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Captain America debuted in Captain America Comics #1 (March 1941), making this year his 80th anniversary. He was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, and quickly became Timely Comics’s (which would eventually become Marvel) most popular character during World War II, for fairly obvious reasons. And though, like so many Americans, I’ve been feeling some kind of way about my country lately, it is just after July 4th (Cap’s canonical birthday), so let’s take a look at the first appearance of this most patriotic of heroes....

Here Comes the Book Truck According to the project’s website, the Bookmobile is a “27-foot-long box truck, retrofitted with bookshelves that allow for open-air access.” The maroon truck is emblazoned with the tagline “Bringing Books to Readers.” Started in 2017, the Bookmobile brings the book-browsing experience curbside, offering a range of diverse books for free or low-cost. Readers from neighborhoods that lack bookstores can experience the joy of browsing new reads and rifling the pages of brand new books with uncracked spines....

Now, if you reside in Canada, you have already had the opportunity to watch Anne with an ‘E’ Season 3 – right up to the finale. I, unfortunately, have not. Like many others, I must wait until Netflix releases the season in January. However, I am an avid Anne of Green Gables fan and have been casting a critical eye toward any canonical references versus creative liberties. And if you’re waiting to see whether Season 3 will be worth watching, then this is the discussion for you....

In early March, Canada’s national news network CBC reported that the current Liberal federal government, headed by Prime Minister Trudeau, included in their government’s 2020 Fall Economic Statement that funding for two non-profit organizations, the Centre for Equitable Library Access (CELA) and the National Network for Equitable Library Service (NNELS), would be phased out. Currently, the funding is only $4 million across both services ($3 million to CELA, $1 million for NNELS)....

The Wood of Suicides by Laura Elizabeth Woolett Depressing? Yes, but you got that from the title, I bet. Laurel is beautiful and fatherless. She admits to an Electra complex. There’s some Apollo & Daphne stuff. When Laurel starts a new school, she falls for her middle-aged English teacher (why is it always the English teacher?), and there are some quiet twists that made me read this book in almost a single sitting....

Often, when we think about audiobooks, we think about the author of the book itself. But who are some of the performers behind those books, if the author isn’t doing the performance? Let’s take a look today at six of today’s biggest and most interesting YA audiobook performers, with a little about who they are, as well as a look at a handful of the YA audiobooks they’ve performed. If you’ve been hesitant to try an audiobook or are looking for what to tune into next, you cannot go wrong with perusing the titles and performers above....

Owl mugs, bird art, parrot bookends: I love good bird gifts, and for those who, like me, fall right in the center of “bird lover” and “book lover,” you’re in for a treat with this wide array of perfect bird gifts for book lovers. Whatever your favorite feathered friend might be, there’s a perfect bookish bird gift here for you or for that person who you know would just love it....

Best friends Marine and Kate have trained since childhood at the Paris Opera Ballet School. Before the start of their final year, they begin to ask themselves how far they would go to be named the one who will join the Opera’s prestigious corps de ballet. Would they cheat? Seduce the most talented boy in the school, dubbed the Demigod, for it? Would they risk death for it? Neither girl is sure....

From Newbery Honor- and Coretta Scott King Author Award-winning author Renée Watson comes a heartwarming middle-grade novel about finding deep roots and exploring what make us who we are. All Amara wants for her birthday is to visit her father’s family in New York City–Harlem, to be exact. Maybe this will help her understand her family–and herself. But New York City is not exactly what Amara thought it would be....

Though Harrow County sees its share of cattle mutilation and the soiled linens of a hanged woman, artist Tyler Crook’s most striking use of blood is in the thrumming capillaries beneath the face of a vibrant and vital young girl. In contrast to her general pallor, Emmy’s cheeks and the tip of her nose blush like the rusty leaves of her father’s farm in peak autumn. As with any pastoral community, Harrow County is a place where the cycle of living and dying is both deeply felt and quietly accepted....

