There are American novelists, and then there are American women novelists – at least according to Wikipedia, where outrage has been building over the quiet categorisation of major names such as Harper Lee and Donna Tartt according to their gender. Time to turn our attention from the old boys’ clubs at The New York [...]
Read the full post
Today’s round of Name Those Authors! is sponsored by Taken by Erin Bowman. There are no men in Claysoot. At midnight on every boy’s eighteenth birthday, the ground shakes, the wind howls, a blinding light descends…and the boy is gone. The villagers call it the Heist. Gray Weathersby is prepared to meet his fate–until he finds a strange [...]
Read the full post
Enough with The Rules, the “he’s just not that into you,” and the declaration that men and women are from separate planets. Let’s apply some math to this getting busy business, people! You can keep your flowers and candlelight. Give me some data! In Dollars and Sex, Dr. Marina Adshade applies economic theory to love and [...]
Read the full post
Yesterday was World Book Night, an event in which volunteers from around the country went out into the community and gave away free copies of some really awesome books. You can see the full list here. A few of us thought we’d share our experiences as Givers with you. David Abrams The Book: Glaciers The [...]
Read the full post
Grammar Rules Mug and Plate: Eat and drink your way through some of the best and most misunderstood grammar mistakes. Classics Cabinet: Hide your secrets in drawers designed to look like books. Book Mobile: This “chandelier” would be adorable hanging over a reading nook or a favorite armchair. LEGO Librarian: A guardian for all your miniature knowledge stores. Make [...]
Read the full post
With Baz Luhrmann’s undoubtedly stunning movie The Great Gatsby hitting the big screen on May 10th, everyone is all about the Fitzgeralds. F. Scott Fitzgerald is the juicy kind of author we love to know all about. His life was a giant alcohol-infused scandal complete with a crazy Southern debutante wife. Zelda was the perfect [...]
Read the full post
Despite its budding beauty, longer hours of sunshine, and the promise of sweet, sweet outdoor drinking, Spring is a tough season for NYC librarians because every single year around this time, we face massive budget cuts that threaten to close our doors, cut our hours, lay off our staff, and kill our souls piece by [...]
Read the full post
This fall, I’m planning a solo backpacking trip to Europe with stops in six countries, six cities to celebrate a couple milestones in my life (hello, 30th birthday!). The trip will start and end in Prague, and will hit Krakow, Budapest, Bratislava, Vienna and Munich. Obviously, because I’m the bookish traveler that I am, I’m [...]
Read the full post
Amazon says the Singles store is profitable, having sold nearly five million copies since it opened in January 2011. But the program is as much about gaining entree into the literary world as it is about revenue. Kindle Singles is a pond I haven’t waded into yet, but it seems that many others have. [...]
Read the full post
Tuesday is New Book Day. We celebrate each week by highlighting titles we’re excited to see arrive in paperback. The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make us Human by Jonathan Gottschall (Mariner Books) Humans live in landscapes of make-believe. We spin fantasies. We devour novels, films, and plays. Even sporting events and criminal trials unfold as narratives. Yet [...]
Read the full post
This month we’re welcoming Rioters in Residence from our 2013 charitable partner organization Girls Write Now. This is a guest post from Jennifer Cody Epstein. She is a Girls Write Now mentor and the author of The Painter from Shanghai (W.W. Norton, 2008) and The Gods of Heavenly Punishment (W.W. Norton, 2013). She lives in Brooklyn, [...]
Read the full post
When it comes to poetry, timelessness is a red herring, or a white elephant, or some other distractingly burdensome creature. When I read poems, I’m not looking for verse that stands for the ages, whatever that might mean. I want unsettling rhythms, alien sounds, a sharp (and hopefully damned-weird) eye on the now. So I’ve [...]
Read the full post
The other day I was flipping through Catcher in the Rye, and after a few pages I realized that the narrator in my head was Louis CK. Which, as I kept reading, turned out to be kind of perfect. So, what do you say, universe? Can someone please arrange for an audio version of Catcher in [...]
Read the full post
I’m a Neil Gaiman fan (who isn’t, right?). So I was thrilled when I heard that HBO was going to go with an American Gods series, in the style of Game of Thrones. I immediately started thinking about actors who might be cast, as I think the casting of Game of Thrones is just pure [...]
Read the full post
Food! Fiction! Humor! Self-help! Get some variety in your reading life with today’s new releases. Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation by Michael Pollan (The Penguin Press) In a departure from his philosophy-of-eating motif, Michael Pollan recounts his own culinary education and attempts to master classic recipes based on the four classical elements–earth, air, fire, and [...]
Read the full post
There’s something special about the men of YA fantasy. They’re charming, well-intentioned, earnest, and usually attractive. They’re also often good with a sword, frequently able to do magic, and almost always prone to heroic acts. Their appeal is further enhanced by the nature of the genre. In YA fantasy, a novel or series usually ends [...]
Read the full post
“I think I’m right that that street is where Yo-Yo Ma lives,” she says, tapping her window. “And Stephen Greenblatt lives along here. And Marjorie Garber. I actually haven’t read her work,” she whispers, as if the literary theorist might overhear her. “I know her by reputation only.” I can’t tell you how annoying this [...]
Read the full post
Last week, in a giveaway sponsored by Chronicle Books and Let’s Bring Back: The Lost Language Edition, we asked you to share the good old-fashioned words and phrases you want to bring back into common use. We were tickled pink by all the entries we received, and we’ve collected our favorites for you here. You Riot readers are [...]
Read the full post
This installment of the Riot Recommendation is sponsored by Taken by Erin Bowman. There are no men in Claysoot. At midnight on every boy’s eighteenth birthday, the ground shakes, the wind howls, a blinding light descends…and the boy is gone. The villagers call it the Heist. Gray Weathersby is prepared to meet his fate–until he finds a [...]
Read the full post
A few months ago, Book Riot asked readers to pick their Top 50 Favorite Novels, and The Count of Monte Cristo was number 29. I have to say, great choice! It’s been a few years since I read this chunkster, but it is also one of my favorite books. At its heart, The Count of [...]
Read the full post
Posted by
Posted by
Posted by
Posted by
Posted by
Posted by
Posted by
Posted by
Posted by
Posted by
Posted by
Posted by