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The pandemic very quickly changed the way that people gathered to spend time. Whereas once most of our meetings and parties were in person, many moved online. Holding book clubs virtually became one way for readers to reach out and connect with fellow bookworms, and they continue to thrive even now as we take tentative steps toward spending time with friends in person. Carolina Ciucci’s ode to virtual book clubs pointed out some of the ways that groups like these foster connections, including that they are more inclusive and don’t even have to be entirely local....

It starts in the writing. You wonder how Peter Heller can make the apocalypse sound serene at times, how Jim Harrison can describe a good meal with more clarity than most people can describe their wedding day, or how Jack Kerouac made you consider taking Benzedrine and driving across the country to see your brother in Corvallis, Oregon, without stopping for anything more than gas and apple pie. It’s all right there in the words....

1. The Library It may seem like an obvious first step to some people, but I also know plenty of people who don’t utilize their local library! This is a great place to start looking for free books for your Kindle or other ereader, and so many libraries participate in digital lending programs now. Overdrive, Libby, and Hoopla are three of the most popular apps for digital downloading. Many libraries have extensive catalogs in their digital shelves, and you’ll be able to find everything from Gillian Flynn to Sue Grafton to Agatha Christie using your local library....

Carving out time for any activity can feel like a massive chore, but it doesn’t have to be! Here are some tips to make time to read. TBR Ah yes, the words that can spark joy or fear or both at once: to be read. That shelf full of unexplored worlds, that insurmountable mountain of books that—let’s be real—we probably will never finish. But TBR also stands for Tailored Book Recommendations, a service that helps you carve out more time to devour as many books as you can!...

But what actually goes into starting and operating a bookmobile? What are the logistics and the how-tos behind these charming mobile libraries? I spoke with Hilary Atleo, owner of Iron Dog Books, about all this nitty-gritty of running a mobile book truck. Iron Dog Books Iron Dog Books is an Indigenous-owned bookshop and booktruck dedicated to bringing low cost reading to Səl̓ilwətaɁɬ, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm territories (metro Vancouver region). Iron Dog Books began as a mobile bookshop, and was, in fact, Vancouver’s first modern-day mobile bookshop....

Wealth. Power. Murder. Magic. Alex Stern is back and the Ivy League is going straight to hell in this sequel to Ninth House, the smash bestseller by Leigh Bardugo. Thick with history and packed with Bardugo’s signature twists, Hell Bent brings to life an intricate world full of magic, violence, and all too real monsters. As a character in a dark academia novel, you were already going to study and prep for whatever high-level institution you got accepted to....

Maybe I could get them started on the Mog books, in honour of the late great Judith Kerr. Goodbye, Mog is a sad, sweet and ultimately uplifting story about loss, grief, and how to deal with it. Once they’ve got their grounding with picture books, they might want to move on to Tamora Pierce’s Song of the Lioness series. Alanna, the first Lady Knight of the realm of Tortall, disguises herself as a boy to train amongst the other prospective knights....

1. Begin with a brief summary of the book This is probably the best way to introduce any review because it gives context. But make sure to not go into too much detail. Keep it short and sweet since an official summary can be found through a quick google search! 2. Pick out the most important aspects of the book I usually break this down with character, world-building, themes, and plot....

Crowdfunding platforms have allowed indie creators to change the way they fund larger projects; they can pitch directly to their readers, using the connections and platforms they have built up during their time as a creator, and directly monitor how their campaign is going. It’s no surprise that many comics creators have built crowdfunding into their business model. C. Spike Trotman, founder of Iron Circus Comics, has funded several successful projects through Kickstarter campaigns, raising a total of $1....

A stunning new work of historical fantasy, J.M. Miro’s Ordinary Monsters introduces readers to the dark, labyrinthine world of the Talents. A couple of things before we get started. First, these are all going to be books with a historical setting that also include some form of magic, which often intersects with alternate history as a genre. Secondly, all of these books have a great way of sucking you into their stories....

Emily Martin: Tell me a little bit about yourself and how you ended up writing Driven: A White-Knuckled Ride to Heartbreak and Back. Melissa Stephenson: I’m Melissa Stephenson, a single mom living in Missoula, Montana, raising my two kids, who are now 9 and 12. And I mention that because I feel like they grew up with me writing this book. It’s a memoir very much about losing my only sibling....

As you might imagine from such a prolific reader, Buffett has been happy to dish out book recommendations in the many interviews he’s had over the years. I’ve condensed all of Warren Buffett book recommendations into one list that will point you in the direction of some great books on business. With suggestions that deal with all aspects of business, from the technical aspects of investing to the life stories of famous business leaders, there’s plenty on Buffett’s list to sink your entrepreneurial teeth into....

So, why not find something new to love about Shakespeare? Start here:

So I do most of my comics reading via the Webtoons app on my phone. I can’t even remember what comic initially drew me to the app, but once I got in, I was hooked. I really love how much easier it is to read, because one panel takes up the entirety of my screen and allows me to really focus. Now this isn’t to say that the small print problem isn’t still an issue there sometimes....

Beyond the revelry of Mardi Gras and the debauchery of Bourbon Street is a city brimming with literary history. From William Faulkner to John Grisham, New Orleans is home to writers, readers, and fictional characters that span genres and generations. New Orleans Literary Locations Much of New Orleans’ rich history—including architecture, restaurants, and customs—involves literature and writers, both fictional and real. However, many of the literary locations in New Orleans are associated with white writers, a stark contrast to the racial demographic of the city and the long-lasting influence of Black poets, writers, artists, and musicians on the city....

October Books’s orange sign is a bright splash of colour on Southampton’s Portswood Road, and its decor choices aren’t the only way it stands out. When you walk through the door, you find a collection of books that includes not only popular fiction, nonfiction, and kidlit, but a wide collection about radical social and political movements. I was in the first year of my English Literature degree at Southampton, steeping in poetry by dead white men, and October Books was a cracked-open door that was a major factor in picking the courses that would give me a far more diverse, kyriarchy-smashing reading list, as well as turning me into the hurtling-ever-leftward bleeding-heart I am today....

But not Clark and Lois, Lois and Clark. They, over the course of 30 years (or maybe more) have been my One True Pair, the two you better offer me together or at least as an endgame, otherwise I will not accept your idea, no thank you. I didn’t grow up reading comics; not unless you count the “illustrated classics” someone in my family kept giving me — Treasure Island, Swiss Family Robinson, all the adventures....

Carl Sagan said in his 1980 book Cosmos: “Mars has become a kind of mythic arena onto which we have projected our Earthly hopes and fears.” This is certainly true in the way Mars has been used by novelists. While inspired by scientific discovery, books about Mars have also demonstrated the themes of social and political discourse of the times in which they were written. No other heavenly body has captured the world’s imagination like the Red Planet....

I know very little about the intricacies of astrology, and check my horoscope only every once in a while. I’m a Sagittarius, but don’t feel like I qualify as the positive, easy-going, friendly kind of person that Astrology.com tells me are the general traits of a Sag. I just missed being a Scorpio, and feel much more akin to their witchier vibes. But we can’t choose our birthday, or the stars we’re born under, so I remain, oddly, a Sagittarius....

The general idea behind a “rating” system for kids’ books makes sense to me. The widespread availability of the Internet means that kids have access to some of the worst information ever documented with just a few keystrokes. Technology companies attempt to keep up with this freedom by providing methods of blocking content that could be upsetting or out-of-age-range for young children. The problem with books is that there’s no way to automatically censor content in books unless you ban them, rip out specific pages, or cross out certain words with a permanent marker....