literature

Books have the ability to take you to another time. This month on Up To Date, author Steve Paul, and BLK + BRWN bookstore owner Cori Smith share the literature that brought them to the 1930s Harlem jazz scene, the 1980s war on drugs, through the twists and turns of the life of a mad genius and more.

Kansas City Public Library's Kaite Stover, author Steve Paul, and BLK + BRWN bookstore owner Cori Smith share their favorite books of the moment, spanning true crime and romance to poetry and biography.

These reading lists include a comic mystery that will appeal to fans of "Knives Out" and "Glass Onion," a Civil Rights trilogy and classics from Shakespeare and Virginia Woolf.

From music to theater to biographies, three Kansas City readers share what's on their book list this winter.

Kansas State University professor Traci Brimhall starts as the 8th poet laureate of Kansas on January 1, 2023.

Whether you read every book on your summer list or missed the reading-at-the-beach season altogether, here are some titles that are good any time.

Candice Millard's fourth book took her to England and Africa as she unraveled the expedition to discover the headwaters of the Nile River.

"The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie was challenged by the grandparent of a Derby ninth-grader. A district committee decided to no longer allow teachers to use the novel in lessons and to remove it from the library at Derby North Middle School.

Veteran Kansas City writer Steve Paul's new biography of Evan S. Connell digs deep into the mysterious novelist's life.

Kansas City's largest railroad company wants to merge with a larger Canadian company, a move that insiders predict may help reshape the transportation industry. Plus, a local organization is helping veterans trying to heal from "moral injury" by writing and sharing poems and stories about their experiences.

Calvin Arsenia, a Kansas City-based singer, harpist and composer, has a new book about coming to terms with his evangelical Christian upbringing and being queer. Plus, Willa Robinson went from selling books on the street to operating Kansas City’s largest collection of vintage African American books.

White families have a tendency to avoid tough racial conversations by teaching colorblindness or by failing to intervene when witnessing racist behavior—habits that reinforce racism in American culture.