We’re giving away a year subscription to Tailored Book Recommendations – Digital!
Enter here for a chance to win, or click the image below!
All you have to do is sign-up for our Best of Book Riot newsletter which sends a digest of Book Riot’s best posts, picked for you.
Celebrate Pride year-round with Penguin Random House! Enter for a chance to win a collection of 25 new LGBTQ+ books!
Enter here for a chance to win, or click the image below!
Here’s a bit more from our sponsor: Check out the Pride in Your Words website for hundreds of queer book recommendations. Books offer community, even when we’re alone. And seeing yourself represented in the pages of a book is something everyone should be able to experience. Find your next read at prh.com/pridereads, this month and every month.
Hi, historical fiction fans,
Happy July! I’m trying to soak up as much sun and reading time as I can this week. Easier said than done, since I’m also chasing around my two nephews, both under three years old. I am getting some really good practice with my picture book reading skills, though. My voice work could use some improvement, but fortunately, they’re still young enough to be a forgiving audience. If you’re looking for some great picture book recs, some of my nephews’ current favorites are Gotta Go, Buffalo and Goodnight Veggies.
Learn something new, sharpen your skills, and expand your horizons with our Better Living Through Books newsletter. Better Living Through Books is your resource for reading material that helps you live the life you want. From self-help to cookbooks to parenting to personal finance, relationships, and more, Better Living Through Books has got you covered. If it’s part of life, it can be part of your reading life. Sign up for your free subscription to Better Living Through Books today, or become an All Access member starting at $6 per month or $60 per year and get unlimited access to members-only content in 20+ newsletters, community features, and the warm fuzzies knowing you are supporting independent media.
Good for bookmarks or a little bouquet, these little 3D-printed bookmark holders are the perfect addition to any bookworm’s home. $10
When a hotel employee named Abel God is involved in an unsavory incident, he decides to flee Nigeria to escape the repercussions. Now a migrant hoping to make his way to Europe, he finds himself first following a charismatic religious leader and then kidnapped by traffickers and forced to fight for his life and his freedom. It’s a gut-wrenching look into the realities of life for migrants.
In a reimagined 15th-century version of West Africa, a woman working in a blacksmith guild in Timbuktu is abducted to become the new warrior king’s wife. After a lifetime of subjugation, her new station is enticing. But the king is cruel, and she’ll have to forge her own loyalties at court to become the political power player she hopes to be.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
I’ve read two Shakespeare retellings this year. The first, The Death I Gave Him, was a modern sci-fi reimagining of Hamlet. While it lost some key components in the retelling, it also gained cool elements, including AI characters and multiple viewpoints. The second retelling that I just finished is a version of Romeo and Juliet from Rosaline’s perspective. So let’s talk about that and another recent Shakespeare retelling historical fiction fans may enjoy.
Before Juliet, there was Rosaline, and before Rosaline there were others. But Rosaline doesn’t know that yet. Committed to life in a nunnery by her grieving father, she is trying to grab life by the shoulders before she’s cloistered away. Romeo’s sweet words and novel attention are exactly what she wants in her last days of freedom. His words are empty, though. Rosaline realizes it too late, but now she’s determined to save her young cousin from a similar—or even worse—fate.
Forbidden romance and the consequences of adults refusing to put their children’s needs/desires first are at the heart of Romeo and Juliet, so what better way to reimagine it than with two boys falling in love? When Romeo meets Valentine at a Capulet party, he’s instantly enamored. But the growing conflict between Capulets and Montagues puts their already embattled romance even more at risk.
That’s it for now, folks! Stay subscribed for more stories of yesteryear.
If you want to talk books, historical or otherwise, you can find me @rachelsbrittain on most social media, including Instagram, Goodreads, and Litsy.
Right now I’m reading A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher. What about you?
Happy Tuesday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and I’ve got new releases and some SFF in translation for your reading pleasure today. And…somehow, July returned. What happened to June? No one can say. But now we’re truly into the summer, so if you’re in my neighborhood, it’s about reading books while standing watch over the grill and drinking a cold iced tea or lemonade.
