Books

The Real-Life Places That Inspired Frankenstein

How Mary Shelley used ideas, events and places to invent her famous monster

The house of Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of the "Little House on the Prairie" books

The Science of "Little House on the Prairie"

A mutual passion for Laura Ingalls Wilder inspired scientists in unrelated disciplines to investigate events from the famous author's world

Google Books Isn't Copyright Infringement

A landmark court ruling allows the tech giant digitize library books

Edith Wharton had presumably outgrown her rattle by the time this photo was taken in 1877.

For Sale: Edith Wharton’s $16,500 Baby Rattle

Fanciest. Teething device. Ever.

A page of the original King James Bible

The Origins of the King James Bible

A handwritten draft of the world's most famous bible has been discovered in England

What to Read, Watch and Download Before Your Trip to Venice

Know before you go

Chicago's Newest Library Is on a Train

Bored during your morning commute? #BooksOnTheL can help.

Learn Physics From Nobel Prizewinner Richard Feynman for Free

The physicist’s legendary lectures are now available online

These Brave Playwrights Want to Rewrite Shakespeare

“They have been at a great feast of languages, and stol’n the scraps.”

5 Things to Know About Svetlana Alexievich, Winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Literature

The Belarusian journalist is best known for her tragic investigations of war and disaster in eastern Europe

The Card Catalog Is Officially Dead

Long live the card catalog

In Honor of Banned Books Week, Here Are the Most Challenged Books of 2014

The American Library Association reported 311 formal, written challenges to books

Mold Is Threatening Boston Public Library’s Rare Books

As spores are found in the stacks, it's time to battle a fuzzy foe

Matt Damon stars as Mark Watney, the titular "Martian" who gets left for dead on the red planet.

The Secret of "The Martian" Success? Scientific Peer Review

Andy Weir's tale of a stranded astronaut got its start as a blog, complete with reader comments that helped shape the plot

Supreme Court Justices Have a Thing for Shakespeare

The brief's the thing

People are Leaving Secret Letters to Fellow Fans in Harry Potter Books

#PotterItForward was designd to warm the hearts of future readers

Scaled back so no two books share a page, the library still has 10 to the power of 4,677 books.

This Digital Library Contains Every Phrase That Could Ever Be Uttered

Inspired by an essay by Jorge Luis Borges, computer programmer Jonathan Basile has created a "Library" of Babel

Toni Tipton-Martin's book The Jemima Code: Two Centuries of African American Cookbooks gives readers a new look at African-American cooking history and culture.

What 200 Years of African-American Cookbooks Reveal About How We Stereotype Food

In a new book, food journalist Toni Tipton-Martin highlights African-American culinary history through hundreds of pages of recipes

The first edition of The Guinness Book of Records had a waterproof cover to protect it from pub spills.

The Guinness Book of World Records: A Promotional Stunt That Became an International Phenomenon

The book that makes us ooh and ahh, and squirm in our seats is more than 65 years old

Six Children's Books That Use Psychological Techniques to Help Kids

The sleep-inducing "The Rabbit Who Wants to Fall Asleep" has become a mega bestseller. But it's not the only story to lean on psychology

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