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Lei is a member of the Paper caste, the lowest and most persecuted class in Ikhara. Even so, rumors of her golden eyes have piqued the king’s interest, and she is ripped from her home and taken to the opulent but oppressive palace, her life now beholden to his every whim. But Lei, dreaming of escape, does the unthinkable — she falls in love. Her forbidden romance, enmeshed with an explosive plot that threatens the king’s reign, will force Lei to decide just how far she’s willing to go for justice and revenge....

This gift edition of the Newbery Medal-winning novel includes: A prequel story set in the world of the novel New chapter opening illustrations Full color endpaper maps A girl raised by a witch, a swamp monster, and a Perfectly Tiny Dragon must unlock the dangerous magic buried deep inside her in order to save her life, her family, and even the community that once left her to die. “The Girl Who Drank the Moon is as exciting and layered as classics like Peter Pan or The Wizard of Oz....

In this illuminating and often humorous deep dive, New York Times contributor Kate Murphy explains why we’re not listening, what it’s doing to us, and how we can reverse the trend. She makes accessible the psychology, neuroscience, and sociology of listening while also introducing us to some of the best listeners out there (including a CIA agent, focus-group moderator, bartender, radio producer, and top furniture salesman). We’re giving away 25 advanced reader copies of You’re Not Listening by Kate Murphy!...

God Land: A Story of Faith, Loss, and Renewal in Middle America by Lyz Lenz (Indiana University Press, August 1) God Land is a book about loss on a personal and cultural level. It’s about Lyz Lenz’s loss of a church, a marriage, and confidence in many of the people she had trusted. It’s also about Middle America’s ongoing loss of churches and the community, confidence, and identity that came with those institutions....

Millennia ago, the starship Kalelah buried itself seven miles beneath the surface of the Pacific Ocean. We have no idea of its existence. It has no idea of ours. And once that changes, everything does. For the worse. Suddenly, two human civilizations – one alien and one Earth-bound – are forced to come to grips with a future neither had ever imagined. And a war nobody wants. It’s a colonization story turned on its head and crafted with all the intrigue and layers of a nail-biting thriller....

We spend so much time traveling in our lives. Just think about how much time you spend commuting or running errands day-to-day. The U.S. Department of Transportation reported on average, Americans spend “just under an hour” driving every day! Add in traveling and moving and the occasional road trip for a change of scenery and the hours add up. And horror is about nothing if not creepy things finding us in our everyday life....

A note on diversity in this category: most annotated editions are of “classics,” which largely means books in the public domain by cisgender white men. Of course, there are exceptions: annotated editions of 1,001 Nights, of African American folk tales, and of Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway have all been published recently. Any of Toni Morrison or Zora Neale Hurston’s books would be wonderful choices for annotated editions. A few annotated editions of comics and graphic novels by living authors exist, so Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi would be another great option, and hopefully we’ll see more like this in the future....

John Barnett and Marnie Galloway John Barnett’s recently published Carbon: One Atom’s Odyssey (May 2021) explores the incredible journey of a carbon atom from the beginning of the universe through smoke and animals on earth. In the introduction of the work, he explains that he was impacted by reading Primo Levi’s The Periodic Table, especially the last story called “Carbon.” Primo Levi was the first science communicator he came across. Marnie Galloway has worked for several kids magazines, including Muse and Cicada, illustrating a variety of science concepts....

Thankfully, I had audiobooks to rescue me from the sleep-deprived tedium of keeping an infant dry, fed, and mostly content. Then and now, narrators of audiobooks helped me feel less lonely. Nesting with a newborn, while supremely cuddly, also feels isolating. Like many new parents, I was often “nap-trapped”—sometimes literally pinned down under my snoozing baby. Even when freed from the couch, the baby’s sleep schedule kept us tethered to home....