Learn something new, sharpen your skills, and expand your horizons with our Better Living Through Books newsletter. Better Living Through Books is your resource for reading material that helps you live the life you want. From self-help to cookbooks to parenting to personal finance, relationships, and more, Better Living Through Books has got you covered. If it’s part of life, it can be part of your reading life. Sign up for your free subscription to Better Living Through Books today, or become an All Access member starting at $6 per month or $60 per year and get unlimited access to members-only content in 20+ newsletters, community features, and the warm fuzzies knowing you are supporting independent media.
Let’s make the world a better place, together. Here are two places to start: Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund, which provides medical and humanitarian relief to children in the Middle East regardless of nationality, religion, or political affiliation; and Ernesto’s Sanctuary, a cat sanctuary and animal rescue in Syria that is near and dear to my heart.
This is a really cool two-sided bandana with a Hades/Persephone theme that feels very appropriate for today! $15
Elysium has long been under siege by colossi; it is a battle the land of the dead is losing by inches. Hades has long sought a solution. She finds one in Persephone, a cyborg who seems made to pilot a war machine and who wants nothing more than to escape her mother’s control. Hades is all too happy to provide her an avenue for escape in exchange for her service.
Even though war burns through the Three Kingdoms, Meilin’s father—an opium addict—refuses to obey the imperial draft. Worse, he is determined to sell Meilin for her dowry to a man as violent and ill-tempered as he. The solution she finds is both simple and daring: Meilin disguises herself as a man and takes her father’s place in the army. Even as she grows as a warrior, she finds herself torn between two princes, one her training partner and one her enemy, and the power offered to her by a sea dragon spirit. Everyone has their own agenda, and she must find a way to navigate between loyalty, independence, and her own heart.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
Here’s some new SFF in translation!
In a near future ravaged by ecological discussion, a woman tries to survive in a plague-wracked city where a toxic algae bloom has poisoned the very air. There is only one food that all people can afford: a pink slime with proprietary ingredients. Between deadly windstorms, she tries to maintain the few relationships she still has with those who have yet to escape the city, and the worse conditions become, the more determined she is to stay in her home, no matter the price.
On an island that is Definitely Not Cuba, three siblings try to endure life under the tyranny of their country’s dictator, Pop-Pop Mustache, and the tyranny of their parents—their father was Pop-Pop’s right-hand man. Each sibling rebels in their own way, but most worrying is Calia, the youngest and quietest, who may be in league with the flies that swarm around the house.
See you, space pirates. If you’d like to know more about my secret plans to dominate the seas and skies, you can catch me over at my personal site.
Hello, star bits! I hope you are all having a wonderful second day of the second half of the year. I had a great weekend, watching birds and squirrels in the yard and reading books. I have been enjoying the Hilo middle grade graphic novel series by Judd Winick (former Real World cast member!) about an alien boy and his Earth friends. I reread The God of the Woods by Liz Moore, too. It is such a tremendous book and possibly my favorite of the year. I wanted to reread it in preparation for its release today, but also because I have recently been seeing it being compared to The Secret History by Donna Tartt. It’s funny, I have read that novel every year since it came out, and I didn’t have that thought the first time I read the Moore. But I can see why it’s being said. It’s definitely going to be recommended for many years to come. It’s an instant classic. (Which is an oxymoron, I know. But still true.)
Now let’s talk about the books out now for new release day! At the top of my list of books to acquire are Masquerade by O.O. Sangoyomi, The Failures by Benjamin Liar, and Evenings and Weekends by Oisín McKenna. On this week’s episode of All the Books!, Danika and I talked about great books we loved that are out this week, including God of the Woods, Cash Delgado is Living the Dream, and The Night of Baba Yaga.
Today, I am doing a round-up of several exciting books from the first Tuesday of July 2024. Below, you’ll find titles (loosely) broken up into several categories to make it easier for your browsing convenience. I hope you have fun with it! And as with each first Tuesday newsletter, I am putting asterisks *** next to the books that I have had the chance to read and loved. YAY, BOOKS!
