Category: Events

Step through the portal and enter a world of magic with us as we celebrate YA Fantasy this week!

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Sponsored by Flatiron Books

Welcome to Finale, the final book in Stephanie Garber’s #1 New York Times bestselling Caraval series! It’s been two months since the Fates were freed from a deck of cards, two months since Legend claimed the throne for his own, and two months since Tella discovered the boy she fell in love with doesn’t really exist. Tella must decide if she’s going to trust Legend. After uncovering a secret, Scarlett will need to do the impossible. And Legend has a choice to make that will forever change him. Caraval is over, but perhaps the greatest game of all has begun.

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Start here, with our welcome post, where you’ll be able to find all of our YA Fantasy Week content as it goes up each day.

Today, we’ve rounded up recently published and forthcoming YA Fantasy inspired by Asia and Asian mythology.

A reader returns to a favorite young adult series and analyzes the determinism in Redwall, making peace with a flawed favorite.

And we talk about YA Fantasy heroes from less represented cultures and backgrounds.

Check out all our YA Fantasy Week content by heading over to bookriot.com.

We hope you’re getting plenty of sunlight wherever you are because we’re bringing out the vampires for Vampire Day at Book Riot!

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Sponsored by Carmilla by Kim Turrisi from KCP Loft

An adaptation of Shaftesbury’s award-winning, groundbreaking queer vampire web series of the same name, Carmilla mixes the camp of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the snark of Veronica Mars, and the mysterious atmosphere of Welcome to Nightvale.

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We’ve got something for every fan of vampire fiction out there. Start with our welcome post, collecting all of the day’s vampire content; find under-the-radar reads for your vampire TBR; learn about Dracula’s predecessor Carmilla; find out how teaching 6th grade made one reader love Twilight; find some non-Western bloodsuckers in literature; and so much more.

So head to Book Riot and invite some vampires into your home library!

What if we told you that you could journey to the past without losing modern conveniences like ebooks, prepackaged soup, rideshare apps, and penicillin? Because that’s exactly what we’re saying. Join us for Historical Fiction Day!

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Sponsored by THE CASSANDRA, the new novel by Sharma Shields, winner of the Washington State Book Award. Published by Henry Holt & Co.

Gifted and cursed with the ability to see the future, Mildred Groves takes a position at the Hanford Research Center in the early 1940s. Hanford tests and manufactures a mysterious product to aid the war effort. Only the top officials know that this product is processed plutonium, to make the first atomic bombs. Inspired by the classic Greek myth, this 20th-century reimagining is based on a real WWII compound. A timely novel about patriarchy and militancy, The Cassandra uses both legend and history to examine man’s capacity for destruction, and the compassion it takes to challenge the powerful.

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Whether you’re looking for historical mysteries set in locations across the world, horror stories that’ll make you thankful for electricity, books about bygone royalty, historical fiction from Southeast Asia or Latin America, or simply want to explore the world of historical fiction at leisure, we got you.

So head on over to Book Riot, start with our welcome post, and enjoy a day of historical fiction!

Take a fantastic voyage! Today, we’re going around the globe, through magical realms, and across enchanted pages for World of Fantasy Day.

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Sponsored by Kingdom of Copper by S.A. Chakraborty

In Daevabad, djinn summon flames with the snap of a finger, blood can be dangerous as any spell, and a clever con artist from Cairo will alter the fate of a kingdom in the thrilling sequel to THE CITY OF BRASS. As Nahri carefully navigates life in the dangerous royal court, Ali has been exiled and must rely on the frightening abilities gifted to him by unpredictable spirits in order to survive. A new century approaches, but as the djinn gather for celebrations, a threat brews unseen in the desolate north, one that seeks the aid of an ancient warrior trapped between worlds.

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Saddle your magical steed and join us over at Book Riot to celebrate and explore fantasy traditions, retellings, and works in translation from around the world!

Start with our welcome post where you can find a round-up of all of the day’s fantasy content. We’ve got fantasy reads from Africa, Slavic speculative fiction in translation, Middle Eastern and Indian-inspired YA tales, Harry Potter readalikes, and much more.

