Set in the Spanish Golden Age, during a time of high‑stakes political intrigue and glittering wealth, The Familiar follows Luzia, a servant in the household of an impoverished Spanish nobleman, who reveals a talent for little miracles. Her social‑climbing mistress demands Luzia use her gifts to win over Madrid’s most powerful players, but what begins as simple amusement takes a dangerous turn. Luzia will need to use every bit of her wit and will to survive — even the help of Guillén Santángel, an immortal familiar whose own secrets could prove deadly for them both. The Familiar by Leigh Bar ..read more

The days are getting longer and spring is in the air. New England is awash with light and flowers. Even the rainy days feel manageable because at least the sun isn’t setting at 4 p.m. And, of course, there are the spring 2024 new releases in translation to look forward to! I have pored over the catalogs and galleys and highlighted some of the best spring 2024 new releases in translation, and because there is so much to choose from, I’ve added notes for others you should seek out as well! There’s something for everyone this season, with exciting debuts, thoughtful nonfiction, stunning poetry co ..read more

Goodreads editors have crunched some more numbers to give us a list of 51 of the most popular nonfiction books of 2024 (so far). To do so, they looked at which titles their members had saved under the Read or Want to Read sections on the site, which boasts more than 150 million members. They’ve organized the list into categories that may overlap a bit: Essays, History & Biography, Memoirs, Science, and General Nonfiction. A sampling of Goodreads’ 51 most popular nonfiction books of 2024 is below: Essays There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif Abdurraqib Th ..read more

Every week, when I put together a Read Harder recommendation post, I’m balancing two goals. The most important one is to give you relevant recommendations, of course. But because this will also go up on Book Riot, I try to title and frame it in a way that will be relevant to a broader audience, too. So, this week I gave the task #9 post a sassy title: “Stop Asking TikTok for Book Recommendations and Start Asking a Librarian.” As I probably should have expected, people got very upset about this on Facebook. So, just to be clear: feel free to keep getting recommendations from TikTok! I’m a BookT ..read more

Today’s Featured Book Deals $2.99 The Sun and the Void by Gabriela Romero Lacruz Get This Deal $2.99 Ariadne by Jennifer Saint Get This Deal $1.99 Battle Royal by Lucy Parker Get This Deal $1.99 The Corpse Flower by Anne Mette Hancock Get This Deal $2.99 The Ten Loves of Nishino by Gabriela Fomero Lacruz Get This Deal $1.99 Faebound by Saara El-Arifi Get This Deal $1.99 The Woods Are Always Watching by Stephanie Perkins Get This Deal $1.99 Ghost Radio by Leopoldo Gout Get This Deal ..read more

Last year, I became a first-time parent to identical twin girls. As my nurse/midwife will tell you, I’m someone who needs all of the information and data. But because I was living with the very real possibility that children wouldn’t happen for me, I avoided books about pregnancy and parenting until the day my husband and I saw (and were surprised by) two tiny beans on screen at our IVF clinic. After that day, I got on the internet and looked at ALL the lists. JK—as many who’ve Googled before me and will Google after do or will come to know, that’s an impossible feat. There is no end, it seems ..read more

With 30.5M posts and counting, #BookTok has become one of the biggest communities of readers on the internet. And there is a space for everyone. Romance BookTok, YA BookTok, Super Disturbing BookTok, Thriller BookTok — no matter your taste, finding a recommendation for your next favorite read is no matter than a scroll (or a search) away for the best TikTok book reviewers. We also know that BookTok has its fair share of drama (helloooo Hockey BookTok Controversy of 2023), but I think it is also clear that these videos have encouraged people to pick up a book, whether they are devoted readers o ..read more

Looking to queer up your TBR? These 10 queer cozy mysteries are a great place to start. Queer cozy mysteries — sometimes called “quozies” — are a subset of a subset of the ever-popular mystery genre. Cozy mysteries have been growing in popularity over the past few years, with authors like Jesse Q. Sutanto and Richard Osmond topping the lists with their multi-award-winning mystery series. But as much as I love Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers, Dial A for Aunties, and The Thursday Murder Club, they’re not nearly gay enough. That’s where these books come in. Featuring characters acros ..read more

Big news in the book world. This week, PEN America has canceled its 2024 awards ceremony after almost half of the writers nominated withdrew in protest of PEN America’s response to Israel’s bombardment of Gaza. Book Riot Editor Kelly Jensen also got into the best book covers of the year so far, and the winners of the 2024 O. Henry Prize for Short Fiction were announced. Below, I’ve got some fairly recent romances for your book club to discuss. There are delightful romantasies, professional haters finding love, queer rom-coms, and more. Nibbles and Sips: Cherry Italian Margarita I’ve n ..read more

The Gotham Book Prize is given to the best fiction or nonfiction book published each calendar year that takes place in or is about New York City. The prize grants its winner $50,000, and was created in 2020 in the midst of the pandemic by Bradley Tusk and Howard Wolfson. Past winners include Deacon King Kong by James McBride (2021), Invisible Child by Andrea Elliott (2022), The Sewing Girl’s Tale by John Wood Sweet (2023), and Stories from the Tenants Downstairs by Sidik Fofana (2023). This year, the Gotham Book Prize award ceremony will be held at Queens Public Library on June 5th. The Queen ..read more