In terms of books, 2015 will likely be most remembered for A Little Life , Hanya Yanagihara's devastatingly depressing epic novel centering on four friends after they graduate from unnamed college in New England. Though the college of their undergrad…

If 2015 was the year of learning how to tidy up our lives, 2016 is the year of learning not to give a f*ck. Or at least for me. Last summer, I picked up a copy of Marie Kondo's bestselling book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up with the intention…

Masturbation is a touchy subject, no pun intended. While taking charge of your own pleasure is important, it's a topic that is rarely considered in polite conversation. Even though Carrie and her friends introduced us to the wonders of the vibrator o…

The last months of the year bring the holidays and the joy that the season can bring. But the start of the new year also means shorter days and longer nights, which can mean the winter blues for some. More formally understood as Seasonal Affective Di…

Nostalgia has a way of making things seem rosier and better than they actually were. Whether it's an Instagram filter used on an elementary school portrait for a #TBT post or remembering prom as a lot less awkward than it actually was, nostalgia is a…

Let's get this out of the way: You may be hungover on the first morning of 2016. I know that's a good possibility for me. And it's OK! This one time, I would say, that a New Year's Day hangover may well be a small blessing in disguise. I know you're …

The season of hibernation is upon us. It's about time we give into it. At first, we'll use the excuse of holidays and family obligations to brush off invites to hang out, but once December passes, we have to face the truth: it's just too cold to vent…

While holidays like Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa are associated with family celebrations, New Year's Eve is the day when it's acceptable to celebrate with friends instead of waiting to watch the ball drop at home. While you could trek into New Yo…

You could say I was a book nerd and true reader from a young age. I didn't need much incentive to read as a kid. I'd sneak books under my desk during math class, much to my fourth grade teacher's dismay. And much to my family's dismay, I'd spend week…

I've heard Michael Bublé croon "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas" countless times over the past few months; but despite the best efforts of all the Christmas music I've heard, I'm not feeling the holiday spirit. I drive through the woodsy …

John Green is a force to be reckoned with. Whether it's through his popular YouTube series VlogBrothers with his brother Hank Green or one of his many wildly successful young adult novels like The Fault in Our Stars , John Green holds a really specia…

According to the principal of Chekhov's gun, if a rifle is hanging above the fireplace on a stage during a play, it better be used by the end. It's about fulfilling your audience's expectation and eliminating useless descriptions or actions. While th…

Years ago, I remember discussing books with my mom, and she told me how she preferred to read nonfiction. She wanted to be inspired by stories of real-life people. While at the time, I simply nodded and went back to immersing myself in the imaginatio…

"This year can't be topped, books-wise," I think like clockwork with each passing December, only to be proved wrong by the latest crop of books. This year, 2015, is certainly no exception. How do we even begin to parse through these and pick the best…

To read (and admire the illustrations of) Molly Crabapple's memoir Drawing Blood is to bear witness to the recent history we missed while many of us sat in sterile classrooms When I think back to when I was 17, I recall a girl who was very unsure of…

Tattoos are their own kind of commitment; getting one is a way of claiming words or an image for yourself. And for book lovers, literary tattoos from classic books are the perfect way to do that. Economic constraints may make typical conventions and …

You can learn a lot about a person by perusing their library or observing their reading habits. What's on your bookshelf says a lot about you. If you were to have a glance at my room, you might assume two things: one, this girl clearly watched The Be…

There's something about the holiday season that acts as a cue to end a relationship. Maybe you've realized you don't want that particular person as your cuddle buddy for the upcoming blizzards that we'll most likely be trapped indoors by; maybe you'v…

While you were preparing pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving or trying to avoid your old high school classmates at the neighborhood bar the night before, writer Sady Doyle was tweet-storming an incredible theory on Mary Shelley's classic novel Frankenstein…

Like nearly all firsts, I think it's safe to say we each remember the first sex scene in books we read. For me, I was in eighth grade, dutifully reading classics when I decided to try How Green Was My Valley by Richard Llewellyn. I don't remember muc…