Welcome to your weekly round-up of all the bookish news worth talking about.

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Ease into the weekend with a highlight reel of this week’s most popular posts.

10 Chilling New Horror Books

There’s so much good horror coming out this September. It was hard to narrow it down to just ten titles to share with you. Included in this list are some of my most anticipated horror novels of the whole year. Along with some classic scary things like ghosts and vampires (a whole lot of vampires), September is coming through with fresh new horror concepts you’ve never read before. Scary horror video games. A violent world with no fear. A home improvement show with a spooky twist. The list goes on. Grab a PSL, put up your creepy Halloween decorations, enjoy the cool breeze and the changing leaves outside, and most importantly, pick up these horror books as soon as they hit shelves.

The Bestselling Books of the Week, According to All the Lists

This week’s roundup of bestselling books is shorter than usual because the bestseller lists could not agree. Some of the top sellers, according to one list, don’t appear at all on others. Kamala Harris’s memoir The Truths We Hold is #1 on the Indie Bestseller (Paperback Nonfiction) bestseller list but doesn’t appear in the top ten of any of the others. The only thing everyone can agree on is that Colleen Hoover and Sarah J. Maas books continue to sell.

Back to Sleuthing: New Mysteries & Thrillers for September

As we prepare to smell less sunscreen and more sharpened pencils (Here’s looking at you, Kathleen Kelly), publishing has kindly, once again, stacked the month full of new mystery and thriller releases.

Attica Locke has completed her excellent trilogy starring Texas Ranger Darren Mathews, the author of The Thursday Murder Club has a new book, and PI Jackson Brodie is back—just to kick things off. Fictional serial killer fans have a fun mystery with a murder tour host at the center, there’s a missing person case set on a reservation, and a murder mystery surrounding a sorority with a reunion. YA fans have an elite school-set murder mystery and a Prohibition-era set murder mystery, while middle grade fans have a missing person case in an apartment building. And for armchair traveling sleuths, there’s a PI in Ghana with a murder mystery case and an Icelandic thriller with a decades-old cold case. There’s so much to choose from that it’s best to just dive in!

It’s Sapphic September! It’s always a good time to read sapphic books, in my opinion, but this is a great excuse to recommend some of my favourites. If you want my full reviews on these and hundreds of others, you can check out the Lesbrary, especially the recommendations list. I’ve been reviewing sapphic books there for over a decade.

There are plenty of sapphic graphic novels I’ve read and loved over the years, but here are my top five at this exact moment. They range from heartwarming love stories to a horror graphic novel about cannibalism and capitalism, but they’re all books that have stuck with me. I’d love to hear about your favourites in the comments!

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Here’s this week’s library news to have on your radar. We’ve got a long list of censorship updates, a rundown of the recent controversy surrounding NaNoWriMo, and more.

Libraries & Librarians

News Updates

Nearly two dozen Philadelphia libraries have closed this summer due to A/C issues.

More than 180 UK public libraries have closed or been handed to volunteers since 2016.

NPR looks at how some states are trying to fight the rising costs of eBooks for libraries.

Cool Library Updates

This Las Vegas librarian is using R&B to bring kids into the library.

The fight against book bans in schools, public libraries, and elsewhere across the map is ongoing, and the tireless work of keeping books accessible and on shelves has been heaped on the shoulders of many who recognize the negative impact these bans have on communities. Librarian Amanda Jones is one such individual who took a stand against book banning in her Louisiana parish. Read on for an excerpt from her story about how one decision to speak up against bans during a library board meeting changed her life and encouraged others to do the same.

Early in the summer of 2022, I had spoken to several friends of mine who worked at our public library. There was rumor afoot that a library board member had been making comments about LGBTQIA+ books and was questioning the purchase of certain books. These librarians all had an impending sense of doom that there would be a move to censor books with LGBTQIA+ characters.

