BOOKS

14 Gifts That Changed the World

These gifts made a huge impact.

Y2K led to a lot of hypothetical scenarios involving mass panic, failing banks, and eating squirrels.

Advice for an Apocalypse: 10 Tips From Y2K Survival Guides

Buy a water bed—you might need to drink it.

In Iceland, Christmas Eve is one for the books.

The Christmas Book Flood: Iceland’s Literature-Loving Holiday Tradition

Jólabókaflóðið, Iceland's long-running Christmas tradition, involves books, bed, and chocolate—all our favorite things.

Fifty years is a long time to keep a library book.

Detroit Library Lets Man Keep Book That‘s Five Decades Overdue

The Warren Public Library waived late fees for a Chicago man who check out a baseball book 50 years ago.

6 Fascinating Facts About ‘Salvage the Bones’

Here’s how Jesmyn Ward’s award-winning novel about Hurricane Katrina came to be.

‘Searching for Franklin,’ ‘The Indifferent Stars Above,’ and ‘Cannibalism.’

8 Books About Historical Cannibalism

You might want to skip dinner after reading these.

Title of a Romance Novel or Name of a Nail Polish?

Turns out the monikers of romance books and cosmetics can sound eerily similar.

8 Fascinating Facts About ‘The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo’

Here's how Stieg Larsson's modern classic came to be.

Can You Match the Word to the Author Who Created It?

See if you can spot the laudable lexicography of these famous writers.

A whole lot of foreshadowing in these pages.

7 Obscure Literary Devices

How many have you come across?

The UK Quad Advance poster of Terence Young‘s Bond film “From Russia with Love.”

Rare James Bond Memorabilia Is Headed to Auction

Propstore is auctioning off tons of James Bond items, including hand-made posters and props.

6 Fascinating Facts About Ha Jin’s ‘Waiting’

He got the idea from a story his wife told him while they were visiting her parents: “I joked, ‘This would be good for a novel. I am going to write a novel based on this.’ ”

Mel Wiley, the Ohio Police Chief Who May Have Authored His Own Demise

In 1985, Chief Wiley went for a swim and was never seen or heard from again. What he left behind shocked his community.

Get a better sense of how illnesses have shaped history in these gripping reads.

12 Fascinating Books on History’s Most Notorious Diseases

Get a better sense of how illnesses have shaped history with these gripping reads about history’s most notorious diseases.

Bram Stoker's bibliography just got richer.

A Long-Lost Short Story by ‘Dracula’ Author Bram Stoker Has Been Rediscovered After 130 Years

The tale was composed as Stoker was working on his iconic vampire.

10 Famous Uses of the Ouija Board

Sylvia Plath often broke out her Ouija Board to speak to her spirit guide, Pan.

1984 was a banner year for movies and music.

7 Reasons Why 1984’s Pop Culture Is the Gift That Keeps On Giving

From ‘Ghostbusters’ to Madonna’s VMA performance, 1984 was a memorable year for pop culture.

R.L. Stine—the father of children’s horror lit.

It Came From the Kid Lit Section: Remembering the Children’s Horror Boom of the 1990s

Series like R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps introduced '90s kids to horror at a young age.

5 Famous Authors Who Were Awarded MacArthur “Genius” Grants

‘Severance’ author Ling Ma is a 2024 MacArthur Fellow; here are some other famous authors who were awarded the grants.

Looks like she's reading a novel, not a novella.

Novella vs. Short Story: What’s the Difference?

As Stephen King once said, novellas are “too long to be short and too short to be really long.”

11 Women Horror Writers You Need to Read

Women have written some of the most blood-curdlingly scary stories of all time, but they haven’t always gotten the credit they deserve. Explore some delightfully spooky Halloween reading from 11 masters of horror literature.

You won’t believe what scared Alfred Hitchcock.

The Worst Fears of 7 Horror Icons

You’ll never guess what frightens these masters of horror.

Washington Irving, the Knicks' biggest fan.

The Disappearance of Diedrich Knickerbocker: How Washington Irving’s Clever Hoax Named the New York Knicks

‘Knickerbocker’ has many meanings. Without Washington Irving, it would likely only have one.

‘The Universe in 100 Colors: Weird and Wondrous Colors from Science and Nature’ (Sasquatch Books).

10 Historical Pigments—and Their Surprising Origins—from ‘The Universe in 100 Colors’

In their new book, Tyler Thrasher and Terry Mudge explore the origins of colors found rocks, animals, plants, and even space—including these 10 historical pigments with surprising histories.