Welcome to Today in Books. In this weekend edition, a look at all the news Book Riot covered this week.

I read about 100 books a year, and most of those are queer. Since I started my book blog The Lesbrary, queer books—especially sapphic books—have taken over my reading life, and I couldn’t be happier about it. But that means that trying to narrow down a favourites list is tricky. I keep a running list of more than 100 sapphic books I recommend, never mind other queer books.

Recently, though, a BookTuber I follow invited members to submit a list of their top 20 books of all time. Since I already put in the work of narrowing down my favourites for that, I thought I’d share them with you! Of the 20 books I submitted, 15 were queer, naturally.

Because most of my reading has been sapphic (thanks to the Lesbrary), most of these books are, too. I also know that if I was asked on a different day, this list would change dramatically.

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

The Life-Changing Celebrity Book Club

On the cusp of Oprah selecting her 111th book club pick, The Cut has a piece out that essentially ranks the effectiveness of a few (of the seemingly endless) celebrity book clubs. I wrote about The Cut‘s earlier piece focusing on how Marissa Stapley’s life and career were changed when Reese’s Book Club selected her book, Lucky, and Reese’s is one of the book clubs at the top of the list where there’s the greatest potential for impact. Lucky, for instance, is getting an adaptation starring Anya Taylor-Joy (Reese Witherspoon has a media company, Hello Sunshine), and honestly it sounds like a blast to be among Reese’s author cohort with gatherings and long-term support. The iconic and long-running Oprah’s Book Club is up there as well, of course, as is Read With Jenna and Good Morning America. According to the authors and industry insiders The Cut spoke to for this piece, these four get books on bestseller lists and lead to development deals.

Pay Attention to This Small Press Doing Big Things

There are few things that I love more than reading nonfiction books with incredible prose. I lose myself in underlining, annotating, and thinking through ideas in the text. Sometimes I read a sentence and just think, “Wow, what a sentence!”

Here are a few books that I just adored reading and think have some especially noteworthy prose.

We’re now in the thick of legislative sessions for most states across the country. While there has been an astronomical rise in legislation targeting public institutions and targeting books held within them, there’s some good news. Several states have anti-book ban bills on deck as well. Some of these states pre-filed such bills, so they might sound familiar. Others are newcomers, either expanding existing legislation or building new protections for libraries with their fresh bills.

It is important to remember there are a couple of crucial pieces to these anti-book ban bills, which began in Illinois in 2023 and expanded to several other states in 2024. Some of the bills protect only public libraries, while some protect both public school libraries and public libraries. Some tie a financial incentive to freedom to read/anti-book ban policies while others increase protections of library workers against criminalization for not banning books. Other bills do both or all of the above.

We’ve seen, too, how legislators have been seeking to undermine existing anti-book ban legislation this session. Both Maryland and Minnesota do not allow books in public schools or public libraries to be pulled for political, ideological, or partisan reasons, but both states have bills this year that seek to allow bans of “sexually explicit” and “sexually inappropriate” materials. What those terms mean is left purposefully vague, hinting that this is yet another method to ban LGBTQ+ books.

If you live in any of the states with anti-book ban bills in the legislature this year, it’s crucial to have your voice heard. Make the phone calls, send the emails, and show up in person to talk to your state-level representatives about these bills and why they are crucial for protecting not only the freedom to read and institutions like public schools and libraries but also for protecting the rights, voices, and lives of marginalized people.

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Raise your hand if you’re in the mood for a little cathartic fictional violence this February! I’ve mentioned this before, but it bears repeating: 2025 is a year that has already been filled with so much rage and anxiety, not just for me but for a lot of communities everywhere. In times like these, a quick little horror read where rich people are mocked, rage is celebrated, the violence is campy and over-the-top? Yes, that’s exactly what we’re looking for.

