Welcome to The Best of Book Riot, our daily round-up of what’s on offer across our site, newsletters, podcasts, and social channels. Not everything is for everyone, but there is something for everyone.
Thanks to a new proviso in the South Carolina state budget, at least one public library system in the state has made the decision to acquire no new books for those under the age of 18. In a statement released across York County Public Library’s social media late last week, the library board chair announced the moratorium on new purchases until the State better clarifies what is and is not permitted in public libraries.
In these five untamed romances, humans learn just what they would do — and how far they would go — with a monster. There are orcs, demons, dragons, soul eaters, and even a reanimated corpse. And they each have that certain something that makes humans say, “Hey, Goose, you big stud — take me to bed or lose me forever!” I’m not saying things aren’t going to get weird in these books. But they’re also going to be funny, sweet, romantic, and spicy. So let’s get started!
Food, culture, and language are inexorably linked, and part of the beauty of the cookbooks below lies in how they celebrate culture in a way that goes past just reading. Here are hand-wrought cultural lessons that will literally become a part of you.
You can start off with techniques to become an all around better cook, then venture into Korean cooking, learning about the Gullah Geechee and Navajo people, and more.
It’s October, which means it’s Halloween month! This is the time of year when I try to read as many horror and horror-adjacent books as I can — exactly the books I avoid the rest of the year. Despite not usually gravitating toward this genre, October is usually my best reading month: I read more because I’m trying to beat the clock and fit in as many horror books as I can before November. I won’t tell you how many titles are on my TBR this month, but let’s just say I’m inching dangerously close to my library’s very generous checkout limit.
If you, too, are a seasonal reader with an itch for the creepy and macabre — or if you’re a “fear all year” horror fan — today I have recommendations for horror books that also check out 2024 Read Harder Challenge tasks.
🎃 If horror isn’t your jam, try these Halloween-themed middle grade novels instead.
Adaptations. They trouble me. Mostly because I’m terrified that whomever is doing the adaptation will ruin the thing I love…
There is an exception, though. When something I love is adapted into a comic series or standalone graphic novel, those conflicted feelings don’t exist. Instead, I’m just excited. I enjoy the form so much. And I’m always so curious how the team behind a comic will give an already established story new life.