Books

I don’t mean this to sound melancholy, but I haven’t spoken to my father since he died. I know a lot of people do that with their dead, but it’s not in me. He’s not there anymore—definitionally—and it feels like cheating to make him up as I would a fictional character. Too easy, too narcissistic,

Erica Ezeifedi, Associate Editor, is a transplant from Nashville, TN that has settled in the North East. In addition to being a writer, she has worked as a victim advocate and in public libraries, where she has focused on creating safe spaces for queer teens, mentorship, and providing test prep instruction free to students. Outside

I first interviewed you back in 1996, with the publication of Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse. I began by saying—a statement that certainly still holds true—“Kevin Henkes’ picture books and novels are a celebration of the ordinary, written and illustrated with extraordinary aplomb.” At that time, you had a 14-month-old son. How has life changed in

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. Whatever the genres and art styles you gravitate towards, you’re sure to find something you’ll love under the umbrella of manga and

When one of the two central characters in your debut novel is dead, there are unintended consequences, as Anna Montague reveals at the start of our conversation about How Does That Make You Feel, Magda Eklund? In the book, Magda, a psychiatrist who is turning 70, takes a lengthy, life-changing road trip with the cremated

Margaret Kingsbury grew up in a house so crammed with books she couldn’t open a closet door without a book stack tumbling, and she’s brought that same decorative energy to her adult life. Margaret has an MA in English with a concentration in writing and has worked as a bookseller and adjunct English professor. She’s

Catch up with the most popular stories from this week’s editions of Today in Books. Amazon Introduces First Color-Screen Kindle Amazon announced this morning that its refreshed e-reader lineup will include the company’s first Kindle with a color screen. The Kindle Colorsoft, retailing for $279.99, is available for preorder now and will ship on October 30th. I’ve

Liberty Hardy is an unrepentant velocireader, writer, bitey mad lady, and tattoo canvas. Turn-ons include books, books and books. Her favorite exclamation is “Holy cats!” Liberty reads more than should be legal, sleeps very little, frequently writes on her belly with Sharpie markers, and when she dies, she’s leaving her body to library science. Until

💘 Taylor Swift is Publishing a Book! 🌈 Amazon Announces the First Color-Screen Kindle Today In Books Newsletter Sign up to Today In Books to receive daily news and miscellany from the world of books. Thank you for signing up! Keep an eye on your inbox. 💋 Emily Henry’s Next Books is Coming in 2025

I’m all about queer horror reads in the lead-up to Halloween, and I have so many on my TBR. If you, too, are looking to pick up some creepy queer reads, I thought I’d take a look back at five of the queer horror books I’ve read so far this year and rate whether you

Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more. Take Action for the Freedom to Read Tomorrow, October 19, PEN America is hosting a Freedom to Read Day of Action in partnership with libraries, readers, and writers across the U.S. Through more than 100

Sure to inspire leisurely, locally crafted meals paired with excellent conversation and luscious wine, The Artful Way to Plant-Based Cooking: Nourishing Recipes and Heartfelt Moments is a breathtaking cookbook created by mother-daughter team Trudy Crane (a ceramic artist) and Chloé Crane-Leroux (a New York City-based food and lifestyle photographer) that could do double duty as an

My October TBR is out of control. Throughout the year, I’ve placed library holds for horror books that I thought would be perfect to read in October, and now they’ve all come in at once. My dresser is overflowing with possible choices, and I know I have even more holds coming in soon. I plan

The recipes in the lavishly presented Our South: Black Food Through My Lens feature a fascinating blend of ingredients, flavors and techniques. Acclaimed chef Ashleigh Shanti, a queer Black woman from Appalachia, shares the region’s history and her own backstory to show how she developed a love of all things culinary. Recalling past meals rich in

The National Book Foundation has announced comedian and author Kate McKinnon as host of the 2024 National Book Awards, with musical guest Jon Batiste. This year marks 75 years of the National Book Awards, which honor the best works in fiction, nonfiction, translated literature, poetry, and young people’s literature, plus lifetime achievement award honorees each

James Beard Award-winning author Alexander Smalls includes 120 recipes from 33 chefs, restaurateurs, caterers, cooks and writers in The Contemporary African Kitchen: Home Cooking Recipes From the Leading Chefs of Africa. It’s a massive undertaking that spans an entire continent filled with innumerable culinary styles. But that breadth is important to Smalls, who writes in

Liberty Hardy is an unrepentant velocireader, writer, bitey mad lady, and tattoo canvas. Turn-ons include books, books and books. Her favorite exclamation is “Holy cats!” Liberty reads more than should be legal, sleeps very little, frequently writes on her belly with Sharpie markers, and when she dies, she’s leaving her body to library science. Until

The Story of Perfume: A Lavishly Illustrated Guide successfully pulls off one of my favorite literary tricks: It takes something extremely specific—in this case, perfume—and gets so immersed in it that all manner of connections among seemingly disparate worlds begin to take shape. From ancient Greek mythology to traditional Indian medicine, from the French Revolution

Erica Ezeifedi, Associate Editor, is a transplant from Nashville, TN that has settled in the North East. In addition to being a writer, she has worked as a victim advocate and in public libraries, where she has focused on creating safe spaces for queer teens, mentorship, and providing test prep instruction free to students. Outside

Lucy Ives writes with a madcap intellectualism—think David Sedaris with a Ph.D. Her new collection of essays, An Image of My Name Enters America, sutures together such heterogeneous topics as fetal consciousness, unicorns, the medieval mystic Margery Kempe and the end of the world. Much like in Ives’ fiction (Impossible Views of the World), her meticulously