Riot Headline Book Riot’s 2025 Read Harder Challenge

Ashley Bowen

Ashley Bowen earned a PhD in American Studies and Public Humanities in December 2016. Her research focuses on the history of health, medicine, and social services in the period from the American Civil War to World War I. When she isn't feeling existential angst about finishing her dissertation, she works as a part-time bookseller and plans adventures as a field agent for Atlas Obscura. A Texas native now living in Washington, DC, she has been known to travel long distances for a proper breakfast taco and Dr. Pepper. Her writing appears on Book Riot, Atlas Obscura, museum blogs, and in various "serious" academic journals. Twitter: @aebowenPhD

5 Bits of Library of Congress Trivia for Its 217th Birthday!

Learn more about the Library of Congress to celebrate its 217th birthday!

We Rate (Fictional) Dogs

Taking inspiration from the We Rate Dogs Twitter account: ratings of fictional doggos. Including CUJO.

What Book Lovers Lose If We Lose The NEA and NEH

What happens if we lose the NEA and NEH?

100 Must-Read Books About The History of Medicine

Scurvy! Yellow fever! Rabies! Must-read works of fiction and nonfiction about the history of medicine.

Reading A WRINKLE IN TIME for the First Time in Trump’s America

As I write this, we are just over a month into Donald Trump’s presidency. And, I am reading A Wrinkle In ...

The Hardest Books We’ve Ever Read

Rioters share the hardest (whether because of style or content) books they've ever read.

Books to Read When Your Friend Goes Paleo (or Adopts Some Other “Natural” Diet)

Dive a little deeper into the various "natural" food movements with these books.

Why You Should Use Zotero To Track Your Reading

An overview of an app for tracking your reading that offers different tools than Goodreads or Litsy

100 Must-Read Books About the National Parks

100 excellent books about America's National Parks!

Our Favorite Under-the-Radar Books Published in 2016

Books that should've gotten more buzz and into the hands of more readers this year.