Books

In her new book, the acclaimed Thunder & Lightning: Weather, Past, Present and Future, Lauren Redniss is intrigued by how people have coped with, survived, or failed in extreme weather situations.

How the 2016 MacArthur Genius Award Recipient Lauren Redniss Is Rethinking Biography

The visual biographer of Marie and Pierre Curie turns to her next subject, weather, lightning and climate change

Chicago gangster Al Capone wearing a bathing suit at his Florida home. Ca. 1929-31

Seeking the Humanity of Al Capone

Through interviews with his descendants, one biographer sees the family man behind the infamous gangster

The Curious George series has sold 10,000 times the initial print run.

When Curious George Made a Daring Escape From the Nazis

The authors of the children's book series fled wartime France with the manuscript tied to their bikes

Hello, I am goat.

What Living Like Goats and Badgers Can Teach Us About Ourselves

Two Englishmen won the Ig Nobel Prize for eating grass, earthworms and worse in the name of science

All aboard the book train

This Speedy, Wall-Crawling Conveyor System Will Now Deliver Books at the New York Public Library

Like a robotic, book-carrying train

This book of Grimm's Fairy Tales is entirely written using words with one syllable.

Channel Childhoods Gone By With This Digital Archive of Victorian Children’s Books

From nursery rhymes to religious lectures, this digital archive shows how kids read in a bygone age

Scientists Virtually Peek Inside Ancient Biblical Charred Scrolls

A completely burned Biblical text is now readable

H.G. Wells was one of the first science fiction writers.

The Many Futuristic Predictions of H.G. Wells That Came True

Born 150 years ago, H.G. Wells predicted, and inspired, inventions from the laser to email

Oscar Wilde spent two years in what was then called Reading Gaol.

A British Jail Is Paying Artistic Tribute to Oscar Wilde, its Most Famous Inmate

Patti Smith, Ai Weiwei and others envision what it's like to be <i>Inside</i>

George Richmond made this chalk portrait of Brontë when she was 34 years old.

Visit the Manuscript of 'Jane Eyre' in New York

The handwritten novel is in the United States for the first time—along with an exhibition of artifacts from Charlotte Brontë’s brief and brilliant life

For sale: a home with a bookish past.

You Could Own F. Scott Fitzgerald’s House

Live in the Victorian rowhouse where a career was born

A new imaging system could help people to read books without touching them.

This Camera Uses Radiation to Read Closed Books

No need to open a book to read past its cover

Four Finds from University of Kansas' Collection of Radical Zines

The university's Solidarity! Radical Library boasts a collection of almost 1,000 alternative papers

Here’s How the Oxford English Dictionary Chooses New Words

“YOLO,” “uptalk” and “gender-fluid” have all made the cut

The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries

Even Napoleon Had an Unpublished Manuscript, and Now It’s up for Auction

His handwritten novella captures his feelings toward love at age 26

Celebrate 50 Years of International Literacy Day With the British Library

Butterflies, rabbits and Shakespeare: there's something for everybody

It's alive!

One in Four Americans Didn’t Read a Book Last Year

But don't mourn the death of the printed word just yet

If your book has a stamp like this, it's probably way overdue.

Alabama Library Plans to Enforce Strict Overdue Book Ordinance

You could face a fine or even spend a night in jail for keeping books too long

The plot thickens...

Could You Solve the Case of the Missing Mystery Heirs?

Are you related to Clifton Robbins? You could receive royalties from his 21st-century publisher

People sit on a roof waiting to be rescued after Hurricane Katrina

Eleven Years After Katrina, What Lessons Can We Learn Before the Next Disaster Strikes?

Author and playwright John Biguenet offers his thoughts on the narrative of destruction

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