https://www.smithsonianmag.com/rss/tag/books/RSS feed for BooksenMon, 21 Sep 2026 17:31:11 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/the-lucas-museum-of-narrative-art-a-new-endeavor-from-the-creator-of-star-wars-is-a-story-in-itself-180989533/Almost two decades in the making, the institution centers on art that shapes our everyday lives and reveals the craft behind itMon, 21 Sep 2026 17:31:11 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/the-lucas-museum-of-narrative-art-a-new-endeavor-from-the-creator-of-star-wars-is-a-story-in-itself-180989533/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-researcher-studying-in-a-dutch-library-was-amazed-to-discover-a-scrap-of-parchment-from-a-1700-year-old-copy-of-the-odyssey-180989524/The handwritten fragment contains Greek verses from Book 12 of Homer’s epic, in which King Odysseus recounts the fate of his doomed crewMon, 21 Sep 2026 14:15:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-researcher-studying-in-a-dutch-library-was-amazed-to-discover-a-scrap-of-parchment-from-a-1700-year-old-copy-of-the-odyssey-180989524/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/emily-wilson-will-completely-re-translate-homers-odyssey-after-calling-christopher-nolan-blockbuster-film-abysmal-180989423/Nearly a decade after her acclaimed first translation was released, Wilson is taking a fresh approach to Homer's ancient Greek epicMon, 31 Aug 2026 16:21:17 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/emily-wilson-will-completely-re-translate-homers-odyssey-after-calling-christopher-nolan-blockbuster-film-abysmal-180989423/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/these-medieval-manuscript-fragments-were-reused-as-parchment-inadvertently-preserving-them-for-centuries-180989398/Recently discovered on Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands, the pages include Bible passages, poems, plays and other texts. They were repurposed as book bindings during the 16th and 17th centuriesWed, 26 Aug 2026 18:20:50 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/these-medieval-manuscript-fragments-were-reused-as-parchment-inadvertently-preserving-them-for-centuries-180989398/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/dolly-parton-was-one-of-the-biggest-stars-in-the-history-of-country-music-she-wanted-to-be-remembered-as-a-songwriter-180989405/After growing up in poverty, she became famous for her legendary songs, big heart and larger-than-life style. But the iconic musician insisted that "the songs lead to everything else"Wed, 26 Aug 2026 17:58:35 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/dolly-parton-was-one-of-the-biggest-stars-in-the-history-of-country-music-she-wanted-to-be-remembered-as-a-songwriter-180989405/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-new-statue-honors-moby-dick-author-herman-melville-in-the-massachusetts-city-where-his-whaling-adventures-began-180989388/The 7.5-foot-tall bronze artwork stands in the heart of historic New Bedford, the 19th-century whaling port that inspired the author's famous 1851 novelTue, 25 Aug 2026 17:57:22 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-new-statue-honors-moby-dick-author-herman-melville-in-the-massachusetts-city-where-his-whaling-adventures-began-180989388/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/when-carpenter-california-found-nugget-gold-started-rush-toward-nothing-less-modern-world-180989283/A new book by historian Nathaniel Philbrick makes the case that James Marshall’s 1848 discovery set in motion events from the Civil War to the rise of Silicon ValleyFri, 21 Aug 2026 11:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/when-carpenter-california-found-nugget-gold-started-rush-toward-nothing-less-modern-world-180989283/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-library-book-was-150-years-overdue-fortunately-for-the-man-who-just-returned-it-librarians-wont-be-enforcing-a-20000-late-fee-180989339/"The Antiquities of Athens" had likely been missing from an Australian library since the 1870s. Staffers say its recovery is "an unlikely story of survival (of the book) and redemption (of the borrower)"Fri, 14 Aug 2026 11:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-library-book-was-150-years-overdue-fortunately-for-the-man-who-just-returned-it-librarians-wont-be-enforcing-a-20000-late-fee-180989339/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/one-of-the-most-important-cookbooks-of-the-20th-century-celebrates-50-years-what-made-jacques-pepin-so-important-in-the-kitchen-180989297/With instructions and images explaining how to carve vegetables and deconstruct a lamb, "La Technique" by Jacques Pépin became a how-to guide and an inspiration for countless cooks and food loversMon, 10 Aug 2026 13:41:02 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/one-of-the-most-important-cookbooks-of-the-20th-century-celebrates-50-years-what-made-jacques-pepin-so-important-in-the-kitchen-180989297/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/the-history-of-the-beach-read-from-19th-century-moral-debasement-to-booktok-180989238/The still-popular genre got its start 150 years ago, when publishers profited off the rise of travel in the United States during an otherwise slow publishing seasonMon, 03 Aug 2026 14:22:30 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/the-history-of-the-beach-read-from-19th-century-moral-debasement-to-booktok-180989238/