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Have you ever walked out of a movie that you (mostly) loved, or read a book that really moved you, only to hear that someone else you respect absolutely hated it? It’s a weird feeling, and it’s kind of what’s happening with The Odyssey right now. The internet is going wild over a scathing review of Christopher Nolan’s epic movie by none other than Emily Wilson, whose translation of the 3,000-year-old poem Nolan says was an inspiration. The translator did have some good things to say about the film, and clearly the public is plowing ahead to the theater regardless. The Odyssey is the biggest hit of the summer, reviews are generally fantastic, and it’s grossed over $700 million globally in less than two weeks. But it brings up an interesting discussion about movies based on beloved works of art. Homer’s 3,000-year-old poem has inspired countless movies, TV shows and literary analyses, and every single one of them will speak to people differently. Hav...

Best book jokes Why did the book go to the chiropractor? Someone cracked its spine. What did the thesaurus order at the bakery? A synonym roll. What’s a snake’s favorite genre? Hiss-torical fiction. What do books wear in the winter? Dust jackets. Why did the two books become best friends? They were always on the same page. What did the library book say when it was feeling frisky? “Talk Dewey to me.” What did the library book say to its anxious neighbor? “Get your shelf together!” What did the confident book say at the checkout desk? “Go ahead—judge me by my cover.” Why was the textbook nervous at the hospital? It was there to have its appendix removed. Why do novels make terrible secret keepers? Because they’re open books. Why did the cookbook get invited to every party? It really knew how to spice things up. What did the prologue say to the epilogue? “Long time, no see!” What’s a pirate’s favorite part ...

There are two kinds of people in this world: people who read and people who say, “I wish I had time to read.” If you’re in the first camp, these reading memes are for you. You are the bookworms who will curl up with a good book literally anywhere—the couch, the beach, the plane, the DMV waiting room, a wedding reception (allegedly). My perfect summer day? Parked in the sand with a beach read , preferably Elin Hilderbrand. Hey, I’ve gotta know what those crazy kids in Nantucket are up to … until my Kobo dies. That’s when I go into the water. Just kidding—that’s when I switch to my iPhone and bust out the memes. Everyone else is dipping their toes in the water, and I’m cackling alone under my umbrella about my favorite pastime. Because here’s the thing about being a reader: It isn’t a hobby; it’s a full-on lifestyle. It’s the already-too-big TBR pile you add to daily. It’s the Libby holds that all...

I was a very tightly wound child. I basically needed a stuffie, a set routine and a full daily debrief before bed just to function. And the library was one of the only places that could get my nervous system to stand all the way down. A huge part of what was so relaxing to me then, and still soothes me now, is the smell of the library—especially the smell of old books. You know the one: that spicy, dusky, stale perfume that rises up the second you crack open a paperback older than you. There’s even a word for this specific breed of book love: bibliosmia. It was coined in 2014 by Oliver Tearle, an English professor who mashed together the Greek words for book and smell to describe the particular joy of sniffing old pages. If you’ve ever caught yourself burying your nose in a used paperback at a garage sale, congratulations—you’re a bibliosmiac, and you’re in excellent company. In fact, so many of us love this smell that one perfumery sells both an ...