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Arts & Culture / Books

Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden still loves card catalogs.

The Librarian of Congress Weighs In on Why Card Catalogs Matter

The tech is gone, but it’s not forgotten. Carla Hayden explains why

The original 1967 cover illustration of The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

The True Story Behind Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler and Her Mixed-Up Files

Fifty years ago, author E.L. Konigsburg wrote her children’s literature classic that highlighted the wonder of museums

Does Creativity Breed Inequality in Cities?

Richard Florida thinks so. In his new book, the urban theorist says sometimes the most innovative cities also have the worst social and economic disparity

Hemingway led a life of adventure and, sometimes, violence. The author is shown here holding a tommy gun aboard the Pilar in 1935.

Multiple Concussions May Have Sped Hemingway’s Demise, a Psychiatrist Argues

The troubled author may have suffered from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, the disease that plagues modern football players

On set with Amybeth

A ‘Breaking Bad’ Writer and Producer Is Behind a New Anne of Green Gables

You might not recognize this Anne—and that’s exactly what showrunner Moira Walley-Beckett intended

Workers at Lockheed Jet Bomber Plant, Marietta, Georgia, 1953

These Photos Offer a Glimpse Into the Racial Politics of the 1950s South

Before he became a sports photographer, John G. Zimmerman captured a past that feels all too present

Elisabeth Moss dons the iconic red robe and white bonnet of the handmaid for the new series debuting April 26.

The U.S. Is Too Ornery for Totalitarianism, According to Margaret Atwood

The author of The Handmaid’s Tale discusses the continued impact of the bleak 1985 novel, now being adapted into a series on Hulu

The cracked-plate portrait of Abraham Lincoln by Alexander Gardner, 1865, albumen silver print

A Smithsonian Historian Wanders the “Bardo,” Exploring the Spiritual World of the 19th Century

George Saunders’ new novel, “Lincoln in the Bardo” recalls the melancholy that hung over a nation at war

Former U.S. president Barack Obama goes book-shopping with his daughters in Washington, DC in 2015.

New Research

Liberals and Conservatives Read Totally Different Books About Science

The good news: Everyone likes dinosaurs

To develop the next big mass-market wine, winemakers first hone flavor using focus groups, then add approved flavoring and coloring additives to make the drink match up with what consumers want.

The Science Behind Your Cheap Wine

How advances in bottling, fermenting and taste-testing are democratizing a once-opaque liquid

This historic map shows London in the 18th century.

Stanford Researchers Map the Feelings Associated With Different Parts of London

The university’s Literary Lab combed British novels from the 18th and 19th centuries to determine if areas elicited happiness or fear

Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson Was Fiercer Than You Think

A new biopic shows the poet as more than a mysterious recluse

One Writer Used Statistics to Reveal the Secrets of What Makes Great Writing

In his new book, data journalist Ben Blatt takes a by-the-numbers look at literary classics and finds some fascinating patterns

The Featured Works display at the American Writers Museum in Chicago.

America’s First Writers Museum Is Slated to Open in May

A new home for celebrating American literary titans, titles and traditions takes root in Chicago

Most players of “Walden” go straight to survival tasks, admits Fullerton.

Can a Video Game Capture the Magic of Walden?

Henry David Thoreau’s famed retreat gets pixelated

Smart Startup

Will This App Turn More Readers On to Serialized Fiction?

Releasing a chapter at a time, Radish could have us binge reading romance and mystery novels

Beatrix Potter Books

How Beatrix Potter Invented Character Merchandising

Faced with rejection, the author found her own path to fame and fortune

Atlas of Eating

Celebrated Middle Eastern Food Writer Claudia Roden Shares Stories and Recipes From Her Kitchen

For Roden, food is a lens to understand history

Margaret at Stafford House on Cumberland Island, holding her first copy of Fox Eyes, illustrated by Jean Charlot. This story was inspired by her time on Cumberland as a teenager.

The Surprising Ingenuity Behind “Goodnight Moon”

Author Margaret Wise Brown used new theories in childhood education to write the classic children’s book

Atlas of Eating

On the Dangers of Erotic Truffles

A 19th-century investigation into the power of the aphrodisiac

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