LitStaff Picks

LitStaff Pick: Top Two SciFi/Fantasy Stories Every Genre Fan Should Read

Tee Tate

There is something unique about genre fiction. Perhaps it is the notion that great fiction should offer an escape. Perhaps...

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6

Our Favorite Timeless Plots

Tee Tate

There are seven stories in the world. It's a well used maxim and not necessarily true. (Kipling, for example, claimed...

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

LitStack Rec: Barack Obama’s Summer Reading List & Shotgun Lovesongs

Tee Tate

Barack Obama's Summer Reading List In uncertain times, we look to the familiar things, and this past week, it was...

Pages: 1 2

LitStaff Pick: The Most Important Book I’ve Ever Read

LitStack Editors

Some books plant seeds. Some books are so dear to us, affect us so profoundly that we walk away from...

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Best/Worst Surprise Endings

LitStack Editors

Some authors love to pull whammies on us. Sometimes, there's nothing better than an evil plot twist, because, well, who...

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

LitStaff Pick: Open Thread

Tee Tate

This week, we've got a lot on our minds. From stories that stuck with us, to the frustration and exhilaration...

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

LitStaff Pick: Our Yearly Re-Reads

Tee Tate

Traditions are important. They cultivate in us a continuum of the normal. They give us comfort, remind us of where...

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5

LitStaff Pick: The Books That Remind Us of Our School Days

Tee Tate

Labor Day usually marks the end of summer and the return to bells, books and professions that Algebra will never,...

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

LitStaff Pick: The Books We Didn’t Want to End

Tee Tate

I once had a dream about a living library. Outside of the brick and mortar walls, beyond the rows and...

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

LitStaff Picks: Our Favorite Characters Who Never Gave Up

Tee Tate

Our Favorite Characters Who Never Gave Up To us, the best stories and characters are those about the underdog, the...

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6

LitStaff Pick: The Books That Turn Us Into a Sobbing Mess

Tee Tate

What is the point of great literature if we can't find some semblance of ourselves or at least some sense...

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6

LitStaff Pick: Celebrating Females of Fiction

Tee Tate

Recently, there has been quite the hoopla surrounding what many are calling the sexist and obligatory "good ole boys" response...

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6

LitStaff Pick: Our Favorite Military Stories

Tee Tate

Earlier this week, we celebrated Memorial Day, a holiday dedicated to the memory of the women and men, and their...

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

LitStaff Pick: Film Adaptations We Love and Those We Hate

Tee Tate

JK Rowling once said that fans of her Harry Potter series shouldn't look to the films for canon details. They...

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6

LitStaff Pick: Lessons Learned From Our Favorite Teachers

Tee Tate

This is the week designated to celebrate that most noble (and frustrating) of careers: Teaching. It takes a special person...

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

LitStaff Pick: Our Favorite Fictional Mothers

Tee Tate

Generally, I think, many of us will say that our mothers are the best ever. We're all biased, of course,...

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

LitStaff Pick: The Books That Affected Us the Most

Tee Tate

One of our favorite things about literature is the impact it has on our lives. A really great book can...

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6

LitStaff Pick: Favorite Characters from Shakespeare

Tee Tate

There are so many facets of Shakespeare's works that have endeared him to the ages. His plots, his stirring landscapes,...

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

LitStaff Pick: Open Thread

Tee Tate

We've got a lot of things on our minds this week. From the election of a new Pope to memories...

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6

LitStaff Picks: Our Favorite Literary Bastards

Tee Tate

Some characters just aren't nice. But, that, we feel, is sort of the point. In a well written novel, there...

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6

LitStaff Picks: Our Favorite Literary Crushes

Tee Tate

When you're a bit of a book nerd it's not hard to imagine that some characters are real. Okay, we...

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6

LitStaff Picks: Our Favorite Fictional BFFs

Tee Tate

Do you have a best friend? I'm not talking about the dude you shoot hoops with or the girl you...

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6

LitStaff Picks: Our Favorite Fictional Families

Tee Tate

You must remember, family is often born of blood, but it doesn't depend on blood. Nor is it exclusive of...

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6

LitStack Pick: The Lines We Wish We’d Written

Tee Tate

I have a favorite line, several in fact, that have become a part of my subconscious. Sometimes, I spit them...

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

LitStaff Pick: The Best Books We Read This Year

Tee Tate

We have a love affair with books. That's an obvious, blanket statement, true, but it bears repeating. We don't write...

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

The Results: Your Favorite 2012 Reads

Tee Tate

Your Favorite 2012 Reads We've gathered your picks and tabulated the books you claimed as your favorites in 2012. Thanks for...

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

LitStaff Pick: Open Thread

Tee Tate

It's nearly year's end, when the best-of lists proliferate like winter grass in California's rainy season. These reading lists are...

Pages: 1 2 3 4

LitStaff Picks: Character Mash-Ups

Tee Tate

Just how far would Frodo have gotten if it was Luna Lovegood assisting him on his journey to Mordoor? Not...

