books

Percival Everett wins the National Book Award fiction prize

1:20am November 21, 2024

Everett's novel James is a retelling of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn. The prestigious literary prize also awards the best in non-fiction, poetry, translated literature and young people's literature.

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Two books delivered beauty, inspiration and humor — just when I needed them most

11:08am November 14, 2024

Sometimes, the right book shows up just at the right time. Our book critic encountered two such books this week: Water, Water, by Billy Collins, and The Dog Who Followed the Moon, by James Norbury.

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2018 Embrace Ambition Summit, Tory Burch Foundation

Margaret Atwood was advised to just find a good man. Her response: 'You're an idiot'

6:00am October 06, 2024

Margaret Atwood knows that she scares people. She opens up about that perception and also reflects on the bad advice she's received in her career and how she takes vengeance.

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Arts

'Intermezzo' is Sally Rooney's most moving novel yet

10:02am September 24, 2024

Rooney's fourth novel is a story about learning to accept loss. And though it has its share of grief and strife, it's happier and less disturbing than Normal People and Beautiful World, Where Are You.

A light-hearted murder mystery weekend turns deadly in Kate Atkinson's cozy thriller

11:54am September 20, 2024

Death at the Sign of the Rook is an expansive novel that pokes fun of baroque, classic murder mysteries — but also delivers a fully satisfying, all-the-pieces-click-together ending.

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Stephen King's new story took him 45 years to write

11:00am May 22, 2024

Stephen King is out with a new collection of short stories. As you might expect from the reigning King of Horror, some are terrifying. Some are creepy. Others are laugh-out-loud funny.

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Cumulative book bans in the United States, July 1, 2021 - December 31, 2023. See the full PEN America report here.

Books
Arts

Report: Last year ended with a surge in book bans

3:32pm April 16, 2024

by Elizabeth Blair

According to PEN America, 4,349 books were banned from schools between July and December 2023, more than the entire previous school year. More than 3,000 of those bans were in Florida.

The American Library Association report released Thursday found that nearly half of the books challenged last year deal with LGBTQ themes or with race or racism, much like in years past.

American Library Association report says book challenges soared in 2023

6:25pm March 14, 2024

by Tovia Smith

Overall, the number of individual titles challenged in both school and public libraries spiked by 65% — the highest level ever recorded by the ALA.

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Parents Against Bad Books co-founder Carolyn Harrison (center) talks with people last month outside the public library in Idaho Falls, Idaho, about what she considers obscene books on the shelves.

In the battle over books, who gets to decide what's age-appropriate at libraries?

5:00am November 28, 2023

by Tovia Smith

There are efforts to change how decisions are made about which books libraries should stock and which section they belong in. Some advocate using a national rating system like the one used for movies.

Copies of Britney Spears' book The Woman In Me in a book store window.

What Britney Spears' book taught me about resilience and self love

7:00am November 11, 2023

by Luke Medina

The release of Britney Spears' memoir, The Woman in Me, means she gets to reclaim her story after it has been told for her for too long. And in a way, I got to revisit and reclaim my own, too.