So head to Book Riot and enjoy a day of international fantasy!

Out with the old, in with the new–unless they’re books! Before you start building your 2019 new release to-be-read list, make sure you take a look at our round-up of the Best Books of 2018 (which, after all, was only a week ago).

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Sponsored by Libby, the one-tap reading app from your library and OverDrive

Meet Libby. The award-winning reading app that makes sure you always have something to read. It’s like having your entire library right in your pocket. Download the app today and get instant access to thousands of ebooks and audiobooks for free thanks to your public library and OverDrive.

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The round-up includes books for lovers of every genre, including comics, romance, mystery, and poetry. So hop on over to Book Riot and check out our favorite reads of 2018 and make sure you don’t miss them!

Hello, readers! This week, Book Riot is hosting tons of excellent content for New Ears Resolution Week, and we wanted to share it all with you to help you with your bookish resolutions.

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Sponsored by Penguin Random House Audio

HOLIDAYS ARE HAPPIER WITH AUDIOBOOKS. Make your holiday travels, errands, cooking sessions, and all the rest more enjoyable by listening to an audiobook. From bestsellers, to thrillers, to self-care, you can find the perfect listen for any moment. Give yourself the gift of audio this holiday season.

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Start here, with our welcome post, where you’ll be able to find all of our New Ears Resolution content as it goes up throughout the week.

Today, there’s this post about the joy of poetry audiobooks for those of us looking to discover new poets, add more poetry to our to-be-read list, and experience poetry in an audibly delightful way.

If reading the classics is your 2019 jam, but you’re already feeling overwhelmed by the prospect, why not try listening to them? We’re here to help you move those daunting texts off your TBR with the help of audiobooks.

And, whatever your resolutions may be, we have a nonfiction audiobook to help you find the motivation and perspective to follow through.

Be sure to check out all our New Ears Resolution Week content by heading over to bookriot.com.

Hello, book lovers! Today Book Riot hosted tons of excellent content for National Coming Out Day, and we wanted to share it all with you.

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Sponsored by This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson

There’s a long-running joke that, after “coming out,” a lesbian, gay guy, bisexual, or trans person should receive a membership card and instruction manual. THIS IS THAT INSTRUCTION MANUAL. You’re welcome.

Inside you’ll find the answers to all the questions you ever wanted to ask: from sex to politics, hooking up to stereotypes, coming out and more. This candid, funny, and uncensored exploration of sexuality and what it’s like to grow up LGBT also includes real stories from people across the gender and sexual spectrums, not to mention hilarious illustrations.

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Start here, with our Guest Editor Aly Ross’s account of coming out as gender non-binary to her high school students–NCOD still matters, especially in this administration.

There’s this post about coming out and the influence of the YA novel (and now film!) The Miseducation of Cameron Post. Romance readers, this Bud’s for you–a recommendation post about romances featuring queer women involved with folks from different genders.

Looking for queer women represented in comics? This reader recommends the DC Bombshell comics. And here’s a post on the importance of reading about queer characters of color. And a gay contributor on why coming out is a creative endeavor.

Be sure to check out all our queer content for National Coming Out Day (and take a peek at the rad rainbow homepage!) by heading over to bookriot.com.

Welcome to Book Riot’s Events Newsletter, hosted by me, María Cristina. We’re looking ahead at some of the bookish ways you can spend your time in the next couple weeks, and I’m sure there’s at least one item here that can tempt you to put on pants and go out (in that order, please). Clear your calendars on the following dates, my reading friends.

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Sponsored by Amazon Publishing

From chilling thrillers and epic adventures to inspiring non-fiction, discover your next summer read from Amazon Publishing starting at only $0.99.

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IRL GATHERINGS

Literary Death Match: May 24 in New York, NY

Here’s a lively hybrid event for y’all. Three celebrity judges sit in appraisal as four authors compete in a read-off. In this installment, Matt Bellassai (Everything Is Awful and Other Observations), Iris Smyles (Dating Tips for the Unemployed), Tochi Onyebuchi (Beasts Made of Night), and New York Times contributing opinion writer Kashana Cauley duke it out at Manhattan’s Caveat.

