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Books

A still from the 2005 film adaptation of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, featuring (left to right) Anna Popplewell, William Moseley and Georgie Henley as Susan, Peter and Lucy Pevensie

How World War II Influenced ‘The Chronicles of Narnia,’ C.S. Lewis’ Beloved Fantasy Novels

Published 75 years ago, “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” tells the story of four children who are evacuated from London during the Blitz

Naomi Odessa Miller-Dawson's spritz cookie recipe is etched on her headstone in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.

A Recipe Engraved on a Gravestone Helps to Remember the Dearly Departed and Keep Part of Them Alive

Culinary epitaphs offer a point of connection to the deceased’s descendants and anyone else who comes across them

László Krasznahorkai, seen here in Spain in 2018, won the 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature.

This Hungarian Author Once Wrote a 400-Page Book With a Single Period. Now, László Krasznahorkai Is a Nobel Prize Winner

The 71-year-old recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature is known for his long, winding sentences

Projections of portraits and quotes grace the main concourse.

A Massive Art Installation by the ‘Humans of New York’ Creator Has Taken Over Grand Central Terminal

For two weeks, “Dear New York” will grace the train station’s walls, screens and ad space

Stephen Shore's parents on a corner in Rhinebeck, New York

Before Stephen Shore Became Famous, He Was a 12-Year-Old Photographer Capturing Stunning Scenes of 1960s New York

In his latest book, titled “Early Work,” the renowned photographer revisits the bold black-and-white images he took between 1960 and 1965

Roosevelt stands between the Sister of Rev. W.F. Bumsted, at that time mother superior of the convent, and the young King Daudi of Uganda, and is surrounded by members of the king's court at St. Mary's Convent, near Kampala, December 22, 1909

In 1909, Theodore Roosevelt Embarked on an Ambitious Expedition to East Africa. Here’s Why His Trip Still Matters Today

The 26th U.S. president is both lauded as a conservationist and condemned as a big-game hunter. A new book recounts the historic journey on which he helped form a significant collection of animals at the National Museum of Natural History

“The base of Ethiopian cuisine as a whole is very much Jewish, more than anything else,” says Beejhy Barhany.

At This Harlem Chef’s Table, the Rosh Hashana Menu Is Full of Ethiopian Spices

With a café in New York City and a new cookbook, Beejhy Barhany is bringing the stories and flavors of Ethiopian Jews to the States

Medical supplies for the front are piled up at a railway station in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 1935. Back in America, Black educator Melva L. Price rallied support for Ethiopian refugees fleeing the violence of the Second Italo-Ethiopian War.

During the Great Depression, This Black Educator Looked to Conflicts Abroad for Lessons on Fighting Racism at Home

The Second Italo-Ethiopian War and the Spanish Civil War offered Melva L. Price and her fellow female activists an opportunity to examine the links between racism and fascism

A depiction of George Washington and his mother, Mary Ball Washington, attending a ball celebrating the surrender at Yorktown in 1781

America's 250th Anniversary

The Reinvention of George Washington’s Mother, From Paragon of Virtue to Greedy Shrew to Widow Striving for Independence

A new biography examines how 19th-century Americans remembered Mary Ball Washington, who raised the future president largely on her own after her husband’s death in 1743

Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya

See Ten Gorgeous Photographs of Lions and Discover What Makes the Majestic Felines Special

A new book of essays and images reveals the history of the big cats and how they’ve become a vulnerable species today, and uncovers little-known facts about them

Clockwise from top left: Abigail Adams, Harriet Jacobs, Zora Neale Hurston and Eleanor Roosevelt.

Four Famous American Women Who Were Also Prolific Letter Writers

In a long and storied tradition, these bold women recorded history—and shaped it—through their correspondence

Lord Krishna—an incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu—begs the antagonist, Duryodhana, not to launch a war. 

A Veteran Pixar Animator’s Newest Book Is an Epic Undertaking That Began 5,000 Years Ago

Sanjay Patel enjoyed success on YouTube with his colorful shorts and is about to release a richly illustrated book that tells the story of the longest poem in the world

In Cormac McCarthy’s living room, books jockey for space with a previously unpublished photo of the novelist, shot by his brother Dennis.

Two Years After Cormac McCarthy’s Death, Rare Access to His Personal Library Reveals the Man Behind the Myth

The famously reclusive novelist amassed a collection of thousands of books ranging in topics from philosophical treatises to advanced mathematics to the naked mole-rat

E.Y. “Yip” Harburg's sketch for the lyrics of “Over the Rainbow"

Want to See the Original Lyrics for ‘Over the Rainbow’? All You Need Is a Library Card

The Library of Congress has acquired a collection of musical manuscripts and other rare artifacts connected to “The Wizard of Oz”

Fewer Americans are reading for pleasure.

Reading for Pleasure Has Declined by a ‘Deeply Concerning’ 40 Percent Over the Past Two Decades

Between 2003 and 2023, the proportion of Americans who read for fun on a given day has been steadily falling, a new study suggests

Strongheart “was kind of a Jean-Claude Van Damme, Arnold Schwarzenegger [type] action hero,” says film studies scholar Kathryn Fuller-Seeley. 

Strongheart the German Shepherd Catapulted to Fame for His Heroics in Silent Films. Later, Spiritualist Writings Immortalized Him in Death

The beloved dog starred in six movies during the Roaring Twenties. After Strongheart died in 1929, author J. Allen Boone chronicled their enduring connection in a pair of nonfiction books

The book is on view inthe Central Library's lobby.

Someone Returned a Library Book That Their Grandmother Checked Out Eight Decades Ago

The San Antonio Public Library received the book in the mail along with a letter: “I hope there is no late fee for it because Grandma won’t be able to pay for it anymore”

The Chapel Choir of the University of Exeter performed the monastic songs from the Buckland Book.

Cool Finds

Hear the Long-Lost Chants of English Monks Whose Monasteries Were Dissolved by Henry VIII

A university choir has revived music found hiding in plain sight in a book once used by monks at southern England’s Buckland Abbey

Thornton's handwritten memoirs recount the same period of her life.

Read the Dramatic 17th-Century Memoirs of Alice Thornton, Who Wrote Four Versions of Her Life Story

Researchers have digitized all four volumes, which are now available online. The autobiographies offer a compelling window into a tumultuous period in English history

Auctioneum book specialist Caitlin Riley found the volume with other unremarkable texts on a shelf.

Cool Finds

Rare First-Edition Copy of ‘The Hobbit’ Found in English Home Sells for Nearly $60,000

Experts found the volume while appraising the items in a home in Bristol, England. Only a few hundred copies are thought to survive

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