A Ubiquitous, Vague, and Ominous Thing And yet, I knew from an early age that I was confronting a Big Bad Thing I could not translate. In elementary school, I suffered with OCD, depression, and anxiety. I struggled with finding the words to tell adults, and they did not notice that my silence was more than just polite quiet, but a strategy to avoid being labeled “crazy,” a ubiquitous, vague, and ominous word thrown around the playground, yet one that seemed to match what I was experiencing, which also was ubiquitous, vague, and ominous....

One thing I didn’t consider when we skipped off down the weeb branch path, however, was how frequently we were going to have to deal with beloved characters up and dying. Character death doesn’t bother me all that much in western superhero comics. The running gag about the impermanence of a given demise is a running gag for a reason: they do almost always come back. And if they don’t, it’s probably because it was time for them to go....

Welcome to Finale, the final book in Stephanie Garber’s #1 New York Times bestselling Caraval series! It’s been two months since the Fates were freed from a deck of cards, two months since Legend claimed the throne for his own, and two months since Tella discovered the boy she fell in love with doesn’t really exist. Tella must decide if she’s going to trust Legend. After uncovering a secret, Scarlett will need to do the impossible....

Before these three experiences, I dealt with fear of climate change mostly by ignoring it. It’s not that I didn’t believe in bad climate news — I absolutely did — but I responded to it by trying not to think about it. I avoided news stories on the subject and had no interest in reading books about it. I felt dread whenever the subject came up and ran away. They probably didn’t mean to, but these three writers ambushed me....

Some background. I’m not a weepy person. I’ve never cried at a wedding (even my own), I didn’t cry when my baby was born, and I typically don’t immediately cry when people tell me terrible things that have happened (I usually wait to cry until I’m alone or at home). And before you say “Ah ha! You must read alone!” I actually often read in public. More than half my reading occurs at work, listening to audiobooks....

First off: some of my favourite books are ones I didn’t like reading. That may sound paradoxical, but I mean it earnestly. Everfair by Nisi Shawl was a book I crawled through reading. It’s an epic alternate history of the Congo that is told over decades and continents from a huge amount of point of view characters — I lost track of how many. Being buffeted from one POV to another over and over meant I probably never read more than 20 pages of that book at a time....

In the 50 years since the Booker was established in 1969, the Prize has only been shared twice before: first in 1974 (between Nadine Gordimer and Stanley Middleton) and second in 1992 (Michael Ondaatje and Barry Unsworth). What makes this year’s announcement remarkable, however, is the fact that the official rules were changed in 1993 to ensure that the prize would only ever be given to a single author....

Why? Because I believe Gone Girl is a misogynist novel. Let me explain. Gone Girl is the story of Nick and Amy. They meet at a party in New York City and fall in love. During the economic downturn in 2008, they both lose their jobs. The following period of unemployment takes its toll on their marriage. Then, Nick’s mother is diagnosed with terminal cancer and they move to his hometown in Missouri to care for her....

An electrifying debut novel about the extraordinary bond between two girls driven apart by circumstance but relentless in their search for one another. Shobha Rao’s Girls Burn Brighter introduces two heroines who never lose the hope that burns within. It’s time for the first 2019 edition of Book Riot’s Instagram-only feminist book club! We’re running the whole shebang on Instagram Live, and we want you (yes you, all of you, from any and all areas of the gender identity spectrum) to join us....

I’m paraphrasing, of course, but that’s pretty much how the whole thing started. It has been delightful and heartbreaking and overwhelming and edifying. We’re starting our second year and I cannot believe how incredible the whole thing has been. The teachers who joined us are some of the most compassionate, brave, and thoughtful individuals I’ve ever worked with. It can be daunting and even dangerous to intentionally incorporate queerness into elementary and middle school classrooms....

When the series premiered in 1983, Burton was mostly known for his role as Kunta Kinte from the 1977 miniseries Roots, based on the novel by Alex Haley. But in over two decades as the host of Reading Rainbow, Burton solidified himself as a lifelong advocate for literacy and reading in young people. In early February, PEN/Faulkner announced that Burton will be named their first Literary Champion, solidifying his literacy legacy....