, her story is a captivating portrait of a child hurled into wartime, and how she came to America and found a new life....
The Girl of Hawthorn and Glass invites you to enter the wicked cool fantasy world of witches and their assassins where a group of renegades battle to capture the Heart of the Coven. “A unique, gripping, engaging book by a voice that the genre has been waiting for. The Girl of Hawthorn and Glass is worth your time and your attention.” — SEANAN McGUIRE, award-winning author of the Wayward Children series....
“Like life, peace begins with women. We are the first to forge lines of alliance and collaboration across conflict divides.” —Zainab Salbi (Author of The Other Side of War: Women’s Stories of Survival & Hope) “Who gets raped? Who do we think gets raped? Are girls who can shit and vomit on command immune? What about sex workers? Even if we acknowledge that anyone can be raped, who deserves to be raped?...
But even as a teacher, I am fully aware that not everyone has such positive connections to exercise. Group fitness classes, especially the boutique fitness classes that have become popular in recent years, sort of have a reputation for being exclusionary. And that’s putting it mildly. As more fitness companies become aware of this, more seem determined to create a more inclusive environment for people of all fitness levels, of all different sizes, and from all different backgrounds....
It’s an excellent book that uses Stevenson’s hard work to free people from unjust and wrong convictions to spotlight the systematic issues that target Black, brown, and marginalized people. It is one of those books that I think everyone should read, but I also don’t believe in reading only one book on a topic. Systematic issues affect a great deal of people and listening to as many voices as possible is always my goal....
Launched in 2019, Nightfire, the new horror imprint from Tor, encompasses the breadth of horror, from short story collections to novellas and novels, from standalone works to series, from dark fantasy to the supernatural, from originals to reprints of lost modern classics. Nightfire’s novels are now appearing on shelves in bookstores and libraries near you. Do you dare stretch the spines on these terrifying titles this autumn? In these nine dark verse novels told in powerful poems, characters confront a variety of challenges and find a way forward through their challenges....