High Fantasy The basic defining tenet of high fantasy is that a fantasy story is set in an alternative fictional world, typically with magical elements. High fantasy is sometimes called epic fantasy, and some of the hallmarks of this subset of the fantasy genre include a high page count, lots of characters, usually a quest, and, most importantly, an alternative or secondary world as opposed to the real or primary world....

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong (Vintage) Hands down the best book I have read this year so far, Vuong’s debut is an exquisite masterpiece. This novel from the award-winning poet is a heart wrenching portrayal of a family surviving the trauma of immigration and war. The Rapture by Claire McGlasson (Faber) A riveting cult story based on the Panacea Society, a real organisation that grew out of wartime unrest in 20th century England....

Of course, every religious story has been handed down over time, and while changes will occur through the oral tradition and various interpretations and translations, the fundamentals remain, particularly the lessons and continuity of ancient traditions. The question now is what do we call these stories, especially when they’re no longer being relayed to just people from the communities who hold these stories to be sacred. As a Hindu growing up in a predominantly Christian country, I’ve seen the sacred stories of my religion being dismissed as “mere myths” my entire life, especially when I moved to the Bible Belt....

A Quick History of Romance Novel Covers When the romance genre blew up in the 1980s, we saw an explosion of the kinds of covers that non-romance readers exclusively associate with the genre. Called “clinch covers,” they usually featured bare-chested manly men holding tightly to a swooning woman with hair whipping in the wind and a dress holding on to her slim shoulders for dear life. The publishers would hold photoshoots with the models, then an artist would transform the image into a painting, adding in backgrounds and probably volume to the hairstyles....

For people who need help with suicidal thoughts, here is the link to the Suicide Prevention Hotline and the LGBTQ+ Suicide Prevention Hotline. The Press is known for independent comics and licensed franchise comics. They publish everything from Scott Pilgrim to the Tea Dragon Society. The press also released Sheets and Pilu of the Woods. Brenna Thummler’s Sheets explores issues of sadness and loneliness, while Mai K. Nguyen’s Pilu of the Woods deals with anger management and grief....

How Does Libro.fm Work? You can buy books from Libro.fm à la cart—i.e. individual titles at their listed price—or you can subscribe to their monthly subscription service and get credits that you can redeem for any audiobook in their extensive catalogue. You can also buy audiobooks from their sale section. How Much Does Libro.fm Cost? Audiobooks prices vary by publisher, but a monthly subscription costs $14.99 per month for one credit....

The Impact Of The “Political” On Women In Bapsi Sidhwa’s Ice-Candy Man, the social and political ramifications of the Partition of India are studied from a gynocentric point of view. The novel features Lenny, whose coming-of-age story gets intermingled with the parallel birth of the country of Pakistan. Her childhood serves as proof of the harmony that existed in Lahore prior to the religious frenzy accompanying Partition. This peaceful coexistence stands in stark contrast to the violence that will unfold later, upending the lives of Lenny and her nursemaid, whom she refers to as Ayah, forever....

I bought my own copy of her Unabridged Journals, and my own copy of her Collected Poems. I had read parts of both, but neither in completion. For the longest time, they sat untouched in a corner of my living room, with their mere presence making me feel comforted. I knew Sylvia and her words were in the room with me, even if I never touched them. But I soon learned that I needed to confront my feelings—I needed to confront the past in order to gracefully enter the future....

Jenny Han’s heartwarming trilogy first appeared on my radar in the summer of 2018. Still in my library studies grad program, I listened to classmates rave about the series one day in class. Later that summer, they said, the first book would be adapted for screen. The premise of the books lured me in right away. Whenever she falls in love with someone, Korean American teen Lara Jean writes him a letter....

In the first episode of Hulu’s adaptation of High Fidelity, “Top Five Heartbreaks,” Zoë Kravitz’s Rob Brooks and David H. Holmes’s Simon Miller, then dating, chat at a bar. Simon shares his “theory,” a case for lovers “lik[ing] most of the same things”: “The things that you like are…more important than what you are like.” Perhaps knowing that, as Rob says (agreeing with Simon), “Shit matters” applies unnecessary pressure on me selecting favorites....