Eugenia Williamson is the former Associate Editor of Digital Products at Booklist.
While cities and states across the nation celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day, why not pick up one of these outstanding books by an outstanding Native American author? The following ten titles are linked to their excerpted Booklist reviews. (A version of this post appeared on October 9, 2017.) An American Café, by Sara Sue Hoklotubbe […]
The Man Booker Prize committee announced the shortlist for its 2018 award, with the winner to be announced on October 16. Find the shortlist titles below, linked to their Booklist reviews when available. (Everything Under and The Long Take will be published in January, while Milkman doesn’t yet have a U.S. publication date.) Everything […]
Today, the National Book Critics Circle blog ran an interview with our beloved Adult Books editor, Donna Seaman, as part of their series on the craft of criticism. In it, they called her “the queen of the 250 word or less review” and dove into her process. Here are some highlights. On brevity: I think […]
Burt Reynolds has died at age 82. This is incredibly sad news, not least because I’m certain that very few people under 30 have any idea who he is. (I might have toed the line of actionable workplace offenses when I showed a recent intern a picture of his 1972 Cosmopolitan centerfold. No, I’m not […]
I’m moving on Friday. It’s horrible. As I’m sure anyone reading this will know, moving books is the worst part of it. My dream house has a library with wall-to-wall shelving, but I’m not moving into my dream house—just another apartment. At least this one has a dining room with enough space for a full […]
[Editor’s note: A version of this post appeared on August 23rd, 2017, but we’ll never miss an opportunity to gloat.] Last night, Joe Arpaio lost the Arizona Republican primary, thus concluding the public life of an extremely controversial former Arizona sheriff who disregarded a court order to stop detaining suspected undocumented immigrants and was subsequently pardoned by […]
Aretha Franklin has died. In her lifetime, the musical giant inspired a trove of books about or inspired by her outsized legacy. In tribute, we offer this bibliography of recommended titles linked to their excerpted Booklist reviews—a small fraction of the books in which Franklin appears as a key figure in Black history, Civil […]
When the amazing cover for the new story collection from Kevin Wilson (of Family Fang fame) popped up in my Twitter feed, I did a double take: as arresting as it is, I could have sworn I’d seen something like it before. Then it occurred to me: Hanif Abdurraqib’s They Can’t Kill Us until They Kill […]
Sisters in Crime has announced the 2018 winner of the annual Eleanor Taylor Bland Crime Fiction Writers of Color Award: Mia Manansala who, as the press release notes, serves as the secretary for the Midwest Chapter of the Mystery Writers of America. The prize has recognized emerging crime writers of color—both men and women—since 2014 with […]
Collusion is not a crime, but that doesn’t matter because there was No Collusion (except by Crooked Hillary and the Democrats)! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 31, 2018 As our President faces charges of collusion, he insists it’s not a crime. We’ll let the lawyers in the house make that call, but in […]
Encouraging Middle-Schoolers to Choose Books
There’s been a lot of discussion among the librarians I know about what to do with middle-schoolers: they just don’t seem to read as much as they used to. I know that here in Chicago, we have a unique perspective on this situation, since our schools run K–8. In my former school system in Maryland […]
Getting Started with the Global Read Aloud
The 2017 Global Read Aloud kicked off yesterday, and I’m here to help. Author and educator Pernille Ripp founded the program as a way to connect students and teachers from different locales around the topics of books. (Think One Book One School or One Book One City, but on a global scale.) Each year, Ripp […]
TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE: Practice Recognizing Fake News
Cindy: There have been a number of YA fiction books with the title “Two Truths and a Lie,” but we’ve found a creative, informational book for middle-grade students that reinforces evaluating information for truth. Fake news, anyone? Two Truths and a Lie: It’s Alive (2017) by Ammi-Joan Paquette and Laurie Ann Thompson is the first […]
Encouraging Middle-Schoolers to Choose Books
There’s been a lot of discussion among the librarians I know about what to do with middle-schoolers: they just don’t seem to read as much as they used to. I know that here in Chicago, we have a unique perspective on this situation, since our schools run K–8. In my former school system in Maryland […]
Getting Started with the Global Read Aloud
The 2017 Global Read Aloud kicked off yesterday, and I’m here to help. Author and educator Pernille Ripp founded the program as a way to connect students and teachers from different locales around the topics of books. (Think One Book One School or One Book One City, but on a global scale.) Each year, Ripp […]
TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE: Practice Recognizing Fake News
Cindy: There have been a number of YA fiction books with the title “Two Truths and a Lie,” but we’ve found a creative, informational book for middle-grade students that reinforces evaluating information for truth. Fake news, anyone? Two Truths and a Lie: It’s Alive (2017) by Ammi-Joan Paquette and Laurie Ann Thompson is the first […]
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