Books

If you thought we hit “full names in book titles” in YA prior to this seasonal roundup, you’d be wrong. This trend continues to grow, and in the world of spring 2023 YA books, it’s one that will showcase how YA is becoming more thoughtful and intentional when it comes to creating more diverse, inclusive

Emily Henry is a household name for her bestselling romance novels Beach Read, People We Meet on Vacation, and Book Lovers, with her newest novel, Happy Place, coming out in April. Fans will rejoice to hear that one of her novels is getting the feature film treatment: the movie rights for Book Lovers have been

I am wholeheartedly a word game nerd. I love them. I’m still playing Wordle over a year since I started, and my family’s group chat is still going strong. Recently, on vacation, I heard my mom finish the New York Times mini crossword from the other side of the hotel room by the sound alone.

When the news broke that director Rian Johnson had teamed up with Natasha Lyonne to make a new murder mystery series Poker Face, it was fulfilling a need that I didn’t even know I had. And thankfully, they delivered. For those of you who haven’t watched the series, the premise is that Charlie Cale has

In the summer of 2016, the speculative magazine Fireside Fiction published #BlackSpecFic: A Fireside Fiction Company Special Report. The findings were deeply troubling: Out of more than 2,000 stories published in 2015 in mainstream paying markets, only 38 were by Black authors. To put it bluntly, that’s less than two percent. The dearth of BIPOC

Food cozies are one of the most popular sub-genres of cozy mysteries including themes based on everything from ice cream to grilled cheese to cupcakes, and even a cannabis bakery! Food brings people together. Imaginary food, even more so. Plus, there are often recipes that you can really try.  But how much do the cozies that

The steampunk genre has been my jam since I first laid eyes on the epic airships of the Final Fantasy IX Playstation game as a kid. I loved nothing more than watching my brothers play it. Sometimes I would play too, but it was less effort to sit back and watch the game unfold in

There are a lot of suspicions that during this era of book bans, we’ll begin to see a different output of material from publishers. They may pull back on queer books and/or books by people of color, those books which approach “sensitive” topics like sex and sexuality, and even graphic novels. Unfortunately, because of how

The winners of the 2023 National Book Critics Circle Awards were announced last night at the New School. Books published in English in 2022 were eligible to win in six categories — Nonfiction, Fiction, Biography, Autobiography, Poetry and Criticism. Additionally, the best first book won the John Leonard Prize award, and this year is the

For years, hundreds of high-profile manuscripts — including early versions of books by Margaret Atwood and Sally Rooney — were stolen in a phishing scheme. The most puzzling part of the case was that nothing seemed to come from these thefts; uthe manuscripts were not leaked or sold, as far as anyone could tell. So

Since Apple launched its AI narrator program, the internet has been abuzz debating what is in store for the future of audiobooks. Is this the end for audiobook narrators? Is this a breakthrough in accessibility for disabled people? How do we balance the two? Even though I’ve read more articles about AI audiobook narration than

The official trailer for the Bridgerton prequel series Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story was just dropped by Netflix. It shows a young Charlotte, played by India Amarteifio, as she questions why she was chosen to wed King George, played by Corey Mylchreest. As she begins to familiarize herself with court life, she meets familiar characters

Introduced into the US House of Representatives by Julia Letlow (R-Louisiana), HR 5 is a “parental rights” bill that would pour fuel onto the fire of book bans nationwide. The bill has over 70 cosponsors, all of which are Republican.It is expected that the bill will be voted on sometime this week. HR 5 protects

Kodansha, the publisher of widely popular manga like Attack on Titan, Ghost in the Shell, Sailor Moon, Akira, and others, is set to launch a new app May 10th this year. The manga reader app will start off with 400 titles and give early access to newly released chapters for ongoing popular series. Though Kodansha

When I’m not reading, one of my favorite past times is watching movies and consuming media about movies. Among my favorite YouTube channels is WhatCulture, an online culture magazine covering film, gaming, TV and more. They make top 10 lists that send me down rabbit holes for hours. Seriously, I watch these videos enough to

