Books

“I’m not trying to ban any books. I’m trying to stop an indoctrination campaign against kids. Any person in this county that has children knows full well what I’m talking about,” said South Carolina Senator Josh Kimball in a press conference held yesterday across the street from Spartanburg County Public Library’s main branch. The senator

Patmos Library in Michigan has faced a year-long attack from right-wing groups who want LGBTQ books removed from the shelves, which make up .015% of the collection. Despite harassment campaigns, the library has refused to censor its books. In response, the Jamestown Conservatives group rallied to have the library defunded, with signs that called the

by Max Brooks ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 16, 2020 Are we not men? We are—well, ask Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn, following on his bestseller World War Z (2006). A zombie apocalypse is one thing. A volcanic eruption is quite another, for, as the journalist who does a framing voice-over narration for

Narrator, author, and popular historian David McCullough died this past Sunday at his home in Hingham, Massachusetts. Before passing away at 89, millions knew McCullough as an award-winning author and TV host. 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

Hello, friends!!!! (Follow my lead.) Can’t wait to discuss this month’s book club book! The reason for the season, the thing that brings us together today (Princess Bride voice). You know, before we get started, I just want to say how much it means to me that literature brings us all together every single month.

Alexis Hall leaps from the world of contemporary romantic comedies to the realm of Regency romance with A Lady for a Duke (15.5 hours). Justin de Vere, the Duke of Gracewood, has been moping around his family’s country estate ever since his closest friend died at the Battle of Waterloo. What Gracewood doesn’t realize is

by Colleen Hoover ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 18, 2022 After being released from prison, a young woman tries to reconnect with her 5-year-old daughter despite having killed the girl’s father. Kenna didn’t even know she was pregnant until after she was sent to prison for murdering her boyfriend, Scotty. When her baby girl, Diem, was

I am not shy about how much I love dragons in books. I have a vivid memory of the first time I bought myself a pile of books with my own money; it was the first three books of Melanie Rawn’s Dragon Prince series and yes, there is a dragon on the cover. Even before

Life is not easy these days. With a lingering pandemic, volatile politics, and a wave of negative headlines, it is not hard to see why people need something to read that matches this moment we are in. That’s where this list of nine graphic novels and memoirs comes into play. The books included on this

THE TRUE STORY OF ROBERT GODDARD, THE FATHER OF US ROCKETRY by Kristen Fulton ; illustrated by Diego Funck ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 3, 2018 Punctuated—unsurprisingly—by explosions, an account of the groundbreaking rocketeer’s childhood and first experiments. Fueled by an early interest in hands-on science nurtured by his parents and sparked by reading The War

Portal fantasies – fantasy stories that involve hopping from one high-concept magical universe to another, usually through a specific mechanism that allows the characters to travel between worlds – have been popular throughout the history of the genre. Portal fantasies arguably predate the novel form itself; legends about travels between the Nine Realms in Viking

I like to consider myself a curious person. I always want to know how things work, who did this thing, and why that happened. What I’m not always great about is the follow-/ through. Sometimes I look at a prose nonfiction book about a topic and think maybe I should just read the Wikipedia article

★ Invisible A fresh and cleverly conceived take on the beloved 1985 film The Breakfast Club, Invisible is a colorful and engaging tale written by first-time graphic novel author Christina Diaz Gonzalez and illustrated by Gabriela Epstein (Claudia and the New Girl).  Diaz writes in both English and Spanish, the languages spoken by her archetypal

A child who likes to count meets a new classmate who likes to draw. What could they possibly have in common? In this sparely told and illustrated episode, Leo, depicted with Asian features, walks to school counting: one flower, two trees, three squirrels, five steps, eight new classmates, 13 raindrops on the window, and so

I’ve been going through the incredible responses to a survey on what tools and information would be helpful for fighting back against book bans. One thing that popped up was having quick templates and guides to action for folks who want to do something but don’t know where to begin. Today, let’s look at how

’90s kids, now weary adults, have a reputation of being more nostalgic than most. With the state of the world we stepped into after leaving childhood, maybe that’s understandable. Sometimes, we just want to return to a life of pogs, Gameboys, and Wishbone episodes. Is that asking too much? As I’m sure the majority of

by Chris Van Dusen ; illustrated by Chris Van Dusen ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 13, 2019 A young visionary describes his ideal school: “Perfectly planned and impeccably clean. / On a scale, 1 to 10, it’s more like 15!” In keeping with the self-indulgently fanciful lines of If I Built a Car (2005) and If

Jamestown Conservatives, a right-wing group in Jamestown Township, Michigan, is responsible for helping defund their public library. After a year-long battle with the Patmos Library, which has included the departure of the Library Director Amber McLain after a harassment campaign by the group, the library did not win its primary ballot measure to renew its

Warner Bros.’ Batgirl movie has officially been canceled. It was originally approved in 2021 as the studio was making efforts to make more movies for HBO Max, but now it won’t even show on the streaming service. The decision to forego releasing the movie— which starred Leslie Grace, J.K. Simmons, and Michael Keaton— comes not

by Max Brooks ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 16, 2020 Are we not men? We are—well, ask Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn, following on his bestseller World War Z (2006). A zombie apocalypse is one thing. A volcanic eruption is quite another, for, as the journalist who does a framing voice-over narration for