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BOOKS

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This coming-of-age story featuring swaggering pirates, sea battles, and a quest for buried treasure is one of the most enduring adventure tales of all time.

Dryer sheets have a number of uses outside of the laundry room.

They're not just for softening your shirts.

Flickr user csessums // CC BY-SA 2.0

There's a tiny fellowship of people who know how difficult it is to sit in a room and read 'Infinite Jest' out loud.

A portrait of the writer Mark Twain—author of several unfinished manuscripts—circa 1900.

When an author dies with their work unfinished, do we let it molder in vaults, stash it away in archives, or publish it for all the world to see—even if that’s not what the writer wanted?

HarperCollins (book cover), James Mato (background)

This poignant tale about life and death on a farm is still one of the best selling children’s books of all time.

Oliver Morris/Getty Images

Author Kurt Vonnegut hated interviews, but when he did give them, his insights into writing were especially valuable, sage, and practical.

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Lizzie Skurnick has a word for that.

Amazon

Wordpress

The books are fake. Their impact is real.

Brian Wilson via Wikimedia Commons // Not Pictured: Thomas Pynchon (obviously)

The awkward evening seems straight out of a Pynchon novel.

Rob Kim/Getty Images for Dylan's Candy Bar

We've got the golden ticket to a treasure trove of facts about the Roald Dahl kid's classic, 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.'

TMS / NTV (Nippon TV)

The titular character’s name literally means Red-Bean Bread Man.

Wikimedia Commons/Steve Rhodes

He was always on the lookout for new words, which he kept in a growing file on his computer.

Getty

Your move, Queen Elizabeth.

Pride and Prejudice (1940), screenshot via YouTube

Probably not rich enough to run a stately home.

iStock

They air-condition their own nests, eat constantly, and choose their children's sex.

Plunge back into a world of wizards and magic with these facts about the beloved series.

Think you know all there is to know about the Boy Who Lived? Think again. Read on for what you need to know about the Harry Potter books and films.

“A person’s a person, no matter how small.”

BYRON EGGENSCHWILER

Meg Murry—the time-hopping heroine at the center of Madeleine L'Engle's 'A Wrinkle In Time'—transported sci-fi into a new dimension.

Wikimedia Commons // Public Domain

'What Pet Should I Get?' is a new, posthumously released book from Dr. Seuss.

Wikimedia Commons // Public Domain // Getty

The accomplished mycologist made an important discovery about mushrooms—which went ignored because she was a woman.

UIowa

It’s no wonder that so many people consider 'Great Expectations' to be one of Charles Dickens's best works.

Tony Delgrosso, Flickr // CC BY-NC-ND 2.0