The cover of the young adult fantasy novel Nightbirds by Kate J. Armstrong reliably hints at the promise and magic of the story that lies within while also seeking to differentiate itself in a saturated market. Not only is the artwork attractively rendered, but it shows the emotion and supernatural abilities of the character Matilde with symbolism attached to the particular bird associated with her in the novel: the goldfinch. This portrayal of Matilde brings the reader's attention to her beauty and lips — the main characters' kisses are the means by which they convey their magic to others. At the same time, her eyes are drawn in a way that evokes the sadness and yearning she feels as she comes of age and fights to establish her own power against years of entrenched oppression. This imagery and the cover as a whole reflect many current trends in young adult fantasy.
You're in a book group and it's your turn to lead the discussion. You've found the perfect book, but there's no reading guide for it. What to do? Why, create your own, of course! With some all-purpose book club discussion topics like these below, you can turn out a top-notch discussion guide that will be an awesome fit for your book group.
Simply pick one to three topics from most of the categories for a well-rounded discussion.
At the start of each year, we ask BookBrowse subscribers to look back on the previous year and tell us which books they most enjoyed discussing with their book group. The 2022 Top 10 includes some favorites from previous years and some new arrivals!
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the publisher W.W. Norton & Company, which was started by married couple William Warder Norton ("Warder") and Mary Dows Herter Norton ("Polly") in 1923, as the People's Institute Publishing Company. The Nortons believed in the importance of education and thought that leaders of their fields should "bring to the public the knowledge of our time."
Early on, W.W. Norton acquired work by Bertrand Russell, Rainer Maria Rilke and Sigmund Freud, among others. It would continue to be known for publishing influential and groundbreaking material, and would eventually become famous for The Norton Anthology of English Literature, along with subsequent anthologies. After Warder's death, Polly entrusted the company to its employees, asking in exchange for a commitment to keep W.W. Norton independent. It remains independent and employee-owned to this day, which creates a culture of collaboration and shared purpose.
Coming-of-age plots are a staple of YA books, as the changes of adolescence and the transition to adulthood have special relevancy to the teenage perspective. But adults can benefit from coming-of-age stories too. Gaining some distance from your own experience of growing up provides a place from which to reflect more deeply on the experiences of others, and any thoughtful story that leads readers through the inevitable, pivotal changes we all encounter in certain early stages of life is likely to give book groups something relatable and interesting to talk about. Plus, we never really stop growing, and "coming of age" is a murky concept that can stretch well into adulthood. Luckily, there's no shortage of evocative and insightful coming-of-age books for adults, and we've put together a list for you containing some of the best from recent years.
All the books below have been rated five stars by our reviewers, and they all come with reading guides to help you organize quality conversations with your book club. They feature a range of young people, from children to 20-somethings still struggling to find their place in the world, across a wide variety of life circumstances and settings.
If you love reading, listening to book podcasts can be a great way to spend your spare time. Whether you choose to follow along with a conversation about a book you've enjoyed, an author interview or an author reading, book-based audio content makes for pleasant entertainment at home or on the road. And as reading is often a solitary activity, podcasts can offer a much-needed sense of connection and help stoke your excitement about reading or discussing books with others.
But with the podcast still being a relatively new listening format, and one that's detached from traditional media, it can be tough to know where to start. So we've put together a list for you of some of the best book podcasts out there.