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

LitStaff Pick:Supporting (or Secondary) Characters Who Deserve Their Own Book

Tee Tate

There's nothing quite like a great character. These are the fictional folks who leave indelible impressions on readers. They are...

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

LitStaff Pick: Our Favorite Politically Satirical/Guilty Pleasure Reads

Tee Tate

We just couldn't make up our minds. Some of the folks on the staff were beyond tired of hearing about...

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

LitStaff Pick: Our Favorite Plot Twists

Lauren Alwan

Spoilers ahead: Sirius Black was not, in fact, hellbent on killing Harry Potter in Prisoner of Azkaban. Oh and Aaron...

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

LitStaff Picks: The Books We Are Most Passionate About

Tee Tate

There are books we love. There are, of course, books that resonate with us. There are books that make us...

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

LitStaff Pick: Characters Who Didn't Get What They Deserved

LitStack Editors

Sometimes authors can disappoint us. Sometimes (particularly for those of us who are writers), there is a less-than-satisfactory fate for...

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

LitStaff Pick: Our Favorite Top Five Must Reads

LitStack Editors

It's a difficult task, narrowing down the novels that have impacted your life into a small, somewhat abstract list....

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

LitStaff Pick: Our Favorite Subversive Fiction

LitStack Editors

Great fiction is meant to inspire. That may not, perhaps, be the agenda of the novelist at the outset of...

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

LitStaff Pick: Summer Lovin' – Best Books for Your Beachbag

LitStack Editors

Ah...summer. The beach. The sand. The incessant present of school age children. Summer means a lot of things to...

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

LitStaff Pick: Open Thread

LitStack Editors

Once again we take a small breath and discuss those random issues on our minds. Here's your chance, LitStackers,...

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6

LitStaff Picks: Our Favorite Short Stories

LitStack Editors

Some of the best fiction is written in short form. There's certainly a reason the entire month of May...

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

LitStaff Picks: The Books or Series We Just Couldn't Finish

LitStack Editors

Back in 2003, Stephen King, while speaking at Yale, said that there is a magic moment that occurs for writers...

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

LitStaff Pick: Mashups We Would Love to Read

LitStack Editors

Some people were highly annoyed by Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. "It disrespects Austen," they said. "It is trite and...

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

LitStaff Pick: Our Favorite Opening Lines

LitStack Editors

Writers are great at getting readers hooked. There are lines in songs that make us hum lyrics for days and, for...

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

LitStaff Pick: The Books That Make Us Laugh the Most

LitStack Editors

Comedy, it's been said, is some of the most difficult writing to tackle. So when we come across a really...

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6

LitStaff Pick: Beloved Novels We Still Don't Like

LitStack Editors

There are books that captivate, that grab hold of the reading public's heart and souls and refuse to relinquish their...

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6

LitStaff Pick: Books We Wish Were Films (Or Better Films)

LitStack Editors

The Lord of the Rings trilogy, in our opinion, was adapted brilliantly by Peter Jackson. We'd say the same of...

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6

LitStaff Pick: The Characters We Want to Be

LitStack Editors

One of the best things about literature, is the artistically drawn dynamics of human nature. If done well, writers can...

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

LitStaff Pick: Books We're Ashamed To Admit We Haven't Read

LitStack Editors

Those literary-minded tend to embellish when it comes to discussing classic that everyone "should" read. Maybe you fib about reading...

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

LitStaff Pick: Books I Wish I Hadn't Read

LitStack Editors

For whatever reason, sometimes a book just doesn't connect with readers. Maybe it's a recycled story that has been done...

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

LitStaff Picks: The Most Memorable (Literary) Moments of 2011

LitStack Editors

2011 brought many highs and lows to the publishing industry. There was the deaths of a few wonderful writers, the...

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6

LitStaff Pick: Open Thread

LitStack Editors

LitStack is made up of a variety of personality types. And while some might argue that a few of those...

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

LitStaff Pick: "The Fictional Character(s) We Love the Most"

LitStack Editors

Literature, if written well, can be a force of great power. A good book may not heal the sick or...

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

LitStaff Picks: The Books We Hated As Kids but Love as Adults

LitStack Editors

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens When I was in 9th grade, my English class was assigned to read Charles Dicken’s...

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5

LitStaff Picks: Our Favorite Book Covers

LitStack Editors

A book isn't always about the contents of its pages. Sometimes, even though we aren't supposed to, we love a...

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6

LitStaff Picks: Setting with Real Character

LitStack Editors

Some stories are from Anywhere--the details and the atmosphere matter less than the characters and their trials, which could take...

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

LitStaff Picks: Our Favorite Books at Age 14

LitStack Editors

Oh, to be fourteen again. Invariably any favorite book at that age impacts us well into adulthood. With appearances by...

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

You may have missed

Recent Posts

Categories