Two hundred years after the author’s death (on July 18, 1817), Jane Austen remains one of the most revered writers in the English language. Beyond the many updated versions of her now-classic plots, contemporary authors continue to explore her themes of love, loyalty, social class, and self-deception. From the wild west and high seas to India […]
In her latest, The Identicals, queen of coastal women’s fiction Elin Hilderbrand focuses on twin sisters who learn about their other half when they pull a Parent Trap-style swap one summer. Readers who love books about the bonds (and bruises) of sisterhood will get great ideas of what to read next from Rebecca Vnuk’s “Core Collection: Sisters […]
Following the success of The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins’ second novel, Into the Water, was an instant bestseller. Fans can’t get enough of Hawkins’ twisty, secretive suspense. Fortunately, you can tide them over until her third book with these dark domestic thrillers, linked to their Booklist reviews, where things—and by that, I mean people—are not always […]
In the May 23, 2017 “Match Book” column in the New York Times Book Review, a reader named Anetra Smith explains that she’s going on a much-needed beach vacation and would like to bring some epistolary novels because she loved The Divorce Papers by Susan Rieger and The Attachments by Rainbow Rowell. She received suggestions for Bram Stoker’s Dracula, […]
Whether its appeal is supernatural or surreal—or both—Twin Peaks captured the imagination of an entire generation of television viewers. Showtime’s new limited-event series picks up 25 years after the original left off. These novels share some of the absurd and arresting qualities that made David Lynch’s mesmerizing show so delightfully off-kilter. American Gods, by […]
In these gripping tales of detectives, deception, and domestic life, women are much more than damsels in distress. These fictional females—each created by a male author—are out for justice and won’t let glass ceilings or thick heads get in their way. Before I Go to Sleep, by S.J. Watson Bleeding Edge, by Thomas Pynchon Celine, […]
Between his newest bestseller Norse Mythology and the recent premier of the American Gods TV series on STARZ, fans of Neil Gaiman are having a field day. Help his devoted readers keep their love for epic lore alive by recommending these other mythical tales. Achilles, by Elizabeth Cook An Arrow’s Flight, by Mark Merlis The Centaur, by […]
Book buyers love Bianca Bosker’s Cork Dork: A Wine-Fueled Adventure Among the Obsessive Sommeliers, Big Bottle Hunters, and Rogue Scientists Who Taught Me to Live for Taste. Nine-to-fivers can live (and drink) vicariously through the 18 months this former Huffington Post editor spent preparing for the Certified Court of Master Sommelier exam. Oenophiles aren’t the only ones willing […]
Admit it. You binge-listened the S-Town podcast and now you don’t know what to do with yourself. Who would blame you? You could—and should—read our weekly analyses here on The Booklist Reader, and in-between, you can read these titles, linked to their excerpted Booklist reviews, and acquaint yourselves with other yarn-spinners, outcasts, fanatics, fools, and chimerical characters. A […]
The popularity of The Crown and Victoria has revived interest in some of the women who shaped our modern world while managing their own personal dramas behind palace doors. What better time than Women’s History Month to celebrate the lives of some of history’s most compelling leaders with these recommended books? Catherine the Great, by […]
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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