Taylor Jenkins Reid has dominated bestseller lists and BookTok for a few years now, and for very good reason: her books are juicy stories of Hollywood, the rich and famous, and every day women going through impossible situations. Reid has an almost supernatural ability to craft stories that make readers want to keep turning the

If you are a fan of young adult fiction, this is going to be a great year for you. Your TBR is going to topple with all the amazing YA books on the horizon. With tons of new releases from established YA all-star authors like Holly Black, Cassandra Clare, and Karen M. McManus, your TBR

Are you the kind of person who browses through Zillow to dream about the perfect property — and judge rich people’s weird decor choices? If so, you’re definitely not alone. Of course, the ultimate dream of book lovers is an elegant home library, with built-in bookshelves and a rolling ladder. That was the takeaway from

Vivian Stephens is a name that all romance novel fans should know, but it is one that doesn’t come up enough. I’ve noticed her name popping up over the last few years on romance novel podcasts, blogs, and, perhaps most prominently, when RWA (Romance Writers of America) renamed their top award “The Vivian” in her

When we’re told to work on “loving yourself,” we have every right to be confused. The term is loaded and confusing. For my purposes here, I’m discussing our feelings about the way we physically present ourselves to the world. Having a healthy self image is so complicated, requiring an alignment of personal affirmations and positive

Thanks to social media, bookish celebrities, and marginalized book lovers, there are now lots of options for book clubs, for many kinds of readers. You can find enough monthly book clubs that you can’t do them all (although “challenge accepted” sounds fun). Depending on your schedule and needs, you can participate as much or as

If you’ve spent any time on the internet during the past 10 years, then you know about the “This Is Fine” comic. We’ve all seen it: a two-panel strip of a dog in a bowler hat, holding a mug, and calmly saying “this is fine” as the room is swallowed up by flames. Although the

In case you’re new around here, you should know that we love a good cover trend at Book Riot. Pantone color of the year? Check. Best covers of the year? You betcha. Books with sexy, suggestive fruits on the cover? Uh, yeah. This time, let’s take a look at some wonderful minimalist book covers coming

With the fervor over AI and how ChatGPT will inevitable change English classes — and nary a word from said author of that piece on the scores of books being removed from those classes — it seemed only right to experiment with the tool. How easily could it parrot the talking points of “parental rights”

When I was roughly 12 years old, I used to spend long summer hours at my family’s business, located in a boring Midwestern strip mall. We were situated off the highway and there wasn’t anywhere I could walk to, or much to keep my attention nearby, so I often spent my time reading a stack

The United States Postal Service unveiled the new Toni Morrison forever stamp last Tuesday at a ceremony held at Princeton University. Morrison, one of the most influential modern American writers, was a professor at Princeton for almost 20 years, won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and the Nobel Prize in Literature before she passed away

The 2023 Lambda Finalists were just announced. The award has been championing LGBTQ+ books for more than 30 years. By highlighting the stories of queer people, the Lambda awards preserve and affirm queer culture and experiences, something that is vital in a time of attacks on queer personhood. New executive director of Lambda Literary Samiya

The New York Public Library has shared the five finalists for its 2023 Bernstein Book Award. The award, currently in its 36th year and named after journalist Helen Bernstein Fealy, honors nonfiction books by journalists that highlight current issues on a national or global scale. This year’s finalists cover issues that range from discrimination against

Honoring the finest works of translated fiction from around the world, the International Booker Prize has announced its 2023 longlist. The prize is awarded every year to a single book translated into English and published in the UK and Ireland. It aims to encourage more publishing and reading of international fiction from all over the world

If you’ve been paying attention to the news lately, you know there’s been a flood of anti-trans legislation, bans of trans books, and a disturbing increase in anti-trans rhetoric recently. In response, Sim Kern, author of Depart, Depart! and Seeds for the Swarm, is hosting a Trans Rights Readathon next week!  This is a decentralized fundraiser, which means you can