Books

A good crime novel and a glass of fine wine go hand in hand for many crime fiction lovers, and Californian author Diane Schaffer taps into that with Mortal Zin. Set in the Santa Cruz wine region, it’s a story driven by two strong female characters. Attorney Noli Cooper is back in the area on

It might be painful to be remembered through your exes, but when it comes to literary titan James Baldwin, doing so illuminates his life and work. In Baldwin: A Love Story, biographer Nicholas Boggs trains his eye on the Fire Next Time author’s most intimate relationships, with the eras of Baldwin’s life marked by his

This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Fall is the biggest publishing season, and that includes of tons of new releases that apply to the 2025 Read Harder Challenge. I’ve rounded up a few that complete different Read Harder tasks, including weird horror, a romance

Yes, yes, it’s a criminal headline but we’re specialists in the field. So we lead with Karin Smirnoff’s new Salander novel, which has the chilling title The Girl With Ice in Her Veins. There are cuts as in film edits with Richard ‘Thorin Oakenshield’ Armitage and cut throats with the Secret Barrister, plus three authors

A queer academic and secret witch, Jamie is gearing up to start a dissertation on Emily, a fictional 18th-century novel that may have been written by Tom Jones author Henry Fielding’s brilliant sister Sarah or her lifelong companion, Jane Collier. But after Jamie teaches her grieving mother how to cast spells, things get dangerous fast.

Book Deals The terrors of state surveillance, the wealthiest self-made woman in America, the horrors of private equity, and more of today’s best book deals. This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. View Original Article Here

Reading a debut novel like Todd Medema’s How to Surf a Hurricane offers a bit of an extra thrill. Not only do you experience the events, characters and settings of the story itself, but you also see a process of writing at work. Yes, maybe some writing skills need polishing, but you can see the

This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more. Reading as Resistance to Brainrot You’re subscribed to a pretty nerdy newsletter here, so I probably don’t need

On Saturday 23 August 2025, we’re giving away something special – a signed, 15th anniversary special edition of Slow Horses by Mick Herron. We’ll announce the competition and how to enter on our Facebook page on Saturday morning. In the meantime, watch the video above which is full of evidence that this really is a

This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Welcome to The Best of Book Riot. Here’s your weekend highlight reel of the week’s most popular stories. A Bunch of Must-Read August Releases Lists August means even more summer new releases and, my oh my, do we

Translated by SL Park –– South Korean author Se-Ah Jang’s crime debut, A Twist of Fate, draws inspiration from classic gothic fiction. While utilising many of the genre’s tropes – family secrets, unexplained deaths, and a sinister mansion – the novel also has some unique surprises in store for you. The story begins with Jae-Young,

What’s your guilty pleasure? Reality TV? Murder mysteries? Screwball comedies? Enemies-to-lovers romances? If any of those gives you an endorphin rush, then grab Kara Loo and Jennifer Young’s Alice Chen’s Reality Check and prep yourself for a full-on endorphin tidal wave. Alice Chen is at the “turn the couch upside down and shake it until

This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Alex Luppens-Dale won the “Enthusiastic Reader Award” all four years of high school. She is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and received her MFA in Creative Writing from The New School. Her favorite genres are memoir, witches,

…which of these books will be your next read? We’ll get things going with The Killer Question by Janice Hallett, but don’t worry this is a news report not a hotly contested quiz. We’ve also got new novels from Jo Furniss, AG Winkworth, Anna McPartlin, Brian McAuley and Ken Jawarowski, all of whom are new

A nephophile is a person who loves clouds, and this book will turn you into one. Writer and biologist Susan E. Clark has compiled a heap of knowledge into Clouds: A Guide for the Curious, a handy guidebook that’s beautifully illustrated by Siena Zadro and Katherine Zhang. Clark provides scientific background with a light, curious

This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Leah Rachel von Essen reviews genre-bending fiction for Booklist, and writes regularly as a senior contributor at Book Riot. Her blog While Reading and Walking has over 10,000 dedicated followers over several social media outlets, including Instagram. She

At a time when American optimism feels in short supply, self-proclaimed “retrologist” Rolando Pujol arrives with a collection of Americana that reminds us why we cared about our country in the first place. With The Great American Retro Road Trip, Pujol has assembled roadside attractions from coast to coast into a remarkably thorough examination of

This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Alison Doherty is a writing teacher and part time assistant professor living in Brooklyn, New York. She has an MFA from The New School in writing for children and teenagers. She loves writing about books on the Internet,

Roll up! Roll up! The annual summer fair has arrived in Ashton Mead, bringing with it the customary mayhem, mistrust… and murder? While many villagers complain about the crowds of townies the fair draws in, to say nothing of the litter, vandalism and petty crime, Emily Wilson and her boss/bestie Hannah are grateful for the

With Psilocybin Mushrooms in Their Natural Habitats: A Guide to the History, Identification, and Use of Psychoactive Fungi, Paul Stamets has compiled a comprehensive magnum opus on psilocybin mushrooms. This is obviously a topic that’s close to the author’s heart. Stamets promises readers that the more they know about mushrooms, the more they’ll recognize their

This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Megan Mabee has been filling notebooks with her story ideas and favorite book quotes since she first began reading. She enjoys board gaming, rewatching Miyazaki movies, and building Legos with her preschooler. Megan holds a Master of Library

With books like The Power of the Dog, Savages and City on Fire in his bibliography, Don Winslow is a go-to author if you love American crime fiction. So, we were disappointed a few years ago when he announced his retirement. However, a little while back, we received some great news from Don’s publicist. In

Nina lives in a crowded town whose inhabitants work at the will of six wolves named for the days of the week, Monday through Saturday. Legend tells of a Sunday that would allow a day of rest, but a witch named Frau Holle locked that wolf away in a bottomless pit. Without Sunday, the week

The Man Who Died Seven Times by Yasuhiko Nishizawa, Jesse Kirkwood (Translator) For fans of Japanese mysteries, time loops, and inheritance and family reunion tropes! As a child, Hisataro figured out he had a strange ability: randomly, one day of his life would start a time loop, and that day would repeat itself for nine

Crime author SA Cosby is now one of America’s leading crime authors. Following his successes with Blacktop Wasteland, Razorblade Tears and All the Sinners Bleed, his new novel, King of Ashes, is one of the most anticipated releases of 2025. Cosby’s novels are set in the South and focus on the black experience in modern

Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a lauded name in the haunted halls of gothic fiction thanks to acclaimed works like Mexican Gothic. Her latest entry to the subgenre is as decadent as it is terrifying, filled with delightful turns of phrase and archival tidbits, and steeped in Mexican folklore. The Bewitching begins innocently enough. Minerva, a graduate

This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Erica Ezeifedi, Associate Editor, is a transplant from Nashville, TN that has settled in the North East. In addition to being a writer, she has worked as a victim advocate and in public libraries, where she has focused

Our news report this week brings you a new novel by one of America’s most exciting crime fiction talents – Eli Cranor. This time he focuses on the world of college football and the cash that washes around this supposedly amateur sport. It’s also a great week if you want to catch up on some

For most people, the island off the coast of Massachusetts known as Martha’s Vineyard conjures up images of sandy, wind-swept beaches, fields of colorful wildflowers and quaint historic homes and lighthouses. What may not typically come to mind is the island’s heritage as the home of the Aquinnah Wampanoag people, who have populated the region