10,807 articles
Bluto
Bluto, also known as Brutus, is the large, bearded, muscle-bound villain created by E.C. Segar in 1932 as 'Bluto the Terrible' in Thimble Theatre, Popeye's rival for Olive Oyl; Fleischer Studios made him the recurring cartoon villain, and a 1957 rights confusion briefly renamed him Brutus.
Boat Mooring at Guazhou
Boat Mooring at Guazhou (泊船瓜洲) is a quatrain by Song statesman and poet Wang Anshi, written while his boat lay moored at Guazhou on the Yangtze.
Bob Kane
Bob Kane (born Robert Kahn, 1915–1998) was an American comic-book artist who co-created Batman with writer Bill Finger, debuting in Detective Comics #27 in 1939.
Bob Lee Swagger
Bob Lee Swagger is Stephen Hunter's fictional ex-Marine sniper, first in Point of Impact (1993). Twelve novels (1993–2022), adapted as the film and TV series Shooter; father Earl and son Ray Cruz have their own books.
Bobbsey Twins
The Bobbsey Twins, by the house pseudonym Laura Lee Hope, are two sets of fraternal twins in a Stratemeyer Syndicate children's series running 1904–1979 (72 books) with later 1980s reboots.
Bobok
Bobok (Бобок) is a fantastic and satirical short story by Fyodor Dostoevsky, first published in 1873 in Grazhdanin and printed in his Diary of a Writer.
Bocchi the Rock! (ぼっち・ざ・ろっく!)
Bocchi the Rock! (ぼっち・ざ・ろっく!) is Aki Hamaji's four-panel manga in Manga Time Kirara MAX and its 2022 CloverWorks anime about shy guitarist Hitori Gotoh joining Kessoku Band; the band's 2023 album topped Oricon digital and Billboard Japan download charts.
Bofuri
Bofuri (Itai no wa Iya nano de Bōgyoryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu) is a Japanese light novel series by Yuumikan about a novice player who maxes out defense.
Bogatyr (богатырь)
Bogatyr (богатырь), Turkic-derived word for a hero of Russian byliny epic songs; warrior of extraordinary strength defending the Russian land. Key figures: Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich, Alyosha Popovich.
Bogurodzica
Bogurodzica is the oldest known Polish religious hymn and poetic text, probably composed in the 13th century and sung by Polish knights as a battle song.
Bogus Skill "Fruitmaster"
Bogus Skill "Fruitmaster" (Hazure Skill "Kinomi Master", 外れスキル《木の実マスター》) is a Japanese fantasy series by Hanyuu about Light, whose Fruitmaster skill lets him eat unlimited skill-granting fruits; adapted as manga, light novel, and a 12-episode 2025 anime by Asahi Production.
Böhmen liegt am Meer
"Böhmen liegt am Meer" ("Bohemia lies by the sea") is a 1964 poem by the Austrian writer Ingeborg Bachmann, first published in 1968 in Kursbuch.
Bokutō Kidan
Bokutō Kidan (濹東綺譚), also read Bokutō kitan, is a 1937 novel by Nagai Kafū about a writer's acquaintance with Oyuki, a prostitute in Tokyo's Tamanoi district.
Bolond Istók
Bolond Istók, or Istók the Fool, is an unfinished comic-heroic narrative poem by the Hungarian poet János Arany, composed between 1850 and 1880, following a foundling through Hungarian poverty.
Bones & All (novel)
Bones & All, also titled Bones and All, is Camille DeAngelis's 2015 young adult novel about Maren Yearly, a teenage "eater" or ghoul who devours people, and her road trip to find her father; adapted into Luca Guadagnino's 2022 film.
Bontshe the Silent
Bontshe the Silent (Yiddish: באָנטשע שװײַג) is an 1894 short story by I. L. Peretz about a meek poor man honored in a heavenly court.
Book
Book: a non-periodical written or printed work of at least 49 pages (UNESCO definition), also called codex in bound form; exists in print, e-book, and audiobook formats; research shows small paper comprehension advantage over screens.
Book of Animals
The Book of Animals (Kitāb al-Ḥayawān) is a seven-volume Arabic encyclopedia of animals written in ninth-century Basra by al-Jāḥiẓ, regarded as the first comprehensive Arabic book on animals.
Book of Histories
The Book of Histories (Girk patmuteants, also Book of History) is a chronicle of 17th-century Armenia by Arakel of Tabriz, first printed in Amsterdam in 1669.
Book series
Book series: related books sharing characters, settings, or storylines, descended from 19th-century serialized fiction such as Dickens's Pickwick Papers. Covers reading-order levels, reader-development research, and modern serialized platforms like Royal Road.
Book size
Book size: bibliographic format (folio 2°, quarto 4°, octavo 8°, named by sheet folds) versus modern trim sizes such as the US 6 x 9 inch standard and UK B-format paperbacks.
Booker Prize
The Booker Prize, founded in the UK in 1969 and also known as the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is awarded annually by the Booker Prize Foundation for the best English-language novel published in the UK or Ireland; winner receives £50,000.
Books of Blood
Books of Blood: six-volume Clive Barker horror short story collection published in Britain 1984-1985, thirty stories framed by The Book of Blood and On Jerusalem Street; source of Candyman, Lord of Illusions, The Midnight Meat Train, and a 2020 Hulu film.
Bookshops & Bonedust
Bookshops & Bonedust, Travis Baldree's 2023 Tor prequel to Legends & Lattes, follows young orc mercenary Viv recovering in the seaside town of Murk, where she befriends bookseller Fern and baker Maylee.
Boots (poem)
"Boots" is an 1903 poem by Rudyard Kipling from The Five Nations, voicing a British infantryman marching in South Africa during the Second Boer War, built on the refrain "Boots—boots—boots—boots—movin' up an' down again" and the line "There's no discharge in the war."
Booz endormi
"Booz endormi" is an 1859 poem by Victor Hugo in La Légende des siècles, retelling the Book of Ruth, where Ruth lies at the sleeping Boaz's feet.
Boquitas pintadas
Boquitas pintadas is the second novel of Argentine writer Manuel Puig, published in 1969. Presented as a serialized folletín, it portrays the desires and hypocrisies of small-town society.
Border Town
Border Town (Biancheng, 边城) is a 1934 novella by the Chinese writer Shen Congwen, portraying life in Chadong, a river town on the western Hunan border with Sichuan.
Born a Crime
Born a Crime (2016) is Trevor Noah's comic memoir of growing up as the illegal mixed-race son of a white Swiss father and Xhosa mother under apartheid's Immorality Act; a #1 NYT bestseller, Thurber Prize winner, and love letter to his mother Patricia.
Born Again (comics)
Daredevil: Born Again is a 1986 Marvel Comics arc in Daredevil #227-233 by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli, in which Karen Page sells Daredevil's identity and the Kingpin destroys Matt Murdock's life; collected in 1987 and namesake of the Disney+ series.