15 Facts about Monty Python and the Holy Grail Ni! Ni! Ni! In honor of the 40th anniversary of Monty Python’s quest for the Holy Grail, here are a few facts you may not have known about the legendary comedy. 1. THE NAME “MONTY PYTHON” DOESN’T MEAN ANYTHING. The name of the Read more
Mississippi On December 10, 1817, Mississippi was officially recognized as the 20th state in the United States of America. Mississippi joined the Union as the 20th state in 1817 and gets its name from the Mississippi River, which forms its western border. Early inhabitants of the area that became Mississippi Read more
Holiday TV Schedule 2019 It’s time for Christmas to have its annual TV takeover. That starts with one parade (New York City on Thanksgiving morning) and continues through another (Disney parks on Christmas morning), four weeks later. In between are cartoons, competitions, music and movies. Lots of movies, actually. In a Read more
HOW TO TELL IF A BOOK IS A FIRST EDITION Chances are if you’re an avid book collector, you’ve looked at your shelves and thought, “I wonder how valuable some of my books are!” Or maybe you’re a used bookstore patron and you’ve stumbled upon really pristine, really old copies Read more
HOW TO REMOVE STICKERS FROM BOOKS You know when you get a great book but the cover is marred by a terrible sticker? So you peel off the sticker, but it either refuses to budge, or leaves a terrible, sticky residue? Or, worst of all: The sticker must remain in Read more
Stephen King’s home 👻 will become a museum and writers’ retreat Today in “Stephen King is a good literary citizen” news: the writer’s home in Bangor, ME (the AKA the real-life Derry, where the sewers are perfectly normal thank you very much) will soon house an archive of his work and a Read more
Who doesn’t read books in America? BY ANDREW PERRIN PEWRESEARCH.ORG Roughly a quarter of U.S. adults (27%) say they haven’t read a book in whole or in part in the past year, whether in print, electronic or audio form, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted Jan. 8 to Feb. Read more
One-in-five Americans now listen to audiobooks BY ANDREW PERRIN PEWRESEARCH.ORG Americans are spreading their book consumption across several formats, and the use of audiobooks is on the rise. Roughly seven-in-ten U.S. adults (72%) say they have read a book in the past 12 months in any format, a figure that has Read more
ARGH! Plank walking good phrases for Talk Like a Pirate Day Ye want to celebrate National Talk Like A Pirate Day, eh? Well, grab ye eye patch and gather ’round, maties! Even though we usually wait until January when the pirates invade, it’s time to spit out ye favorite pirate lingo. If Read more
Does Reading Literary Fiction Improve Empathy? Reading fiction has been said to increase people’s empathy and compassion. But does the research really bear that out? By Claudia Hammond • BBC 3 June 2019 Every day more than 1.8 million books are sold in the US and another half a million Read more