The God of the Woods by Liz Moore***
The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali
Mysterious Setting by Kazushige Abe, Michael Emmerich (translator)
Teddy by Emily Dunlay
Big in Sweden by Sally Franson
The World After Alice by Lauren Aliza Green
The Same Bright Stars by Ethan Joella
The Road to the Salt Sea by Samuel Kọ́láwọlé
The Murmuration by Carlos Labbe, Will Vanderhyden (translator)
The Curse of the Flores Women by Angélica Lopes, Zoë Perry (translator)
Misrecognition by Madison Newbound
The Townsend Family Recipe for Disaster by Shauna Robinson
Welcome to Glorious Tuga by Francesca Segal
The Cliffs by J. Courtney Sullivan
More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa, Eric Ozawa (translator)
Evenings and Weekends by Oisín McKenna
The Entire Sky by Joe Wilkins
Learn something new, sharpen your skills, and expand your horizons with our Better Living Through Books newsletter. Better Living Through Books is your resource for reading material that helps you live the life you want. From self-help to cookbooks to parenting to personal finance, relationships, and more, Better Living Through Books has got you covered. If it’s part of life, it can be part of your reading life. Sign up for your free subscription to Better Living Through Books today, or become an All Access member starting at $6 per month or $60 per year and get unlimited access to members-only content in 20+ newsletters, community features, and the warm fuzzies knowing you are supporting independent media.
Shark Night by R. L. Stine
The Ones Who Come Back Hungry by Amelinda Bérubé
Faker by Gordon Korman
First Test Graphic Novel by Tamora Pierce, Becca Farrow
The Night of Baba Yaga by Akira Otani, Sam Bett (translator)***
Broiler by Eli Cranor
The Haters by Robyn Harding
Breaking the Dark: A Jessica Jones Marvel Crime Novel by Lisa Jewell
May the Wolf Die by Elizabeth Heider
Woe: A Housecat’s Story of Despair by Lucy Knisley***
The Untold Story of Books: A Writer’s History of Publishing by Michael Castleman
The Secret History of Sharks: The Rise of the Ocean’s Most Fearsome Predators by John Long***
Sharing Space: An Astronaut’s Guide to Mission, Wonder, and Making Change by Cady Coleman
1967: How I Got There and Why I Never Left by Robyn Hitchcock
Cash Delgado is Living the Dream by Tehlor Kay Mejia
Just Playing House by Farah Heron
The Match by Sarah Adams
The Villain Edit by Laurie Devore
The Love of My Afterlife by Kirsty Greenwood
What’s in a Kiss? by Lauren Kate
Midnight Rooms by Donyae Coles
The Night Ends with Fire by K. X. Song
The Undermining of Twyla and Frank by Megan Bannen
The Gilded Crown (The Raven’s Trade, 1) by Marianne Gordon
Masquerade by O.O. Sangoyomi
Pink Slime by Fernanda Trías, Heather Cleary (translator)***
Briefly Very Beautiful by Roz Dineen
The Failures (The Wanderlands, #1) by Benjamin Liar
The Second Chance of Darius Logan by David F. Walker
We Don’t Have Time for This by Brianna Craft
Not About a Boy by Myah Hollis
Joined at the Joints by Marissa Eller
A Darker Mischief by Derek Milman
This week: I’m currently reading Anyone’s Ghost by August Thompson and The Haunting of Room 904 by Erika T. Wurth. I just finished season eight of my rewatch of The X-Files. I forgot how much I enjoyed Robert Patrick’s performance as the new FBI agent. He didn’t have an easy job, coming into a popular show to replace beloved actors who wanted to leave the series. (Related: Did you know his brother Robert is the lead singer of Filter, and was once a guitarist in Nine Inch Nails?) The song stuck in my head is “Return to the Moon” by EL VY. And here’s a cat photo: This is Farrokh’s pose when he wants you to give him whatever it is you’re eating. He pulls out all the cute for food.
That’s it for me today, friends. I am sending you love and good wishes for whatever is happening in your life right now. Thank you, as always, for joining me each week as I rave about books! See you next week. – XO, Liberty
Welcome to Check Your Shelf. Even though I’m working Monday and Tuesday, I am officially dubbing this “The Week of Katie,” as I am off for the rest of the week in honor of my birthday. And the first thing on my birthday to-do list is SLEEP.
