Manuscripts

On August 22nd, the Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District (GCISD) voted on a lengthy set of guidelines that included prohibitions against so-called “Critical Race Theory” in schools as well as chosen pronouns and promotion of “Gender Fluidity.” It’s been dubbed the “Don’t Say Trans” policy by some opponents. BREAKING: the Grapevine-Colleyville school district board (GCISD), my

Mysteries around food beautifully blend two of my favorite things in the world: food and suspense! Food is not just something that helps us live, it’s also something we turn to to cope with myriad emotions. Sometimes we eat our feelings in cupcakes, sometimes we celebrate our wins with pizza. This sub-genre of mystery novels

Florida’s election tomorrow, August 23, 2022, is a crucial one for schools across the state. Every school board has at least one seat on the ballot, and several counties also have additional school-related referendums up for vote. This election determines whether school board members will be outright elected–anyone earning over 50% of the vote will

Last month the internet exploded with people talking about the FX series The Bear, an eight-episode drama streaming on Hulu. If you somehow missed it, the series follows Carmen Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White), a CIA-trained chef (that’s Culinary Institute, not the other CIA) who leaves his upscale New York restaurant to return home to Chicago

Acclaimed novelist Salman Rushdie was attacked onstage on Friday, August 12, 2022, in Chautauqua, New York. His interviewer was also hurt while trying to subdue the attacker. The planned talk was reportedly about the United States as an asylum for writers and artists in exile. Rushdie suffered at least ten stab wounds to his neck and abdomen

A big part of being a person who edits content for the internet is sifting through a million billion stock photos. You want a featured image that teases the content of the post, one that’s maybe funny or suggestive or just pleasing to look at. Sometimes you find that one pure and perfect photo right

This week, the local-to-me Moms For Liberty contingent lost their bid to get Gender Queer removed from Barrington School District 220. Parents and community members who supported the right to read and queer students and educators in the district showed up to the meeting, and the committee reviewing the book found it to be appropriate

If you’ve been seeing the chatter on Twitter about Barnes & Noble not stocking debut hardcovers, you’re not alone. Writers recently sounded the alarm after hearing from various sources (other writers, B&N reps, former B&N employees, other industry professionals, etc.) that the chain’s stores would only be stocking hardcovers that had proven sales records. When

Keller Independent School District staff were surprised to learn this week that they had a new charge as they prepared for a new school year. Staff received an email on Tuesday morning informing them that every book on the attached spreadsheet needed to be removed by the end of the day for review. “By the

PEN America has analyzed the state of educational gag orders in the United States as of August 2022 and release a report sharing its findings. Educational gag orders are defined as efforts to legally restrict education on topics like race, American history, gender, and LGBTQ+ identities in K-12 and higher education. PEN America’s report outlines

Women’s bodies have been policed since the beginning of time. Their bodies have been mutilated, terrorized, and objectified to fit the male gaze. Scientific facts are often blurred and dissolve into misconceptions. The way we view women’s bodies merely reflects the truth about them. Contemporary female writers through their works of nonfiction are trying to

Starting on July 26, flash flooding of historical magnitude devastated various counties in the states of Kentucky and Missouri. This has resulted in the death of at least 37 people, as well as the displacement of thousands of others. Other terrible consequences of the flooding include power outage, ruined roads, destroyed homes, and flooded schools.

Fantasy and paranormal romance are booming, the rom-com revival shows no signs of stopping and a new wave of angsty love stories is about to hit. This autumn will boast an absolute bounty of love stories.  Aphrodite and the Duke by J.J. McAvoyDell | August 23 And lo, the “Bridgerton”-inspired romance novels have arrived. J.J.

