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Whether you're settling in for a few days of snowed-in coziness at home or a few days of airport purgatory, you can probably use something to read. Here are some beautiful descriptions of snow from literature.

Arika Okrent
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There’s more to libraries than just plain old books. Many, if not most, also have movies, music, and audio and ebooks to lend out. But what about a parking pass for a Civil War fort? Or a circular saw? Well, depending on where you live, you can borrow tho

Matt Soniak




Maria Rantanen, Flickr // CC BY-SA 2.0

Learn more about author Frank Herbert's sci-fi classic, including a canceled film project that could have been scored by Pink Floyd.

Mark Mancini




New York Public Library

People Google a lot of strange things. But while the anonymity of the internet certainly helps them feel comfortable indulging certain inquiries, our curiosity as humans didn't start with the invention of the search engine.

Hannah Keyser






Robert E. Nylund, Wikimedia Commons // Public Domain

A writer’s home is a kind of autobiography, and visiting the place where a great work of literature was written gives you a deeper understanding of both the book and the person who wrote it. Put these places on the list for your next literary pilgrimage.

Joy Lanzendorfer


Warner Bros.

This isn’t a trick: J.K. Rowling has a very special treat in store for Harry Potter fans this Halloween. A series of games and riddles posted to Rowling’s website Pottermore.com this week culminated in Friday’s big reveal that the Rowling will release a n

Abbey Stone




The cover of Vonnegut's 'Slaughterhouse-Five.'

Based on his experiences as a POW during the Allied bombing of Dresden in 1945, 'Slaughterhouse-Five' propelled author Kurt Vonnegut, who had been largely ignored and classified as a sci-fi paperback writer, to fame and literary acclaim.

Nick Greene




Hans Christian Andersen (Left), Culture Club/Getty Images // Charles Dickens (Right), Rischgitz/Getty Images

No matter which popular author you disdain, you're bound to find yourself in good company: There's no love lost between these writers.

Stacy Conradt
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Whether you're a wizard, squib, or just plain muggle, you're probably celebrating the Chosen One's birthday today. And what better way to do it than by examining the origins of some of the wonderful words J.K. Rowling used to create the world of the Boy W

Erin McCarthy