Here I have composed a list of 25 books that I think are readable and among some of the best nonfiction books of all time. This is, of course, not a definitive list, and I am sure to have missed some of your favourites — to compose a definitive list of the best nonfiction books of all time, one would actually have to know everything about everything. These are books that are well written, have had an impact on our understanding of the world, or are books that deal with important, profound themes....

The Best Science Fiction Books for Kids Ambassador by Will Alexander When Gabe Fuentes inadvertently finds himself Earth’s ambassador to an alien race, he also learns of a nefarious plot to destroy his home planet! On top of that, his undocumented parents back home in Minnesota are facing potential deportation, making for two high-stakes “alien” problems that Gabe may be able to solve—if can stay alive long enough! If you like this book, follow it up with Nomad!...

Reading tons of books and audiobooks is usually part of my normal routine; it’s something I love to do and that brings me comfort, joy, new knowledge, escapism, anything I need it to really. But I’m having a difficult time focusing on new narratives right now. I’ve been existing mostly on Jane Austen adaptations and Fred Astaire movies. Every week my phone’s screen time report delivers some truly alarming statistics and I’m trying my best to put my news intake/outrage on a reduced schedule....

That being the case, I don’t often get to meet writers or go to many literary events. The colleges bring in big names, but they’re the only venues that consistently do. There’s little in the way of interaction for the general public, of which I am sadly a part now that I no longer work in higher ed. Signings are set up to move quickly, so beyond a, “Hi, how are you?...

Translated for the first time from Japanese, author Chesil’s “enigmatic and powerful” (Kirkus Reviews) debut tells the story of Ginny Park, a Zainichi Korean girl born in Japan and living in Oregon as she takes to the road in search of a place she might finally belong. And if you’re looking for a great backlist title about debate, I highly recommend Six Angry Girls by Adrienne Kisner, which is about a mock trial team challenging sexism head-on!...

In-Person Book Recommendations 1. Ask a bookseller As a former bookseller, I’m totally biased, but I know that booksellers (especially at your local indie bookstore) work really hard to recommend books to their customers. In almost any store, if you go in and tell someone what kinds of books you like, or the last book you really loved, they will have a list of five other suggestions for you. Don’t be shy!...

When I was a tween (though we weren’t called that at the time), it was hard to vocalize what you needed from people. Adults didn’t listen to us kids much, and we didn’t have social media to sneakily connect behind adult’s backs. I read a lot and watched tons of movies, finding it easier to lose myself in stories than to be stuck in my own sulky head. Even friends can be thoughtless and dismissive as kids don’t always understand each other....

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Mother Ship by Francesca Segal (Chatto & Windus, June 6, 2019) I’ve been hearing about this book for what feels like forever already. Francesca Segal is an Anglo-American writer who has up to now written modern-day retellings of classic novels (I enjoyed The Innocents). In Mother Ship, though, she turns to memoir – writing of the heartache and struggle that followed the very premature birth of her twins. The books is said to combine “the tenderness of a love poem with the compulsive pace of a thriller” as we follow Francesca through weeks of caring for her babies and developing fierce friendships with other women fighting alongside her for their own tiny children....

Who Am I, Again? by Lenny Henry (Faber & Faber, October 1, 2019, audio and ebook only) My fellow Gen Xers know Sir Lenny Henry best as one of the founders of the charity Comic Relief, which he launched in 1985 alongside Richard Curtis, the screenwriter of Notting Hill and Love Actually fame. The charity has raised well over £1 billion since then, primarily through Red Nose Days, national TV events that makes us laugh and raise money to alleviate poverty in the UK and Africa....

What that blessing is can be different for each individual the person’s life touched. Perhaps, for you, Justice Ginsburg will be the trailblazer you remember when it’s time to take a first step into a new world. Perhaps she will be the survivor who sustains you through another day when your own battle seems too difficult. Perhaps she will be the still, small voice in the dark that says, “This too shall pass....

The authors of these books understand that being a queer parent is actually different from being a straight parent. They understand that queerness changes parenthood. At the same time, the queer parents in these books are often engaged in acts of parenting that have nothing to do with being queer: breastfeeding a newborn, or trying to get your overprotective adult daughters to leave you alone. Queerness always matters, but not always the same amount....

Between the pandemic and my 2020 pregnancy, cocktails were off the table. Now, I’ve started to try making them at home, starting with my favorite cocktail, the Pisco Sour. As a result, cocktail books are golden to try to replicate my favorite cocktails or try to find new and exciting flavors at home. Plus it’s a great way to deepen my knowledge on the history of mixology. Here’s a list of five recent cocktail books to whet your palette....

Why Board Books For Babies? Board books are where it’s at when it comes to reading to the littles. Their thick paperboard construction makes them durable, a crucial quality as kiddos are apt to treat their books as chew toys. Their simple concepts and colorful illustrations are beneficial for early learning and development. Board books are also super affordable; prices range from $6–$10 on average, and that’s at full price....

These are the novels that end up with a thousand gorgeous lines scattered across social media, first lines scribbled in notebooks, underlined and reread over and over again because you didn’t want to forget it (and you read it out loud, too, because how is this sentence so perfect?). Whole books of quotable, gorgeous material that are a joy to read because of the author’s use of language. This is a list of books with gorgeous writing from beginning to end....

Some of the wisest people I know I met from children’s books, particularly from middle grade books (stories geared toward eight-to-twelve year olds, but they are great for adults too!). Ever since I could read, I have stored treasures of wisdom from so many amazing girls who stood up for themselves, overcame overwhelming challenges, made mistakes and made things right again, were wronged and extended grace, fell down and got back up, and stood by their convictions despite persecution....

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To be clear, plenty of Filipino horror fiction is available in English. It’s just not easily accessible in North America. You can find entire anthologies of horror stories if you live in the Philippines. I’m not saying publication in North America is required for legitimacy. That’s ridiculous. But many Filipino Americans who grew up on stories of Filipino monsters yearn to see our childhood terrors reflected in fiction on this side of the Pacific....

The Guinevere Deception by Kiersten White It is only natural that a tale about King Arthur be included in this list. Kiersten White reweaves the story of Queen Guinivere and asks new questions: What if the real foreign princess was secretly replaced with a young witch sworn to protect the king? What if she was raised by the wizard Merlin but her childhood memories are as murky as the waters crossed to enter Camelot?...