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.

Election seasons can be unpredictable, and 2024 is set to be no exception. But it turns out that election season book sales are quite stable, despite the volatility that accompanies a high-stakes election. Marketplace analysis shows that certain categories actually sell better from September to November during an election year than during a non-voting year.

Julia (@thepeliroja) has been documenting her journey to learn Spanish on TikTok to her more than 15k followers. Her favorite resource? Madrigal’s Magic Key to Spanish, a backlist gem from 1989 that relies on existing knowledge of English to learn Spanish more efficiently (plus, it contains illustrations by Andy Warhol). She sings the praises of

The highly anticipated Nat Geo documentary “Secrets of the Octopus,” narrated by Paul Rudd, will air on April 21. The latest installment in the “Secrets of…” series, it follows “Secrets of the Whales” and “Secrets of the Elephants” as well as other acclaimed recent nature documentaries like “A Real Bug’s Life.” The companion book (also

“New Year, New You” season is nearly upon us. And while some will be setting transformative goals for themselves in 2024, many continue to shift away from making resolutions at all. To wit, 55% of Americans and 66% of Millennials find the entire concept of resolutions outdated. And with finances tight for many, resolving to

In the weeks leading up to the holidays, boxed sets can sell over four times as much as they sell in an average week throughout the rest of the year. And for good reason: boxed sets are a perfect gift and a solid value for budget-conscious shoppers. The top selling sets are almost always children’s

Witchy season is right around the corner, and every fall sees a predictable increase in consumer interest in witchy books, both fiction and nonfiction. Some readers are leaning into the Practical Magic aesthetic, which has gained a new generation of fans on TikTok. Others are interested in casting spells themselves, or observing Mabon (the autumnal

Researchers have found that divorce rates reliably rise every August. There is speculation that the summer, with vacations and breaks from school, focuses more attention on family and home life, sometimes revealing marital conflict. August also allows some time for the dust to settle ahead of the busy family gatherings of the holiday season. No

In You’ve Got Mail, Meg Ryan waxed poetic about the coming of fall and the attendant romance of “a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils.” Even for folks whose school days are long behind them, the back-to-school season can provide a bit of motivation or excitement. With summer vacations over and the holiday crush not yet

We’ve all seen the proliferation of artistic content created by generative AI. From visual art to poetry to music, advanced technology is entering realms once thought to be solely the domain of human beings. At the same time, clips of a TED talk by Ethan Hawke on the value of human creativity have begun to

The end of winter is in sight, and, as gardeners know, it’s time for planting once the ground thaws. In recent years, younger generations have taken up gardening, and Millennials are now the largest group of gardeners in the U.S. Many came to the hobby during lockdown in 2020, but the shift has been observed

More Americans than ever are adopting a plant-based diet—at least part-time. The number of people who identify as vegan, vegetarian, or flexitarian has been steadily rising over the past several years, and nonwhite Americans are three times as likely to be vegetarian as white Americans. Most people who adopt a more plant-based diet make the