Book News & Features

Why read horror when the world is already so creepy?

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Arts

Reading Horror Can Arm Us Against A Horrifying World

7:00am August 05, 2018

by Ruthanna Emrys

Why read horror stories when the real world is scary enough on its own? Because horror does more than scare us — it teaches us how to live with being scared, and how to fight back against evil.

Emil Ferris and her semi-autobiographical creation Karen Reyes, the star of My Favorite Thing is Monsters.

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'Every Full Moon We Can Howl At Is A Victory,' Says Emil Ferris

5:55pm August 03, 2018

by Mallory Yu

Ferris' graphic novel My Favorite Thing Is Monsters won three Eisners, the highest award in mainstream comics, and it celebrates the things that make us all monsters — because monsters are cool.

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Writer Mark Russell says artist Steve Pugh's character designs bring humanity to his updated version of The Flintstones.

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Yabbadabba-What? These Aren't The Flintstones You Remember

5:39pm August 02, 2018

by Mallory Yu

When you say The Flintstones, most people think of the old Hanna Barbera cartoons. But a new comic book adaptation keeps the humor, and tackles some heavy themes like capitalism and human frailty.

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The Briefing, a memoir by Sean Spicer, former press secretary for President Trump, hits shelves Tuesday.

Spicer Book Offers Insight On Conservative Politics, Doubles Down On Misstatements

11:10am July 24, 2018

by Annalisa Quinn

The former Trump press officer intelligently dissects the reward structure of viral Twitter and gives a valuable sketch of conservative politics, but he seems to have written "The Briefing" to an end.

Explaining a Concept. To make something plain or comprehensible; to make understandable the nature or meaning of something.

Watch Your Mouth

3:02pm July 12, 2018

This week on the Hidden Brain radio show, we explore how the constantly evolving nature of languages can give us different ways of understanding ourselves as well as the world we live in.

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New Kids' Books Put A Human Face On The Refugee Crisis

12:42pm July 10, 2018

by Deborah Amos

In classrooms and at home, kids are reading a new genre of books about a timely topic: refugees. They're selling well and providing a sympathetic view of people often portrayed as threats.

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My Year of Rest and Relaxation, by Ottessa Moshfegh

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'Rest And Relaxation' Is As Sharp As Its Heroine Is Bleary

7:00am July 10, 2018

by Heller McAlpin

Ottessa Moshfegh's bizarrely fascinating new novel follows a young woman in Manhattan who decides to sleep her life away with a combination of pills, waking occasionally for bad bodega coffee.

Cover of Captain Atom #78 (December 1965). Co-created by Steve Ditko, the nuclear-powered hero left a wake of ... stars? Sparkles? Glitter? ... in his fabulous wake.

Books
Arts

Remembering Steve Ditko: Forget Kirby Dots, Let's Talk Ditko Sparkles

10:00am July 08, 2018

by Glen Weldon

The idiosyncratic co-creator of Spider-Man, Doctor Strange and many lesser-known comics characters died last week. His distinctive storytelling style shaped generations of comics readers.

Books
Arts

6 Books For The Beach At The End Of The World

7:00am July 08, 2018

by Genevieve Valentine

Sometimes, you want to leave the world behind and escape into a book — but if you're in the mood for a good disaster story, we've got a selection of summer reads that are just the right kind of grim.

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Evil Children And Overachieving Skeletons: Welcome To The World Of Paperback Horror

5:26pm July 07, 2018

by Grady Hendrix

When Rosemary's Baby hit the best-seller lists in 1967, it spawned a boom in paperback horror novels. All but forgotten today, they're a wacky feast of killer crabs, evil dolls and busy skeletons.