Books

Where do you want to go today? Because crime fiction will take you anywhere. Shall we head west, with Lee Goldberg’s Western-style police novel, Calico? Or south to New Zealand for Nalini Singh’s new psychological thriller? French author Johana Gustawsson heads north to Sweden in her latest, while Spanish author Javier Castillo dials west again

Kelly is a former librarian and a long-time blogger at STACKED. She’s the editor/author of (DON’T) CALL ME CRAZY: 33 VOICES START THE CONVERSATION ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH and the editor/author of HERE WE ARE: FEMINISM FOR THE REAL WORLD. Her next book, BODY TALK, will publish in Fall 2020. Follow her on Instagram @heykellyjensen. View

On Wednesday, Oprah Daily announced its list of the best novels that came out in 2023. The list is 10 books long and filled with books of varying genres, from authors both well-known and newer. Here are a few of the best novels of 2023 according to Oprah Daily: Happiness Falls by Angie Kim The

Here’s a heads-up for crime fiction lovers who enjoy tuning in to BBC Four’s subtitled slot at 9pm on Saturdays, which usually features a crime show. This week (Saturday 11 November), the channel is airing the critically acclaimed French film Black Box, or Boîte Noire. Here’s the trailer… [embedded content] The two-hour feature stars Pierre

Publication of a new police procedural featuring Val McDermid’s intrepid Detective Chief Inspector Karen Pirie is something to get excited about. The streets of Edinburgh have never been so ominous – or empty – as when this story takes place in April 2020, at the height of the COVID epidemic. Authors were of mixed minds

As Christina Wyman’s heartfelt and often heartbreakingly realistic Jawbreaker opens, Maximillia (Max) Plink receives distressing news from her orthodontist. Dr. Watson says Max’s braces aren’t enough to prevent possible future double jaw surgery—it’s time to start wearing headgear known as “the jawbreaker” for 16 hours a day. It’s yet another thing that makes Max, a witty

“Think about this: The Italians didn’t have the tomato until after 1492,” writes chef and food historian Lois Ellen Frank. “The Irish didn’t have the potato.” Let that sink in, then get a copy of Frank’s Seed to Plate, Soil to Sky: Modern Plant-Based Recipes Using Native American Ingredients. Written with Walter Whitewater, the book

Agatha Christie fans, rejoice: Sophie Hannah brings back famed detective Hercule Poirot in the riveting Hercule Poirot’s Silent Night, the latest entry in her authorized reboot of the iconic series.  Hercule Poirot and Inspector Edward Catchpool (Hannah’s own invention) are taking on a new case, this time brought to them by Cynthia Catchpool, Edward’s mother.

Two master strategists go head to head—or nose to nose—in Down the Hole, a wickedly funny picture book written by Scott Slater and illustrated by Adam Ming. As he’s done many times before, Fox positions himself at the edge of the meadow, above a hole in the ground, ready to make his move: “There were bunnies

What is a man? And, still more important, what is love? These are the questions posed by Salar Abdoh’s latest novel, A Nearby Country Called Love. Manhood and the search for love bedevil Abdoh’s dispirited protagonist, Issa. Deported from the United States after years working a deadening hotel job, Issa has returned to his childhood

Anyone immediately transported to a riverside pier by the lyric “So open up your morning light” will love Thea Glassman’s Freaks, Gleeks, and Dawson’s Creek: How Seven Teen Shows Transformed Television. “Today’s teen shows are leading the charge when it comes to progressive, diverse, and creative storytelling,” Glassman writes, but they wouldn’t exist without the

In Lynn Steger Strong’s stirring Flight, siblings Kate, Henry and Martin struggle to make it through the holidays after the death of their mother. Assembling at Henry’s home with their respective families for Christmas, they try to be cheerful while sorting out big issues like whether to keep their mother’s house. When the daughter of

Ivy Nichols O’Reilly has grown up in a wealthy family full of magic, fantastical creatures, and emotional abuse—but when her narcissistic mother arranges an unwanted marriage for her, the young witch reaches her breaking point. She drops out of college, changes her name to Georgette, and fees across the country with her best friend, a Wood

With only one sleep left before Christmas Eve, Dasher can’t contain her excitement for her favorite holiday. With the sound of Christmas carols on the breeze and twinkling lights radiating from a nearby city, she sneaks off to visit the festivities. But as night deepens and snow starts to fall, Dasher realizes she can no

