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I love an opportunity to promote favorite books, so I picked a few of my choices from some of the categories that NYPL features in their list. Historical Fiction Small Island by Andrea Levy Levy portrays the heartbreaking experiences of Jamaican Immigrants after World War II, breaking the story into the narratives of four characters—Hortense Roberts and Gilbert Joseph, the Jamaicans; and Queenie and Bernard Bligh, the Brits. Normally I’m not a huge fan of novels that split chapters between multiple characters, but every personality is vividly drawn with nuance....

Beach Read is the story of January, a romance writer who ends up moving to her late father’s beach house. There, she finds out she is the next-door neighbor of her college rival, literary fiction writer Augustus Everett. After they realize they both have writer’s block, they strike a deal to write each other’s genre, making their relationship much more complicated. When I finished reading this book, it took time for me to stop thinking about it....

What is ergodic fiction? The genre of ergodic fiction was proposed by Espen J. Aarseth, a professor at the IT University of Copenhagen. He wrote a book in 1997 called Cybertext: Perspectives on Ergodic Literature, that breaks down what makes a piece of writing ergodic, a term that comes from the Greek words ergon, meaning “work,” and hodos, meaning “path.” So what makes a book ergodic? It’s not necessarily the content....

But even before Stranger Things came into my life, I regularly turned to the ’80s for comfort. I mean, I was born in 1980. For me, the decade represents dreams and adventure and childhood innocence. Just ask the disintegrating E.T. doll on my nightstand. Of course, what brings me back might not bring you back in quite the same way. So, if you’re still hungry for ’80s-esque reads, check out this list of bitpunk books....

Did you know that you can rent out some bookstores to browse all by yourself? Have you ever considered having a little party at a bookstore? What about a date night? Want to read all night in a bookshop, but don’t know where you can do that? I got you. There are a few places where you can do many of these things. Pull out your travel bucket list and get ready to save these delightful bookshops....

Did I actually read any Outsiders comics? If you count looking at a handful of scanned pages posted online as “reading,” then yes. But mostly, I read the fan fiction. If you read fan fiction, then you know it isn’t always an accurate reflection of the source material. It is a fantasy of a fantasy, invested in rooting out the character moments and possibilities that the canon glosses over. What happened between these two scenes?...

Djinns aren’t real, but if they were, they would only steal children because we have the most delicious souls’. Based on a true story, Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line, is the story of three children in the slums of a sprawling Indian city set out to solve the case of a missing classmate in this harrowing debut about comradery, adventure, and the slow unravelling of a communal tragedy. Enter to win Deepa Anappara’s astounding debut novel today!...

Then came the Civil War, which ended in the (temporary) death of Captain America. This seems to have set a bad precedent: now it seems like Cap and Iron Man can’t go more than a few years without getting into some earth-shattering conflict. Surely there is a better way to deal with differing opinions? Mr. Fantastic thought so, too. In Dark Reign: Fantastic Four, Reed Richards, feeling guilty over recent events (for good reason, it must be said), builds a machine that allows him to peer into other universes....

How has Selina Kyle kept Bruce Wayne engaged in an eight decades long game of cat and…bat (okay, this time I’m actually sorry, but as a comics writer, I’m legally obligated to make that joke, I didn’t write the contract but I did sign it in blood)? Let’s take a look. Life #1 Catwoman’s birth name was Selina Calabrese. Other aliases include: Selina Kyle (her current legal name), the Cat, and Irena Dubrovna....

With some exceptions, of course. Maybe you’re one of those chaotic evil readers that read the last page or chapter before you start. Still, the way most novels are written, it’s beginning to end. Front to back. Prologue to epilogue. Short story collections are different. Since collections and anthologies are are made up of multiple stories, each with its own, contained arc, the possibilities open up. A Short Story Collection’s Order is a Guideline, Not a Rule That’s not to say that order isn’t important to a short story collection....

