The Self-Help Mantra That Got Better and Better
Every day, in every way, the pop psychology of Emile Coué conquered 1920s Britain.
Morgan Jerkins: Exploring the Multitudes within American Blackness
In her new book, Wandering in Strange Lands, Morgan Jerkins takes a deeply personal look at the effects of the Great Migration.
Meet Loveday Brooke, Lady Detective
Fictional detectives usually reflect conservative values. But the first "lady detective" story written by a woman broke boundaries.
The First Black-Owned Bookstore and the Fight for Freedom
Black abolitionist David Ruggles opened the first Black-owned bookstore in 1834, pointing the way to freedom—in more ways than one.
The Timeless Art of the Bookcase Flex
Flaunting a massive collection of books did not start with work-from-home videoconferences.
The Library That Walked Across Belgium
What two scholar-artists learned from taking ninety books on a very, very long walk.
Do Series Books Turn Kids Off Adult-Approved Novels?
Goosebumps. The Baby-Sitters Club. Even Nancy Drew. In the 1990s, concerned educators wondered if series books were luring kids away from "literature."
Shayla Lawson: All of Us Came from the Same Root
The poet and essayist Shayla Lawson, author of This Is Major, talks about the meaning of race, Black History Month, and her love for Lizzo.
“Grangerization” Made Beautiful Books Even Better
But the eighteenth-century readerly hobby angered critics, who saw it as a “monstrous practice.”
Wounded Knee and the Myth of the Vanished Indian
The story of the 1890 massacre was often about the end of Native American resistance to US expansion. But that’s not how everyone told it.