The daughter of Death and a newlywed Regency Lady each stave off the supernatural, plus the latest sports romance from Lynn Painter. ... Read full Story
Lerone Martin’s Young King provides a captivating reintroduction to the Civil Rights leader by exploring Martin Luther King Jr.’s childhood and adolescence. ... Read full Story
Good Joy, Bad Joy is a reminder that there is no substitute for good friendships and a celebration of life that is lived boldly, by no one’s terms but one’s own. ... Read full Story
Deborah Lutz’s exhilarating prose animates This Dark Night, lending fresh insights into the life and writing of one of literature’s most enduring authors, Emily Brontë. ... Read full Story
Narrator Saskia Maarleveld adeptly voices the residents of a late 1960s home for unwed mothers in Kate Schatz’s Where the Girls Were. ... Read full Story
How can we lay our ghosts to rest, especially in a world torn open by war? Sunyi Dean takes this question literally in The Girl With a Thousand Faces, the story of an alternate Hong Kong where ghosts walk among the living. ... Read full Story
Recent headlines may bemoan the state of historical romance, but publishing veteran KJ Charles sees no shortage of potential in the genre: “Saying historical romance is dead is the same as saying flares are dead or skinny jeans are dead.” ... Read full Story
Priya Parmar drops readers into the thick of pre-Hays Code Hollywood, where careers were made and broken, fantasies were fabricated and fractured, and skeletons lurked not only in closets, but on sets and in bedrooms. ... Read full Story
Solid pacing, strong insights into human nature (often delivered via talking dog) and a steady dose of humor make Suzanne Palmer’s Ode to the Half-Broken a sci-fi standout. ... Read full Story
Jesse Q. Sutanto’s Ms. Mebel Goes Back to the Chopping Block is a great feel-good read that reminds us that there’s no age restriction on new beginnings. ... Read full Story
Studying King’s archives helped author Caroline Bicks understand how the master of horror creates monsters that permanently reside in readers’ minds. ... Read full Story
With the beautifully rendered Until We Meet Again, Lily Kim Qian delivers a young adult memoir that feels like the first step in the lifelong process of healing. ... Read full Story
This Vast Enterprise deftly moves Lewis and Clark out of the spotlight to reveal the “fascinating and unruly ensemble” of people who were part of the Corps of Discovery. ... Read full Story
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 6, 2026 is:
flamboyant \flam-BOY-ant\ adjective
Someone or something described as flamboyant has a very noticeable quality that attracts a lot of attention. Such a person or thing is often strikingly elaborate or colorful in their behavior or display.
// Reality television attracts millions of viewers for its depictions of flamboyant, larger-than-life personalities living equally flamboyant lifestyles.
“[Helen] McCrory’s flamboyant and perfectly drawn portrayal of Polly was the show’s real treasure, a steel-willed matriarch unusually attuned to the mysticism of the Shelby family’s Romani roots who also served as a ruthlessly pragmatic consigliere. ... McCrory’s Polly was so electric that the show remained totally riveting any time she was onscreen.” — Jack Hamilton, Slate, 20 Mar. 2026
Did you know?
Associate the word flamboyant with bananas flambé and the word’s fiery etymology will be seared in your mind. Flamboyant, which was borrowed into English from French in the 19th century, can be traced back to the Old French word flambe, meaning “flame.” In its earliest uses flamboyant referred to an ornate style of Gothic architecture popular in France and Spain, which featured waving curves suggestive of flames. Eventually, the word developed a more general second sense for anything eye-catching or showy. And of course, flambe is also the origin of the English adjective flambé, which describes food flamboyantly dressed or served with flaming liquor.