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To that end, let’s look at some great books about both Mexican and Mexican American history. Some are available only in English or only in Spanish, but many are available in both languages. I’ve tried to include language/translation notes where necessary, so you can find Mexican history books in Spanish, English, or both—whichever you need. And, while these are not explicitly books about Mexican culture, you can learn a lot about a country’s culture by studying its history and heritage....

Romance readers and writers have been navigating a garbage fire of rumors, rash decisions, and what seem to be (at the time of writing this post) a stalemate at the national level with the Romance Writers of America. Others have done a much better job than I can at summarizing the information, so if you’d like to take a moment and get caught up, try these posts: Our own Jess Pryde wrote up a reaction....

It sounded really cute, and the cover looked adorable! I was excited about the book, but I don’t usually post about unreleased titles, so I was waiting until closer to the release date to reblog it. Meanwhile, I kept seeing it on my dashboard–making its rounds even outside of book tumblr. A few months later, it had racked up more than 100,000 notes (likes or reblogs). That is more than I’ve ever seen on a post about a particular book, nevermind one that hadn’t even been released yet!...

But don’t just slop vodka and Red Bull together and call it a day. A well-made cocktail can be gourmet, ritzy, and down-right literary—if you spend some time to get it right. 7 Literary Cocktail Books to Celebrate the End of Prohibition A Sidecar Named Desire by Greg Clarke and Monte Beauchamp Writers can imbibe with the best of them, as you’ll learn in Clarke and Beachamp’s illustrated history featuring famous writers and their favorite drinks....

Coworkers, friends, neighbors, and childless Kroger shoppers donated their unopened Micropopz to my son. Before snipping open the packaging with his neon green safety scissors, he would try to guess who was waiting inside the navy blue wrapper. Was it bright green Hulk, the elusive blue Loki, or his favorite, Captain America? He quivered with excitement when he revealed the new addition to his collection. Leaving little suction cup circles all over our windows, the army of Micropopz grew to over 100....

I love to read, but I also must read a lot for work. Then there is also the reality of being an adult in this world, where multitasking is necessary. It all works out great because a lot of the books I get access to are audiobooks, making it the perfect solution to the nebulous, ‘Where is the time’ problem. Until there came a point when no audiobook could hold my focus and I was having trouble keeping track of the simplest of plot lines let alone dialogues and nuance....

In the numerous films, documentaries, and books created about the cult and its crimes, Manson himself is usually given most of the attention. Much as in this latest film, the Manson girls themselves become something of set dressing. These books focus on the experiences of these young women, examining how seemingly average, normal people fell under the thrall of Manson and how some of them wound up murderers. Manson Girls in Their Own Words Member of the Family: My Story of Charles Manson, Life Inside His Cult, and the Darkness That Ended the Sixties by Dianne Lake with Deborah Herman Dianne Lake, the youngest of the Manson girls at just 14, is played in the movie by Sydney Sweeney....

Why does the nonbinary character have a name (Snowflake) that is literally something we get called by transphobes? Their twin’s name, Safespace, is no better. Why not go ahead and name them Trnny or Hshe? Kibblesmith said “It’s this idea that these are terms that get thrown around on the internet that they don’t see as derogatory. [They] take these words and kind of wear them as badges of honour....

Prompted by co-editing a project for Muse India: The Literary ejournal , a journal that features Indian English writing, Usha Akella and several poets in the American poetry scene created the Matwaala Poetry Festival. These poets wished to continue to initiate and support projects involving Diaspora poets and artists. Matwaala came to be in 2015 involving the poets Saleem Peeradina, Pramila Venkateswaran (the festival’s co-director), Ravi Shankar, Sasha Parmasad, and Varsha Saraiya Shah....

Michael Sheen’s Bookish Roles Good Omens (2019) Based on Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. Michael Sheen plays the angel Aziraphale. Pocket scene: I just generally want to keep Aziraphale in my pocket, he’s a beautiful cinnamon roll, so on that note “I’m soft” is my keeper. Masters of Sex (2013–2016) Based on the book Masters of Sex: The Life and Times of William Masters and Virginia Johnson, the Couple Who Taught America How to Love by Thomas Maier....

Kirkus reports that Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Random House, announced the forthcoming journal, Becoming: A Guided Journal for Discovering Your Voice, set for release on November 19. The publisher said the journal will be chock full of insight, with “more than 150 inspiring questions and quotes that resonate with key themes in Mrs. Obama’s memoir and that are designed to help readers reflect on their personal and family history, their goals, challenges, and dreams, what moves them and brings them hope, and what future they imagine for themselves and their community....

Movies are given short shrift among bookish types; we claim they are never as good, never as profound or imaginative as a book. But don’t we want to see our favorite books come to life? Particularly, we like it when a book that supposedly cannot be made into a movie ends up surpassing our expectations. Blasphemous as it may be, I would even argue that in some cases a director like Peter Jackson improves upon the written work....

I’ve been lucky to have spent much of my pandemic-time pie chart with book stacks by the window, on the loveseat, and in bed. Even though I adore reading at home, I miss taking my books elsewhere, too. As you may know, I used to indulge in reading (and writing) vacations. Once, there was Salt Lake City and a few trips to Los Angeles. As I wait until it’s safer to go elsewhere, reading daydreams have been steeping in my brain....

Hi mystery fans! I thought I’d mention mystery writers who also write in other genres because it’s a great way to explore in your reading life—if you already love a writer’s work in one genre it may be a good bridge into another genre.

I liked poetry when I was a child. There was a lot of fantastic children’s poetry out there, and I devoured all the Michael Rosen and Benjamin Zephaniah I could get my hands on. But then I got older, and the poems we read at school changed. There were still several that I loved, for the language they used or the stories they told, but there were others that I just didn’t get....

I have just finished reading Madly Deeply, the Diaries of Alan Rickman. In the last few weeks, I have had to work through what he actually meant to me beyond that I loved him when I was 12 and sort of never got out of the habit. What started out as a severely weird preteen crush turned into something else. Was he a role model? I never wanted to be an actor and there were any number of people I sought to base my life on that weren’t him (I’ve always wanted to read and write all day in my pajamas, and his journals showed me that he traveled a lot)....

In the catalog of classic monsters, vampires seem to be the freest to explore their urges. Somehow charming the pants off someone to eat them turned to just charming the pants off them. Though by their own admission in the majority of stories the drinking is not sexual in and of itself, the pleasure is in the feeding both for the eater and the food. They aren’t really picky regarding the gender of their chosen food group....

I started out the year with two incredible queer audiobooks: Here For It by R. Eric Thomas and IRL by Tommy Pico. Here For It is a collection of essays about Thomas’s experiences as a gay black man, his relationship with Christianity, and his identity as a writer. IRL is a meandering poem about living as a queer indigenous person in the city. These two books have little in common; they are simply two beautiful examples of queer men telling their own stories....

Of course, while all this sounds like a mere lack of attention on my part – an assumption that all YA covers look one way while adult novel covers look another – it is interesting to note that I, like many others, often have a tendency to associate illustrated covers with YA, or with romance novels. Our editor Kelly has written an excellent analysis on the illustrated cover trend in romance, and what that says about women’s interests, so you may want to read it as a thought-provoking addition to this quiz....

Or so the theory goes. It’s a Mandela Effect tale, based on the idea that “false” shared memories are actually evidence of parallel timelines, et cetera, et cetera. Truth be told: I remember them as the Berenstein Bears. But then, I’m a nice Jewish girl, the name is more recognizable that way, and I 100% accept that our memories are permeable and malleable, heavily subject to suggestion. I’m sure they were always Berenstain, as Snopes promises....