Books

COVID-19 Pandemic Could Be The Last Chapter For N.J. Bookstore

9:46am April 24, 2020

by Danny Hajek

The bookstore called Source of Knowledge in Newark was a vibrant part of the community before the coronavirus outbreak. It's one of two African American-owned bookstores left in the state.

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Jonny Sun speaks at TED2019: Bigger Than Us. April 15 - 19, 2019, Vancouver, BC, Canada. Photo: Bret Hartman / TED

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Jonny Sun: You're Not Alone In Feeling Lonely

9:13am April 24, 2020

by NPR/TED Staff

For Jonny Sun, loneliness felt like being an alien on a distant planet, alone in the universe. But when he shared those feelings online, he found a community of people who felt precisely the same way.

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Vivek Shraya's new novel The Subtweet chronicles a friendship between two musicians — both brown, both women — that implodes under the pressure of online life.

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For Artist And Author Vivek Shraya, The Internet Is Now A Canvas

7:00am April 24, 2020

by Jeevika Verma

The multidisciplinary artist has brought new visibility to Canada's trans community. Her new book, The Subtweet, chronicles a friendship between two musicians that implodes under online pressures.

For years, Karen and Barry Mason ran a Los Angeles bookshop that sold and distributed gay pornography.

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The Mom-And-Pop Bookstore That Sold Gay Porn: 'Circus Of Books'

8:51pm April 23, 2020

by Scott Tobias

Rachel Mason and her siblings grew up unaware that their parents ran a gay bookstore. Her "affectionate but thinly realized" documentary skims the surface of stories that deserve deeper dives.

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For April, 3 Romances That Provide Delicious Escapes

7:00am April 23, 2020

by Maya Rodale

Nothing guarantees a happy escape like a romance novel, and escape has never been more necessary — so for April we've got three reads packed with humor and heartache to savor while you stay inside.

While researching his book, Mark O'Connell visited Pripyat, Ukraine, a town that was evacuated the day after the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986. "I wanted to see what the end of the world looked like," he says.

Books

Author Tours The 'End Of The World,' From Prairie Bunkers To Apocalypse Mansions

1:34pm April 22, 2020

by Terry Gross

Mark O'Connell visited doomsday communities while researching his book, Notes from an Apocalypse. He says he's not interested in being part of the sheltered elite: "I think I'd rather be dead."

Ngyuen Phan Que Mai grew up amid the devastation of the Vietnam War. She worked as a street vendor before going to college in Australia and becoming a writer.

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Memories Of Tragedy Stay With Author Nguyen Phan Que Mai

1:28pm April 22, 2020

by Mandalit del Barco

Vietnamese author Nguyen Phan Que Mai grew up amid the devastation of war. Her memories of that time, and her family's experiences, became the inspiration for her new novel, The Mountains Sing.

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Jennifer Finney Boylan has written extensively about being a trans woman, including in the memoir, She's Not There: A Life in Two Genders. She co-chaired the board of directors of the LGBTQ rights group GLAAD from 2013 until 2017.

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'I'm Living In The World With No Secrets,' Says Trans Activist Jennifer Finney Boylan

5:09pm April 21, 2020

by Terry Gross

Boylan came out as trans when she was in her 40s. She describes her new book, Good Boy, as a "memoir of masculinity, kind of told the way an expatriate might speak of the country of their birth."

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For Spring, 3 YA Tales Of Girls On The Edge

7:00am April 21, 2020

by Caitlyn Paxson

These three young adult novels center on girls pushed to their limits, figuring out what they're willing to do to survive, be remembered and protect what they love.

Books

Even During Coronavirus Outbreak, Oregon Blockbuster Carries On

5:58am April 21, 2020

To keep people entertained during lockdown, the video rental chain in Bend is offering curbside pickup. Customers request videos online and staff bring sanitized DVDs in Ziploc bags out to their cars.

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