Some of these titles are classics, most are new, and each have that spine tingling feeling you get when reading Rebecca. So here we are, folks: what to read after reading Rebecca. Our main character, Noemi, is a young socialite who’s sent to investigate the strange letters her father has been receiving from her cousin. Her cousin, who was recently married off, is experiencing an odd illness, and the family she married into might be poisoning her....

So let’s roll out the literary red carpet! Here are ten books about robot takeovers that will have both you and your AI minder captivated. Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie The AI takeover doesn’t always run smoothly. In this modern classic of science fiction, AIs pilot battleships through space…and sometimes end up badly. Thus begins the tale of Breq, a fragment of an AI consciousness stranded in a human body after the destruction of her vessel....

Traditionally, “epistolary” was used to describe books where the story was told through letters written between characters but has expanded to include a wide range of documents. Everything from instant messages to police reports becomes part of the story, giving us glimpses into the minds and motivations of characters within the book’s world. Epistolary novels can also help bridge gaps in time and place, since characters don’t have to be in the same physical space in order to have a kind of dialogue with each other....

Blending and mashing-up are a surefire way to make just about anything better. Peanut butter is good. I can put it on a spoon for a sweet, protein-packed snack. But when paired with jelly? Peanut butter reaches new heights. Some people love a big dollop with their ice cream. With bananas or in cookies or simply spread on crackers. Cover peanut butter with chocolate? Now that’s just perfection. Turns out, the fantasy genre is just as blendable as pulverized peanuts....

One Piece tells the story of Monkey D. Luffy, a young man who wants to become to Pirate King and to find the famed treasure, the One Piece. He sets off on a journey where he will find comrades, crew mates, friendships, villains, sadness and strength. As you can see, it’s a pretty long manga series. It has 92 volumes and it’s understandable if you cannot catch up or don’t have the time to do it....

The Boondocks cartoons gave me hope. They gave me hope that it is possible for creatives of color to appreciate and infuse non-American art styles and create a new genre that can reach mainstream media success. The influence of Asian culture can be seen in Black American culture. And Aaron McGruder doesn’t get enough credit for allowing fans and minority creatives the opportunity to envision themselves through the lens of manga....

Snow White with the Red Hair by Sorata AkiDuki I first heard of this series via the anime adaptation that aired in 2015. Series heroine Shirayuki quickly won my heart. A character who wants to become a palace herbalist? Awesome. And in case you’re wondering about the title: Shirayuki’s name means Snow White and she has, surprise surprise, red hair. The Poe Clan by Moto Hagio I love that more North American publishers are licensing classic manga and introducing them to a new generation of readers....

10 of the Best Fake Dating Young Adult Novels 10 Things I Hate about Pinky by Sandhya Menon Social activist Pinky has an optics problem with her parents, especially her lawyer mother. Straight-laced Samir just lost a major legal internship. Determined to prove to her parents she can be responsible, Pinky proposes Samir spend his summer with her as her fake boyfriend on the Massachusetts coastline now that his summer is free....

There are several RPGs based on books, especially ones based on big fantasy series. Some of them are more like video games, such as The Lord of the Rings Online (a massively multiplayer online role-playing game, or MMORPG). Others are classic table-top games similar to Dungeons and Dragons. There have been RPGs from The Wheel of Time, Dune, H.P Lovecraft’s monsters, and even A Song of Ice and Fire. There are even books based on RPG campaigns....

The Atlas Paradox is the long-awaited sequel to Olivie Blake’s New York Times bestselling dark academic sensation The Atlas Six—guaranteed to have even more yearning, backstabbing, betrayal, and chaos. Six magicians were presented with the opportunity of a lifetime. Five are now members of the Society. Two paths lay before them. All must pick a side. Alliances will be tested, hearts will be broken, and The Society of Alexandrians will be revealed for what it is: a secret society with raw, world-changing power, headed by a man whose plans to change life as we know it are already under way....

One sub-genre I personally really enjoy is slice-of-life, which is exactly what it sounds like: just a peek into everyday lives, no huge overarching conflict or three-act structure necessary. (If you’re interested in a deeper dive on non-western story structure, you can see my post on kishōtenketsu). I’m notoriously terrible at keeping track of what’s going on in denser stories, so I love the quiet atmosphere and leisurely pace of slice-of-life that allows me more freedom to pop in and out without the need to remember every little detail....

A recent thread was all about how to support an author, which, as an about-to-be-published debut novelist myself, I’m particularly thankful for. — Joanne Harris (@Joannechocolat) February 26, 2019 And that’s not the only useful useful advice she’s had for interacting with writers, either. — Joanne Harris (@Joannechocolat) July 28, 2015 There’re also some important reminders. — Joanne Harris (@Joannechocolat) July 16, 2017 She’s also been an advocate for bookshops....

More people are eligible than you might think. These specialist libraries may have the word “blind” in their names, but they often provide services to a bevy of people: those with conditions that lead to limited vision, such as macular degeneration; those with conditions associated with print disabilities, such as dyslexia; and those with other conditions that make it hard to read a conventional printed book, such as arthritis or lupus....

Ready? We’ve got memoir, YA historical fiction, essays, two contemporary novels, a murder mystery with a side of magic, and dystopian fiction. It’s a little bit of everything. Whether you’re looking for a heavy listen or a funny one, something to uplift you or something to challenge you, hopefully one of these audiobooks under ten hours will hit the spot. Heavy by Kiese Laymon, read by Kiese Laymon (6 hours, 17 minutes) This is one of those singular books that feels like an unbelievable gift; the depth with which Laymon is willing to reveal himself through his words is stunning....

Find below some of the most exciting YA paperbacks hitting shelves this winter. Because of the supply chain challenges hitting publishing, some of these dates may shift or change, but this is the closest to accurate as possible, per publishing catalog information. Some of these books are paperback originals, meaning they’ll only ever release in paperback, while others are first releases in paperback of books that have already been published in hardcover....

Sometimes it happens song first, sometimes book. It usually works basically like word association, so some of these may only make sense to me. These are the favorites that popped into my head when I sat down to start writing. “Sorrow’s Child” by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds // The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman “Silent All These Years” by Tori Amos // Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson [youtube]https://www....

This unique ability of time travel novels means that these books either harken back to the past or project into the future (or, sometimes, both). If you’re interested in spending a little more time thinking about this, give the essay “Time Traveling Books: Historical Fiction or Speculative Fiction?” a read. And while many time travel novels often feature complex mechanisms for time travel (such as Charles Yu’s fascinating How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe), not all time travel requires a time machine....

Currently, our country is suffering from a crisis of unemployment and inequality. Wages have been stagnant for years. Freelance, gig, and contract work is a growing sector in the economy, but these workers remain mostly unprotected. The Federal minimum wage is $7.25/hour, but Jeff Bezos is worth $182 billion. During a pandemic that has killed nearly 300,000 Americans, supervisors at a Tyson Foods meatpacking plant were taking bets on how many employees would get COVID-19....

I’m often asking them which books I should read next, and they love to tell me. I also work with tweens, and the books they love are powerful, honest and full of adventure. Here are some YA novels (and MG ones too) that they think you should read, enjoy! Girls of Paper & Fire by Natasha Ngan: A thrilling fantasy about nine girls chosen to serve a ruthless demon king....

Amulet by Kazu Kibuishi This is a popular fantasy adventure series. The main characters Em and Navin move in with their great-grandfather, where Em finds a magical amulet that gives her magical abilities. This captivating series follows Em and Navin on their magic-filled adventures. American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang Jin Wang is the new kid at a school where he is the only Chinese American student and wants to be an all-American boy....