Attention librarians, booksellers, and book nerds! You can apply to become a Bibliologist for Tailored Book Recommendations and get paid for your bookish knowledge! TBR is a subscription-based book recommendation service where customers receive three hand-picked recommendations per quarter that are tailored to their specific reading likes and dislikes. Of special interest: bibliologists who can recommend across a variety of genres. Click here to read more and fill out an application.
This was the scandal that had Publishing Twitter in an uproar last week.
Why writers are forced to become brands, and why that’s bad.
Five years of reading with Jenna Bush Hager.
Hillary Clinton is publishing a new memoir this fall.
Actress Uzo Aduba is also publishing a memoir.
Here’s the cover reveal for Alexis Hall’s re-released version of Pansies, which will come out in November.
And here’s the cover reveal for Cassandra Clare’s The Ragpicker King.
Buzzy new romances to add to your beach bag.
Weekly picks from Crime Reads, LitHub, New York Times, Parade, Wall Street Journal.
July picks from Epic Reads, Kirkus, New York Times, Time.
Practice – Rosalind Brown (New York Times, Washington Post)
A Gentleman and a Thief: The Daring Jewel Heists of a Jazz Age Rogue – Dean Jobb (New York Times, Washington Post)
The Singularity Is Nearer: When We Merge with AI – Ray Kurzweil (New York Times, Washington Post)
Cue the Sun!: The Invention of Reality TV – Emily Nussbaum (New York Times, Vogue)
The dark appeal of the assassin genre.
How Boston physician Freida McFadden conquered the thriller genre.
Emily Henry on writing best-sellers without book tours and TikTok.
“Monster smut” is the big new thing in publishing.
Where to start reading Timothy Egan.
The best historical fiction of 2024 so far.
The most popular new books on Goodreads in 2024, so far.
The most popular book club books on Goodreads in June.
The best new weekly releases to TBR, plus the best BIPOC and LGBTQ weekly releases.
Meet Ann Patchett, award-winning author and bookstore champion.
Raina Telgemeier announces a new graphic novel for kids co-written with Scott McCloud.
8 books like Heartstopper your teen will love.
9 action-packed books like Helldivers 2.
9 graphic novel heroes from around the world.
Superheroes who are literally gods.
US audiobook sales hit $2 billion in 2024.
Celebrating the best audiobook narrators.
The best audiobooks for road trips of any length.
AudioFile’s best audiobooks of June.
Eating the rainbow: 10 picture books about fruits and vegetables.
9 patriotic books for kids to celebrate Independence Day.
What your favorite authors are reading for Pride Month.
9 experimental books that break narrative norms.
7 books that unpack a complicated family inheritance.
5 of the best books about Turkey.
Great novels of subtle espionage.
5 books for people who really love books.
The best heroes in YA fantasy.
Science fiction books that would be impossible to adapt.
9 of the best books about menopause.
Books where the villain is the hero.
BIPOC final girls in recent horror fiction.
Historical fiction set in Ireland.
Do you take part in Library Reads, the monthly list of best books selected by librarians only? We’ve made it easy for you to find eligible diverse titles to nominate. Kelly Jensen has a guide to discovering upcoming diverse books, and Edelweiss has a new catalog dedicated to diverse titles, which is managed by Early Word Galley Chatter Vicki Nesting. Check it out!
The title of this portrait is “WHAT?! We ain’t doing nothing!”
All right, friends – back on Friday! Have a good 4th of July and enjoy your (hopeful) day off!
—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.
‘Tis the season for iced coffees! And other iced beverages, which you can easily tote around with you in this glassware. $19
We’re teaming up with Macmillan Audio to give away a $250 donation to the library of the winner’s choice!
Enter here for a chance to win, or click the image below!
Here’s a bit more from our sponsor: Macmillan Audio’s Listening Librarians Newsletter is dedicated to highlighting all things audiobooks to the library community, including new releases, narrator spotlights, behind-the-scenes content and phenomenal media hits. This quarterly newsletter will help librarians stay up to date on upcoming titles, access early audio programs, and hear personal recommendations from the Macmillan Audio team. Join us!
