But here’s the thing. We can all be hypocrites and phonies, trying to convince ourselves that anything that’s happened this year is normal, because our brains are simply not wired to hold such an excessive amount of ongoing trauma and destruction. We were only ever able to attempt the illusion of control in the past, and that’s been one of the many things robbed from us by 2020. In other words, much of the trauma and destruction that has occurred this year has largely been out of our control....

So how to choose? With all those books out there—and so many of them good—how do you decide which holiday romance you should read this year? Maybe you have time to read through every iteration of The Twelve Dates of Christmas to determine which one is a five star read, but…probably not. Especially if you’re like me and want to make sure you’re finding the best of the best. Because, let’s be honest, there’s only so much time and so many books to read....

Romance gets shit on a lot. People call romance novels predictable, formulaic, poorly written, anti-feminist, and a genre that creates unrealistic expectations for women (i.e orgasms and/or respect). And these people almost never have even read a romance novel beyond Fifty Shades of Grey or maybe Outlander. In the romance community, we are so used to bad takes and critiques from people that don’t read, write, or love this genre....

I quit books all the time. Perhaps they haven’t hooked me, or if I drift away because something else shinier catches my attention. But I’ll tell you what I never do: quit a book I loathe. The caveat is that I will happily quit a book because I find its treatment of a sensitive topic offensive. For example, a lot of casual fatphobia in a book that allows said fatphobia to go unnoticed and unaddressed?...

On the one hand, I’d love to not be obligated to an arbitrary number that I’ve picked, or a number that I’ve picked because I met the goal last year and I need to at least meet that goal again this year. But on the other hand, I’ve found that setting a goal pushes me. I can be a competitive person. I try not to be, and for the most part, in most situations, I’m not....

“There’s plenty of CDC-recommended advice for fighting the coronavirus, like keeping your hands clean and distancing yourself from others. But for all of the folks starving for love and affection while stuck in their homes, I’ve got some other advice: It’s time for us to get over our sexist misconceptions of the romance genre and pick up romance novels en masse instead.” Ain’t nobody got time for that romance snobbery....

A recent sci-fi example, meanwhile, is Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone’s Over in the romance world, In Case You Forgot was authored by Frederick Smith and Chaz Lamar. And Tash Skilton is the mashup pen name of Sarvenaz Tash and Sarah Skilton, who were Twitter friends before becoming an authorial duo. They’ve said that writing this way has its own issues, but is “half the work, twice as fast.” (However, not all author teams report that this process saves time....

Set in a world where black people (Crosses) have racial privilege and white people (Noughts) are marginalised, the Noughts and Crosses series follows childhood friends Sephy (a Cross) and Callum (a Nought), and their families, as they negotiate and try to change the racist world around them. Malorie Blackman had held off writing about racism for much of her career prior to Noughts and Crosses, because she wanted to write the books she’d missed out on as a child – books with black main characters “just getting on with their lives”, who faced problems and challenges that weren’t centred on racism....

Even I, one of its biggest proponents, get frustrated with YA lit from time to time. Among my complaints: not enough standalone novels; too many love triangles; an overabundance of manic pixie dream girls; too much dystopia. But then, there are the gems. There are the writers who aren’t afraid to tackle hard topics, sticky ones, misunderstood ones and the books that you just can’t stop thinking about for days, weeks, or years after reading them....

That’s right, we have $200 gift card to Books-A-Million up for grabs thanks to the BookClubbish newsletter. The BookClubbish newsletter is filled with hand-picked new releases in a variety of genres each and every month. Whether you love intriguing thrillers and mysteries, moving contemporary and historical fiction or fascinating memoirs and nonfiction, BookClubbish will have your next amazing read—all perfect choices for your book club or upcoming vacation! BookClubbish also features other goodies like sweepstakes, Goodreads giveaways and book trailers....

But after watching the film, where can viewers turn to next for their hefty dose of diverse coming-of-age stories? Here are few books that might fill the void: Late To The Party by Kelly Quindlen If you loved the friendship aspects of The Half Of It, then you’ll love Late To The Party. This novel follows 17-year-old Codi, who has been happy spending her teenage years hanging out with her two best friends, watching Netflix in her basement....

But even before Twilight brought out the trend, vampires had been a staple in the YA world. Ellen Schreiber’s Vampire Kisses series was a hit in 2003 and made into a manga-style series in 2007. Earlier in the decade, Amelia Atwater-Rhodes tread vampiric ground with Demon in My View, part of the “Den of Shadows” series. It was the 1990s, though, where vampires found real steam in the young adult world....

Q & A: Democracy in Action Q & A is a weekly, panel television show, broadcast live on Australia’s public broadcaster, the ABC (Monday nights, 9.30pm). It is also available to watch online almost anywhere around the world. It is spruiked as “democracy in action”, providing a panel of guests to a diverse audience, who are invited to ask questions on current affairs and social issues. All questions are shortlisted prior to the broadcast, however, all discussions from the questions are live and unedited....

As you can tell from the examples above, animal transformations are a popular ploy, so it’s only fitting I spotlight them here. I won’t be talking about characters like Beast Boy, who transform on purpose. No, this list is for the unfortunate heroes who, in the course of performing their heroic duty, found themselves with a tail or an affinity for flies. How did they handle it? Let’s have a look-see…...

Then winter arrives in the Midwest and I’m reminded: I am not good at being cold. Reading books about the Arctic has allowed me to live vicariously through authors who either grew up in the environment or whose sense of adventure is much stronger than mine. So, if you want to take a trip to the Arctic but don’t have the fortitude or funds to do so, here are 10 books that will help set the scene....

So, what is public health? Public health is a huge field. This was one of the reasons I was drawn to it. There’s just so much covered in public health, because there are so many determinants of health — societal, political, economic, personal, and more. At its core, public health, as defined by the American Public Health Association, promotes and protects the health of people and communities. Public health can focus on global or domestic health, specific communities or populations, and different approaches (e....

In these Little Red Riding Hood retellings we get to see how the story might’ve played out differently. In some the wolf takes the place of Little Red, in others she becomes the hunter instead of the hunted. Some are set in the 21st century while others sweep us away into a timeless fairy tale world. But in all cases these unique takes are ready to keep an age old story thriving even into modern day....

From “alt” to “yrn,” knitting patterns have a unique language of abbreviations and knitting techniques. The Knitter’s Dictionary is your comprehensive resource to understanding the language of knitting in a quick-reference guide that no knitting bag should be without. For beginner and skilled knitters alike, there’s always something new to discover in your next hand knit project. The Knitter’s Dictionary puts an expert knitting instructor in the palm of your hands to help you navigate any pattern....

Journalist Billy Jensen spent fifteen years investigating unsolved murders, fighting for the families of victims. Every story he wrote had one thing in common—they didn’t have an ending. The killer was still out there. But after the sudden death of a friend, crime writer and author of I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, Michelle McNamara, Billy got fed up. Following a dark night, he came up with a plan. A plan to investigate past the point when the cops had given up....

13 young adult authors… 13 heart-stopping tales… This collection will “delight longtime Poe fans just as much as readers who haven’t read the classics” (Beth Revis). Thanks to English curriculums everywhere, young adults often meet Edgar Allan Poe’s fiction and poetry first in high school. And really, adolescence is the perfect time to get introduced to Poe’s gothic style. Dramatic, dark, and angsty with an undercurrent of tragic romance and the supernatural, Poe’s gothic work speaks perfectly to the teenage experience....