Books

Kelly is a former librarian and a long-time blogger at STACKED. She’s the editor/author of (DON’T) CALL ME CRAZY: 33 VOICES START THE CONVERSATION ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH and the editor/author of HERE WE ARE: FEMINISM FOR THE REAL WORLD. Her next book, BODY TALK, will publish in Fall 2020. Follow her on Instagram @heykellyjensen. View

We first met Sarah Hilary in 2014, with Someone Else’s Skin – her crime debut, which introduced us to London-based DI Marnie Rome and ended up winning Theakston’s 2015 Crime Novel of the Year. The series eventually ran to six books, but then Hilary turned her attention to standalones, with her first, Fragile, published in 2021. Now

Alice Nuttall is a children’s and webcomic writer who spends her free time reading, knitting, and playing D&D, occasionally all at the same time. Her superpower is the ability to find a cup of coffee no matter where she is. She blogs at https://alicenuttallbooks.wordpress.com/ View All posts by Alice Nuttall Alice Nuttall is a children’s

Chris Brookmyre and his wife Dr Marisa Haetzman took that old adage of ‘write what you know’ to heart when they came up with The Way of all Flesh, first in a series of historical crime novels set in Victorian Edinburgh. Brookmyre, after all, is a multi-award-winning crime fiction author, while Haetzman has been a

From the Monkeewrench series to Millennium and on to today’s techno thrillers, we love it when new technologies quickly evolve into new kinds of crime and new ways of catching crooks. At the moment, this subgenre seems to be surging forward with crypto currency, the Dark Web and AI inspiring authors everywhere. This week our

Last week’s legislation in Illinois which aims to end book bans in schools and libraries requires those institutions receiving state aid to have the Library Bill of Rights as part of their policies and procedures. But what is the Library Bill of Rights? It is a document celebrating its 70th year of existence in 2023,

Canadian author Robyn Harding is known for her fast-paced domestic thrillers that focus on interpersonal relationships. The Drowning Woman explores the lives of two women who seem very different but who strike up a surprising friendship. It will get you thinking about how far you would go to help a friend, with themes of forgiveness,

Mystery writer Carol Higgins Clark died Monday, June 12 at the age of 66. The statement her family gave listed the cause of death as appendix cancer. Clark was born in New York City in 1956 and was the daughter of suspense author Mary Higgins Clark. Carol Higgins Clark got her start acting, and even

Nilima Rao’s debut novel, A Disappearance in Fiji, is a historical mystery that sheds light on the devastating consequences of a British colonial policy that is little discussed today. In so doing, she presents a very different image of Fiji from the tropical paradise and exotic holiday destination the country is now perceived as. Fiji’s

We know that LGBTQ+ books are under fire across the country and they have been specifically targeted by right-wing conspiracy theorists in a very organized fashion now for several years. In addition, we have seen public education and teachers come under fire by these same conspiracists who believe that by having LGBTQ+ books in the

Canadian author Christopher Huang’s new crime caper might not have the brutal one-liners of Succession, but it does have an unscrupulous patriarch who takes pleasure in manipulating and pitting his three children against one another – even after his death. April 1921: Sir Lawrence Linwood has been violently bludgeoned to death in his study, presumably

We recently covered how bookstore employees often aren’t paid a living wage, but it might surprise you to know that a lot of authors face the same issue. One queer indie bookstore is working to change that, especially where LGBTQ authors are concerned. This marginalized community has been hit particularly hard by increasing anti-LGBTQ laws

Last month, RA Cramblitt released Like Printing Money, a technological crime novel set in Baltimore. It follows his debut novel Probably Lives in Tahiti, described as a rock ’n roll romance, the latter has earned a 4.8-star rating on Goodreads and Amazon. Cramblitt uses the fast-paced crime plot of Like Printing Money as the engine for an exploration of

The place where the lost things go isn’t one of the most frequently-occurring story tropes, but it’s certainly one of the more compelling. In the Wizard of Oz universe, L. Frank Baum created the Valley of Lost Things, a location in Merryland where anything lost in the real world will eventually turn up. Danielle Page

