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Leah Rachel von Essen

Leah Rachel von Essen reviews genre-bending fiction for Booklist, and writes regularly as a senior contributor at Book Riot. Her blog While Reading and Walking has over 10,000 dedicated followers over several social media outlets, including Instagram. She writes passionately about books in translation, chronic illness and bias in healthcare, queer books, twisty SFF, and magical realism and folklore. She was one of a select few bookstagrammers named to NewCity’s Chicago Lit50 in 2022. She is an avid traveler, a passionate fan of women’s basketball and soccer, and a lifelong learner. Twitter: @reading_while

11 Books in Translation from East Africa, from Mauritius to Burundi

I've gathered 11 excellent books in translation from East Africa — featuring reads by Scholastique Mukasonga, Ananda Devi, and more.

10 Nonfiction Books by Trans, Nonbinary, and Drag Performer Authors to Educate and Entertain

Educate yourself on trans, nonbinary, and drag performers' lives as gender outlaws with these 10 excellent queer nonfiction reads.

Describe Your Perfect Summer Day & We’ll Give You a Matching Queer SFF Read

Summer is on the horizon! Take our quiz and we'll give you a queer sci-fi or fantasy book to dig into this summer.

How Should We Feel About Barnes & Noble Now?

Barnes and Noble is putting on the costume of a local indie bookstore, but their inner mechanics are still all big-box chain corporation.

How To Read at a Baseball Game

How to navigate new rules, inning breaks, bag checks and more as you head to a Major League Baseball game ready to read.

A History of Frog and Toad

Frog and Toad are having a moment—but who was their creator? I write about the genesis of the series and the life of Arnold Lobel.

The Malleus Maleficarum, and What It Meant for Witches

Learn about the 1486 book "Hammer of Witches" and how it changed popular understanding of who witches were—and how they should be punished.

11 Exciting New Sci-Fi and Fantasy Releases Out in April 2023

Check out this list of 11 new SFF releases coming in April 2023, including works by Olivie Blake and Chana Porter.

Mostly Dead, Slightly Alive: Exploring the Princess Bride Cookbook

The Princess Bride official cookbook helped me embrace the wonder of experimenting and just plain having fun in the kitchen.

11 Exciting Italian Books in Translation

Be transported to Italy with these 11 books in translation from Elena Ferrante, Jhumpa Lahiri, Daniele Mencarelli, and more.