Kendra Winchester is a Contributing Editor for Book Riot where she writes about audiobooks and disability literature. She is also the Founder of Read Appalachia, which celebrates Appalachian literature and writing. Previously, Kendra co-founded and served as Executive Director for Reading Women, a podcast that gained an international following over its six-season run. In her

Ann-Marie Cahill will read anything and everything. From novels to trading cards to the inside of CD covers (they’re still a thing, right?). A good day is when her kids bring notes home from school. A bad day is when she has to pry a book from her kids’ hands. And then realizes where they

Lies After Death is a crime debut for KJ Dando, someone who has had various jobs and has served in the British Army in the Balkans and Iraq. It’s this army background that seems to funnel into his first novel the most. His main character, Tom Crane, learned the skills he now uses as a

Back in 2020, we nearly blew up our servers by posting a preview of Nordic Murders when its first season was broadcast in the UK by Channel 4. The article remains one of our most popular to this day. What is it about this German crime show that people love so much? Tell us! Now

Bosch is back on our screens – but be prepared for a drip-feed, Michael Connelly fans! The first four episodes of Bosch: Legacy season two will be available on October 20 on Amazon Freevee and Prime Video. Then the momentum slows, with two episodes streaming on the following three Fridays, making a a total of 10. Click

The lone wolf has an irresistible pull for some crime fiction lovers. In action thrillers like this, the protagonist can be as unconventional as the author likes, which means this is an area where the genre is free to grow and develop. It feels like there is a renaissance going on and debut author Max

As William Shaw, he’s best known for the  Alexandra Cupidi and the Breen and Tozer series of novels, but this author has another string to his bow; as GW Shaw he crafts standalone thrillers, and it is the latest of these, The Conspirators, which sees him chatting with Jacky ‘Dr Noir’ Collins in the latest of her The

When Renée Watson read her first Ramona Quimby book as a child, she was startled by where Beverly Cleary’s beloved heroine lived: Klickitat Street was just around the corner from Watson’s aunt’s home in Portland, Oregon. “I was so in awe that a character in a book could live in my city and in a

The world honestly needs more of iconic actor and literacy advocate LeVar Burton, and will get just that during the National Book Awards’ 74th award ceremony. Though today’s announcement of Burton hosting is cutting it a bit close to the November 15th date for the black-tie ceremony. The scrambling is because of a last minute

We seem to be blessed with a burgeoning historical crime fiction scene in Britain at the moment and Leonora Nattrass is one of the most impressive newcomers. Her debut Black Drop struck a chord with readers and critics alike in 2021, which was followed by Blue Water.  Her latest, Scarlet Town, is the third Laurence

Nobel winning American poet Louise Glück died today, Friday, October 13. She was 80 years old. Glück was the US Poet Laureate from 2003 to 2004, and her work explored religion, mythology, and the natural world with deeply personal and autobiographical tones. Her poetry earned not only the Nobel in 2020 for her collection The

You know it’s been a tough year when people are talking about Christmas weeks and weeks before Halloween. It’s been a tough decade so far, come to think of it. Perhaps another Christmas will be introduced around June time? It would appear this would suit the publishing industry very nicely as here we bring you

Kelly is a former librarian and a long-time blogger at STACKED. She’s the editor/author of (DON’T) CALL ME CRAZY: 33 VOICES START THE CONVERSATION ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH and the editor/author of HERE WE ARE: FEMINISM FOR THE REAL WORLD. Her next book, BODY TALK, will publish in Fall 2020. Follow her on Instagram @heykellyjensen. View

Big Island, LA connects the dots between a heist gone wrong at a police shooting range and corporate greed and political corruption, leaving a former combat marine and an agoraphobic crime reporter to sort out the mystery. It’s a new crime novel from Boston Teran – a writer whose true identity is unknown. Teran began writing

Elisa Shoenberger has been building a library since she was 13. She loves writing about all aspects of books from author interviews, antiquarian books, archives, and everything in between. She also writes regularly for Murder & Mayhem and Library Journal. She’s also written articles for Huffington Post, Boston Globe, WIRED, Slate, and many other publications.

Tom Mead’s debut, Death and the Conjuror, introduced us to amateur sleuth Joseph Spector. It landed with a splash, readers taken with the author’s ingenious double locked-room murder mystery, which played well on one of the oldest formats in the genre. The Murder Wheel is a new adventure for illusionist Spector and a deeper dive