Know What's Happening in Books
Know What's Happening in Books
Book Riot Launches New Release Index for Mystery & Thriller Fans
Book Riot’s New Release Index is a searchable database that lists upcoming mystery and thriller titles by release date, letting readers filter by sub‑genre and add titles to a personal Watchlist. The tool is bundled with the All Access membership, which costs $6 per month and also unlocks premium articles. Users can scroll cover images and click for descriptions to stay ahead of new releases.
TikTok is extending its #BookTok bestseller rankings to six additional European markets, including Germany, the UK, Spain, Italy, Austria and Switzerland. The new lists will combine TikTok’s engagement data with NielsenIQ BookData sales figures to produce monthly trend reports. The platform claims its community drove over 50 million book sales across Europe in 2025, generating roughly €800 million for publishers last year. An in‑store sticker program will also launch in the UK, Italy and Spain to link online buzz with physical retail.
The Melbourne Writers Festival celebrates its 40th anniversary with a four‑day program from 7‑10 May 2026, featuring more than 150 artists across the city. The festival’s theme, Visions & Revisions, invites writers and thinkers to explore imagined futures, personal narratives,...
The United Kingdom remains a powerhouse publishing market, with roughly 195 million print books sold in 2024 and a £1.82 bn retail value. Success in the UK often serves as a springboard to the U.S. library system and broader North American retail...
A coalition of 230 Tamil writers, readers, and activists has called for the immediate withdrawal of the Jnanpith Award granted to poet‑lyricist Vairamuthu. The petition argues his work fails to reflect core Tamil cultural values and cites 18 women’s #MeToo...
Author Kerry Kennedy announced a new biography of her mother, Ethel Kennedy, titled *Ethel Kennedy: The Extraordinary Life and Bold Legacy*, slated for release on October 13, 2026. The book draws on Kerry’s firsthand memories and exclusive access to Ethel’s...
Oliver Johnson’s debut, Caller Unknown, is a sprawling crime thriller that taps the current fascination with conspiracy theories amplified by the internet, surveillance culture, and post‑pandemic anxieties. The plot follows seven amnesiac children discovered in Maine, focusing on Ed as...
The essay revisits Maurice Blanchot’s 1980 treatise “The Writing of the Disaster” to argue that contemporary catastrophes—from Gaza bombings to mass deportations—are not anomalies but manifestations of a totalizing “System” that absorbs and normalizes violence. Blanchot’s notion of disaster as...
The New York Times Book Review releases a weekly roundup of standout titles across literary fiction, nonfiction, thrillers, romance, and mystery. Editors curate the list, highlighting diverse voices and niche subjects such as culinary history. Readers can add favorites to a personal...
The Horror Writers Association announced its 2026 Specialty Awards, highlighting Bad Hand Books as the Specialty Press Award recipient for outstanding horror publishing. Marc L Abbott earned the Richard Laymon President’s Award for exemplary volunteer service, while Sarah Read received...
My weekly newsletter is out. The book of the week is The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins. Read online here: https://readswithravi.beehiiv.com/p/the-let-them-theory-non-competition-and-books
PEN America released the finalists for its 2026 literary awards on Jan 29, naming works across fiction, poetry, essay, and translation. The ten awards will distribute nearly $350,000, with the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award offering $75,000 to the winner. Notable finalists...
Hi I have a QUESTION. It is an actual question and not me asking something as a gotcha because I expect a certain answer. Do horror books usually have content/trigger warnings?
The centenary of A.A. Milne’s Winnie‑the‑Pooh highlights the book’s role as an early example of bibliotherapy, a practice that began in the 19th century and gained traction after World I. Milne’s wartime experience shaped the gentle, comforting narrative that has soothed readers for...
Patti Smith, once heralded as a punk rock poet, has reinvented herself as a prolific memoirist. Over the past decade she published five prose works, culminating in 2023’s 'Bread of Angels', which stitches together her fragmented autobiographies. The books trace...
