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Books

Is your book overdue? Help may be in sight.

Cool Finds

This Library System Is Willing to Forgive Your Fine…Just This Once

Library scofflaws take note: Amnesty programs are gaining steam throughout the U.S.

New research shows that magical tales have an even longer history than previously suspected.

New Research

Fairy Tales Could Be Older Than You Ever Imagined

Jack may have been climbing that beanstalk for more than 5,000 years

Columbia librarians prepare the 17th-century medical pop-up book for digitization

Cool Finds

Check Out a Medical Pop-Up Book From the 17th Century

Early movable books were geared towards informing adults not entertaining children

The Chateau d'Ussé has connections with Sleeping Beauty...and contains a slightly creepy surprise.

Cool Finds

The French Castle That May Have Inspired “Sleeping Beauty” Is Filled With Creepy Mannequins

In honor of Charles Perrault’s birthday, explore the Chateau d’Usse

Library patrons will soon be able to check out ukuleles in libraries across Pennsylvania.

Cool Finds

Pennsylvania Libraries Will Let You Check Out a Ukulele

Read, strum, repeat

Adam Steltzner celebrates the successful landing of the Curiosity rover on Mars on August 5, 2012.

What Landing a Rover on Mars Teaches You About Leadership and Teamwork

In his new book, NASA engineer Adam Steltzner shares his insights on how to inspire people to make the impossible possible

Austin Reed learned to write as a juvenile prisoner. His handwritten manuscript runs 304 pages.

The Earliest Memoir by a Black Inmate Reveals the Long Legacy of Mass Incarceration

The story of “Rob Reed” is finally published, 150 years after his release

A First Folio kept at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, U.K.

Cool Finds

Shakespeare’s First Folio Goes on Tour in the U.S.

Rare copies of the tome, containing 36 of the Bard’s plays, will visit every state for the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death

Gene Luen Yang becomes the first graphic novelist to be appointed as the national ambassador for young people's literature.

Trending Today

Meet the New National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature

The Library of Congress’ decision to appoint graphic novelist Gene Luen Yang to the post reflects a growing acceptance of comic books

Excerpt from the "Executive Coloring Book" by Brenda Jackson, Dennis Altman, Marcie Hans, Martin A. Cohen, and Ronald L. McDonald, published in 1961.

Cool Finds

Adult Coloring Books Were Popular (and Subversive) in the 1960s

Coloring books made fun of corporate culture, conspiracy theorists and Communist fears

Does that book feel more like a doorstop? It's part of a growing trend.

New Research

Bestselling Books Are Getting Longer

But are they getting better?

None

Everybody Loves Lists

The Best History Books of 2015

Beyond the boldface names are these chronicles from the past year that are well worth your time

A NOAA archaeologist examines the wreck of Two Brothers in Hawaii.

Cool Finds

NOAA Made a Sequel to ‘In the Heart of the Sea’

Because the story that inspired Moby-Dick is just the beginning

Maybe the white whale just wanted a hyphen.

Cool Finds

Why Does Moby-Dick (Sometimes) Have a Hyphen?

The hunt for the true story behind Melville’s hyphen is as mysterious as the famous white whale

It took Leo Tolstoy six years to write War and Peace.

Trending Today

There’s a ‘War and Peace’ Marathon Going On in Russia

It will take 1,300 readers four days and 60 hours to read the book out loud

This 19th-century cartoon depicts a corpse brought back to life through the power of "galvanism."

Cool Finds

How Twitching Frog Legs Helped Inspire ‘Frankenstein’

Galvanism sought to reanimate the dead—and in doing so provided the impetus for one of literature’s most famously frightful books

A new Smithsonian Book by Gus Lee tells the untold story of Norman Schwarzkopf's work with young cadets at West Point.

How the Unflinching Norman Schwarzkopf Became One Man’s Guiding Light

In a new book, the general who successfully commanded one of the largest military operations in the Middle East is remembered by a man he mentored

The manuscript found in the attic

An Intern Saved a Museum by Finding This Revolutionary War Treasure in the Attic

The obvious lesson: never throw anything away

Best Gifts of 2015 for Museum Lovers

A host of gifts inspired by the Smithsonian collections, its scientists, curators, historians, photographers and gardeners

The Best Photography Books of the Year

These photographers see things differently and invite you into unfamiliar worlds

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