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The Goods

The Best Books of 2023

We only want the best for you, and that’s why we’re sharing the best books of 2023! If these haven’t already made your list, be sure to add them to your TBR!

Best Books of 2023

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Deals is moving to Substack

Hello Book Riot Deals readers!

Just a quick note to let you know that we are moving Book Riot Deals over to Substack. You are still going to get our hand-picked daily selection of cheap ebooks, but it might look a little different.

The daily newsletter you are used to will still be free. In the future, we will likely explore some ideas of what a premium version might look like (audiobook deals? special partner discounts?), but that’s going to be extra.

Thanks so much for reading Book Riot, and may the deals be in your favor.

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The Goods

The Best Books of 2023 (So Far)

The year is halfway over, and we’re ready to name Book Riot’s Best Books of 2023 (so far)! These are our favorite reads that were published between January 1st and June 30th. You’re going to want to make some room on your TBR!

Book Riot's Best Books of 2023 (so far)

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Events

It’s Music & Literature Day! 🎶📚

Music and Literature have been some of humanity’s favorite forms of storytelling for thousands of years, often inspiring and building off each other. So we thought we’d celebrate the magic of music and literature with a full day devoted to them! We’re exploring books about musicians, bookish playlists, magical music in fantasy, lyrics as literature, music and the poets, and more. Press play and dive in!

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Events

It’s Dark Academia Day!

It’s Dark Academia Day here at Book Riot, a celebration of the gothic, the intellect, and the aloof. You’ll find us sitting in the corner of the drafty hall, sipping black coffee, clothed in tweed, brooding over demonic prep boys, Dark Academia tropes, Dark Academia in science fiction and fantasy, horror, YA, and even manga, and of course contemplating the reasons Dark Academia is so perennially popular. Grab your cardigan and pull up a chair, the library’s open all night and there’s plenty to read.

Dark academia library

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The Goods

It’s the Most Anticipated Books of 2023!

New Year, new TBR! It’s time to plan out your start those preorders and place those library holds because today we’re coming at you with Book Riot’s most anticipated books of 2023 that you simply can’t miss.

Book Riot's Most Anticipated Books of 2023

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The Goods

The Best Books of 2022

It’s that time of year again — we’re announcing the best books of 2022! We’ve combed through everything we’ve read this year to share our picks of best books across all genres. Go forth and explore!

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Today In Books

How Writing Has Spread Across the World, from 3000 BCE to This Year: Today in Books

National Literacy Trust and Enterprise Give 25,000 Copies of Henry’s First Novel to Children 

As part of Enterprise’s Road Forward, a $55 million fund from the philanthropic Enterprise Holdings Foundation to support social and racial equity projects across the world, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and the National Literacy Trust are giving away 25,000 copies of Sir Lenny Henry’s first novel, The Boy With Wings, to 5th and 6th graders across the UK. The books will arrive at the beginning of UK’s Black History Month in October, and the partnership hopes this effort boosts rates of reading for pleasure as well as offer representation for Black kids with important messages about race, inclusion, and diversity.

How Writing Has Spread Across the World, from 3000 BCE to This Year: An Animated Map

Historical map animator Ollie Bye, created a map which shows the spread of writing across the world from the oldest known writing systems in Mesopotamia, between 3400 and 3100 BCE, and Egypt, around 3250 BCE through today. The map illustrates all known writing systems over the whole of the past five millennia, not just those used today.

Andrews McMeel Publishing Teams up With the Academy of American Poets to Release 100 Poems That Matter

In partnership with the Academy of American Poets, Andrews McMeel Publishing will release 100 Poems That Matter on December 6, 2022. The anthology will examine universal themes of love, loss, and the experiences that define us. 100 Poems That Matter aims to encourages us to bring a deeper sense of honesty into our lives, invite readers into poetry, and prompt reflection. 

Who “Parental Rights” Groups Leave Out

Although groups like “Moms for Liberty” say that they are fighting for “parents’ rights” by trying to remove books from schools and claim to speak for all parents, less than 1% of Florida parents chose to opt their children out of access to their choice of school library books.

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Today In Books

Amazon to Change Ebook Return Policy, End Refunds for Quick Readers: Today in Books

Amazon to Change Ebook Return Policy, End Refunds for Quick Readers

The Authors Guild announced on Thursday that after discussions with Amazon’s senior executive team concerning its policy of refunding all all ebook purchases up to seven days after purchase, regardless of the amount read, Amazon is changing its ebook policy to restrict automatic returns to purchases where no more than 10% of the book has been read. Customers who have read more than 10% of a purchased ebook will now have to go through a more lengthy review process to return the book. This policy chance will go into effect at the end of the year.

Michelle Obama Announces a New Book and She Could Be Coming to a City Near You

Michelle Obama announced the the dates and cities for her six-city tour promoting her upcoming book The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times, which will be released on November 15. The tour will be produced by Live Nation beginning in Washington, D.C. on November 15 with stops in Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.

Chairman Raskin, Senator Schatz Introduce Bicameral Resolution Recognizing Banned Books Week

This week, Rep. Jamie Raskin and Sen. Brian Schatz introduced a resolution in the House recognizing Banned Books Week, condemning the book bans across the country as a a direct attack on First Amendment rights. The Banned Books Week Congressional Resolution urges Congress to denounce the illegitimate processes being used to ban books in schools, prisons, and libraries, and urges local governments and educational institutions to respond to book bans in kind.

Wolf Hall Author Hilary Mantel Dies at 70

Prolific British author and two-time winner of the Booker Prize, Hilary Mantel, died from a stroke on Thursday at the age of 70.

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Today In Books

How A High School Student Won A School Board Seat By Standing Up To Extremists: Today in Books

Announcing the Winners of the 2022 Ignyte Awards!

The third annual Ignyte Awards, which seek to celebrate the vibrancy and diversity of the current and future landscapes of science fiction, fantasy, and horror, were presented on Saturday, September 17th, 2022. Among the winners from the 1205 submitted ballots are A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark for Best Novel: Adult, A Snake Falls to Earth by Darcie Little Badger for Best Novel: Young Adult, and Root Magic by Eden Royce for Best in Middle Grade.

How A High School Student Won A School Board Seat By Standing Up To Extremists

Eighteen-year-old Shiva Rajbhandari defeated 47-year-old incumbent Steve Schmidt who was endorsed by local far-right extremist groups in the race for a seat on the Boise School District Board of Trustees with 56% of the vote. For Rajbhandari, this result demonstrated part of the reason he ran for board election in the first place, to demonstrate that the majority of Boise School District patrons do not support the book-banning, anti-mask, and anti-LGBTQ sentiments of the extremists who backed his opponent. Rajbhandari hopes to establish a permanent student position on the school board so that he is replaced by another student when he graduates.

Canada’s Indigo Books & Music Names New CEO

Former company president of Canada’s Indigo Books & Music, Peter Ruis has been named CEO in place of Heather Reisman who will now assume the role of executive chairman. Ruis is a former retail executive with 30 years of experience at Levis, Ted Baker, Anthropologie, and John Lewis. Ruis’s succession to CEO was part of a planned hire by Indigo Books & Music to help cope with pandemic lockdowns. As Canada’s dominant bookstore chain, Ruis plans to keep the focus on brick-and-mortar retail, making things bigger and bolder.

Longlists Announced for 2022 National Book Awards

The longlists for the 2022 National Book Awards were announced on September 14–16. Read on to see the titles longlisted for Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Translated Literature, and Young People’s Literature.