Thriller author James McCrone must have had his crystal ball turned up high back in 2014 when he wrote the first in his four-part series of political thrillers, Faithless Elector. Now we are up to the fourth novel, Bastard Verdict, and it paints another frightening picture of the way electoral politics might devolve in the

It’s been a little over a week since the publication of Elliot Page’s memoir, Pageboy, and the haters have settled in on Goodreads. This isn’t surprising. Page is perhaps the most publicly visible trans celebrity to publish a memoir in recent memory. What’s more, though he does write about his career in Hollywood, the making

Known across Denmark for his best-selling crime novels, Michael Katz Krefeld can now be read in English with the recent translation of Darkness Calls, published in May 2023. The book features Cecilie Mars, a cop who doesn’t always live on the right side of the law. First in a new trilogy, it followed Michael’s hugely

No lengthy introduction this week. Instead, this week is dedicated to a survey to authors: are you seeing an impact on the number and types of school and library visit invitations in this era of censorship? Click this link to fill out the survey. All responses are due July 1, for an anticipated July 14

Following on from The Killing Hills and Shifty’s Boys, Mick Hardin is once again back home in Kentucky. The one-time US Army investigator is now discharged, recently divorced and, despite the familiarity of his hometown, suffering that subtle rootless confusion that affects a man when he goes back to civilian life after 20 years in

It’s about the middle of the year — and the middle of Pride Month — and Esquire has blessed us with a roundup of 20 of the best queer books out this year so far. In this list, you’ll find trans memoirs, illuminating nonfiction, poetry, and a variety of genres written by well-known authors as

Considered to be the one to watch in UK fiction thanks to her literary debut, Boy Parts, it’s exciting to see that English author Eliza Clark has turned her compass towards crime fiction. Her second novel, Penance, satirises the ongoing fascination with true crime and… um… fictional true crime, based around podcasts. This leads our

It’s time to pause, take a step back, and review the books we’ve read and enjoyed this year so far. Other booksellers — Amazon and Barnes & Noble — have already shared what they think are the first half of the year’s best books, but the advantage of this list is that it’s the most

Translated by Séan Kinsella — The 13th novel in Jo Nesbo’s Harry Hole series should have some sort of warning on the cover. Advisory: Do Not Read After Eating. The killer in this book uses methods so horrible and heinous that it’s one of the few crime novels I’ve read that has literally turned my stomach.

Ashley Audrain’s second book, The Whispers is a suburban domestic thriller that focuses on the lives of four women who are neighbours in an unnamed North American city. Where it takes place isn’t relevant – the focus is on the people and the events tied to this small suburban area. These are people who live

Cormac McCarthy, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Road, No Country for Old Men, Blood Meridian, and more, has died at the age of 89. He passed away from natural causes in his Sante Fe home, according to his publisher, Knopf. McCarthy won the Pulitzer Prize in 2007 for his bleak dystopian novel, The Road.

One of our favourite American authors joins us today to talk about humour in fiction, and if you’ve read any of Joe R Lansdale’s books you’ll know that he’s a writer whose work is made all the more appealing by the fact that it makes you laugh. He has an eye for the stranger things

Illinois became the first state in the United States to pass legislation to end book bans. Signed by Governor JB Pritzker June 12, House Bill 2789 takes effect January 1, 2024. Introduced by Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, who serves at the State Librarian, the bill received significant support both in the House and

Translated by Howard Curtis — Is there any better means of returning from the dead than appearing in a murder mystery? I expect not, particularly if the murder mystery in question is of the locked room variety. Italian businessman and cookery writer Pellegrino Artusi (1820–1911) certainly seems to be enjoying himself when reimagined as an

Have you always wanted try a real Belgian waffle? What about borscht? Perhaps you’re missing a favorite dish that your neighbor’s grandma made when you were growing up? Cooking is always an adventure, especially without a good recipe. A quick google search might pull up an okay recipe but you might have to weed through

German crime drama is returning to Channel 4’s subtitled streaming service Walter Presents with The Marnow Murders, available in the UK as a box set from 16 June 2023. Based on the novel of the same name by screenwriter Holger Karsten Schmidt, the mystery is set in the current day but was inspired by shady