Why Trying to Be Less Awkward Never Works

Awkward moments like these can be panic-inducing, and judging by the number of books and articles and videos on awkwardness that have popped up in recent years, this is far from a unique worry. So many of these try to help by offering outrageously specific advice. Don’t let a conversational silence last …

I’ve never been to America. That might be confusing, considering I’m reviewing a book that explores the culinary tastes of the country throughout each of its 50 states. But when I – an outsider – think of American food, I imagine supersized, greasy, beige dishes, smothered in melted cheese. And on that front, …

THE UKRAINIAN NIGHT An Intimate History of Revolution By Marci Shore 290 pp. Yale University Press. $26. On Nov. 21, 2013, Viktor Yanukovych, Ukraine’s president, abruptly suspended long-running negotiations on an association agreement with the European Union. Though Yanukovych personified …

Microsoft Surface Book Sale: Systems from $699 … The current-generation Surface Book 2 even managed to win our coveted Editors’ Choice award. … S0 it’s only natural we’d get excited over the latest crop of Surface Book sales we’ve uncovered both on the previous-gen Surface Book and the current-gen …

Best-selling children’s author Jay Asher has been expelled from a prominent writers organization because of allegations about sexual harassment. Lin Oliver, executive director of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, told The Associated Press on Monday that Asher had violated the …

The findings were made by Dennis McCarthy and June Schlueter, who describe them in a book to be published next week by the academic press D. S. … Most of that scholarship, however, uses function words such as articles and prepositions to create a “digital signature” that can be used to identify a writer …

So begins Judy Blume’s “Forever,” the ur-text of “dirty” teenage books — read at countless sleepovers, banned in a thousand classrooms. Since its publication over four decades ago, it has been reliably controversial, but not because it is tawdry, or vulgar. The novel’s crime is that it depicts two ordinary …

Inglis Bloodstock concluded its Classic yearling sale Feb. 13 near Sydney, Australia with strong results during the one-day Book 2 session that followed a record three-day Book 1. With an average of $44,914 (US$35,186) for 157 sold, a clearance rate of 88%, and a gross of $7,051,500 ($5,524,230) Inglis …