Here’s what made the GLLI Translated YA Book Prize shortlist for 2019: Alpha by Bessora and Barroux, translation: Sara Ardizzone. This comic follows Alpha on his journey from the Côte d’Ivoire through to Paris. It’s drawn in materials that Alpha might have found on his journey, and delivers some powerful emotional hits. If you’d like to find more comics about refugee experiences, check out this excellent round-up from one of my fellow Rioters....

After participating in vital civil rights protests — even becoming one of the Freedom Riders in the early ’60s — John Lewis spent over three decades in Congress continuing the fight for equality. This fight was carried over into the books he wrote, with some of the most recent ones being March, Run, and Carry On: Reflections for a New Generation. The stamp honoring his lifelong commitment to making “good trouble” will feature the August 2013 Time Magazine photograph of Lewis shot by Marco Grob....

With millions of titles, ThriftBooks has an endless selection of children’s books at the best prices to fill your child’s imagination…. and their library. From childhood classics to new undiscovered worlds of adventures, there is something for everyone and every budget. And with the ThriftBooks ReadingRewards program, every purchase gets you a step closer to your next free book. Shop ThriftBooks.com today to unleash the pure imagination a world of children’s books has to offer....

That’s why we’re here with your fail-proof guide to fake book reviews to make you look like the bougie intellectual you truly aren’t. Choose from the list below of cliched, overused descriptions of books and fill in the blanks to make it extra convincing. No one will ever know that you didn’t actually read it. If It’s a Sad Book “[BOOK TITLE] is a triumph of the human spirit, a true tour de force of literature....

Sure, back-to-school season is full of new books to read, but we all know that what’s most exciting is the rush of new school supplies. Your college years come with the added bonus of shopping for new dorm room swag, in addition to all the pens, pencils, highlighters, and notebooks you’ve had your eye on. Now, I’m assuming you’ve already got all the bookish face masks your little comics-loving heart desires, so don’t look for any of those around here....

Some of these challenges have gone well. Some have been less successful (why does this lace pattern scarf suddenly have 107 stitches? I don’t…damn it). As I was contemplating the sum total the other day, however, I realized I hadn’t yet done any sort of comics challenge. And thus Comics A–Z was born. When last we met, we’d just finished our list matching comics with emotions, skipping two letters bereft of feelings and wrapping up with zeal (both the word and the actually feeling, at least on my end)....

F: Fashion G: Galatea H: Hats I: Instagrammable J: Jātaka Ten down, 16 to go! Japan to India to clones and fashion! Who says the arts aren’t necessary? People who have never done, looked at, or listened to an art apparently. Can you imagine a world without the arts? I can’t, which is why I’ve chosen it as my next A–Z umbrella topic. If there are any sub-genres you’d like be to highlight, feel free to slide into the conversation @BookRiot on Twitter!...

A lone witch has powers. A coven has a multitude more. New girl and secret witch Iris just wants to get through her first day of school without a panic attack. The last thing she expects is to be taken in by a coven of three witches—soft-spoken Greta, thoughtful and musical Ridley, and fiery and spirited Binx. They may be the first witches Iris has met IRL, but their coven is not alone in their small northwestern town....

Melmoth by Sarah Perry The writer of the critically acclaimed The Essex Serpent is back with another haunting Gothic novel. It has been years since Helen Franklin left England. In Prague, working as a translator, she has found a home of sorts—or, at least, refuge. That changes when her friend Karel discovers a mysterious letter in the library, a strange confession and a curious warning that speaks of Melmoth the Witness, a dark legend found in obscure fairy tales and antique village lore....

I used to Google “cookbooks for chefs” or “gifts for chefs,” only to find the same results of cookbooks and gifts that would be recommended to a home cook. This is not what I was looking for. Cheffing as a profession comes with advanced tools just like most professions do. If your cousin were a pro golfer, would you gift her a 4 iron from your local sports shop? No....