Book News

I suppose deep down I am a bit of a philosopher, and have always enjoyed hearing or reading inspirational words of wisdom, but had never thought of asking any of my passengers for advice, that was, until now!

The following is an excerpt from "Love, Life, and Elephants: An African Love Story" [Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $27.00]: The day had begun well. My...

The following is an excerpt from "Guest of Honor: Booker T. Washington, Theodore Roosevelt, and the White House Dinner That Shocked a Nation" [Atria, ...

Here are 9 of the oddest jobs that don't require much (if any) training and could have you making money tomorrow:

A new biography of Walter Cronkite reveals the less trustworthy side of the most trusted man in America. The CBS anchor is remembered as a media gi...

Our own success as a species has created new a terrifying risks that didn't exist a few decades ago. By our dominating presence on the planet, we are in danger of upsetting climate systems in ways we don't fully understand.

For me, slang is at the social interface of language. Slang words aren't linguistically different from other words, except that they keep on moving. It is my considered opinion that slang is a bag of snakes.

Set in the landscape of World War II Britain and featuring women pilots and spies, the intricate plot of Code Name Verity involves espionage, Nazis, the Resistance, and occupied France.

I've now read 26 school novels and counting. My favorites depict adolescence at its most obsessive and raw. The young protagonists are often gravely misguided, but they struggle with a singular passion we don't often feel as adults.

I provide a guide to self-diagnosis that starts at the top of your head and moves all the way down to the bottom of your feet. Finally, all hypochondriacs can have the ability to diagnose all of their visible life-threatening symptoms without the use of an Internet connection!

Neil Gaiman gave a commencement speech last week, and it was typically inspiring. The fiction author famous for "The Sandman" and "Coraline" was also ...

If you're struck by wanderlust but are short a few vacation days this summer, reading can transport you anywhere: the west coast, the Himalayas, Europ...

Originally intended as nothing more than a swift means of transportation, bicycles have morphed into something more. In traffic-heavy urban areas, bik...

Perhaps we all have our own Schadenfreude palette (that is, the desire to gloat and find happiness in the misfortunes of others). Having thought about it, I instantly began to notice the said traits amongst friends, relatives and, indeed, total strangers. So I decided to collect them.

From World & Film Hollywood seems to be getting serious in its on-again, off-again romance with the nineteenth-century novel. Things started heatin...

So what are the most common irrational fears and phobias? Terrorism? Cancer? Commitment? Nope. According to research studies of the U.S. population, the top fears and phobias are closely tied to the kinds of threats our ancestors had to worry about.

Hidden in dark sheds, force fed other species body parts and waste, animals exist and die for the propaganda of "meat," that it tastes good, and is good for us. Nothing is further from the truth.

The late 1800s marked the height (or length, as the case may be) of beards. Then, in the beginning of the 20th century, facial air fell out of favor, and for a long time it seemed like the collected wisdom of the great bearded age went with it.

America's amateur status has produced one generation after another of tinkerers and fiddlers--kids in dorms, grownups in garages--poking around with a new idea, some of which occasionally become a pair of bifocals, a desktop computer, or a whole new way to organize human society.

From Writer’s Relief staff: Let’s face it: Writing a book requires different skills than writing a query letter. While there are no “rules”...

There's much romantic talk about a writer's process. An epiphany, some procrastination, an extended trip to an isolated wooded area, immense frustrati...

Amazon has released their second annual list of the most well-read cities in the country, based on their book, magazine and newspaper sales data in bo...

"Why do we play ball?" That was the heady question my then 7-year-old son tossed out to me one day during an innocent game of backyard catch. As a father, anthropologist, and sports fan, I couldn't resist the call of duty to set off in search of an answer.

The following is an excerpt from "Chicago Stories" by Michael Czyzniejewski [Curbside Splendor, $14.99], a collection of humorous, fictional tales "na...

Gender is a powerful reality; it is the perception and expectation of differences between males and females and it shapes both our bodies and our society. Gender differences are real and important, but they are not hard wired or even static. So let's bust some of those myths.