Books

In Lynn Steger Strong’s stirring Flight, siblings Kate, Henry and Martin struggle to make it through the holidays after the death of their mother. Assembling at Henry’s home with their respective families for Christmas, they try to be cheerful while sorting out big issues like whether to keep their mother’s house. When the daughter of

It’s November, and according to the retail calendar, that means it’s practically Christmas. There are some other winter holidays that are coming up sooner — Diwali is in just a few days, and Hannukah starts December 7th. In any case, like shopping malls, publishing likes to start celebrating early. You need those books on the

Vicki Delany’s Have Yourself a Deadly Little Christmas offers a welcome return to the charmingly festive yet murder-stricken town of Rudolph, New York, where Christmas spirit runs high and malice simmers beneath the surface. The sixth instalment in the Year-Round Christmas Mystery series, it’s a seasonal whodunnit with all the trimmings, including a perplexing murder,

Ivy Nichols O’Reilly has grown up in a wealthy family full of magic, fantastical creatures, and emotional abuse—but when her narcissistic mother arranges an unwanted marriage for her, the young witch reaches her breaking point. She drops out of college, changes her name to Georgette, and fees across the country with her best friend, a Wood

Settings can be familiar, like an old friend, but there’s an extra frisson thrown into the mix when a book is rooted in a place that’s unknown. Doesn’t matter whether the location is exotic or more run of the mill, if the author knows their onions it lives and breathes right off the page. So,

With only one sleep left before Christmas Eve, Dasher can’t contain her excitement for her favorite holiday. With the sound of Christmas carols on the breeze and twinkling lights radiating from a nearby city, she sneaks off to visit the festivities. But as night deepens and snow starts to fall, Dasher realizes she can no

Sensory Time Warp Syndrome (STWS) has plagued Aimee Roh since she was a young girl. This enigmatic condition makes her physically travel back in time to moments from her past that are connected to certain smells. Her episodes are typically short and sporadic, until one lasts nine hours and raises new questions concerning her estranged

The Professor, Lauren Nossett’s sophomore mystery, is a deep dive into the world of academia, where ivy-covered walls hide forbidden love affairs, deadly competition and plenty of secrets. Former police detective Marlitt Kaplan is still reeling from the events of The Resemblance, which saw her removed from the force. Living with her parents and trying

Jeffrey Davies is a professional introvert and writer with imposter syndrome whose work spans the worlds of pop culture, books, music, feminism, and mental health. In addition to Book Riot, his writing has appeared on HuffPost, Collider, PopMatters, Spectrum Culture, and other places. Find him on his website and follow him on Twitter @teeveejeff and

Giovanni and his trusty donkey, Lorenzo, have a very important job as Specialists of Sky Repair. Each night, they load “star stuff” in packs on Lorenzo’s back and set off into the night sky, “over the Moon and out past Mars,” looking for holes that need to be filled. When they find a dark spot,

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 love a bit of variety and this week our report covers new books by five very different authors, each with their own original take on things. Lee Matthew Goldberg’s The Great Gimmelmans is our starting point, from a New York indie author who routinely finds interesting angles and often works a retro groove, taking

If you aren’t familiar with Scottish mystery writer Val McDermid, you’re in for a decided treat. Both longtime fans and newcomers alike will be able to jump right into the building suspense of Past Lying, McDermid’s seventh book starring Detective Chief Inspector Karen Pirie. In April 2020, at the beginning of COVID-19 lockdown, cold case

Just this Monday, social reading site Goodreads released a statement announcing their dedication to ensuring that the book reviews left by members of the site follow their guidelines by being relevant to the book, not harassing readers or authors, and not attempting to deflate or inflate the rating of a book unfairly. They list a

As Christina Wyman’s heartfelt and often heartbreakingly realistic Jawbreaker opens, Maximillia (Max) Plink receives distressing news from her orthodontist. Dr. Watson says Max’s braces aren’t enough to prevent possible future double jaw surgery—it’s time to start wearing headgear known as “the jawbreaker” for 16 hours a day. It’s yet another thing that makes Max, a witty

“Think about this: The Italians didn’t have the tomato until after 1492,” writes chef and food historian Lois Ellen Frank. “The Irish didn’t have the potato.” Let that sink in, then get a copy of Frank’s Seed to Plate, Soil to Sky: Modern Plant-Based Recipes Using Native American Ingredients. Written with Walter Whitewater, the book

The bestselling and National Book Award-winning book Stamped From the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi is seeing its third adaptation — first as a children’s edition, then as a graphic nonfiction book, and now as a documentary. The books have received both acclaim and backlash for their portrayal of white supremacy in the United States,

Agatha Christie fans, rejoice: Sophie Hannah brings back famed detective Hercule Poirot in the riveting Hercule Poirot’s Silent Night, the latest entry in her authorized reboot of the iconic series.  Hercule Poirot and Inspector Edward Catchpool (Hannah’s own invention) are taking on a new case, this time brought to them by Cynthia Catchpool, Edward’s mother.

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

Two master strategists go head to head—or nose to nose—in Down the Hole, a wickedly funny picture book written by Scott Slater and illustrated by Adam Ming. As he’s done many times before, Fox positions himself at the edge of the meadow, above a hole in the ground, ready to make his move: “There were bunnies

Ever since I was a kid, I have loved reading books featuring a haunted house with a creepy resident; a feisty, determined heroine; and strange goings-on that gradually turn scary. But rarely, if ever, have I read a haunted house book that features such gorgeous prose as Alix E. Harrow’s latest novel, Starling House. Early

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

If you’re looking for a broad range of books that make up the best of the best for this year, then you’re going to love perusing Publishers Weekly’s selection of the best books of 2023. They have selected 150 titles across several categories. Take a peep at some of the categories and best titles within

It’s been a while since a book set in Detroit has featured on the site but Stephen Mack Jones is here to fix that with his new novel Deus X, which has a religious theme to it and maybe a touch of corruption as well. We’ve also got historical crime set in Los Angeles and

Ahead of the November 25th return of Doctor Who that will bring in the show’s 60th anniversary, Journo Research (courtesy of CasinoAlpha) has revealed the most popular Doctor Who episodes among fans. Doctor Who initially ran November 1963 to December 1989, and was revived in March 2005. The episodes ranked below are from the last

There’s plenty to ponder and the stakes couldn’t be higher in this explosive cyber crime thriller. Following on from The Hacker, The Exploit is the second outing for FBI Special Agent Ericka Blackwood and once again she’s pitted against her Dark Web nemesis, Dantalion. Dantalion is the modern equivalent of the megalomaniac villain we loved

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

It’s early December 2022 and the Fairway Players are rehearsing for their latest command performance: a one-night-only production of Jack and the Beanstalk in aid of the local church’s roof repair fund. The parts have been cast, the props procured and the set staged, and despite the group members’ propensity for drama, everything seems to

You don’t need me to tell you that everything is more expensive in 2023, but what would you say if I told you that books might not be as expensive as they should be? That’s the case Brooke Warner makes in this piece about publishing’s retail price problem. Whereas the general cost of goods in

One recent morning, before I left home to plant white oak trees in a nearby park, I turned to Margaret Renkl’s The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year. As often happens, a passage from the New York Times columnist grounded me and pulled my vision forward: “Planting a tree is a gesture of faith in