BOOKS

These authors took matters into their own hands.

8 Books You Didn’t Know Were Originally Self-Published

The road to the bestseller list started with a self-financed trip to the printing press for these famed authors.

The Internet Archive is the ultimate boredom-buster.

7 Fun Ways to Use the Internet Archive

The Internet Archive goes beyond the Wayback Machine—it also hosts movies, arcade games, and more.

Check Out the Top 10 Most Popular Books at the New York Public Library in 2023

The NYPL shares its most-borrowed titles, including a royal memoir and a fictional romance between video game developers.

Find out what book was a best seller the year you were born—and add it to your TBR pile.

What Was the Bestselling Book the Year You Were Born? This Online Tool Tells You

Can you guess which author spent the most time on ‘The New York Times’ bestseller list? (Hint: It isn't J.K. Rowling or Stephen King.)

An illustration of the Vril-Ya Bazaar and Fete.

The Strange Story of the Vril-Ya Bazaar and Fête, the 'World's First Sci-Fi Convention'

The Vril-Ya Bazaar and Fête was inspired by a popular Victorian science fiction novel—and introduced the world to Bovril.

13 Fascinating Facts About Gertrude Stein

American writer Gertrude Stein left a profound mark on 20th-century modernism through her literary work and her enthusiastic patronage of avant-garde art. Read on for more facts about her idiosyncratic life.

Barbie and Ken are just two members of the Barbie bunch.

Our 26 Favorite Stories of 2023

From Celine Dion’s “erotic motorcycle” to the crafty female platypus who faked a pregnancy in order to bust out of the Bronx Zoo, 2023 was full of some pretty great stories.

The cover of John Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men.’

13 Things You Might Not Have Known About John Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men’

Here are a few things about this iconic piece of literature that might not have been covered in your high school English class.

Sorry, Web Scholars: Reading Print Is Better for Comprehension

A meta-analysis found a greatly reduced level of information retention when people got their data from screens instead of physical books.

What 10 Classic Books Were Almost Called

Remember when your high school reading list included ‘Atticus,’ ‘Fiesta,’ and ‘The Last Man in Europe’? You will once you see what these books were renamed before they hit bookshelves.

What did Scrooge mean when he said “Bah! Humbug!” anyway?

What Does “Bah, Humbug!” Actually Mean?

The meaning of ‘Bah, humbug!’ is a little more layered than what people normally attribute to Ebenezer Scrooge of ‘A Christmas Carol.’

25 Fascinating Facts About American Girl Dolls

Everyone thought Pleasant Rowland’s idea was terrible. Thankfully, she didn’t listen. Now there’s a new American Girl movie in development, making it the perfect time to read up on what you might not have known about these beloved dolls.

18 Fascinating Facts About Charles Dickens

Dickens’s unprecedented celebrity made him the most popular novelist of his century—but the author of Great Expectations, Bleak House, A Christmas Carol, and dozens of other works was more than just a writer.

Actress Bernice Golden as Tess in David Belasco’s stage production of ‘Tess of the d’Urbervilles,’ c. 1903.

Remembering Elizabeth Martha Brown, the Convict Who Inspired Thomas Hardy’s ‘Tess of the D’Urbervilles’

Thomas Hardy’s memorable heroine was modeled after the last woman to be hanged in Dorset, England.

Willy Wonka and the Oompa-Loompas: Merry band of chocolatiers, or dastardly criminals?

Was Willy Wonka a Stone-Cold Serial Killer? One Wild Fan Theory Says Yes

Willy Wonka is undoubtedly an eccentric man. But could he and his band of Oompa-Loompas be hiding a homicidal secret?

Secret societies and dark cabals? You'll find plenty of them in these tomes.

From Murders to Mysterious Codes: 6 of the Best Dark Academia Novels

From murder mysteries to secret societies and more, the best dark academia novels from Donna Tartt and other authors capture the macabre in the most unlikely of places.

J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘Letters From Father Christmas.’

When J.R.R. Tolkien Posed as ‘Father Christmas’ for 23 Years

The Middle-earth author spent some imaginary time in the North Pole for an audience of just four people: his children.

Dumbo Drop: How World War II Kept Dumbo From Becoming ’TIME’ Magazine’s “Mammal of the Year”

The precocious pachyderm nearly made the cover. Then Pearl Harbor was attacked.

Rules for Murder: The Detection Club and the Evolution of the Murder Mystery

While the club initially formed as a social group for writers of detective fiction, it did have an official purpose: to uphold a rigid set of standards for crime fiction, and weed out any potential members who wouldn’t agree to meet them.

Library binding is the best way to keep books in circulation.

What Is ‘Library Binding’?

A very, very specific set of standards can keep books from falling apart. But it's usually too expensive for consumers.

Some of your favorite writers faced rejection.

20 Famous Authors and Their Rejections

From James Baldwin to Gertrude Stein and beyond, literature’s most celebrated authors have faced stinging and ruthless rejections.

Anthony Burgess had difficulty creating his slang dictionary.

When ‘Clockwork Orange’ Author Anthony Burgess Wrote a Slang Dictionary

Penguin Books commissioned the work in 1965, but the "A Clockwork Orange" author only completed several hundred entries before discarding the project.

10 Fascinating Facts About Louisa May Alcott

‘Little Women’ author Louisa May Alcott was also an early suffragette who fought against slavery and registered women to vote.

You Bull’s Pizzle! Breaking Down 10 Iconic Shakespeare Insults

Here’s how to pepper your next argument with Shakespearean insults.

PREV NEXT