Disclaimer: Too few of the classic DC Comics stories had women or BIPOC writing or drawing. Despite my best efforts, this lists reflect that. Keep moving the needle toward diversity, DC! With over 80 years of stories, DC Universe Infinite provides more great stories than any of us can probably read in our lifetimes, but these dazzling dozen will get you started. What are some of your favorite DC Comics stories?...
For more Asian narratives, check out our list of the best Asian American YA to read in 2020, or these recommended books to read for Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.
13 young adult authors… 13 heart-stopping tales… This collection will “delight longtime Poe fans just as much as readers who haven’t read the classics” (Beth Revis). Lyrical and atmospheric, Poe’s work was made for chilly autumn evenings. He entwines beauty and horror so masterfully that it’s hard to tell where one begins and the other ends. And I think that this is best evidenced in his poetry. Check out these 12 YA recommendations paired with some of Edgar Allan Poe’s best poems....
So what exactly is a romance sub-genre? The first thing to know is that it’s different from a romance trope. A trope can be used in almost any situation: it’s an element to a story that guides the plot. Hating to dating is a trope. Only one bed is a trope. Fake dating is a trope. These (and countless other tropes) can happen in any romance, any time, and in any sub-genre....
In some cases, the novel is noir while the film is not so much noir, and in others the novel is less noir and the film more so. And some are noir through and through! It’s a good mix (I hope). 13 Bookish Film Noir The Big Sleep, D. Howard Hawks Based on The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler, the first of the Philip Marlowe mysteries. Bonus: BEST TRAILER EVER....
Still, it’s been a while since most of us planned anything bigger than a small, distanced, BYOB gathering on the patio. Whom do we invite? What should we serve? What will we do? Is it worth the trouble? If you find the idea of hosting family and friends pre-pandemic style overwhelming, we’ve rounded up 13 books to help you seamlessly transition into post-pandemic entertaining. Best of all? You don’t have to give up your much beloved excuse to spend more time with books....
While I’m sure you will love many of the gadgets on this list for yourself, they also make excellent gifts for book lovers that aren’t books. And I’ve included a few items that are a little pricier, but make reading feel all the more lush, making them some of the best luxury gifts for book lovers. So, read on for best gadgets for book lovers that are sure to boost your — and your favorite book lover’s — reading lives!...
This list of books for autistic children is split into different categories. There are books for and about autistic kids, many of them about creating and celebrating healthy relationships. Then there are informational books about autism, many of which break down why kids on the spectrum react certain ways. Finally, there are sensory books for autistic children, which provide stimulating visual and tactile sensory experiences as they inform about animals, sounds, emotions, and anything else you can think of....
Journalist Billy Jensen spent fifteen years investigating unsolved murders, fighting for the families of victims. Every story he wrote had one thing in common—they didn’t have an ending. The killer was still out there. But after the sudden death of a friend, crime writer and author of I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, Michelle McNamara, Billy got fed up. Following a dark night, he came up with a plan. A plan to investigate past the point when the cops had given up....
Note: please be advised that many of the best true crime podcasts do also contain graphic descriptions of violence (including sexual violence), crime scenes, and other potentially upsetting content. Limited Series These podcasts are multi-episode deep dives into specific cases for those who are interested in detailed and involved examinations and analyses. Bear Brook The case of the Bear Brook murders confounded investigators at every turn. The victims were never even identified....
And while the true crime genre is slowly beginning to fill with authors of color and women authors, this category is still largely authored by white and male authors. And if this still isn’t enough and you’re looking for even more true crime books, we’ve got you covered. 2021 True Crime Books to Read Right Now 2021 True Crime Books Out Later This Year to Add to Your TBR Looking for even more true crime?...
Below are 20 books about people who don’t have a father. They run the gamut from books about losing a father to books in which the main character simply does not have a father, whether they have a single mom, two moms, or were raised by grandparents. The books are both fiction and nonfiction, span middle grade, young adult, and adult categories, and are all genres from fantasy to murder mystery....
I hope this list has convinced you to balance all those animal books with some plant books for kids! If gardening is a whole family activity, we’ve got more gardening recommendations. And if you’re looking for more books for kids, check out the best of 2020.
Instead of overthinking or panicking, I can turn to my trusty audiobooks. Doing dishes, driving home from soccer practice, piling in the car for a weekend at the lake — all the perfect backdrop for a good story read to me with a dramatic flair. From the time they were very young, I’ve leveraged car time with my sons into audiobook time. The educator in me loves that this has increased their expression and vocabulary, but I also treasure the times we’ve all gasped in unison at a great plot twist, or turned a nasty traffic jam into a spirited discussion about what might happen next....
The great news is, despite the slim pickings when it comes to movies, the world of queer holiday romances in book is (as usual) doing a bit better. We’ve got books about women falling in love at a holiday baking competition and single dads falling for their hot silver fox neighbors. It’s a queer Christmas extravaganza! This list is by no means perfect. I’d love to see a lot more trans, nonbinary, ace, and bi rep (to name a few), not to mention — always, always — more stories by authors of color....
Look, I know the internet is far from perfect. It has a lot of shortcomings. It’s fundamentally changed how we relate to each other, in ways that are both great and not so great. Webcomics are one of the great ways. The internet has created space for so many comics creators, especially queer and BIPOC creators, to tell so many wonderful and important stories. Many of the webcomics on this list have since been picked up by publishers and made into books — and that’s because these artists found a way to put their work into the world, and readers responded to it....
Written with children in mind, many of these picture books will also be enjoyable for adults. From humorous hijinks involving mice out to fill their bellies, to meditative and rhythmic poems about the wonders of books, to a depiction of the attempted imaginative squashing of a Navajo boy, there is a whole world in this list for readers of all ages to explore. And cats. A lot of cats. Because while there are plenty of well-known children’s books about dogs, I am partial to books about these more ill-reputed pets....
Though this list is incomplete and doesn’t capture the potential adaptations coming later in 2021, it offers a look at the 2021 YA books–to–movies you’ll want to pop onto your to-be-read and to-be-watched lists. There’s something here for everyone, from classics to award-winners and new titles. Included here are both streaming shows and stand-alone films. Trailers, the film’s inspiration if the title differs from the book, and a short description are included below, with tentative release dates, formats, and the services which will host them....
And sometimes we also need to get put back together again; to be reminded of the ways we can get through this, how we have overcome, and how, despite it all, life gives us hope. Poems like that serve as a reminder that we are not alone, and there is still beauty to be had—even if it’s just in the form of a perfect line of poetry. Let this collection of poems about life help you feel heard, comforted, and give voice to whatever hurts or heals right now....
But. I’m also thrilled to see more diverse stories with a wider range of character not only testing but pushing, and sometimes full-on decimating, the boundaries of what I’m going to call modern, rather than urban, fantasy. Not only because the geography has shifted (a good chunk does still take place in cities, though we’re also exploring underground bunkers, trailer parks, underwater havens, and rural prep schools) but because the plot lines and protagonists have diversified, the kinds of magic we’re privileged to explore are different than those presented in the limited scope of fantasy past, and because so many more of us get to see ourselves in the pages of genre fictions....
