Books

Having reviewed more than 40 crime novels for Crime Fiction Lover this year, I noticed a couple of things. Though my reading year started rather slowly with a lot of OK but not great books, a flurry of excellent ones appeared in the last few months. My best-of list tends toward the innovative, the quirky

Want to check out new magical worlds filled with extraordinary world-building, incredible and unique characters, and an epic adventure you won’t be able to forget? Fantasy novels give me that. Always. The way you can just enter this magical place of new beginnings is wonderful and I’m always grateful for the fantasy genre. And these

Crime fiction is something I’m always enthusiastic about, but 2019 has not produced the best vintage in my opinion. There seems to be a lot of safe and franchise-able writing going on at the moment, with established series ticking over like clockwork. Nordic noir is one of my favourite sub-genres, and a few years ago

Real talk: When I’m not looking up travel photos or doing some serious creeping on the people who I went to high school with (we all do it, fess up), I’m scouring Instagram for food. Whether it be recipes, #FoodPorn, cheese pulls, or meal prep inspo, I stare at my screen salivating and envious at

Looking to learn more about Walt Disney, the man and the company he created? This list of nonfiction Walt Disney books is a good starting point. But first… How Much Disney is Too Much? The juggernaut of Disney hit hard with the Disney+ subscription streaming service. Though nothing seemed to catch the same cultural fire

Looking to make your 2020 reading list more colorful? Look no further than this list of Rioters’ most anticipated LGBTQ books of 2020. From nonfiction to fantasy, BDSM dystopias to star-crossed prom queens, you’ll find a great sampling of queer books here. The New Year is looking brighter and more full of rainbows already! Upright

Family can be a touchy subject, particularly around the holiday season. While some of you may have returned home to reconnect with beloved family members, others have been gritting their teeth for two months straight. That’s why I find the trope of found or chosen families so meaningful. If your biological family situation doesn’t provide

Superheroes are great for a lot of things, but no matter how much they brood, they can’t seem to stay too serious for too long, which is why superhero puns are so so great. With their strange mythologies and quirky, complicated story lines, you just can’t be too serious about your fandom, no matter which

Written by Nicholás Obregón — Unknown Male is the third in the Inspector Iwata series which began in 2017 with Blue Light Yokahama. The series was conceived by Obregón while he was travelling on a bullet train from Hiroshima to Kyoto, and, like the earlier novels, Unknown Male offers an interesting change of scenery for

Sponsored by Read Harder Journal, a reading log brought to you by Book Riot. These deals were active as of this writing, but may expire soon, so get them while they’re hot! Today’s Featured Deals Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain for $1.99. Get it here, or just click on the cover image below. When Death Becomes Life

In 2019 I haven’t reviewed as many crime books I would have liked, but such is the strength of the genre currently that I have had no difficulty identifying five books that I can wholeheartedly recommend. I think these choices represent a varied selection though fans of cosy crime and domestic noir may disagree! 5

Sponsored by Read Harder Journal, a reading log brought to you by Book Riot. These deals were active as of this writing, but may expire soon, so get them while they’re hot! Today’s Featured Deals The Famished Road by Ben Okri for $1.99. Get it here, or just click on the cover image below. The Left

Sponsored by Read Harder Journal, a reading log brought to you by Book Riot. These deals were active as of this writing, but may expire soon, so get them while they’re hot! Today’s Featured Deals The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins for $2.99. Get it here, or just click on the cover image below. Let Me

Written by Luca Veste — Known for the Liverpool-based police procedurals in his Murphy and Rossi series, Luca Veste also loves mixing a bit of horror into his crime fiction. In 2018 he brought us The Bone Keeper, and his latest standalone is The Six. As the title suggests, it involves six friends. There are

Sponsored by Read Harder Journal, a reading log brought to you by Book Riot. These deals were active as of this writing, but may expire soon, so get them while they’re hot! Today’s Featured Deals Sisters of the Revolution: A Feminist Speculative Fiction Anthology edited by Ann VanderMeer and Jeff VanderMeer for $0.99. Get it here, or