Welcome, or welcome back, to the Kissing Books newsletter. I’m PN Hinton, your guide to all things romance-related. Thanks for taking time from your day to give this a read! I hope this newsletter helps to brighten up your day just a little bit more.
Learn something new, sharpen your skills, and expand your horizons with our Better Living Through Books newsletter. Better Living Through Books is your resource for reading material that helps you live the life you want. From self-help to cookbooks to parenting to personal finance, relationships, and more, Better Living Through Books has got you covered. If it’s part of life, it can be part of your reading life. Sign up for your free subscription to Better Living Through Books today, or become an All Access member starting at $6 per month or $60 per year and get unlimited access to members-only content in 20+ newsletters, community features, and the warm fuzzies knowing you are supporting independent media.
It’s the beginning of July and, per the Council of Spooky Bitches, the start of Halloween season! I’m a total Halloween girly and am here for all those vibes. As such, I am planning to share bookish goods and recommendations to celebrate. However, I know that some people prefer Christmas in July and will be sharing things that channel those vibes as well. After all, both can exist peacefully.
Just wanted to give another reminder that Thursday is a holiday for us in the USA, meaning there will not be another send until next Monday.
This little decal is adorable and so tiny that it won’t be considered a driving hazard. Plus, it’s a nice way to get a little boost of serotonin if you’re ever stuck in traffic by reminding you of the physical or digital book you have waiting for you at home, since you’re likely already listening to an audiobook in the car. $5.00
After breaking up with her boyfriend of five years and angrily leaving their apartment, Cheyenne is almost hit by a car. At the last minute, she’s pulled to safety by WNBA player Harley. When they cross paths again at one of Harley’s matches, they enter into a friends-with-benefits relationship. However, things get complicated when real feelings begin to develop. Is there a chance for them to find true love together, or will their respective trauma from failed past relationships prove too insurmountable?
When Marley has the opportunity to become a celebrity private shopper, she is ecstatic. That is, until she finds out that her client is Nikhil, the boy who took her to prom, slept with her…and then ghosted her. Despite their past, Nik seems eager to have her as his stylist. He even offers to move in and help her while she recovers from an elective double mastectomy and breast reconstruction surgery. Marley is about to see a different side of Nik she never expected and is left wondering if she should take another chance on him.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
For today’s recommendations, I have two books that show what happens when grumpy/sunshine people are put in close/forced proximity. What can I say — it sounded like something fun going into a holiday weekend. Enjoy!
When Eve’s parents tell her she needs a sense of direction in her life, she does the only sensible thing and drives away in anger. The impromptu road trip leads her to Jacob’s B&B where she interviews for the chef position. She’s promptly turned down and then “accidentally” hits him with her car when leaving. Left with little choice, Jacob begrudgingly accepts her help. The more time he spends around the sunny optimistic, the harder it is for him to keep up his frosty exterior or ignore their simmering shared attraction.
After being raised on her father’s fanciful tales of romance, Izzy can’t help but have a rose-tinted outlook on life. When she finds she’s inherited a castle, she’s even more convinced that there is a happily ever after in her future. But then she discovers that Ransome, Duke of Rothbury, already inhabits the castle. And, he isn’t interested in sharing the castle with anyone, least of all someone with fanciful notions of love. However, he still finds himself unable to remain impervious to her smiles and is soon rethinking his outlook on love.
In more Bridgerton drama, Julia Quinn herself came to tell the fandom as a collective whole to calm down. Regardless of how anyone feels about said change, this is not a good look for Romancelandia at all.
After rumors circulated for months, Spotify finally announced that their Premium plan, which includes 15 hours of audiobooks, will change from $10.99 to $11.99 this month. While a dollar may not seem like a lot in the long run, if you’re like me and forget to use those hours, then downgrading may be a good thing to consider.
Brynne Weaver did the cover reveal for the final book in the Ruinous Love Trilogy. I know that news, plus the one about Butcher & Blackbird being optioned for a movie adaptation, have all the dark romance lovers super stoked.
