Books

  My first trip to Costa Rica was not of my own design. At least not initially. At the time I was a freelance location scout...

The Book Fair runs through Sunday, Sept. 2.

The Tico Times is on the lookout for Costa Rican love stories; share yours and be entered in a raffle for our latest book.

Katherine Stanley Obando discusses bicultural family life, writing as a new parent, and why "manda huevo" is her ultimate Costa Rican phrase. Meet the author of The Tico Times' new book, "Love in Translation."

Our 2005 interview with Costa Rica's renowned inmate-turned-author: José León Sánchez, whose 1963 novel is now onstage at Teatro Espressivo.

Former Tico Times reporter Robert Isenberg's "The Green Season" is a sometimes hilarious, sometimes moving book about his first year in Costa Rica.

Highlights of this year's International Book Fair, now ongoing at the Antigua Aduana in Barrio Aranjuez.

Like a bibliophilic scavenger hunt, the so-called World Book Liberation Day invites participants to scatter used books around the complex, and all of these editions are up for grabs.

If you’ve spent any time on a ship, Raffaella Tolicetti’s descriptions of working a kitchen during rocky seas should sound familiar – although she has the added challenge of cooking while antagonistic vessels attempt to ram each other in Antarctic waters.

Predictably, the disagreement has become a polarizing debate about racism versus censorship. In honor of this ongoing discussion, here are some examples of beloved children’s books that have caused controversy or fallen completely out of favor.

The book itself describes all kinds of situations and morals, but one of its most striking aspects is the range of people represented.

Smith spends so much time developing the Costa Rican context that it’s hard to tell where her story is going. But just wait: The intrigue thickens rapidly, accumulating characters and subplots with each chapter, and the denouement is a scene of horrifying violence.

Chang is the Horatio Alger of astronauts. He arrived in the U.S. with $50, he graduated from high school on schedule, and he (literally) reached for the stars. “Dream’s Journey” is not a breezy read, but it is a powerful social document, told by the same man who has lived this extraordinary life.

In Marissa Kennerson’s new novel “The Family,” 17-year-old Twig lives in a reclusive commune near Turrialba.