My recommendations for having a clearer sense of what's going on right now: - Politics, especially of the US: Sarah Kendzior @sarahkendzior - Sign up for her substack, buy and read all books immediately. I've been following her work for a...
AMC announced that the next entry in its horror anthology, The Terror: Devil in Silver, will debut on May 7, 2026, on both AMC+ and Shudder. The series adapts Victor LaValle’s novel The Devil in Silver, with LaValle co‑writing and...
The episode spotlights the largely overlooked Roman leader Frontinus, highlighting his extensive field experience as governor of Britain, negotiator with Welsh tribes, and companion of Emperor Domitian in German campaigns. The host argues that Frontinus’s blend of military command and...
The post urges readers to intentionally curate their personal library so it becomes a reflection of identity rather than a random assortment. It argues that books act as a mirror to the soul, revealing how one sees the world. By...
Book reviews by philosophers, notoriously, can be scathing, but a sober review of a book on gender identity by the MIT philosopher (and Academic Freedom Council co-founder) Alex Byrne was deemed too dangerous to print. "The philosophy profession has shown...
In this episode, award‑winning Turkish journalist and author Ece Temelkeren discusses her new book *Nation of Strangers, Rebuilding Home in the 21st Century*, exploring how rising fascism leaves people feeling un‑homed both physically and politically. She links the Turkish authoritarian...
In this episode, William Giraldi invites listeners to his two‑hour class exploring five stories from Raymond Carver’s collection *Where I’m Calling From*, using them to examine the suffering of ordinary people. Giraldi highlights Carver’s influence on American short fiction, noting...
The Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize, a £20,000 award for writers 39 or younger, has released its 2026 shortlist. Six works—four novels and two poetry collections—by authors from the UK and the US were selected. The judging panel, chaired by...
Virginia Woolf’s *A Room of One’s Own* argues that women need both financial security and a private space to write, framing money as a concrete catalyst for creative freedom. She illustrates this through the fictional Mary Beton, whose modest inheritance...
PublisHer unveiled the 2026 Excellence Awards shortlist, highlighting women’s leadership across three categories—Lifetime Achievement, Innovation, and Emerging Leader. The call attracted over 100 nominations from 34 countries, with 53 entries (half the total) in the Innovation category. Nominees span continents,...
This dreadful book banning bill, H.R. 7661, has made it out of committee and into the House. It's time to call your reps.
Full Set, an independent nonfiction publisher, has partnered with the award‑winning global newsroom Fuller to repurpose three of Fuller’s original essays as ebook, audiobook and print‑on‑demand titles, launching in spring 2026. The pilot, announced at the London Book Fair, will...
Currently reading: This Might Save Your Life by @bytiffanycrum A Scheme of Heaven by Alexander Boxer Multipliers by @bylizwiseman An Academic Affair by Jodi McCallister What are you reading?
Old, sweet memory: When Brian Eno and I performed my book of stories, SUM, at the Sydney Opera House. https://t.co/uOJfeVzlPl
The forthcoming NYRB edition of John Berger’s novel G. opens with an essay that revisits a 1915 scene in Trieste, where the protagonist G. and Slovenian immigrant Nuša discuss a forged passport amid wartime intrigue. A butterfly landing nearby suspends...
To be a successful writer in 2026 you need to be both chronically online and offline.
Cinematic Book Teaser For Nice Girls DO Get The Sale by Elinor Stutz Pre... https://t.co/tvY2BPkmYB via @YouTube
Frances Wilson’s latest biography, "Deciphering Dame Muriel: Electric Spark," offers a fresh examination of Muriel Spark’s formative years, education, and personal relationships. Wilson traces Spark’s Scottish‑Jewish heritage, her celebrated school days at Gillespie’s, and her marriage to math teacher Sydney...
Speaking of “writer transparency” conversations, one thing ~every one in magazine writing knows is how there’s multiple group chats of illustrious gifted writers & editors at the top of the field making fun of [successful writer whose pieces are risibly...
