Books

From cosplay to comics legends, monsters to manga, here are some of the most compelling panels happening Friday at Comic-Con 2025 — grouped by theme to help you plan your day.

Local art, design and education studio ToshWerks has exhibited at Comic-Con for decades. Even as the convention evolves and the work to stock a booth grows more demanding, they return each year. Year-round, they bring creative education to libraries and communities across San Diego County.

New books published this week include a nostalgic graphic history of video games, a queer, complicated and hopeful novel set in Nigeria, and a biography of a forensic ornithologist.

NPR's Sacha Pfeiffer speaks with Tracy Slater, author of "Together in Manzanar," which tells the true story of a family of mixed heritage sent to a Japanese internment camp during World War II.

In Nothing More of This Land, Aquinnah Wampanoag writer Joseph Lee takes readers past the celebrity summer scene and into the heart of Noepe, the name his people have called the island for centuries.

We ask our audience: Was there a book you read during high school that helped shape who you are today? Which book do you think all high schoolers should read now? We'll publish replies in a few weeks.

This weekend in the arts in San Diego: Art Through the Glass at the Chula Vista Center Mall; the San Diego Symphony performs iconic Marvel music; Particle FM and Intervals bring sound art to Quint Gallery; "A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder" at North Coast Rep; San Diego International Mariachi Summit; drag performances at The Old Globe's AXIS: Pride; plus live music picks and more.

"Spark" is a new middle-grade "novel-in-verse" by local author and educator Chris Baron. It follows two rural, nature-loving 8th graders as they evacuate their small town due to a wildflower, and attempt to piece their lives back together.

Abrams isn't running for office — but she's not ruling it out, either. "Politics is a tool ... for getting good done, but it's not the only one." Her new thriller is Coded Justice.

After a bad breakup, writer Melissa Febos decided to abstain from sex and dating for a year. She didn't realize how much it would change her life. She tells her story in a new book, The Dry Season.