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In October, my last living grandparent passed away and I spent my time at airports reading, finally finding some kind of relief in it. And then came December. In December, I started experiencing symptoms of what I learned by late January was ulcerative colitis. I’ll spare you the details, but I will say that when you aren’t really absorbing a lot of what you eat and your body is constantly fighting itself like it would an active disease, you’re exhausted....

In undergrad, I did indeed major in psychology and found a Dr. Pipher of my own, of sorts. This professor was the Director of the Counseling Center when I was a freshman, and was well-known for her work with adolescents, especially adolescent girls, and college students. She was an outspoken and brilliant feminist. She later joined the psychology faculty, and except for her time at Semester at Sea, she and I worked together every semester of my undergraduate career....

What’s your favorite line from a Kurt Vonnegut book? Don’t say, “so it goes.” Everybody knows that one. I’ve never even read Kurt Vonnegut (I know, I know), and I know that one. Our pals at Out of Print have given us one of these beauties to give away, and if you want it, you’re gonna have to do better than “so it goes.” To enter, leave a comment on this post with your favorite Kurt Vonnegut quote by midnight Eastern TONIGHT!...

Our uber famous twenty-two year old narrator has it all. A teen idol since he was twelve, when a video of him singing went viral, his star has only risen since. Now, haunted by the suicide of his manager-father, unsettled by the very different paths he and his teenage love (and girl pop-star counterpart) “Mandy” have taken, and increasingly aware that he has signed on to something he has little control over, he begins to parse the divide that separates him from the “normal people” of the world....

It’s 1949. When war veteran Aloysius Archer is released from Carderock Prison, he’s sent to Poca City on parole with a short list of do’s and a much longer list of don’ts. But the small town quickly proves more complicated and dangerous than Archer’s years serving in the war or his time in jail. When a murder takes place right under Archer’s nose, police suspicions rise against the ex-convict, and Archer realizes that the crime could send him right back to prison ....

You know what are my favorites, though? When royals find themselves in Situations. You know, those things they fall (or accidentally talk themselves) into, that they have to figure out their way out of. If they happen to fall in love on the way, well, that’s not completely a problem, is it? Especially if they get a Happily Ever After out of it. You might even say this was a Tropetonite for me....

“But he was not the only Byron to have forged a questionable sexual career – the name already carried the weight of certain unfortunate and immoral connotations. When he inherited his family title and estates in 1798 aged just ten, the recent history of the Byrons was already littered with adultery, elopement, illegitimacy and incest.” clutches pearls “Without the thrill of travel, frequent fliers are turning to new ways to experience their favorite places from home—and for those unacquainted with the idea of staying in one place, activities like yoga, reading, and coloring offer proven therapeutic value....

Sponsored by AudioFile and distributed through the free OverDrive app, Sync is a program geared toward teen listeners but that anyone who enjoys a great audiobook will want to take advantage of. Each week, beginning April 25, Sync offers up 2 free titles for download that include recent and backlist young adult titles, as well as classic titles. You’re welcome to download both titles or pick and choose which you’d like....

Every once in awhile, you come across a site with an idea so simple and genius and pure that you get angry that you didn’t think of it. This anger can last for years–unless the site is done with more polish, restraint, humor, and subtlety than you could have ever mustered in a thousand years of mustering. Exhibit A: Slaughterhouse 90210. The premise of Slaughterhouse 90210 is confoundingly elegant: pair a still from TV with a literary quotation....

While the lease on the museum’s current location on Senate Avenue expired on February 1, they have recently signed a purchase agreement for a new location in the heart of Indy’s historic jazz district. That’s where they need the public’s help. In order to secure the building, the museum needs to raise $1.5 million by May 15. Funds will allow the museum to purchase the building and begin renovations. The Vonnegut Museum & Library celebrates the late author’s contributions to writing, art, and education....

I do not have anything against straight books. I’ve simply arrived, finally, at the intersection of choice and abundance. It’s been a long time coming. As a teenager and young adult, when I was coming into myself as a reader, there simply weren’t as many queer books available as there are today. Looking back at the books I read in the late nineties and early-to-mid aughts, I’m shocked by how few of them are queer....

