Book News & Features

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Smart And Snarky, 'The Westing Game' Provides Lasting Laughs

7:00am August 05, 2019

by Alethea Kontis

As part of our summer-long celebration of funny books, we've asked our writers to talk about things that made them laugh, like Ellen Raskin's witty and chaotic inheritance adventure The Westing Game.

Ghost World's Enid and Rebecca have no time for earnestness or sincerity — or laughs.

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With These Comics, Learn How to Laugh Like It's 1999 (Hint: Don't)

10:00am August 02, 2019

by Etelka Lehoczky

As part of our summerlong tribute to funny books, we take a look back at the ennui-drenched anti-humor of some of the 1990s, when absurdity and surrealism were the rule — laughs not so much.

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Arts

These Cli-Fi Classics Are Cautionary Tales For Today

10:00am July 26, 2019

by Jason Heller

As heat waves roll across Europe and storms pummel the American South, literature is responding. But climate fiction — or cli-fi — is nothing new, and we've got a roundup of some classics.

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Why Grouchy, Rude 'Catwad' Is Catnip To Kids

12:50pm July 25, 2019

by Juanita Giles

Our monthly children's book column returns with a look at the dubious (to adults, at least) charms of cartoonist Jim Benton's grouchy feline Catwad, who has mastered the anti-joke.

In Queen of the Sea, 11-year-old Margaret befriends a mysterious visitor to her island home — and learns to play chess.

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In 'Queen Of The Sea,' The Story Rides On Goatback

8:00am July 21, 2019

by Petra Mayer

Dylan Meconis' new graphic novel is set on a mysterious island off the coast of a country that's not quite Tudor England. It's an alternate history, loosely based on the youth of Queen Elizabeth I.

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A Bushel of New Comics Collections Dig Into the Pleasures of Print

7:00am July 21, 2019

by Etelka Lehoczky

Despite what you may have heard, dead-tree publishing isn't dead. In fact, a host of new print magazines are bringing some wild, weird, innovative words and pictures to the alternative comics scene.

In the summer of 1927, Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston drove together from Alabama to New York. Just outside Savannah, Ga., they gave a ride to a young person running away from a chain gang. An essay Hughes wrote about that encounter has recently r

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In Lost Essay, Langston Hughes Recounts Meeting A Young Chain Gang Runaway

6:02pm July 17, 2019

by Ari Shapiro

The work, previously published only in Russian, was discovered by Professor Steven Hoelscher. The encounter occurred in 1927, when Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston went on a road trip through the South.

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Leah Esguerra (right), who is credited with being the first social worker installed directly at a public library, strolls through the fifth floor of the San Francisco Public Library's main branch, joined by the library's health and safety associates (from

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Your Local Library May Have A New Offering In Stock: A Resident Social Worker

6:01pm July 17, 2019

by Colin Dwyer

Libraries have never been just about books; they're also crucial hubs of community support. Some are even expanding that role, and supporting their librarians, by bringing in trained social workers.

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Books

Lesley Nneka Arimah Wins 2019 Caine Prize For African Writing

5:09pm July 14, 2019

NPR's Michel Martin speaks with Nigerian writer Lesley Nneka Arimah, winner of the 2019 Caine Prize for African Literature, about her short story Skinned.

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Arts

New Thriller 'The Chain' Has An Origin Almost As Exciting As Its Plot

9:09am July 14, 2019

by Lynn Neary

Novelist Adrian McKinty had several books and prestigious awards under his belt — but no one was buying, and he'd given up writing to drive an Uber when a blog post led to some new opportunities.