BookCon At BEA: June 2 and 3 in New York, NY

I don’t know why there are so many other things listed in this newsletter when this is the only event that matters…because it’s the only event where I’ll be interviewing Nico Tortorella onstage about their debut poetry collection, All of It Is You! When I feel excited about it, it’s like BookCon is my reward for traipsing around the Javits Center during the preceding BookExpo America. When I feel nervous about it, I can’t finish my s
So come holla at your girl if you find yourself in the vicinity of the Downtown Stage Saturday at 1:45! #TeamJosh

Why Reading Matters: Reading Without Boundaries: June 7 in Brooklyn, NY

We’re just stuck in New York for this edition of the newsletter, aren’t we? Well, at least we can get out of Manhattan for a bit and stretch our legs in Brooklyn for this conference put on by the National Book Foundation. In its third installment, the conference will host everyone from authors to librarians to educators to jam out to this year’s theme: “how we can use books to bridge divides, create new connections, and deepen understandings.” Heck yeah!

 

AUTHORS ON TOUR

Sandhya Menon

Stops include: May 22 (Downers Grove, IL), 23 (Fort Collins, CO), 24 (Seattle, WA), 25 (Menlo Park, CA), and 26 (San Jose, CA)

We here at the Riot were head-over-heels for When Dimple Met Rishi, and we’re beyond excited that From Twinkle, with Love is hitting shelves! This epistolary YA novel will charm your socks off.

Jennifer Zeynab Joukhadar

Stops include: May 23 (Dearborn, MI), 28 (Minneapolis, MN), 30 (Chicago, IL), and June 5 (Portland, OR)

The Map of Salt and Stars is debut fiction, but it deals with the very non-fictional Syrian refugee crisis. It’s not the “beachiest” of reads, but through all the pain, the book just shimmers (I loved the astrological threads throughout). If you’re working through some grief, you might find this especially soothing—if you’re ready.

Aja Gabel

Stops include: May 23 (San Francisco, CA), 24 (Santa Rosa, CA), June 1 (Portland, OR), and 6 (San Diego, CA)

As a flautist, I’m always tickled to see drama portrayed outside my section, and boy is there some string quartet drama in this debut novel! The Ensemble also has a cover that’s just begging to be blown up and framed.

David Sedaris

Stops include: May 29 (Decatur, GA), 30 (Winston-Salem, NC), 31 (Davidson, NC), June 1 (Pittsboro, NC), 2 (New York, NY), 3 (Brooklyn, NY), 4 (Washington, DC), and 6 (Boston, MA)

What can I tell you about David Sedaris that Ira Glass hasn’t already? An upperclassman once gave me Holidays on Ice as a Secret Santa present, and it was scarily perfect. Sedaris is the warmest curmudgeon, and that earns Calypso an automatic “add” to my TBR pile.

 

ON THE HORIZON

June

Printers Row Lit Fest in Chicago, IL

July

Detroit Festival of Books in Detroit, MI

Saskatchewan Festival of Words in Moose Jaw, Canada

August

Rocky Mountain Book and Paper Fair in Denver, CO

Decatur Book Festival in Decatur, GA

 

THERE YA GO!

If you end up participating in any of the above, tell us about it on social media.

And if there are any bookish events that should be on my radar, tweet me @meowycristina or email me at mariacristina@bookriot.com.

Hope to see you Riot readers in the wild!

-MC

 

Welcome to Book Riot’s Events Newsletter, hosted by me, María Cristina. We’re looking ahead at some of the bookish ways you can spend your time in the next couple weeks, and I’m sure there’s at least one item here that can tempt you to put on pants and go out (in that order, please). Clear your calendars on the following dates, my reading friends.