Following this week’s disastrous finale of The Bachelorette, I’ve had it up to here. At some point, this show used to kind of (sort of maybe) be about falling in love. But that premise seems all but abandoned in favor of being able to boast the most dramatic season ever. The problem with promising that every season? At some point, it stops being about human emotions, and it starts feeling exploitative. It’s seriously getting to the point where I’m considering abandoning the franchise all together.

Fiction about reality TV shows allows us to experience the drama of other people’s lives without real people’s emotions actually being involved. And books like this one end up being kind of wish fulfillment, too. Because when a season ends as disastrously as Jenn Tran’s season just ended, don’t we all just wish Jenn had ditched all these garbage men and ran off with one of the female contestants from the previous season?

Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more. On Saturdays, we round up the biggest stories of the week.

The 100 bestselling books of the past 50 years

Interesting to browse this list of the 100 best-selling books of that last fifty years from The Timesso see just how different the UK market has (and hasn’t been) different than here in the States. I don’t want to spoil it because it is worth it for the surprise, but only would I never have guessed the #1 best-seller, but I wouldn’t have gotten any of the top ten.

Anthropic Sued by Authors for Training Its AI on Their Books

Anthropic is now the third major tech player (after OpenAI and Meta) to be sued by authors for using copyrighted works to train their large language models. In this claim, the Books3 data set, which includes thousands of copyrighted books, is the central target. It was used to train Anthropic’s Claude LLM: this isn’t in dispute, as Anthropic has already admitted it. The question though is this legal? Does it rise to level of piracy? Or does machine-learning have the legal protection of human-learning, in which I can read as many books as I want to learn how to write better. This is probably the most important and interesting question out there in the world of books and reading.

How Ireland became the world’s literary powerhouse

The world’s literary powerhouse might be a little much, but Ireland does seem to outpunch its weight when it comes to big-time awards and influence (four Nobels and six Bookers), so why exactly might that be? This article argues that it is sort of everything? From libraries to funding to bookstore to lit mags to readership: Ireland seems to care more, on a per capita basis, about reading and writing than most countries. It would be fascinating to see some sort of breakdown/quantification of this “care,” some formula of public funding and educational dollars and book sales and so on, both for Ireland, and the wider reading and writing world.

Recent & Upcoming Adaptation Hype Meter

My personal internet this week was chock full of adaptation news, reviews, announcements, teases, reveals, and other digital publicity efforts. And you know what? I was into it. So as a way of covering some of the notable fall adaptations: my personal hype rating of six notable upcoming adaptations, scaled 1 to 10 (1 being this should not exist and 10 being I would drop everything and watch this now if I could).

Here are the posts that, for whatever reason, got the most activity this week:

The Best Books About the ’80s and ’90s

Those times are long gone, as my eight-year-old loves to remind me, and so if you’re like me, and want some nostalgic reads or an escape from *waves hands* all of this, grab your favorite snack—bonus points if it’s something that was also around in the ’80s or ’90s (does anyone else remember the candy Bonkers?? SO good, right?)—and let’s take a look at some of the best books about the ’80s and ’90s.

The Most Read Books on Goodreads This Week

The order is shuffled a bit from last week, but to add a more variety, I’ve included the top five most read books on Goodreads last week in three countries around the world. This time: Denmark, Malaysia, and Portugal. Denmark’s and Portugal’s most read titles this week are both not (yet?) available in English.

The Biggest Book Club Books Coming Out This Fall

There’s a natural breeze and I can smell people cooking soup. And listen, I am all for leaving this hell of a summer behind us. Turns out the book world is, too. As various fall reading lists have been popping up, I’ve selected a few books that I think will be on everyone’s TBRs this fall.

THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION at 30

On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the theatrical release of The Shawshank Redemption,here is our Book Nerd Movie Club episode about the novella and film. A classic.