This has been quite an impressive year on the crime fiction front. There’s clearly still a high demand for a safe outlet for all our frustration over worldwide social and political issues. This is evident in the topics many crime novels addressed this year, focusing on the immigrant crisis, for example, while World War II

With the world being a difficult place for those of any marginalized background, one of the things those of us who are looking to do something can do is donate to those in need. Thousands of teachers each year ask for a little help with seeking supplies for their classrooms via Donors Choose; organizations that

Written by Nigel Bird — It’s Christmas time and snow is blanketing the city bringing everything to a halt. Everything, of course, except crime. There is no movement anywhere. The trains and cars have all stopped, drinkers are stranded in bars and the police can’t get in for their shifts. This is British crime fiction,

J.K. Rowling, best known as the author of the Harry Potter books, confirmed today on Twitter that she supports anti-trans, anti-science statements. Trigger warning for her words and discussion of what they mean. Dress however you please.Call yourself whatever you like.Sleep with any consenting adult who’ll have you. Live your best life in peace and

I’m always partial to modern historical crime novels and thrillers and my selection includes books set in the 1840s and the 1930s, 40s and 50s. I also enjoy short stories and include a collection spanning the 1930s to the present day. Some things never change, and one is human nature and our fascination to try

Sponsored by Amazon Publishing and Nine Elms. These deals were active as of this writing, but may expire soon, so get them while they’re hot! Today’s Featured Deals The Secret, Book & Scone Society by Ellery Adams for $1.99. Get it here, or just click on the cover image below. Patternmaster by Octavia E. Butler for $1.99. Get

Written by Bella Ellis — Would you believe the premise that three spinster sisters living in a Victorian parsonage would have the experience and nous to solve a crime? And really, would you believe that the work of such seemingly innocent and almost unworldly women could have a place at the high table of the literary world

We’ve got a 6-month subscription to the Fresh Fiction box to give away to one lucky reader, courtesy of Macmillan’s Reading Group Gold newsletter! Sign up for the Reading Group Gold newsletter to get fresh ideas for your book club each month, along with early copies of upcoming books and reading guides. This sweepstakes is

Sponsored by JIMMY Patterson Books, publisher of Ali Cross by James Patterson. These deals were active as of this writing, but may expire soon, so get them while they’re hot! Today’s Featured Deals The Bookshop of Yesterdays by Amy Meyerson for $1.99. Get it here, or just click on the cover image below. The Unlikely Adventures of the

Edited by Jay Butkowski, Jonathan Elliott, and Roger Nokes — The launch of a new magazine for short crime fiction is something to celebrate. A number of popular crime magazines have gone under in recent years, but hope springs eternal and the three editors behind Rock and a Hard Place are hoping their formula is

Sponsored by Read Harder Journal, a reading log brought to you by Book Riot. These deals were active as of this writing, but may expire soon, so get them while they’re hot! Today’s Featured Deals The Likeness by Tana French for $1.99. Get it here, or just click on the cover image below. The Power by

Sponsored by Read Harder Journal, a reading log brought to you by Book Riot. These deals were active as of this writing, but may expire soon, so get them while they’re hot! Today’s Featured Deals Florida by Lauren Groff for $4.99. Get it here, or just click on the cover image below. The Dragon Republic (The Poppy

We’re giving away a year of free books, courtesy of Macmillan’s eDeals Newsletter. Just fill out the form below and you could win a one-year subscription to the TBR Hardcover level, which includes three new books every three months! Here’s a little more about the Macmillan eDeals Newsletter: The Macmillan eDeals newsletter includes an array

Sponsored by The Christmas Doll by NYT Best-selling author Jason F. Wright. These deals were active as of this writing, but may expire soon, so get them while they’re hot! Today’s Featured Deals What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker: A Memoir in Essays by Damon Young for $2.99. Get it here, or just click on the

I want my crime fiction to take me to different places, often darker ones, that I don’t recognise. So, there’s no domestic noir here but there are two books featuring men called Keller, and a couple of them could prop open a pair of heavy oak doors. In addition, Scrublands is a fantastic debut and