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We’re giving away 15 of the best mysteries and thrillers of the year so far. Click here to enter, or click the image below:

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IRL GATHERINGS

Romantic Times Booklovers Convention: May 15-20 in Reno, NV

This is an epic gathering of romance readers and authors! Registration is pricy if you’re a casual romance reader or festival goer. But if you have the stamina for a full day on the convention floor and parties all night, you will definitely get that bang for your buck. Wow, that sounds dirtier than I meant it…

Dear America: Poems of Resistance and Hope: May 17 in La Conner, WA

This event is part of the biennial Skagit River Poetry Festival. For $40 you get a ticket to “join three-time US Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky, Ada Limon, Lena Khalaf Tuffah and Brian Turner for this evening of poetry.” There will also be a band there called Hot Damn Scandal and I’m mad I didn’t take that name first (for a band, my child, whatever).

Gaithersburg Book Festival: May 19 in Gaithersburg, MD

She has no idea I’m plugging this, but Book Riot’s very own Karina Glaser, Contributing Editor extraordinaire, will be appearing at this book festival! Her debut middle grade book The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street was one of my favorite reads of 2017, and I’m 100% convinced I would feel that way even if I didn’t know for a fact that Karina herself is AMAZING. So go to the Jim Henson Pavilion at 2:15 for her presentation and signing!

The Bronx Book Festival: May 19 in the Bronx, NY

We’ve been excited about this event ever since its inspiring Kickstarter campaign. And now it’s almost here! Founder Saraciea Fennell told us, “This festival purposefully consists of predominantly authors and creators of color to show that there is a market for lit by and for marginalized people.” YEAH THERE IS! Can’t wait for the Keynote Panel featuring Daniel José Older and Elizabeth Acevedo. Talk about book festival #goals.

 

AUTHORS ON TOUR

Jesmyn Ward

Stops include: May 8 (Brooklyn, NY), 9 (Philadelphia, PA and Washington, DC), 10 (Atlanta, GA), 14 (Chicago, IL), 15 (Austin, TX), 16 (Houston, TX), 22 (New Orleans, LA), and 24 (Pass Christian, MS)

Jesmyn Ward’s Sing, Unburied, Sing was a highlight of last year’s literary landscape. That’s reason enough for me to celebrate it. But the occasion of its paperback release means we get more Jesmyn Ward on the literary circuit, so more YAY for this Southern Gothic/magical realism read!

Rumaan Alam

Stops include: May 9 (Brooklyn, NY), 13 (Washington, DC), and 17 (Brooklyn, NY)

Just in time for Mother’s Day, we get Rumaan Alam’s latest, That Kind of Mother. I find this more funny than appropriate, because the titular parent is kind of an awful person? But it’s a thought-provoking novel by a non-awful person.

Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen

Stops include: May 8 (New York, NY), 9 (Maplewood, NJ), 10 (Haverford, PA), 11 (Washington, DC), and 12 (Frederick, MD)

My kid is the kid who gives other kids books for their birthdays. It would be very uncool, except she’s only three and nobody’s clamoring for whatever her generation’s Beanie Babies are going to eventually be. Her entire social circle will be getting Square in the coming year, because I’m her personal shopper and this is my favorite book of 2018, no lie.

 

ON THE HORIZON

June

BookCon at BEA in New York, NY

Printers Row Lit Fest in Chicago, IL

July

Detroit Festival of Books in Detroit, MI

Saskatchewan Festival of Words in Moose Jaw, Canada

August

Rocky Mountain Book and Paper Fair in Denver, CO

Decatur Book Festival in Decatur, GA

 

THERE YA GO!

If you end up participating in any of the above, tell us about it on social media.

And if there are any bookish events that should be on my radar, tweet me @meowycristina or email me at mariacristina@bookriot.com.

Hope to see you Riot readers in the wild!

-MC

 

Welcome to Book Riot’s Events Newsletter, hosted by me, María Cristina. We’re looking ahead at some of the bookish ways you can spend your time in the next couple weeks, and I’m sure there’s at least one item here that can tempt you to put on pants and go out (in that order, please). Clear your calendars on the following dates, my reading friends.

