Story Tags

Broken Faith

Cult-ure Shock

Nonfiction books about cults

We may not wish to be caught up in one ourselves, but cults can be endlessly compelling when it comes to reading material. From unbelievable journalistic endeavors to more personal memoirs offering narratives from behind the literal and figurative iron gates of these communities, a number of these stories have revealed the worst of our imaginations and beyond. Check out these titles for terror and hope in some of the most secretive groups history has seen.

A Bintel Brief

Road Trip!

Graphic novels from coast to coast

Graphic novels are so fun to read because the artwork adds a whole other level to world building. The illustrative choices set tone, provide context, and sometimes add story clues or easter eggs. Like other forms of literature, graphic novels come in all flavors of fiction and nonfiction; and the artwork can vary from stark black and white drawings to intense color-filled pages.

It Takes Two

Reality TV Tell-Alls

Every time a celebrity releases a new memoir the internet is filled with news articles about the revelations they make within the pages: affairs, addictions, abuse, anything you can thing of. These memoirs get gobbled up, and if you've been a long-time fan of that individual or the reality TV show they hail from, you're destined to learn a lot from these memoirs. They don't call them "tell-alls" for nothing. Whether you prefer the Bachelor, the Real Housewives, the Home and Garden Television Network, or some combination of the above, we've got it all. 

Anne Bronte collection cover

Anne Brontë at 200

This year marks

The Plantagenets

English Royals and Their Families

Most of us get along pretty well with our immediate relatives. However, if you’re royalty, that might not be the case. Rivalry for the crown can create problems in the best of families, as the following books illustrate.   The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made England by Dan Jones

Running Like a Girl Cover

What I Read About When I Read About Running

Running-Related Nonfiction to Get You Motivated On Hard Days

I love running, but that doesn't mean I don't struggle to get out and actually go for a run as often as I'd like to. Whether it’s too cold, or too hot, or too dark, or I’m tired, or I have more important things to do, or I have less important, but more interesting things to do, I can come up with plenty of excuses. That’s where books about running come in. It turns out that nothing gets me excited for a run quite like reading about someone else’s run. If I’m really lucky, there’s an audiobook version available and I can read while I run.

Prince Albert cover

Staff Picks: "Prince Albert" & "The Spice King"

A German prince who influenced his adopted nation. A junior botanist is asked to spy. Here are two well-written titles, non-fiction and fiction, I enjoyed reading this month. Copies of the books are available to check out from the library system.

The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas

Parklands-Turner Teen Readers' Corner - YA Book Club Recommendations

The Hate You Give

The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas Teen Book Review by Antionette Robinson   “I can't change where I come from or what I've been through, so why should I be ashamed of what makes me, me?” - Angie Thomas  

Travels with Charley

In a Different Place

Travelogues both real and imagined

As the weather finally begins to cool in D.C. and the rhythm of the school year finally settles in, it can be a great time to think back (or forward) about the summer. If I can't be on the road myself, reading books of journeys both real and imagined help me evoke those feelings of adventure once more.

The Crunk Feminist

Who run the world?!.......GIRLS!!!

Women have found power in a variety of ways though out history in their struggle towards justice and equality. The narrative on girl power and the strength we carry is complicated but oh so beautiful. Women have always shown up to participate in many processes of the world that encourages liberation of self. We are strong, enduring childbirth and in many cases carry whole families on our shoulders, we are responsible for so much but despite the struggles, women have extreme strength and the capacity to achieve much more just like men in society.

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