Some books that predicted the future feel less like novels and more like time travelers smuggled into our bookshelves! History, after all, has a strange sense of humor. You might assume that only politicians, scientists, or economists capture what’s going…
A name can be both a gift and a limitation. Throughout history, writers have chosen to set aside the one they were born with and take on another, a name that could move more freely through the world. For some,…
Younger man older woman romance books were once a niche trope. Given preference for partners in a mixed-gender relationship, it is always the men who turn out to be older than the women: only 14% couples have an older woman…
Have you ever noticed how the old stories never really leave us? The gods of the north walk quietly through modern culture, hidden in films, novels, and even the language we speak. The earliest stories were carried from hall to…
Sometimes language slips away when you need it most. You reach for a word and it hides, or the page stares back blankly. Every poet has lived inside that silence. What often helps is not a grand idea, but a…
I read Great Expectations fresh after a breakup. It felt like Dickens was speaking directly to me. The twisted mess of hope, regret, and longing I was living through. I became obsessed with Pip the same way he was obsessed…
Romance tropes always have me sighing wistfully. Collecting book-boyfriends has never been more glamorous than this. I picked up a random romance novel on whim circa 2012, and it has been difficult to shrug off since. As I became an…
I first heard about John Green from a friend who said she bawled her eyes out while reading one of his books. Yes, you guessed it right. It’s THAT book I am talking about. So I ordered a copy, started…
I usually don’t read time travel novels for the science. I read them for the silence, the moment when a character realizes they are somewhere they should not be. It’s not the machinery or the mathematics that hold my attention.…
When people ask me about the best locked room mystery books, I can never give a single answer! The joy of this subgenre lies in the fact that the author locks the door, throws away the keys, and expects you…