And that’s all she wrote for today. If you’re ever interested in what I do between the sends, you can always give me a follow over on Instagram under @pns_bookish_world. Until then, happy reading and stay hydrated!
Dear Book Friends,
Welcome to July! It’s hot as heck, and all anyone can do at a time like this is stay indoors and read all the books. So let’s talk about all of the books. Stay cool out there.
Is youth a blessing or a curse? This is the question asked in Renee Schaeffer’s genre-bending novel Ageless, which hits shelves on December 3. And Nerd Daily has given us a cover reveal!
SciFiNow has a cover reveal and an exclusive sneak peek at the dark fantasy The Thirteenth Child by Erin A. Craig. This one’s out on September 24.
Emmy-award-winning actress Uzo Aduba is publishing a memoir called The Road is Good, which will reflect on Aduba’s relationship with her mother. This one is also coming out on September 24.
Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire has been renewed for a third season on AMC. The season 2 finale aired on June 30.
Chris McKay, director of The LEGO Batman Movie, is set to direct the film adaptation of Brynne Weaver’s bestselling serial killer romance Butcher and Blackbird.
Director Osgood Perkins says his upcoming adaptation of Stephen King’s The Monkey might be funnier than people are expecting. “[My] next movie is called Stephen King’s The Monkey, and it’s a comedy,” Perkins told IGN. “I will play the asshole uncle who adopts the kids, and I have a couple scenes and it’s fun.” The Monkey is scheduled to release in February 2025.
Arundhati Roy has been awarded the PEN Pinter Prize, which celebrates writers whose work display an “unflinching, unswerving” look at the world.
Looking for some good summer reads? These are the books that are popular on BookTok this summer. And a few that should be.
Hi, welcome to everyone’s favorite segment of Book Radar called Book Riot Recommends. This is where I’ll talk to you about all the books I’m reading, the books I’m loving, and the books I can’t wait to read and love in the near future. I think you’re going to love them too!
Learn something new, sharpen your skills, and expand your horizons with our Better Living Through Books newsletter. Better Living Through Books is your resource for reading material that helps you live the life you want. From self-help to cookbooks to parenting to personal finance, relationships, and more, Better Living Through Books has got you covered. If it’s part of life, it can be part of your reading life. Sign up for your free subscription to Better Living Through Books today, or become an All Access member starting at $6 per month or $60 per year and get unlimited access to members-only content in 20+ newsletters, community features, and the warm fuzzies knowing you are supporting independent media.
Friends, did you read Helen Phillips’ book The Need? If not, I need you to jump on that right away because, wow, it was such an incredible brain teaser of a book. Think home invasion story…but also not? You’ll see. Anyway, Phillips has a new book coming out next month, and you’d better believe I’m lining up to get my hands on this one. And you should, too!
Hum follows May, who has just lost her job to AI (I know, horrifyingly relatable). The city in which May lives has been completely transformed by AI, climate change, and intelligent robots called “hums.” Desperate for money and hoping to help resolve her family’s debt, May agrees to undergo an experiment that would change her appearance, making her unrecognizable to surveillance.
Now, looking for an escape, May decided to take her family on what should be a relaxing trip to a beautiful Botanical Garden. But her family doesn’t share her desire to unplug, and the Botanical Garden doesn’t end up being the calming place May anticipated. When all hope seems lost, help comes to May from an unexpected source: a hum.
Portrait of a Shadow by Meriam Metoui
Sacrificial Animals by Kailee Pedersen
A Magical Girl Retires by Park Seolyeon
Here for the Wrong Reasons by Annabel Paulson and Lydia Wang
I Was A Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones
I love that 2024 has brought us “This is going to ruin the tour.” “What tour?” “The World Tour!” So here are some bookish world tour memes. Enjoy.
I love how cats go through phases where they just constantly nap in the exact same place. And then after a while, they tire of that spot and then move on to somewhere new. Right now, Remy is all about this little hammock area in the cat tree. He pretty much lives there. Must be nice.
That’s all for today, friends! Thanks for joining me, and I’ll see you Thursday!