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Sponsored by Amazon Publishing

Awaken your imagination with a Kindle Exclusive Deal. Browse deals you won’t find anywhere else and discover your next great read.

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IRL GATHERINGS

Arkansas Literary Festival: April 26-29 in Little Rock, AR

The Central Arkansas Library System is throwing quite the shindig. From Mackenzi Lee (The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue) to bilingual (English and Spanish) story time, there’s something for everyone. In things-that-don’t-make-a-lot-of-sense-news, the 4th annual Traditional Pie Bake-Off & Recipe Swap is folded into this literary festival, and I don’t hate it.

Midwest Literary Walk: April 28 in Chelsea, MI

This event is in the tenth of what I hope is many, many more years. You start the afternoon with Will Schwalbe (Books for Living), then walk to Ada Limón (Bright Dear Things), then finish up with Michael Eric Dyson (Tears We Cannot Stop). And then you can sit a spell at Zou Zou’s Cafe for an official 10th Anniversary Toast.

Bay Area Book Festival: April 28 & 29 in Berkeley, CA

So here are my three favorite things going down at this festival: 1. Children’s author Mac Barnett (The Terrible Two Go Wild) will tell stories. 2. Crime authors will debate who’s better, private investigators (Cara Black and Matt Goldman representing) or police detectives (Candice Fox and Rachel Howzell Hall representing). 3. France’s sci-fi master Sylvie Denis talks about translation, gender, climate change, and migration AND the first 75 attendees will get an exclusive excerpt of her translated work.

YALLWEST Santa Monica Book Festival: May 5 in Santa Monica, CA

This is a teen book festival that everyone should be so lucky to attend. I mean, there’s a panel titled “MAKE IT GAY, COWARDS! 🌈” and it will feature Marguerite Bennett (Angela: Queen of Hel), Irene Koh (The Legend of Korra), CB Lee (Not Your Sidekick), Lewis Peterson (Cats Vs. Robots), Tillie Walden (The End of Summer), and Jen Wang (The Prince and the Dressmaker). Rarified air.

INTERWEBBY THINGS

Poem in Your Pocket Day: April 26

The Academy of American Poets and The League of Canadian Poets help us close out Poetry Month with this sweetly simply day. It’s right there in the name: select a poem, and carry it in your pocket. Print it out, write it out, copy and paste it into your Notes app on your phone. Share it with people you run into, and post it on social media with #pocketpoem. I call dibs on “The Cremation of Sam McGee,” of which I have the first six stanzas memorized. Hold me accountable for memorizing the rest by next Poem in Your Pocket Day!

Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon: April 28

Abandon your obligations and read all day. It’s the dream! And you can live it on this day-long reading challenge. Check in on social media with your fellow readers using #readathon whenever you need a break, extra encouragement, or permission to quit a book that’s just not working for you.

Children’s Book Week: April 30-May 6

Next we’ve got the longest-running national literacy initiative in America and AAAHHHH I am deeply in love with Jillian Tamaki’s poster for this year’s children’s book week! This celebration of kid lit was established in 1919 and, c’mon, just LOOK at that amazing artwork. Tag yourself. I am the joey comfy in the kanga pouch, focused on my own reading material.

AUTHORS ON TOUR

This newsletter is feeling loooooong. So, fam, let’s just do Independent Bookstore Day up RIGHT on Saturday, April 28. Find a participating shop and celebrate the contribution it makes to your local community. While you’re there, ask them about the reading and signing events they’re excited about!

ON THE HORIZON

May

Wordplay in Minneapolis, MN

June

BookCon at BEA in New York, NY

Printers Row Lit Fest in Chicago, IL

July

Detroit Festival of Books in Detroit, MI

Saskatchewan Festival of Words in Moose Jaw, Canada

THERE YA GO!

If you end up participating in any of the above, tell us about it on socialmedia.

And if there are any bookish events that should be on my radar, tweet me @meowycristinaor email me at mariacristina@bookriot.com.

Hope to see you Riot readers in the wild!

-MC