Books

“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation,” wrote Henry David Thoreau in Walden. If you’re looking for quiet desperation in modern-day America, you’d be hard-pressed for a better place to find it than the “dubiously named” Oasis Mobile Estates in Riverside County, California, the setting of Asale Angel-Ajani’s debut novel, A Country You

Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway call their deeply researched new book, The Big Myth, “the true history of a false idea.” The false idea in question is not really a single idea but rather many connected assertions, promoted throughout the 20th century, that have gelled into the “quasi-religious belief that the best way to

One very easy way to learn about and discover new books and authors is through the cover reveal. This was not a possible avenue of discovery before the age of book talk on the internet, and in an era where visuals are becoming more and more important — and indeed, book cover designers are taking

If you’d told me back in the early 1990s (my, um, experimental college days) that a few decades hence bookstores would be selling cannabis cookbooks, I wouldn’t have believed you. But here we are, and hallelujah. In Sugar High: 50 Recipes for Cannabis Desserts, Chris Sayegh first delivers a primer on cannabis—quite necessarily, as uniformed

Something that needs to be understood about the reality of book bans right now is this: teaching other people about what is truly going on — beyond the singular headlines — is crucial, and it’s going to mean you need to get uncomfortable. Whether you’re a book lover or parent who is sharing stories or

When Happy Valley concluded on the BBC recently, a debate began on social media about which shows would belong on a list of the top 10 British crime dramas. Several crime authors and commentators we trust were quick to point out that the list going around was missing one of the most captivating crime shows

In what ways is writing like drumming? Like a drummer, the writer lays down a pattern of rhythm that keeps the plot of a story moving, propelling it with a steady beat through various twists and turns. Novelist Nic Brown’s peripatetic memoir, Bang Bang Crash, examines his past life as a drummer and the ways

The highly successful Netflix show Bridgerton is based off theromance novel series of the same name, but now the show is inspiring a new novel in the series! Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story is a spin-off series that will air on Netflix May 4, 2023. To coincide with the new show, Shonda Rhimes — the

Peter Swanson’s The Kind Worth Saving was on our most wanted list for 2023 and this week it’s heading up our news column, followed by four other books that shouldn’t be overlooked. Cosy crime fiction is experiencing a big resurgence and we’ve got the latest from MH Eccleston, plus a new locked-room mystery (not cosy,

As any visitor to my home may note, I’ve long been drawn to the simultaneously bold and delicate look of linocut art, a very hands-on type of relief printmaking wherein ink is transferred to paper via a carved linoleum block. Perhaps it’s time to make a few prints of my own. U.K.-based artist Sam Marshall’s

Datura Books is a new imprint from Angry Robot that specialises in crime fiction, and its very first title is Death of a Dancing Queen by Kimberly G Giarratano. This novel details the mystery behind the murder of Starla Wells, a New Jersey stripper who was killed 30 years ago outside The Malta Club. Missing

When word of emancipation reached them, the last men and women kidnapped in West Africa and sold to American enslavers just wanted to go home. They’d only been in the Mobile, Alabama, area about five years; they belonged in Yorubaland. So they saved their tiny wages and offered $1,000 to the captain of the Clotilda,

Journalists estimate that between 1 and 3 million Uyghur people are currently being held in detention camps by the Chinese government as an act of cultural genocide. That we in the U.S. know about this is largely due to the courageous reporting of Uyghur American journalists such as Gulchehra Hoja. In her stunning memoir, A

In November, Penguin Random House’s acquisition of Simon & Schuster was blocked by a federal court ruling. PRH decided not to appeal the decision. Since then, the fate of the publisher has been up in the air, especially since Paramount Global, its parent company, has stated it “does not fit strategically within Paramount’s broader portfolio”

Today on the site we’re joined by JM Asmi, a crime fiction lover who has compiled a fantastic list of crime-centred films which have all won Best Picture Oscars. How many have you watched? Every March since 1929, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced its awards – the Oscars – “…to

