Author: Maria Cristina Garcia Lynch

That’s What’s Up, Danger

Oscar-winning superhero film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is getting a sequel! But be patient; we have to wait until 2022.

April Fools? Surprisingly, No

Fashion collaborations are nothing new. But it’s still hard to believe that Jonathan Safran Foer and Stella McCartney put together a capsule collection. On second thought…no, it’s not.

The House of the Dead Will Be a Hotel of the Dead

James Joyce’s “The Dead” is set in this townhouse, and it’s a treasured part of Ireland’s cultural heritage. Now, Dubliners are lamenting a city plan to turn the historic house over to developers.

Charity Helps Incarcerated People Read To Their Kids

Too often, prisons limit access to books. And the children of incarcerated people are collateral damage in a criminal justice system in need of reform. So it’s great to read about the Storybook Project, a non-profit that brings children’s books and recording equipment into prisons so that inmates can still read aloud to the kids in their lives.

Early Thoughts on DOCTOR SLEEP Adaptation

The social media embargo has been lifted for those people lucky enough to score an early screening of the film adaptation of Doctor Sleep, Stephen King’s follow-up to The Shining (a horror classic you may be revisiting this spooky season). Check out a roundup of reactions to this sequel!

The Bookworm Cabin

In a wooded area in Poland sits a minimalist vacation home that is the closest anyone can come to actually living in a library. Photos of this envy-inspiring cabin can be found here.

Will you be watching WATCHMEN?

Adapting a story from one medium to another is always going to result in some necessary changes. Other changes are debatable, and if you know anything about fan culture, you know debates abound. Get up to speed on the difference between the Watchmen comic book ending and the film ending, and find out what that difference may mean for the television series.

Georgia High Schoolers Build Little Libraries

There are 200 little libraries under construction by students in Maxwell High School of Technology’s construction trades program. This is in a county where only 52% of children are kindergarten-ready. The finished libraries will be decorated by local artists and placed in shelters, early learning centers, and other areas where books are needed.

Woman Reunited With Childhood Book

A woman browsing used books in the gift shop of the Museum of English Rural Life found a copy of The Secret Garden that she and her sister had bought new as children. Read the Twitter Moment that tells the serendipitous tale.

The Japanese Bookstores Of Honolulu

In the early 1900s, Japanese people made up over 40% of Hawaii’s population. Yet the Honolulu library didn’t stock materials in Japanese, and even refused to serve Japanese people. A Japanese bookstore culture flourished in response. Read more about this little-known piece of history here.

Up On The Roof

The principal of Wiregrass Elementary School said he would spend a day on the school’s roof if his students logged 150,000 minutes of reading over the summer, and…they recorded 161,000 minutes. Watch him read student-selected books with a megaphone while delighted kids look on from below.

Professors Speak Out For Jennine Capó Crucet

Newsweek spoke to professors whose syllabi include Jennine Capó Crucet, the author whose books were burned by students following a talk at Georgia Southern University. Find out why those professors bring her work into their classroom here.

The Swedish Academy’s 2-for-1

The Nobel prize in literature is attempting a comeback this year with the planned announcement on Thursday of two laureates. Read about some of the speculated front-runners here.

Los Angeles Central Library Recovers Part of Sculpture

Did you read about the missing Well of the Scribes sculpture in The Library Book by Susan Orlean? Part of the sculpture has been found, and there’s hope the rest of it will be recovered soon.

2019 Harvey Award Winners

The annual Harvey Awards are handed out at New York Comic Con, which is wrapping up this weekend. Peep the list of winners here, including a Book Riot favorite Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me by Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero-O’Connell.

Spider-Man: Home Again

I can barely keep up with real world news, and escapist news is coming almost as fast and furiously. Tom Holland’s Spider-Man is sticking around the MCU now, apparently. And the social media posts he and Zendaya shared to mark the reversal are *chef’s kiss*.

“War of the Worlds” Trailer Drops

H. G. Wells’s sci-fi novel The War of the Worlds is getting an adaptation by the BBC later this year, but you’re getting the trailer right now.

Syria’s Secret Library

Did you know in 2013 there was a literal underground library run by a 14-year-old five miles southwest of Damascus? Learn more here. And if you want to dive deeper, check out Syria’s Secret Library, the recent book that tells this remarkable story.

MLB Pitcher Going to Bat for Indies

Sean Doolittle, a player on the Washington Nationals, makes a point of visiting independent bookstores when he travels for work, and he documents his trips on social media. Check out his interview with CBS This Morning.

100 Best Books

The Guardian has put out a list of the 100 Best Books of the 21st Century. Any such list is bound to be wildly subjective, and this one is definitely premature. But sometimes it feels like the world is going to end any day now, and it’s fun to agree and disagree with these sorts of things.

Nightwing’s Poppin’ Peach

A certain corner of the comics Internet was cackling over a print of iconic Nightwing costumes this week. But many were left scratching their heads. Here’s everything you need to know but were afraid to ask about Dick Grayson’s butt.

Out Of This World Augmented Reality

Space books are mind-blowing to read, and often require heavy use of your own imagination. But there are scientists working on creating books that incorporate augmented reality to help readers visualize the wonders of space and technology.

Phoenix Forgives Fees

Add another library system to the list of institutions eliminating overdue fines! Congrats, Phoenix readers (starting in November).

Rugby Reading

As an American who wheezed her way through physical education class, I had no idea that the Rugby World Cup was happening. But it’s on my radar now, because Rugby World asked what books were keeping players, officials, and journalists entertained during the long tournament. Thanks, Rugby World editor Sarah Mockford (who is reading An American Marriage)!

Finally, a Death Star in Pop-Up Form

Do you admire the artistry and engineering that goes into a pop-up book? Do you enjoy a good star war? Well, there’s a book for you hitting shelves this fall! It’s Star Wars: The Ultimate Pop-Up Galaxy and you can watch a sneak peek here.

Author Disinvited From Lit Festival

The Knox County Public Library invited Julia Watts to participate in a panel at the LitUp Festival. She was planning to speak about her work as a young adult author. When the library found out that Watts had contributed to lesbian anthologies over a decade ago, they rescinded the invitation.

You Need To Calm Down (Mayor of Rio de Janeiro)

There’s a huge book fair going on in Rio de Janeiro, and the mayor is freaking out about LGBTQ content of featured books, specifically a kiss between Wiccan and Hulkling in Avengers: The Children’s Crusade. And then a major newspaper reprinted the kiss (thank you, Streisand effect). You can see that front page and get caught up on the court proceedings here.

Sponsored by Swoon Reads.

Authors Think Outside The Bookstore

For many authors on book tours, bookstores are the obvious place to hold readings—too obvious, that is. Some writers are taking their events to other venues, hoping to capture potential readers who wouldn’t typically be found in a bookstore.

Audible Retreats Temporarily

Last week, we covered the lawsuit filed by several major publishers against Audible. The publishers allege that Audible Captions infringes on copyright. While the case proceeds, Audible has deactivated the Captions feature from the books put out by those publishers.

Classroom Library Gets A Grant Boost

Here are some back-to-school warm fuzzies for you! Jennifer Kieren is an educator who spent a month crafting a grant application that paid off big-time when she was awarded $2,000 to expand her classroom library. That translated into 263 books! Teachers all over the country are spending their own funds on making sure their kids have books they can get excited about, and the necessity for grants like this one isn’t something to celebrate. But I’m glad there are teachers out there like Kieren whose enthusiasm and dedication are so inspiring.