Smart Conversations by Ian Howells: A Must-Read Book on Where B2B Marketing Strategy Meets Generative AI https://t.co/UnC81GtcYd
Valentina Castellani, former Sotheby’s deputy director and Gagosian senior director, is releasing *Trading Beauty*, the first book to chronicle the art market from the Renaissance to the present. Published by Gagosian’s shop for $40 on May 1 and later distributed by...
Headed to RSAC to sign copies of Guardians of the Machine age: Why AI Security Will Define the Future of Digital Defense. Hit me up for the three venues where you can get free signed copies. https://t.co/kurVMvO4fo ...
For those who like comparisons, "Mistborn meets Bladerunner" is how I sometimes pitch my novel. This reviewer seems to have seen it similarly: https://t.co/h7TgGPO5kL
Ottilie Mulzet’s new anthology, *Under a Pannonian Sky*, gathers poems by ten Hungarian women born between 1922 and 1972, foregrounding a “Pannonian” identity that stretches beyond modern Hungary. The collection, translated by Mulzet and six collaborators, challenges the perception that...
“Those who read own the world; those who immerse themselves in the Internet or watch too much television lose it. Our civilization is suffering profound wounds because of the wholesale abandonment of reading by contemporary society.” –Werner Herzog
The blog post positions Walt Whitman as the imaginative parent of every American, even those who never write poetry. It highlights Whitman's enduring cultural imprint through his seminal work, Leaves of Grass, and his celebration of democratic individuality. By invoking...
Stacey Lee’s *Heiress of Nowhere* is a gothic YA mystery set on 1918 Orcas Island, where orphan Lucy Nowhere inherits a shipbuilder’s estate and must solve his murder before becoming the next victim. The novel blends atmospheric Pacific Northwest scenery...
R. Parthasarathy, a pioneering Indian poet and scholar, died on March 7, 2026, in Saratoga Springs, New York. He is best remembered for his book‑length poem “Rough Passage” (1977) and for editing the landmark anthology Ten Twentieth Century Indian Poets, which helped define the early...
John Stuart Mill’s 1859 treatise *On Liberty* has long been a cornerstone of liberal political theory, influencing debates from free speech to individual autonomy. The March 31 2026 Hackett Classics release marks the first time the work is presented with Harriet Taylor...
Electric Literature unveiled the cover of K Chiucarello’s debut novel Nanny Nanny, slated for publication by Ecco on November 17, 2026. The story follows a veteran nanny confronting trauma and baby fever, exploring gendered violence, queer motherhood, and the politics of domestic labor. The cover,...
Julia Kent’s romance novella *Shopping for a Highlander’s Elopement* is on sale for $0.99, highlighted in Bookbub’s Featured Deal email series. The promotion tees up the next installment, *Shopping for a Highlander’s Baby*, slated for release on March 30. The...
Marcus Aurelius: 7 Harsh Truths About Life That Most People Ignore (And Pay For Later) https://t.co/fwnnxRh6Gs
Charlie Munger: 7 Books Smart People Read That Quietly Change How You Think About Money https://t.co/zLOHzZNzzH
Charlie Munger’s recommended reading list of seven books focuses on mental models, psychology, and long‑term wealth rather than direct investing tactics. The titles range from *Poor Charlie’s Almanack* and *The Intelligent Investor* to *Influence*, *Thinking, Fast and Slow*, *The Selfish...
Alfredo Bryce Echenique, one of Peru’s most celebrated authors, died at age 87 in Lima. His death sparked condolences from the presidency, literary institutions and peers, underscoring his influence on Spanish‑language literature. The loss marks the end of an era...
Peter Kennard’s anti‑war book STOP, originally conceived in 1968 during the Vietnam conflict, has finally been published as global wars dominate headlines again. The visual-only volume marks Kennard’s shift from painting to photomontage, using cut‑up press images to portray war...
