Blogs

February 28, 1909 was the first Woman's History Day in New York City, commemorating the one-year anniversary of the garment workers' strikes when 15,000 women marched through lower Manhattan. On March 8, 1978, a Sonoma County, California education task force kicked off Women's History Week with International Women's Day. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter declared the week of March 8 Women's History Week across the country. By 1986, 14 states had declared the entire month of March Women's History Month.

Black History Month dates back to 1915 when historian Carter G. Woodson co-founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. In 1926, the group declared the second week of February as “Negro History Week” to recognize the contributions of African Americans to U.S. history: the week was chosen because of the February birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass.

The holiday season is always an exciting one for readers: favorite authors release new books and perfect books for gifting appear on store bookshelves. Just as exciting is what's in store in a new year, with debut authors, more new releases from favorite authors, and additions to sequels hitting the shelves. Here's a list of what to look for right now and through February.

Looking for fiction books to gift? This list is suggestions of new fiction releases, mostly from the past few months. Included in the list are the fiction titles from the New York Times Top 10 Books of the Year. Plus: every end of the year Literati staff are given the difficult task of naming their favorite book from the year. Click here to see the 2022 staff favorite list. Happy holidays and happy book gifting!

What a great season to be shopping for books to give as gifts. Literati Bookstore is chock-full of 2022 releases — most brand-new releases for the season — that are exciting, fascinating, thought-provoking, delicious, funny, inspiring, beautiful . . . good luck not feeling compelled to get some of these for yourself! The list is entirely non-fiction, featuring memoirs, biographies, cookbooks, as well as books about the natural world, the music and film industries, and books about fascinating people who have changed the world.

Autumn is an exciting season for readers: publishers release a higher volume of new books in the fall than throughout the rest of the year. It tends to be the season when much-awaited for new books by favorite authors hit the bookshelves, as well as debuts from authors the industry just knows readers are going to love. Literati inventory staff are busier than ever, opening lots and lots and lots of boxes, filling our display tables and shelves with these new book releases. Here are suggestions of some of the It titles not to be missed.

Banned books week is September 18 - 24, 2022. It's incredibly sad that books are still being banned in the 21st century and sadder still that far-right politicians, media, and religious leaders continue to successfully dictate their belief systems in this manner. The best way to fight back is to buy and read banned books, to talk about this growing attack on the First Amendment, and to not allow school systems and religious organizations to influence their disregard towards multiculturism and race in the classroom by using your voice where it can be heard: VOTE!

Though summer's end is closing in on us, it's still the dog days of summer: hot August days that send us to the beach or pool before the leaves start turning. Here's a list of books to amuse you, captivate you, educate you, and get lost in . . . good company while soaking up the end of summer sun.

The entire month of June is Pride Month, which commemorates the 1969 Stonewall riots, which eventually led to the efforts and progress towards achieving equal rights, justice, and opportunies for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) Americans. Big Thanks to Literati staff member/bookseller David Vogel for putting together most of this reading list that touches on and celebrates LGBTQ culture.