There was a wordless picture book I loved when I was little about a tricycle that rode all around the town. The photos were black and white, but the tricycle was red. My mother was a librarian at our town’s library, so I got to spend a lot of time staring at the book at the table while she worked. One day, she brought me over to a man by the circulation desk and introduced him as the author of the book. Well, I was stunned! It was already hard for my small brain to comprehend that there was a book with pictures of places where I lived, but now I was meeting the actual author?!? I was too shy to say anything. (And so began my life-long habit of being awkward in front of authors.)

Many, many years later, I had the luck of becoming a bookseller at a small independent bookstore. Indie booksellers are amazing; they’re like one big family across the country, and I quickly learned that so many of the booksellers I met were also writers. Authors who work as booksellers? AMAZING. I worked with two award-winning poets; my fellow Mainer Josh Christie had begun publishing books about skiing and brewing beer; Jami Attenberg worked a shift behind the counter at WORD in Brooklyn. Every year, there were more booksellers announcing that they were writing books!

What a great place a bookstore is for an author or an aspiring author! As a ravenous reader turned bookslinger, I was all about the employee discount. Before I was a bookseller, I was the store’s biggest customer, but I bought even more books when I worked there. (My boss was no fool.) As a writer, you are surrounded by inspiration, some in the form of books by your heroes, and you get to talk about books all day and meet authors and listen to them talk about the craft.

It’s no wonder that so many amazing authors were booksellers or that several authors have opened bookstores! Authors who currently own bookstores include Judy Blume, Ann Patchett, Louise Erdrich, Kelly Link, Alex George, Jenny Lawson, George R. R. Martin, Kristen Iskandrian, Emma Straub, Jeff Kinney, and Josh Cook. And there’s a whole other enormous group of authors who have been librarians, including my hero Elizabeth McCracken and our very own Kelly Jensen, Jessica Pryde, and Tirzah Price. But let’s get back to the booksellers!

I’d argue that the best thing about the bookish corner of the internet is its capacity to bring people together and form a huge community that can collectively discuss and enjoy books. What’s another way to bring bookish people together? Book clubs, of course! The only problem is that finding the right book club for you can sometimes be a bit difficult. Especially since book clubs tend to be local, and not everyone can meet up at the same time. But I did mention the internet for a reason, which is that there are plenty of online book clubs you can join! Once again, it may be hard to choose one. So that’s why today, we’re taking a look at some of the best online book clubs, 2023 edition.

One of the beauties of these online communities is that, more often than not, you can join in on the discussion in your own time. Of course, when there are scheduled talks or livestreams, things get more complicated. But overall, you could be half a world away and still join in, which is one of the reasons why I like this format so much. For this post, I chose eight of the best online book clubs of 2023 — which I picked because I think they offer a wide variety of books as well as different engagement levels. Don’t worry, I’ll tell you a bit about each — things like pricing or previous picks. Plus, I’m adding their websites so you can learn more if you want to.

So, without further ado, let’s take a look at some of the best online book clubs 2023 edition, shall we?

Summer is nearly in the rearview mirror, which means the big summer crossover events in comics are behind us as well. That doesn’t mean there aren’t some amazing comic book and graphic novel stories on the horizon, though. As the weather starts to turn colder, it always makes me want to curl up with the glossies. Give me cool weather, a couple fingers of Scotch, and great superhero stories any day.

Speaking of which, I’m pretty excited about a ton of new superhero series launching this month with new #1 issues, which are always great jumping-in points. There’s also a true crime in comic book form, which is pretty unusual. There is also a new epic fantasy comic and a wild fantasy/cyberpunk cross-world comic. Oh, and we can’t forget a pair of brilliant new graphic novels tacking coming-of-age and race.

There are a ton of great comics coming to us in September 2023, but I’m keeping the list short and sweet so you don’t get overwhelmed when you visit your local comic book shop. But by all means, peruse the rest of the shelves while you’re there. Without further preamble, here are nine great comics and graphic novels coming this month.

Have you ever wondered how life might have turned out if you hadn’t studied that thing… taken that job… married that person… made that decision?

I engage in these existential exercises all the time. Not because I’m unhappy with my life. No, it’s not that. But the thought that if I’d done just one small thing differently, my life might have gone in a completely different direction. The notion is fascinating. Staggering. Mind-boggling.

It’s why I enjoy time travel stories and Sliding Doors-like narratives. I love imagining the endless possibilities that exist, the ways in which life might have spun out. The ways that paths might still be altered.

Multiverse stories — alternate timelines — are similarly satisfying. Because all those possible paths? They exist simultaneously. And if you had the ability to step from one stream to another? Well, what would you do with that power? Would you come to the conclusion that no version of life beats the one you’re already living? Or would you try to step into the life of another you?

There may come a time when you find yourself at just such a crossroads. (Come on. Let me dream.) The books below will prepare you for just such an eventuality.

My favorite reading challenge, The Sealey Challenge, wrapped up at the end of August. Created by poet Nicole Sealey, it’s a challenge where participants read one collection of poetry every day in August. Reading one collection a day can be an incredible experience, but the point is simply to enjoy poetry and connect with other poetry lovers. This was my third time doing the challenge, and, as usual, it brought me so much joy.

One of my favorite things about the challenge is that it I always come out of August hungry for more poetry. This is perfect because fall is a big season for new releases, and poetry is no exception. There are so many incredible collections that have just come out or are coming out soon. Whether you, too, have just finished the Sealey and are excited to ride the momentum into September, or you’re just eager for some new collections to peruse at a leisurely pace this fall, you’re in luck. This list includes a reissue of a classic, a book of poems all about pigs, a collection that wrestles with complicated questions of heritage and erasure, and several exciting debuts.

So what are you waiting for? You know what to do: get those preorders and library requests in now!

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July 9 – September 17, 2023

August 12 – September 30, 2023

Last Friday afternoon, the first in a series of downpours began in northern Nevada just as Burning Man was preparing to wrap up. Life in Black Rock City, the temporary settlement created for the event, ground to a halt as the hard-packed desert clay turned into a particularly sticky species of mud. Wheeled vehicles from bedazzled bikes to fire-breathing art cars instantly became useless. For approximately two and a half days, festival organizers forbade travel into and out of the city. Burners were asked to conserve food and water, and to live out their espoused principle of radical self-reliance.

As the lockdown dragged on, news reports from Black Rock City were limited and at times sensational. (Rumors of an ebola outbreak on Saturday were quickly debunked.) Social media commentary on the waterlogged festival was, predictably, infused with heavy doses of Schadenfreude. But one source struck a slightly different tone. 

BMIR 94.5, a radio station which surfaces annually for the festival, quickly adapted its programming to the shifting conditions. The station—located in a DJ booth in the makeshift city—allowed walk-up studio guests to mingle with on-air callers from the “default world,” as attendees dub the universe beyond the Black Rock City gates. Over the long weekend, I periodically tuned in online from New York, listening for the vibes.

Every ten minutes or so, BMIR played a series of prerecorded PSAs. Some were earnest exhortations, if slightly surreal: “Please do not climb on art. There are muddy, unsafe conditions on playa and very limited mobile emergency services,” one message went. “Also, refrain from entering the man.” (This refers to the towering wooden effigy ritualistically set aflame at the conclusion of every festival.) 

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