Karis Rogerson

By Karis Rogerson
Eric Smith is an author (most recently of Don’t Read the Comments) and literary agent at P.S. Literary, meaning his professional life is wrapped up in writing and reading in so many ways.
Before getting into being an agent, Smith worked in publishing at Quirk Books for about six years, saying of his time there, “I loved it, it was so much fun, but I really wanted to get into working on my own kind of books and doing specifically what I wanted to do—you know, very selfish,” h...

Netflix gave the world of rom-com lovers the perfect Valentine’s Day gift when they released To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before: P.S. I Still Love You two days before the holiday. I watched it on V-Day itself, curling up with a bag of popcorn and my laptop after waiting two agonizing days to start one of my most highly-anticipated movies of 2020.
When I say I’m a fan of the To all the Boys series, I mean that I’ve read all three books twice, watched the first movie at least three times, and sp...

An interview with debut author Adalyn Grace

By Karis Rogerson
Picture this: A young Ryan La Sala, already invested in stories and fantasies but not yet realizing that writing is the path he wished to embark upon. Because reading wasn’t his strong suit, he delighted in acting out the stories and fantasies thriving in his head—actively participating in the stories he was absorbing.
“I was interested in reading stories and fairy tales, but I would always get to a point in the story where I put the book down and had to act it out myself—I ...

A look at Bookstagram and what makes it special, through the words of several Bookstagrammers.

As a child, I was a Parent Trap fanatic. I decided to put my favorite movie to the ultimate test: time.

When Wendy Scherl sang "Raise the Roof," the laughter of the audience was due in part to the lyrics - who wouldn't laugh at "Hold your mood and hold your bladder / Skip the food and stop the chatter," especially sung at a dinner theater - and in part due to Scherl's facial expressions and body language.
Throughout TOWN AND COUNTRY, the show she performed at the Laurie Beechman Theatre on Jan. 16, Scherl proved her talent, not just as a singer but as a well-rounded performer.
The show involved...

Ah, Pride and Prejudice. A classic tale of rivals-to-lovers, it’s a hilarious romp through Regency England which includes everything from a matchmaking mother to a runaway teenage bride to a vengeful suitor.
It’s funny in a laugh-out-loud kind of way, incisive in a way that is common to Jane Austen, filled with social commentary that must have struck just as true in 1813 as it does 207 years later, in 2020.
In 2013, around the 200th anniversary of the novel’s publication, USA Today wrote abou...

Watching Gloria Swansong lip-sync Judy Garland's Carnegie Hall was like performance-inception: somehow, we were experiencing Judy Garland's 1961 performance in most of its glory (recordings are not the same as being there in the flesh, after all), while also delighting in Gloria's impeccable artistry as well.
The upper room of the Stonewall Inn was transported back in time for the 90-minute performance, blessed with Garland's full-bodied singing and enchanted by the anecdotes encompassed in t...

By Karis Rogerson
Two important things I learned about Adam Silvera during the interview for this article: he writes for himself, not for his readers; and he’s not a liar, so he’ll share hard truths.
His books, he said, “are stories I’m bursting to tell for myself and Past Adam, even if no one else cares. Fortunately, people care so I’ll continue publishing my stories that center queer characters, and I hope readers connect with them book-by-book.”
Adam is the author of four contemporary youn...

By Karis Rogerson
It all started for Isabel Ibanez Davis with a fascination for stories.
“I was very young when I learned that stories have a kind of power: they can unite people, separate them, uplift or tear down,” she said. “Stories entertain, can move you to tears, or call someone to action.”
She recalls being very young and being completely enthralled by the stories she was reading, watching, or even just hearing at the dinner table. “I gasped in all the right places, cried at the wrong ...

I know this, because every time I add a book to that shelf (which I do multiple times a day, it seems), that number flashes before my eyes, rising just a little bit.
One drop into the ocean of my TBR; another, another, and you’d think I was drowning.
By some counts, I am — out of the more than 1,000 books on that shelf, last year I read merely 23. There’s not a chance in this life or the next that I’ll manage to read all the books in my TBR pile. Heck, if I stopped buying books today and quit...

At the very back of a dimly lit dinner club with live music, is a little brick room. It's in this intimate space that Julie Reyburn alternately amazed the audience with her singing prowess and entertained them, thanks to her sharp wit and incisive social commentary.
The room itself is cozy - bordering on cramped - rows of round two-tops with just enough room for drinks and my elbows as I scribbled notes. At the end of the room sits a low stage with a piano for music director Mark Janas..

My third tattoo, which I got at a little shop in Mexico City, is my literary tattoo.
I call it a literary tattoo and not a bookish tattoo on purpose. See, I’m aware (of course I’m aware) of bookish tattoos, and how gorgeous an artist rendering of your favorite book, series, or quote can be. Sometimes I scroll through Instagram and stop dead on a picture of someone’s book-inspired tattoo, and I just feel...gah! So pretty!
For a long time, I wanted my own. I’m a reader, after all...

In late 2011, Marie Lu’s debut, the first book in a YA dystopian trilogy, hit shelves. Legend is the story of two teenagers, June and Day, whose paths cross in an unimaginable way as they attempt to uncover the secrets their country, a nation which used to house the western United States, will go to great lengths to protect.
It debuted to high praise from readers (with a 4.2 star rating on Goodreads) and professional reviewers alike...