I was thinking about what I should write for today’s bonus Our Queerest Shelves content, and I realized that I haven’t just updated you on my reading in a while! Obviously, I read queer books all the time, but I don’t always mention them here. Let me know in the comments: would you like me to write more about the queer books I’m reading?

Here are the five queer books I’ve finished recently, including a queer softball team graphic novel, a bisexual cozy fantasy set at a magical zoo, a trans YA thriller, and a nonbinary romance.

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What was the last queer book you read? Let’s chat in the comments!

Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more.

My personal internet this week was chock full of adaptation news, reviews, announcements, teases, reveals, and other digital publicity efforts. And you know what? I was into it. So as a way of covering some of the notable fall adaptations: my personal hype rating of six notable upcoming adaptations, scaled 1 to 10 (1 being this should not exist and 10 being I would drop everything and watch this now if I could).

If I left something you are pumped about off the list, assume not that I am not interested but rather I forgot to bookmark it.

Before the hype meters, mini-reviews of two adaptations that are already out:

House of the Dragon Season 2 (HBO, based on Fire & Blood by George RR Martin)

HotD Season 2 was better than the first season, but still would be probably my 6th favorite season of Game of Thrones television. The two standouts though really do stand out. Emma D’Arcy is giving a stunning performance that blends ambivalence and resolve in a way I certainly have never seen before and frankly would not have thought possible. Like Hamlet, she really doesn’t want to initiate violence, however justified within the code of the story. But this hesitation is conveyed as moral rightness rather than squeamishness.

Happy Friday, book-lovers. Unwind with some Book Riot stuff.

The Best Books About the ’80s and ’90s

Those times are long gone, as my eight-year-old loves to remind me, and so if you’re like me, and want some nostalgic reads or an escape from *waves hands* all of this, grab your favorite snack—bonus points if it’s something that was also around in the ’80s or ’90s (does anyone else remember the candy Bonkers?? SO good, right?)—and let’s take a look at some of the best books about the ’80s and ’90s.

Talking Cats, Magical Villainy, and More Dynamite SF/F Recommendations

Calling all SFF fans! It’s time to add more nerdy fun to your TBRs with four exciting SFF recommendations. I have two more of this week’s releases and two upcoming titles I have read and enjoyed

The Most Read Books on Goodreads This Week

The order is shuffled a bit from last week, but to add a more variety, I’ve included the top five most read books on Goodreads last week in three countries around the world. This time: Denmark, Malaysia, and Portugal. Denmark’s and Portugal’s most read titles this week are both not (yet?) available in English.

Nonfiction About Women in History

I’m always looking for more books about women throughout history. There’s just something special in learning about women’s achievements and the incredible impact we’ve had on the world. But where to start? The incredible number of options can feel overwhelming. So here are a couple books that give an overview, an introduction that inspired readers to do their own research and find out more. 

Somehow we’re getting close to the end of the year, which is when I start looking back and reflecting on what I’ve been reading so far. So let’s talk about reading stats before I dive into this week’s book recommendation. I was checking out my reading log for the year, and one-quarter of the books I’ve read this year have been mysteries. Only 10% have been YA, but the best mystery I’ve read this year was this YA mystery. This serves as a reminder that young adult books are so good, and I need to make room for more of them on my TBR.

Calling all SFF fans! It’s time to add more nerdy fun to your TBRs with four exciting SFF recommendations. I have two more of this week’s releases and two upcoming titles I have read and enjoyed!

Bookish Goods

New Releases

Hello from Denali! The weather is cold and the mountains are gorgeous. But I’m going to briefly dive back into the library world for you lovely folks, so here we go.

Libraries & Librarians

News Updates

The Digital Public Library of America and the Independent Publishers Group have teamed up to offer libraries an ebook ownership option.

York County Libraries (PA) may have to reduce operating hours next year as a result of budgetary constraints and inflation.

Cool Library Updates

Indianapolis’ first library for Black residents reopens through a school librarian’s leadership.

How Iowa libraries serve communities in the digital age.