A Writer's Hierarchy of Needs

Grant Snider made this one for the New York Times Book review. It's also at his webcomic, Incidental Comics.

The Trojan Horse

You know the story of the Trojan Horse, of course, because you've read Homer's Iliad, the epic poem about the Trojan War, right? No, because you haven't read it, and also because the Trojan Horse isn't in the Iliad. But you know the story of how the Greeks won the war against the city of Troy after ten years by leaving a gift of a massive wooden horse behind, which the Trojans accepted and brought into the city gates, not realizing it was full of Greek soldiers. It only makes sense the Trojans would do that, despite the horse's odd weight, without looking to see what was inside. 

Is there any truth at all to the story? We once thought that the city of Troy was itself fictional, until Heinrich Schliemann found it in Turkey (and dug right through the layer that would have existed at the relevant time). But that doesn't mean there was a ten-year war. And while the tale of the Trojan Horse was layered with supernatural deeds by Greek gods, that was normal for both historical and fictional accounts in ancient Greece. Weird History looks at the story of the Trojan Horse, and reveals some theories about how it could have happened, whether it did or not. 

Oh, The Places You Should Not Go!

It's become a tradition for parents to give their child the Dr. Seuss book Oh, The Places You'll Go! when they graduate from high school. It's sentimental for those who grew up reading Dr. Seuss books. But we know the world is a really scary place, so it might be more realistic if the book were written by Stephen King. In this parody of the Dr. Seuss book, we get a tour of all the terrible places King reveals in his novels. If you've not read the books, you have at least seen the movies. This video is a gift to the class of 2026 from the Stephen King Book Club. 

Turn the Page

If you're in Maine, you might want to check out First Fridays at Bowdoin College's Special Collections Library. On the first Friday of every month, people gather together for a surprise. Some of them have even placed bets on the reveal. When News Center Maine attended First Friday a couple of weeks ago, the crowd was even bigger than usual as it was alumni weekend, and quite a few people skipped other planned events to see... a page being turned. Yes, one page every month, for ten years now. But this is a special book, kept under glass, with the regular page-turning times to prevent sun damage to the paper. What will be revealed on the next page? The librarians know, but they aren't telling. What kind of book inspires this kind of interest? You'll have to watch the video for that, and you'll be delighted to find out. (via Metafilter) 

Bookstore

(via Give Me a Sign)

A Million Monkeys

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— That's HEDLEY! (@hedleylamarr23.bsky.social) May 24, 2026 at 10:15 AM

Hamlet

(via She Who Seeks)

Books

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— Joolia Ghoulia (@jooliaghoulia.bsky.social) April 10, 2026 at 9:55 AM

Textbook Illustration

(via Academia Obscura)

Acknowledgments

(via Academia Obscura)

Books

(via Fark)

The Curse of Peter Pan

In 1904, J.M. Barrie wrote the story of Peter Pan, the boy who never grew up. Disney made it into a a children's animated adventure in 1953. But the real story behind the story is anything but charming. In this video, it is told in three chapters. First, there is the tragedy of Barrie's childhood, which left him with a case of arrested development. Then, it explores his relationship with the five sons of Arthur and Sylvia Davies, who inspired Peter Pan and the Lost boys. Barrie became their guardian after their parents' deaths, and they all suffered from Barrie's quirks and famous creations. Thirdly, we get a deeper look into the darker side of the original Peter Pan stories before they were Disneyfied, and how they reflect Barrie's own psychological problems. 

Bookmarks

Read more about bacon bookmarks at Weird Universe. 

Year-end Lists 2025: Books

Happy Hanukkah! Here are book recommendations to last you (at least!) eight days and nights.

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— NPR (@npr.org) December 18, 2025 at 8:31 AM

Slate's 10 Best Books of 2025. 

Publisher's Weekly's Best 20 Books of 2025. Ten for adults and ten for kids. 
 
The Chicago Public Library's Best of the Best Books 2025. 

The New York Public Library's Best Books of 2025.  

Book Riot's Best Books of 2025. 

100 Notable Small Press Books of 2025. 

Kirkus' Best Fiction Books of the Year. 

Electric Lit’s Best Novels of 2025. 

Electric Lit’s Best Nonfiction of 2025. 

Gosh! Names their 2025 Best Comic Books for Adults. 

The A.V. Club's best comics of 2025. 

Gosh! Names their 2025 Best Comic Books for Kids & Young Adults. 

10 Great Children’s Books You Might Have Missed in 2025. 

The 10 best sci-fi and fantasy novels of 2025.

 

 The Ten Best History Books of 2025. 

The Ten Best Science Books of 2025. 

The Ten Best Photography Books of 2025. 

The Best Books of 2025: Crime Fiction, Mysteries, and Thrillers. 

Five of the best sports books of 2025. 

The Ten Best Books About Food of 2025. 

The 26 Best Cookbooks of the year. 

The 173 Best Book Covers of 2025. 

 

The Most Scathing Book Reviews of 2025. 

 

See all the previous year-end lists here. 

Convoluted Plot

(via Bad Newspaper)

Textbook

(via reddit)

Simon's Cat

(via Fark)

Trilogy

(via reddit)

Library Humor

(Thanks, WTM!)

Princesses Reading

(via Pleated-Jeans)