Here are the posts that readers read the most this week. Catch up—or revisit.

10 Must-Read New Books Out in Fall 2024 to Preorder Now

Fall is the biggest new release season in publishing, and there are so many exciting new books to preorder (or place your library holds on). Strangely, publishers can’t seem to agree on the definition of seasons, so for the purposes of this list, I’m including upcoming books out in September, October, and November. Some of the biggest titles are out this week, so you don’t have long to wait!

The Best New Book Releases Out September 17, 2024

And, to get you fully, absolutely in an autumnal spirit, there are must-read new books coming out this fall that you can preorder, and some recent slashers. Keeping in that same horror vein, the YA category is doing some damage—there are demon deals and biting social commentary in Lamar Giles’ Ruin Road; and Tatiana Schlote-Bonne’s Such Lovely Skin also has a demon, this time a guilt-eating shape-shifting one from a video game.

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

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

As a bonus for All Access members, here are a bunch of interesting links we didn’t quite get to.

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

How Booksellers Are Taking On Book Banners

Publishers Weekly recently highlighted efforts by some indie booksellers to combat local book bans and get banned books into people’s hands. Big ups to Charley Rejsek of Austin’s BookPeople and Valerie Koehler of Houston’s Blue Willow Bookshop for challenging HB 900 as unconstitutional and winning “a landmark preliminary injunction” in federal court, which was later affirmed by an appeals court. Also, a familiar name in here–Lauren Groff, author of Florida and owner of The Lynx in Gainesville set up shop to promote books that have been challenged or banned in Florida. A round of applause for all mentioned–check out the bookstores featured and consider paying them a visit when you’re in town.

Jeff Bezos’ Fiancé Sued Over Alleged Kid Lit Plagiarism

The plagiarism news won’t quit, but we’re leaving academia and entering the realm of children’s literature for this story about a lawsuit against Jeff Bezos’ fiancé, Lauren Sánchez. Author and yoga instructor Alanna Zabel filed a complaint against Sánchez alleging that her former yoga student stole her idea for her kids’ book, publishing it as The Fly Who Flew to Space. Between the allegations of jealousy-induced retaliation and celebrity knock-offs, and talk of Sánchez’s Kardashian-attended promotional dinner parties, this sounds like the stuff of reality TV.

Learn a Little More About Hillary Clinton

If you’ve been thinking about Hillary Clinton a lot lately and want to learn more about the major political figure and former presidential candidate, you’re in luck–she has a new memoir out. The New York Times offered a few takeaways from Something Lost, Something Gained, which is described as “an affectionate ode to the women in her life.” Find out what nickname she bestowed upon her spare tire (you read right), her thoughts on aging, and her distress about Israel-Gaza protests (I honestly can’t tell where she stands based on the snippet included).

Why Teens Across the Country Are Acquiring Brooklyn Public Library’s Free Digital Cards

Take a deep dive into Brooklyn Public Library’s work addressing America’s book censorship crisis, including through its Books Unbanned program, and into the data BPL collected from teens about why they wanted to get a digital library card as part of that program. The data is fascinating and full of insights.

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.

10 Great Middle Grade Reads for Hispanic Heritage Month

Hispanic Heritage Month, which occurs annually in the United States from September 15th to October 15th, is a month to celebrate and acknowledge the contributions of Latine and Hispanic Americans. First established as National Hispanic Heritage Week by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968, it was expanded to a monthlong event by President Ronald Reagan in 1988. During the months of September and October communities around the United States host musical events, parades, museum exhibits, and educational opportunities to explore the impact Hispanic and Latine Americans have had in history and culture.

While it’s important to read books from a wide variety of authors all year long, events like Hispanic Heritage Month are an opportunity to highlight the authors from the cultures being celebrated and connect readers to books themed to the month. Below, you’ll find books specifically written for middle grade readers, though they can certainly be enjoyed by young adults and adults as well!

9 Twisted Science Fiction Novels About Time Travel

There’s something about election season here in the US that makes me want to escape to different worlds and different times. Sometimes, I feel hopeful, but oftentimes, I just need to check out and get lost in a science fiction book about time travel. What if we could go back in time and correct our mistakes? What if we could correct the larger horrors of humanity? What if we could leap forward and behold what’s to come? The theme is a classic one in science fiction that never fails to capture our imaginations.

Why Doctor Doom Is the Greatest Supervillain of All Time

At this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel Studios made the surprise announcement that the Fantastic Four villain Doctor Doom would be played by Robert Downey, Jr. This was an unexpected choice, to say the least, given that Downey is, uh, already pretty well known for playing a different MCU character. It was also controversial, not least because he’s got some pretty big boots (and a cloak and an iron mask) to fill.

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

As a bonus for All Access members, here are a bunch of interesting links we didn’t quite get to.

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?