Books

In previous bestselling, award-winning books such as The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Wonderstruck and The Marvels, author-illustrator Brian Selznick has centered his richly imagined, deeply cinematic stories on children growing up alone and navigating worlds both dangerous and wonderful. Selznick explores similar themes in Big Tree, but this novel’s children aren’t human; they’re the seeds

Debut crime author Kitty Murphy moved from London to the west coast of Ireland 20 years ago, and it is her adopted country that features in Death in Heels, which is set amid the drag community of Dublin, in a fictional club called Trash. Kitty talks with Dr Jacky Collins about the book and its

The latest book by journalist Alex Mar (Witches of America) is a valuable contribution to the true crime genre. Taking its title from a verse in the Gospel of Matthew, Seventy Times Seven: A True Story of Murder and Mercy begins with a heinous murder but then follows the difficult, inspiring path of forgiveness and

The winners of the 2023 National Book Critics Circle Awards were announced last night at the New School. Books published in English in 2022 were eligible to win in six categories — Nonfiction, Fiction, Biography, Autobiography, Poetry and Criticism. Additionally, the best first book won the John Leonard Prize award, and this year is the

Having guided the redoubtable DI Geraldine Steel through 14 non-cosy cases, English crime author Leigh Russell has shifted her focus from the police procedural to the more gentle side of the crime genre with Barking Up the Right Tree. The first book in the A Poppy Mystery Tales series, it offers a plucky protagonist, a

Raul loves the guitar and volunteers as a music therapist with his uncle, a pastor, although he holds secret doubts about his family’s faith. It’s while volunteering that Raul meets Danna, who loves lists, poetry and food. In fact, Danna loves food so much that she believes that it can help restore her beloved grandfather,

For years, hundreds of high-profile manuscripts — including early versions of books by Margaret Atwood and Sally Rooney — were stolen in a phishing scheme. The most puzzling part of the case was that nothing seemed to come from these thefts; uthe manuscripts were not leaked or sold, as far as anyone could tell. So

It seems like ages since we’ve been to the Ozarks, the Southern mountain range that seems to be such a great setting for rural noir crime fiction. Eli Cranor is back with his second book to fix that, though. That’s our lead book this week, but we think choosing the next title to add to

Dani’s drab days are revived by color and beauty when a tree is planted in the “sometimes dusty, sometimes puddly” hole in the sidewalk in front of her home. Now, instead of waking each morning to the clamorous cacophony of city traffic, Dani greets her day with birdsong from nesting friends outside her window.  Dani

The official trailer for the Bridgerton prequel series Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story was just dropped by Netflix. It shows a young Charlotte, played by India Amarteifio, as she questions why she was chosen to wed King George, played by Corey Mylchreest. As she begins to familiarize herself with court life, she meets familiar characters

Graham Bartlett’s debut novel Bad for Good gave us a fictional Brighton very different from that of Peter James’ in the Roy Grace novels – grimier, the politics a lot nastier. This corrupt and corroding cityscape is even more evident in his second police procedural, Force of Hate. These streets are mean but so are

“Never meet your heroes” is a sentiment that’s probably been around as long as celebrities have existed, and Lex Croucher’s Infamous is a perfect illustration of why. Edith “Eddie” Miller is a Jo March-esque heroine, a young woman with literary aspirations in Regency England. She’s awed to the point of speechlessness when she meets gifted,

Nichole “Nic” Blake and her father, Calvin, have moved 10 times in as many years. In Jackson, Mississippi, Nic has finally managed to make a friend, JP, by bonding over their shared love of the bestselling Stevie James fantasy book series, but there’s one thing Nic must hide from her friend. She and her father

From her base in eastern Pennsylvania, Karen Katchur is a crime author with a background in criminal justice who blends her expertise with her imagination and a tablespoon or two of social commentary. Doing so, she produces character-driven thrillers with healthy elements of procedural realism and some dark humour too. Her latest is The Greedy

Do you ever get a little creeped out when you visit your grandparents’ house? There’s something about the stillness of unused rooms and the sweet, dusty smell that can give you a slight sense of dread. But if you were to visit the Montgomery house in T. Kingfisher’s A House With Good Bones, you’d leave

