In July 2019, the reddit community r/books selected the acclaimed novel There There as their book of the month. Tommy Orange joined the group for an AMA (Ask Me Anything), answering an array of questions covering everything from his book to his writing process to his favorite flavors of ice cream. Read a selection of

Kindred by Octavia Butler has been chosen by the University of Iowa’s General Education Literature program to be their feature title for a second year. The program focuses on helping students become comfortable reading different kinds of texts with historical, social, political and cultural contexts. It is geared towards non English majors to improve their reading and writing skills as well as generate interest in an English major. The overall goal is to create a perpetual habit of reading for students.

Introduced to American movies and pop music while growing up in Somalia, Abdi Nor Iftin fell in love with the idea of America long before he could find the country on a map. As the Somali Civil War broke out, Abdi grew desensitized to the violence around him: avoiding gunfire during his daily trip to