Books

by Max Brooks ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 16, 2020 Are we not men? We are—well, ask Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn, following on his bestseller World War Z (2006). A zombie apocalypse is one thing. A volcanic eruption is quite another, for, as the journalist who does a framing voice-over narration for

“Never meet your heroes” is a sentiment that’s probably been around as long as celebrities have existed, and Lex Croucher’s Infamous is a perfect illustration of why. Edith “Eddie” Miller is a Jo March-esque heroine, a young woman with literary aspirations in Regency England. She’s awed to the point of speechlessness when she meets gifted,

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

Do you ever get a little creeped out when you visit your grandparents’ house? There’s something about the stillness of unused rooms and the sweet, dusty smell that can give you a slight sense of dread. But if you were to visit the Montgomery house in T. Kingfisher’s A House With Good Bones, you’d leave

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

by Judy Blume ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 8, 1998 The years pass by at a fast and steamy clip in Blume’s latest adult novel (Wifey, not reviewed; Smart Women, 1984) as two friends find loyalties and affections tested as they grow into young women. In sixth grade, when Victoria Weaver is asked by new girl

Catherine Lacey’s fourth novel, Biography of X, is a feat of technical brilliance, a fictional biography about a mysterious and notorious 20th-century artist known as X. The biographer is X’s widow, C.M. Lucca, who insists that she’s telling X’s story, but as her research into her wife’s past reveals more and more shocking surprises, it

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

It’s 1940, and Millie and Reginald Thompson face a difficult decision: How can they best protect their 11-year-old daughter from the trauma of World War II? Reginald’s own youth was marred by the worries of World War I, and he’ll do anything to protect his daughter’s childhood. He convinces Millie to send Beatrix to live

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

by Judy Blume ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 8, 1998 The years pass by at a fast and steamy clip in Blume’s latest adult novel (Wifey, not reviewed; Smart Women, 1984) as two friends find loyalties and affections tested as they grow into young women. In sixth grade, when Victoria Weaver is asked by new girl

As COVID-19 swept across the United States in 2020, health care professionals and patients quickly learned about the flaws in the public health system. Questions arose about equitable access to health care, the role of insurance and the quality of care in public hospitals serving uninsured people versus private hospitals serving people with private insurance.

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

Every day, thousands of young American citizens who live in Mexico cross the border into the U.S. to receive their education, from elementary school all the way to college. Their families endure early mornings, arduous commutes, long lines and stressful interactions with border agents, simply to make it to class on time. In his second

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

by Ben Philippe ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 8, 2019 A teenage, not-so-lonely loner endures the wilds of high school in Austin, Texas. Norris Kaplan, the protagonist of Philippe’s debut novel, is a hypersweaty, uber-snarky black, Haitian, French-Canadian pushing to survive life in his new school. His professor mom’s new tenure-track job transplants Norris mid–school year,

Poverty, by America, the new book from Pulitzer Prize-winning Princeton sociologist Matthew Desmond (Evicted), focuses on the root causes of Americans’ economic suffering. Mixing statistics and tales from real people’s lives, Desmond makes a convincing argument that poverty is a sinkhole too powerful for anyone to pull themselves out by their bootstraps alone.  Early in

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

Hamra and the Jungle of Memories is a stunning retelling of “Little Red Riding Hood” that brims with big emotions, big adventure and very big teeth. Hamra knows the rules about the Langkawi jungle behind her island home in Malaysia: Never enter without asking the jungle’s permission, never use her real name and never take

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