Taylor Jenkins Reid has dominated bestseller lists and BookTok for a few years now, and for very good reason: her books are juicy stories of Hollywood, the rich and famous, and every day women going through impossible situations. Reid has an almost supernatural ability to craft stories that make readers want to keep turning the

Ann Cleeves is the creator of Vera Stanhope, Jimmy Perez and Matthew Venn and all three crime fiction series have been turned into TV productions – with Shetland claiming an runaway win in the CFL Awards Best Crime Drama category in 2022. In total, the English author has written more than 35 best-selling crime novels,

It’s 1940, and Millie and Reginald Thompson face a difficult decision: How can they best protect their 11-year-old daughter from the trauma of World War II? Reginald’s own youth was marred by the worries of World War I, and he’ll do anything to protect his daughter’s childhood. He convinces Millie to send Beatrix to live

Are you the kind of person who browses through Zillow to dream about the perfect property — and judge rich people’s weird decor choices? If so, you’re definitely not alone. Of course, the ultimate dream of book lovers is an elegant home library, with built-in bookshelves and a rolling ladder. That was the takeaway from

Every day, thousands of young American citizens who live in Mexico cross the border into the U.S. to receive their education, from elementary school all the way to college. Their families endure early mornings, arduous commutes, long lines and stressful interactions with border agents, simply to make it to class on time. In his second

If you’ve spent any time on the internet during the past 10 years, then you know about the “This Is Fine” comic. We’ve all seen it: a two-panel strip of a dog in a bowler hat, holding a mug, and calmly saying “this is fine” as the room is swallowed up by flames. Although the

Peter Swanson is well known for complex and clever plotting that’s designed to keep readers guessing. It was shown off to dazzling effect in The Kind Worth Killing, which came out in 2015 and sold by the truckload. Its follow-up made CFL’s Most Wanted List for 2023 – after all this time, could The Kind

Hamra and the Jungle of Memories is a stunning retelling of “Little Red Riding Hood” that brims with big emotions, big adventure and very big teeth. Hamra knows the rules about the Langkawi jungle behind her island home in Malaysia: Never enter without asking the jungle’s permission, never use her real name and never take

In case you’re new around here, you should know that we love a good cover trend at Book Riot. Pantone color of the year? Check. Best covers of the year? You betcha. Books with sexy, suggestive fruits on the cover? Uh, yeah. This time, let’s take a look at some wonderful minimalist book covers coming

If you’ve ever travelled to Egypt, The Lost Americans by Christopher Bollen will take you back there. At least it had that effect on me. And, if you’ve never been there, when you finish this fast-paced thriller, you may feel as if you’ve made the trip. The Sahara dust settling on everything, the smells of

Throughout his broadcasting career, journalist and host of NPR’s “All Things Considered” Ari Shapiro has made connections with people from all walks of life. In his sparkling memoir, The Best Strangers in the World: Stories From a Life Spent Listening, Shapiro intimately invites readers into his childhood and beyond to show them how his youthful

With the fervor over AI and how ChatGPT will inevitable change English classes — and nary a word from said author of that piece on the scores of books being removed from those classes — it seemed only right to experiment with the tool. How easily could it parrot the talking points of “parental rights”

Stepping back into the mists of time to try and solve a mystery is a favourite topic for the Icelandic author Arnaldur Indridason and this is a popular branch of crime fiction for readers too, so it’s great to see the second book in his series about the aging detective Konrád in our roundup. The

Historical fiction is the star of our April issue (11 of our favorites!), but we’ve also got the first memoir from Big Fish author Daniel Wallace, Victor LaValle’s highly anticipated new horror novel and exceptional Earth Day books for kids. Upcoming issues of BookPage will bring special books for Mother’s Day and new releases from Hector Tobar,

If I had to summarize John Catsimatidis’s new book, How Far Do You Want to Go?: Lessons from a Common-Sense Billionaire, it would be two words Catsimatidis uses in a key passage. Simply put, and paraphrasing slightly, Step in. Stepping in is what sticks in my memory, not the actual education-based strategy and methodology Catsimatidis