Skip to main content

Blog

5 Compelling Reads for Book Club Discussions

I remember being in school as a kid and wondering why we were only taught about historical Black figures during February. I then remember being confused because we only talked about well-known names like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks.

3 Reasons the Hunger Games Holds Up

Suzanne Collins’ groundbreaking young adult novel The Hunger Games was first published on September 14, 2008. With over 100 million copies of the original trilogy sold, five box-office hit films, and two best-selling prequels, it goes without saying that the series is a huge success. But what is it that keeps readers returning for more over a decade later?

Waiting for Interview With the Vampire

I love vampires. From the super funny vampires in What We Do in the Shadows to the Oscar-nominated vampires in Sinners, I love it all. To say I’ve been looking forward to season three of Interview With the Vampire would be an understatement. To pass the time in between seasons, I’ve been reading and watching as much vampire stuff as possible.

Why Adults are Reading YA

Adults are reading Young Adult (YA) literature. Yeah, adult adults — grown people with jobs, who pay their own bills, chat about interest rates on mortgages, or maybe even have young adult children themselves. Not only are they reading it, they also make up most of YA literature’s readership.

People We Meet on Vacation

2021 was a great year for romance novels. Being a romantic at heart, I devour romance books with relish and it’s so refreshing to see an increasing number of diverse authors writing books with diverse characters falling in love. It’s also interesting to see this genre evolve into several sub-genres including contemporary romances with multidimensional characters who warm your heart with their goals, quirks, worries, likes and dislikes.

Reading Recommendations in Your Inbox

We have added new categories to our NextReads Newsletters. Whether you enjoy fiction or nonfiction, we have a list for you. If you like a little faith with your historical fiction, romance or suspense sign up for our Christian Fiction newsletter. The Fantasy & Science Fiction newsletter brings you the best of fantasy, science fiction and everything in between.

Books Are Magical

Unleash the magic — open a book and make today extraordinary. September 25 is National Open the Magic Day. After discovering this celebration, I did a little digging because it reminded me of unicorns. My five-year-old daughter is rather obsessed with them.

Wine, Cheese & Books, Please

Since July 25 is National Wine and Cheese Day, I thought I’d make some reading and pairing suggestions. Who likes perusing their favorite genre or author with a nice red? Try reading on the patio with a chilled white? Here’s a list of some great pairings to get you started. If you have suggestions, we’d love to hear about some of your favorites, too.

Top 5 Checked Out Picture Books

Have you ever wondered what the most popular books are at your library? Well, look no further, we’ve got your answer. You can even make it a game, grab a pen and piece of paper and jot down your guesses to see how many you get right.

Upcoming YA Fiction Releases

YA (that’s young adult literature for newbies) has a lot of hot titles hitting the shelves this month — including books from some of our favorite authors and breathtaking debuts from fresh voices. We’ll experience the beginnings of exciting new series and the much-anticipated continuations and conclusions of others. No matter what you love, whether it’s thrillers, romance, fantasy, nonfiction or graphic novels, you’ll find a wide variety of books sure to satisfy every kind of reader. With all of these great works to read, you’ll be happily turning pages all summer long.

Literature’s Love Guru

As a Jane Austen novice, I was intrigued to read about one of her most popular novel characters, Emma, of whom Austen stated, “I am

Cozy Up With a Mystery

As the temperature continues to creep closer to freezing and the frigid winter winds begin to blow, the more tempted we are to stay inside

Pretend to Be a Time Traveler

One of the first time travel stories recorded appears in a Hindi epic written in 400 BCE. However, the idea of time travel didn’t gain

Turtles, Stars & Paper Towns

I’m not ashamed to admit that I read young adult fiction and here’s why … It tackles serious issues but in a hopeful way

Weird Westerns

If you’ve never heard of a Weird Western, here is what it is in a nutshell. Weird Western is the merging of two distinct genre

Thrillers You Need to Read

As the seasons change so do reading tastes. It is time to put away the beach reads of summer and bring out something with more

Transitioning from J to YA

For parents of teens and tweens, moving from the juvenile section of the library to young adult can be intimidating. Young adult literature represents a

Where the Crawdads Sing

On August 14, 2018 Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens was released. After only a month on the market, this sensational story caught the

J Fic for Grownups

Many adult readers are drawn to the books on young adult shelves like Harry Potter, Twilight, The Hunger Games and so on. Even though these

Book Cover Trends

Book covers have a big job … they have to entice readers to pick up the book, be memorable, describe the essence of the book and

blue dinosaur reading book

Summer Reading

Tick-tock-tick. The countdown has started.

Days
Hours
Minutes
Seconds

Get ready to stomp into Summer Reading beginning May 26. Grab a tracking card, earn prizes and uncover prehistoric levels of fun all summer long.

Dig into the details »