In an interview with Vanity Fair, George R.R. Martin spoke about the new Game of Thrones prequel series, House of the Dragon, but he also commented on how he and his work is discussed online. Martin said he has “given up on any hope of predicting the end” of the Song of Ice and Fire

Inspired by true events, The Half Life of Valery K takes readers to 1963 Soviet Russia, where a secret project threatens nuclear disaster. Scientist Valery Kolkhanov has spent years in a Siberian gulag focused only on his own day-to-day survival. When he is summoned for a special assignment, he assumes it will be his execution,

Persuasion and Mansfield Park are the two Jane Austen novels I know the least about. I have a faint recollection of having read Sense And Sensibility in my teens — and I forgot all about it — and I have read a couple of adaptations, including those written by Book Riot’s own contributor Tirzah Price:

Some of our most beloved, stalwart series return and a handful of promising sleuths make their debuts in the mysteries and thrillers we’re most excited to read this autumn. Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna RaybournBerkley | September 6 The author of the Veronica Speedwell series, which are easily some of the best historical

“This Advisory Notice shall serve to inform you that this book has been identified by some community members as unsuitable for students. This book will also be identified in the Destiny system with the same notation. The decision as to whether this book is suitable or unsuitable shall be the decision of the parent(s) who

Fantasy romance has gone fully mainstream, some of the brightest new voices are taking surprising new directions and vampires might be back? This fall’s science fiction and fantasy offerings are practically too good to be true. Babel by R.F. KuangHarper Voyager | August 23 R.F. Kuang’s standalone historical fantasy novel might be her most ambitious

How can you find like-minded people in your community to work with in ending censorship? It can certainly feel overwhelming and, in some instances, impossible, but now is the perfect time to find your allies and work together toward ensuring access to books and information for all. The Florida Freedom to Read Project, helmed by

Boy, Warner Bros. has had a week, haven’t they? First, they canceled Batgirl, the $90 million movie starring Leslie Grace, their first headlining Latina superhero. This decision, spurred by their merger with Discovery+, appears to be part of a strategy to eliminate mid-budget projects in favor of big budget theatrical blockbusters and cheaper streaming projects.

One of the biggest Barnes & Noble sales of the year has started and is offering 50% off hundreds of books, board games, planners, and more. Among the books offered are fiction, nonfiction, new releases, audiobooks, YA, and kids’ books. Below are some of the most popular titles offered. The prices listed factor in the

After the publication of her landmark 2018 book Dopesick, which featured six years of reporting about how the opioid crisis affected families in her adopted hometown of Roanoke, Virginia, Beth Macy vowed to herself, “I’m not writing about this again.” Her physician feared Macy might have PTSD after bearing witness to so many tragic deaths,

Who else has eaten half the bag of pretzels before they’ve even finished the first episode of a Netflix night? I have often inhaled snacks without even remembering, let alone enjoying, them. That kind of mindless snacking led me to seek out a different way to approach food: mindful eating. What is mindful eating, you ask?

I really wish folks would get the whole story before they go running around spreading inaccurate information. People are just so eager to create a villian or miscarriage of justice or something to make them feel better — Larry White, Executive Director* An anonymous source reached out to me the morning of July 15, stating

Though Nuar Alsadir set out to write a book about laughter, Animal Joy is a far deeper study of how we express and understand our most powerful emotions, told through meticulous psychoanalytic research and Alsadir’s own experiences. Animal Joy opens at a clown school where Alsadir enrolled to explore laughter. The only nonactor of the

Thor, the Norse and Marvel God of Thunder, is kind of a big deal. He’s towering, strong, and talks kind of like a knock-off Shakespeare wrote his lines. He’s also been a big part of The Avengers from the very beginning. Since his debut in 1962 in Journey Into Mystery, he’s had success in many

British author and illustrator Raymond Briggs died Tuesday in Brighton, England at the age of 88. For the past six decades, he has delighted readers with his often melancholic children’s and adult stories of everyday British life. In many of his picture books, he used unique elements, like unconventional storylines and comic book panels to

The property that was used as Longbourn, the Bennet family’s home, in the 1995 BBC Pride and Prejudice series is for sale for £6,000,000 (roughly $7.3 million USD). The property in Chippenham, Wiltshire includes the eight bedroom house, a horse stable and riding school, five cottages with their own fenced in gardens, and more. It

“I’m not trying to ban any books. I’m trying to stop an indoctrination campaign against kids. Any person in this county that has children knows full well what I’m talking about,” said South Carolina Senator Josh Kimball in a press conference held yesterday across the street from Spartanburg County Public Library’s main branch. The senator