Book Riot Managing Editor Vanessa Diaz is a writer and former bookseller from San Diego, CA whose Spanish is even faster than her English. When not reading or writing, she enjoys dreaming up travel itineraries and drinking entirely too much tea. She is a regular co-host on the All the Books podcast who especially loves mysteries, gothic lit, mythology/folklore, and all things witchy. Vanessa can be found on Instagram at @BuenosDiazSD or taking pictures of pretty trees in Portland, OR, where she now resides.
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Welcome to The Best of Book Riot, our daily round-up of what’s on offer across our site, newsletters, podcasts, and social channels. Not everything is for everyone, but there is something for everyone.
8 of the Best Literary Mysteries and Thrillers
Sometimes mysteries and thrillers can be fast-paced, action-packed experiences that don’t give you, let alone the characters, enough time to stop and breathe. These kinds of books can be so, so fun, cutting out the slower, emotional beats to keep the tension and speed at full throttle. In these types of mysteries and thrillers, less time might be spent fleshing out characters, digging into the emotional side of things, or dedicating space on the page to pretty prose. These types of mysteries and thrillers can have you on the edge of your seat, staying up late just to find out who did it or to see if the detective saves the girl in the nick of time.
Is there anything queerer than a witch? There might be plenty right up there in such a fake ranking, but witches are among some of the queerest beings imaginable. Witches wear what they want, they believe in magic, they cast spells, and they can fall anywhere on the spectrum of Glinda the Good to the darkest and most evil of spirits imaginable. That’s what makes witchy stores so dang good.
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There has been such a welcome uptick in queer horror in YA over the last several years. While not all witch stories are horror, you could make a compelling case that they are. The witch elicits a fear or disgust or slight sweaty feeling for many readers, even in the most mundane situations.
Prison Banned Books Week: Mark Twain Goes to Prison
This essay is part of a series to raise awareness during the second annual Prison Banned Books Week. Each essay, written by a currently incarcerated person, details the author’s experience of reading on prison tablets. Because every one of the 52 carceral jurisdictions in the country have different prison telecom contracts and censorship policies, it’s important to hear from incarcerated people across the country…You can read the first essay in this series, Free Prison Tablets Aren’t Actually Free by Ezzial Williams, right here. The second essay in this series, Uninspired Reading by Ken Meyers, is available here.
6 New Books for Better Living, From Work to Family to Food
January gets all the attention as the time for turning over a new leaf, but a friend of mine contends that September is really the prime time for self-improvement. She calls it Shape-Up September, and as I look at the crop of personal development and lifestyle books coming out this fall, I’m starting to think she’s right. The start of a new year makes it a little too easy to believe we can wake up one day and become a totally different person, and the January publishing slate typically reflects that vibe. But fall? Fall is for reflection, refining, getting our shit together because we know that any day can be Day One. Here are six new books coming out this season to help you on your way.
8 of the Best New Funny Kids’ Books
Funny kids’ books can be versatile in other ways, too. Many use a large amount of illustration, sometimes blurring the boundary between traditional and graphic novels. As well as adding to the humour, which allows the author to have visual jokes alongside the written ones, this also makes them much more accessible to reluctant readers, who aren’t put off by big walls of text. Difficult topics can often be more accessible and less daunting when they’re brought in using humour, making funny kids’ books a great way to explore these subjects with young readers. Here are some of the best new funny kids’ books to add to your shelves.
6 New YA Releases to Enjoy for Latine/Hispanic Heritage Month, Plus YA Book News
Hispanic/Latine Heritage Month kicked off on Sunday. This week, let’s look at a handful of 2024 YA books by authors of Latinx/Hispanic American heritage. These books span genres and styles, ensuring there is something here for every kind of reader.
As with any and all cultural celebrations, it’s vital to read books by and about people from those backgrounds all year long. What this particular month does, though, is shine an even brighter spotlight on a group whose myriad contributions deserve more attention.
Reading Is Political—These Bookish Goods Are Powerful Reminders
As we round the corner into this election, here are some bookish finds that are unabashedly political. You’re going to see a little about the freedom to read, a little about the importance of the library, and, of course, reminders about the necessity of considering the privilege and power of what you read and why those are the books available to you.
