Margaret Atwood

Since the election, many have been turning to books as they take a break from the onslaught of news, finding a sense of “respite and renewal” in literature. But what are they reading? Many on social media have been drawing comparisons between the objectives of Project 2025 and The Handmaid’s Tale, including Margaret Atwood herself.

Spring is one of the best times of year for bird-watching, with birds migrating in large groups. Two major new bird books go on sale at the end of March, THE BEDSIDE BOOK OF BIRDS and A MOST REMARKABLE CREATURE. These are two of the best reasons to take a look at the bird sections at your accounts.

According to an estimate by pop culture trade news sites ICv2 and Comichron, graphic novel sales in particular via the bookstore channel were $645 million, higher than comic book shops. 

According to the report, sales in the bookstore channel (which includes physical stores and online retailers) increased “dramatically” over comics shop market share and the popularity of graphic novels over periodical comics continued to grow. (PublishersWeekly.com)

It’s time for another celebration of the right to read! Join the ongoing and imperative mission by working with booksellers to feature titles whose value has been contested at local and national levels. 

This year’s honorary (and inaugural) chair of Banned Books Week, Jason Reynolds: “To censor a book is to damage the framework in which we live,” adds Reynolds. “Any time we eliminate or wall off certain narratives, we are not getting a whole picture of the world in which we live. And navigating the world in a way that is closed-off, closed-minded, is poisonous. It means that we limit our vocabulary, which complicates how we communicate with one another. We have to celebrate stories and ensure that all books have a space on the shelves and the opportunity to live in the psyches of our children, as they grow into the human beings who will inherit this wonderful place.” 

Cli-Fi (short for climate fiction) is a genre that invites readers to consider the effects of climate change both in their own lives and for future generations. The foundation of the genre is an acknowledgement that climate change is an unignorable crisis. And while it is often speculative, cli-fi is usually grounded in real science.