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Most of us who consider “loving books” to be a part of our personality very likely got our start at a young age, devouring picture books and then slim chapter volumes. Many of the stories we read as children were bloodless, in the tradition of L. Frank Baum, whose Oz books were written to provide young readers with an alternative to the goriness of ancient children’s stories full of lopped off toes (Cinderella) and briars full of dead princes (Sleeping Beauty)....

Some steps have been taken to address this, such as the creation of the Comedy Women in Print Prize; however, there are many funny women writers out there, some already popular, others less well known. In fiction and nonfiction, memoir and essay, women writers have used wit and humour to explore serious subjects, tell a great story, or just get some good laughs. Here’s a selection of the funniest women writers, in a range of different genres, and a suggestion of some of the best books of theirs to read....

So let’s start with 2019, shall we? We have a rule on Get Booked that we can only recommend a title three times in the same year, and this year we only maxed out five: Drop the Ball by Tiffany Dufu If you were looking for career advice or marriage advice this year, chances are I pulled this one out. I’ve been on a mission to get as many people as possible to read this—and I feel really good about my success!...

This year, the festivities occurred on April 6, 2022. The ALA stated: “Bookmobiles and direct-delivery outreach services are, and continue to be an integral, vital part of libraries around the country. For over 100 years bookmobiles have served rural, urban, suburban and tribal areas, bringing access to information and life-long learning resources to all classes and communities.” In 1859, a cart called the Perambulating Library, one of the earliest bookmobiles on record, rolled through the streets of Warrington, England....

The reality looks more like me squashed up against several other people in a packed subway car barreling across the Williamsburg bridge. My phone is crushed beneath the contents of my purse, and my work day hasn’t started yet. I unglue my arms from my sides as I pry a book—usually a small paperback—from my bag and remove the CVS receipt I’ve been using as a placeholder. Right there, in the several inches of space in front of my face, I can settle in for a solid 30 minutes of uninterrupted reading time....

Check out these amazing options for completing your retreat from reality: Dracula by Bram Stoker Yes, it’s dated, I know, but it’s also a classic and contains everything needed for a heady, Halloween tale: an ancient evil, succubi, a cursed hero, a doomed beauty, and bats. And admit it. you’ve looked over your shoulder upon hearing an unexpected noise while you were reading Dracula in a supposedly empty house too....

Something like: “I heard they took some weird drugs in an attempt to summon a demon lord and ask him questions about the Chaucer homework. I’m pretty sure that’s cheating.” Or: “I saw them hovering three feet off the ground behind the gas station chanting something about The Veil along to an audio book of William Blake poems.” Teasing aside, dark academia books, a relatively new label for this sub-genre of sinister literary fiction, are a favourite of mine and many others....

This isn’t a list meant to serve as a roundup of the best YA books made into movies. Rather, this is an attempt—key word—at rounding up as many of the movies based on YA books as possible as of 2018. It would be impossible to be comprehensive, but this gets pretty close. This is also not a ranking nor an exploration of returns on these films. This is indeed a straight list, meant to be a resource for readers and those who work with readers to return to again and again for inspiration....

I am primarily speaking about novels because it feels wrong to think of memoirs in this way — Jonestown was Jonestown, and it was a tragedy. Real people, too, were part of Heaven’s Gate and they should not be a punchline. Novels about cults sometimes take place after the decisive moment that marks the end — all the better for us to see what it takes to survive and deprogram....

Each year, the prizes and stipends fluctuate based on funds available. This year, they had their highest number of submissions to date and gave away $39,000! Jurors are selected by past executive members of the Indigenous Literary Studies Association, and most are Indigenous. You can check out the 2021 jurors list here, including Billy-Ray Belcourt, author of A History of My Brief Body. Applicants to the awards are eligible if they self-identify as Indigenous and claim affiliation with an Indigenous community....

Annie Dillard. It was a name I heard regularly on my college campus, our shared alma mater, during my four years there. Despite being a committed English major, I never bothered to pick up her work while in college. Even when the Theatre department put on an adaptation of her famed Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, I did not rush to the library or the bookstore to pick up a copy....

I had the opportunity to spend a few minutes at San Diego Comic Con speaking with Schwab about the absolutely gorgeous Shades of Magic: The Steel Prince series. Book Riot: I saw you mention on Twitter that Vicious was inspired by Cowboy Bebop. Were there any anime or other properties that inspired Shades of Magic or contributed to the style of the comic? V.E. Schwab: Yes! Less in the style but in the content, Shades of Magic, I always say, is a love letter to both Harry Potter and Avatar: The Last Airbender and honestly, as I’ve moved forward, probably some Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood as well....

Unfortunately, it’s often not regarded as a “real” bullying issue, primarily because of the ridiculous claim that it will help the person being bullied lose weight. We know this isn’t true, as we know the person doing the bullying has no good intention at heart. At the University of Surrey here in the UK, professor Jane Ogden writes that all of the evidence points to the fact that fat-shaming only makes people feel worse....

But sometimes I look at the nonfiction shelf in my book room and think… I ain’t reading all that; I’m happy for you though, or I’m sorry that happened. Then a glorious thing started happening about a decade ago, and I’ve loved the evolution of it into the amazing segment of nonfiction that it’s become: Comics. Illustrated nonfiction has a long and storied history, but is mostly considered something that kids read as a supplement to what they’re learning in school....

A dark past. An impossible journey. The will to survive. For fans of Flight Behavior and Station Eleven, a novel set on the brink of catastrophe, as a young woman chases the world’s last birds―and her own final chance for redemption. Migrations has been named a “most anticipated” book by Entertainment Weekly, Vulture, Elle, and more. Emily St. John Mandel calls this powerful novel “extraordinary.” Start reading Migrations now. Though he lived in many places and studied everything from big game preservation to how to burn prairies to simulate the natural cycle of regrowth, he is perhaps best remembered for his book A Sand County Almanac, which was published just after his death....

The Rise and Fall of Barnes and Noble The last time I went into a Barnes and Noble, this past winter in my hometown, Milwaukee, WI, the entire downstairs was taken up with games, cards, art supplies, music, Starbucks, and other non-book merchandise. Sure, you still have the magazine section and small front display of current bestsellers. There were also some tables boasting old titles on sale for under $5....

As far as I know, And Other Stories were the only publishing house to take Shamsie up on her challenge. I worked at this small, independent press in the north of England for the best part of a year. Their origin story was the first thing to draw me in, but I was also intrigued by their decision to partake in #YPW2018. More importantly, to be the only ones to partake in it....

Although I’m Asian American myself, I’d never deliberately set out to read more Asian American authors—I simply read what piqued my interest. So when I realized these four books—two of which had just come out earlier in the year—had risen organically to the top of my list, I couldn’t help but get excited. Look at all the Asian American authors out there and look at all the people who are reading them....

Although poorer, less educated, and more rural areas are more likely to be news deserts, the decline of metro and community news affects wealthier and poorer communities alike. And in addition to these total news deserts are the parched news environments: half of U.S. counties are served by only one newspaper, mostly a weekly paper. In you live in an area that’s under-covered by the press, you might only learn of local events in neighboring or larger media outlets when they’re particularly scandalous or salacious....

What If…? was also a useful tool for test driving ideas. Before Jane Foster took up Mjolnir and became Thor in Jason Aaron’s run of Thor, she held the hammer What If…? #10 in 1978. Hulk actually ripped Wolverine in half in the Ultimate Universe, even if it didn’t kill the little berserker. The noncanonical comic asked what if Gwen Stacey survived, Jessica Jones joined the Avengers, or what if someone other than Peter Parker became Spider-Man?...