Thank goodness for Virginia Feito’s Victorian Psycho, which came out earlier this month. Feito, your timing couldn’t possibly be better. Horror lovers everywhere, make sure you read this book!

Even in the midst of this chaotic upheaval, collection development and readers advisory is still happening in libraries. Here are some recent lists, links, and resources to help your patrons. Reading is an escape, and we have a lot of people looking for a little escapism right about now.

New & Upcoming Titles

Ian McEwan is publishing a new book in September.

John Irving’s upcoming book, Queen Esther, returns to the setting of The Cider House Rules.

Here’s the cover reveal for Nick Medina’s upcoming horror novel The Whistler.

The top new releases for February, plus the best picks for mysteries/thrillers, romance, SFF, horror, nonfiction, queer books, and children’s books.

Superhero comics are still dominated by white creators and white characters, but there have always have been voices of color contributing to the adventures we all love so much. Black History Month is the perfect time to review the influence that Black writers, artists, and characters have had on the world of superheroes.

Note: Some of the items featured here have not aged well. I included them because they still contributed to comics history and helped make the industry what it is today, for better or for worse.

1940 – E.C. Stoner creates, draws, and writes the character Phantasmo, Master of the World for Dell Comics. He is the first Black creator known to have worked on a superhero comic and created a superhero.

1940 – Ebony White, the Spirit’s sidekick, debuts in The Spirit newspaper strip. Although rooted in racial stereotypes, Ebony is intelligent and respected by the other characters. More recent iterations have sought to portray the character in a more appropriate way.

1947 – Matt Baker, the first prominent Black artist in comics, revives the character Phantom Lady for Fox Feature Syndicate. The next year, he draws a cover so scandalously sexual that it would be held up as an example of degeneracy in comics.

Whenever I plan my New Year’s Resolutions, some iteration of “cook at home more often” finds its way on my list. Sure, there are the usual reasons for this, like saving more money or getting more nutrients in my diet. But as I browse shelves of new cookbooks, I know that the one I bring home will not only teach me new skills but also help my mental well-being.

I appreciate the way learning new recipes makes me focus on the present as I cook, and it gives me a built-in opportunity to spend time with my husband after busy workdays. Plus, you can learn to make your favorite meals whenever you want (a dangerous and wonderful power)!

As you prepare your culinary TBR for the coming months, take note of these highly anticipated cookbooks of 2025. You’ll find plenty of recs perfect for the aspiring or seasoned chef, from comprehensive guides like Bread: The Ultimate Cookbook and Real Japanese Cooking to practical, accessible picks like Shred Happens. All are organized by release date so you know when to look for them at your local library or bookstore.

Let’s get your to-read lists—and your dinner plans—in order with the best and most anticipated cookbooks of 2025!

As Book Riot does every year, we have launched the annual Read Harder challenge to help you expand your reading horizons. We are also launching some posts, including this one, to give you ideas about how to rise to that challenge! What’s great is whether or not you’re taking the formal challenge, you’ll be able to discover some great new reads.

The nice thing about comics is that they usually don’t take as long to read as a prose book but still 100% count as reading. So whether you’re falling behind on your Read Harder goals, don’t have as much reading time these days, or just really like graphic novels, the books on this list will give you a boost.

While there are comic-specific Read Harder goals, graphic novels can apply to many, if not all, of the challenges on this year’s list. To prove it, let’s look at a few titles that will help you check “read a standalone fantasy book” off your list. Most will even knock out multiple challenges at once — I’ve noted those in the blurbs.

How has your reading year been going so far, bibliophiles? I feel like I lucked out in 2025 because the first book I finished was this delightfully sweet romance novel by author Sonora Reyes. It wasn’t completely luck, though. I knew what I was getting into with this author. Their young adult novel The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School completely melted me with how sweet, honest, and entertaining it was. With The Broposal, Reyes’s debut adult novel, I was pretty sure we could expect more of the same A+++ storytelling. I was not disappointed, and you won’t be either.