BookPage is excited to host a first look at the new print edition of Kennedy Ryan’s gorgeous and pulse-quickening romance The Kingmaker.  The first part of an addictive duology, The Kingmaker is a suspenseful, intrigue-filled ride that generated internet buzz before BookTok and Bookstagram ruled the bestseller lists. The beautiful new edition from Bloom will

Recently, we published a book trend forecast for 2023 from a BookToker* who told us what we should be anticipating and acting on in the publishing world in order to capture the fleeting attention of book consumers. But, are “trends” what the book world really needs? Do you remember the moment, probably sometime around your

It’s no accident that Mark Twain scholar Mark Dawidziak begins A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe with Poe’s mysterious death in 1849 at the age of 40. As Dawidziak reminds us throughout his ambitious, well-researched book, the circumstances of Poe’s death remain a topic of debate and conjecture, as

After nearly three months of striking, the HarperCollins Union, representing about 250 employees across sectors of the publisher, have reached a tentative deal. This happened quickly after the publishing giant agreed to meet with the Union to discuss their demands. It comes on the heels of the publisher also announcing a 5% reduction in its

Amazon has recently brought us Three Pines, an adaptation of Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache series, but if you want to deepen your acquaintance with crime fiction set in French Canada, then look out for The Wall: Cover Your Tracks on More4 from Friday 10 February, 2023. Entirely in French, with English subtitles, this police procedural

“If it’s not facing 297 years in prison, it’s not a problem.”–Richardson family motto The twenty-one years that kept Rob separated from his wife, Fox, and their six sons was long enough. As Rob survived two decades at America’s bloodiest penitentiary and Fox raised their sons solo, they never stopped fighting for Rob’s freedom and

Russell Books is an iconic new and used bookstore in Victoria, BC, Canada. It was started in 1961 in Montreal by Reg Russell and relocated to Victoria in 1991. It’s now being run by the third generation of the family: Reg Russell’s granddaughter, Andrea Minter, and her husband, Jordan. It started as a 300 square

We haven’t seen quite as much historical crime fiction as we’re used to so far this year, so it’s exciting to open this week’s new books report with a novel harking back to the period just after World War I. Emma Flint’s Other Women looks wonderfully conceived and pretty dark too. In the pile this

In 1967, the Supreme Court invented a new legal principle called qualified immunity that limited the public’s right to sue certain government employees. Seemingly designed to protect government officials from frivolous lawsuits, in practice, it mostly shields the police from being sued for misconduct, even if they’ve violated someone’s constitutional rights. In effect, it makes

Epic is the only word for this ambitious literary thriller. As a gangster novel much of its appeal comes from its exotic location – New Delhi. Let’s face it, India is an underexplored territory for contemporary crime stories and this fact alone has generated a buzz around Age of Vice. Film makers went big on

Katee Robert returns with Radiant Sin, the fourth installment of her popular Dark Olympus series, which gives sexy updates to the classic love stories of Greek mythology. This time around, Robert uses the tale of Apollo and Cassandra as inspiration for a modern workplace romance. In the original myth, Apollo was the god of prophecy

With the new legislative season in full swing, now is a crucial time to write to your representatives. We’re seeing unbelievable numbers of new proposals to outlaw intellectual freedom, to criminalize library workers and educators for providing queer and/or diverse literature to their communities, to ban drag shows (including drag storytimes), and to make being

If you are a fan of gritty, urban thrillers it’s time to add crime fiction debutant Elliot Sweeney to the reading list, because The Next to Die could be right up your litter-strewn street. Meet Dylan Kaspernick, a former Met police officer who has fallen on the hardest of times. These days he works in

In many romance novels, love requires exposure: of one’s true desires and inner secrets, often of one’s most vulnerable self. In this month’s best romances, characters can only find happiness after first finding themselves—and sharing that truth with their partner. ★ Behind the Scenes Karelia Stetz-Waters pens a tender love story in Behind the Scenes.