So right here right now, apologies in advance for leaving out your must-read sci-fi fantasy speculative poet. Please include your faves in the comments. I’ll keep reminding you to do so. Speculative poetry has so many sub-genres: hard sci-fi, science-y sci-fi, fairytale, horror (as aforementioned, yikes!), mythology-leaning, robot-ish, aliens, and, I’m sure, more. A little background might help to understand this expanding category of speculative poets. A Quick History Mark Rich wrote a piece on the history of specpo for Strange Horizons, a weekly magazine that focuses on fiction as well as other genres of sci-fi....

It’s not surprising to see that spelling competitions are popular outside the United States. It seems to be a nearly universal human drive to make a competition out of just about anything. Eating hot dogs. Solving Rubik’s cubes. Building dry stone walls (full-size or miniature). What’s somewhat surprising is that the majority of international spelling competitions also use the English language. Because many other languages have more consistency between sound and spelling, English is arguably the best language for spelling bees....

The second reason I find the smut renaissance fascinating is that it is legitimately very difficult to know which books are smutty! Old school romances with clinch covers telegraphed their content, to the embarrassment of some readers. With the rise of trade paperback romances with illustrated covers, books that seem similar from a superficial glance can be wildly different, sex-wise. This has readers turning to various sources, like TikTok and Instagram, for advice on where the spice is flowing....

In Jasper Fforde’s funny and odd Thursday Next series, reality and fiction are separate worlds that coexist. A special police force, Jurisfiction, must make sure that books conform to the same standards with every reading since, in Fforde’s universe, fiction is its own, physical world that can actually be entered by people from the real world. Among other things, Jurisfiction must ensure that plots are always the same (though in the first book, Jane Eyre accidentally undergoes some changes when the title character has to track down a murderer at Thornfield Hall)....

Literary Landmarks The Brooklyn Public Central Library While the New York Public Library on 5th Avenue in Manhattan gets all of the hype, the Brooklyn Public Central Library near Prospect Park in Brooklyn is absolutely worth a visit as well. Constructed at the start of the 20th century, it is the central branch of the Brooklyn Public Library system and in addition to being in a beautiful, historical building, it is also a fully functional library....

Putting the Science in Fiction collects articles from “Science in Sci-fi, Fact in Fantasy,” Dan Koboldt’s popular blog series, Science in Sci-Fi, for authors and fans of speculative fiction. Each article discusses an element of sci-fi or fantasy with an expert in that field. Scientists, engineers, medical professionals, and others share their insights in order to debunk the myths, correct the misconceptions, and offer advice on getting the details right....

I haven’t run the numbers, but I’d venture to guess that most of the new fiction that I read last year came from the library. There are too many books that I’m intrigued but not certain about that I like to grab from the library for a low-risk read. And I’m a cheapskate, so I’m pretty thrifty about which books I spend money on. Because I live in a small town with a small library, I end up getting a lot of books from other libraries through a very robust interlibrary loan system, which I love....

The Default It was a BEST SELLER! Sure, it’s not about anything you care about, and in fact you find the premise mildly offensive. But everyone’s reading it! According to The New York Times, at least. Barnes and Noble put it on the big bay in front with the cover facing out, so this hapless gifter has decided that it must be an objectively excellent piece of work. This is what industry professionals call a “good try....

Book Riot is teaming up with BookClubbish to giveaway a copy of NEVER SAW ME COMING by Vera Kurian and a $100 gift card to Bookshop.org to one lucky winner. Simply fill out the form and subscribe to the BookClubbish newsletter for a chance to win! at Parade: It’s Not All Classics! The American Library Association’s Ranking of the 100 Most Banned Books at Audiofile: 4 Romance Audiobooks that Mix the Professional with the Personal at Electric Lit: 10 Books by Malaysian Women Writers You Should be Reading at Mental Floss: 9 Facts About The Hate U Give at Tor....