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.
Alexandra Andrews’ debut novel *Who Is Maud Dixon?* follows aspiring writer Florence Darrow, who becomes the personal assistant to the reclusive, bestselling author Maud Dixon. The arrangement forces Florence into a secretive, isolated life that culminates in a research trip to Marrakech, where a car crash leaves Florence questioning Maud’s fate. The psychological thriller blends literary ambition with identity theft, delivering slow‑burn tension that spikes with shocking twists in the final third. Andrews earned a 4‑out of‑5 rating, praising the atmospheric setting and dark character dynamics.
Frederick Joseph and Paul Kellam’s new picture book *Planting Hope* (Candlewick, March 2026) tells the story of Henry, a young boy who discovers that hope can nurture both plants and a sick mother. The narrative pairs gardening metaphors with emotional...
Jennette McCurdy, bestselling memoirist behind *I’m Glad My Mom Died*, launched her first novel *Half His Age* on January 20 2026. The 288‑page story follows 17‑year‑old Waldo, a high‑school senior who becomes fixated on her married creative‑writing teacher. McCurdy delivers graphic, unsettling...
The article curates seven Irish titles that fuse dark humor with surreal imagination, ranging from Kevin Barry’s novel Beatlebone to Conor O’Callaghan’s poetry collection We Are Not in the World. Each work confronts historic and contemporary Irish traumas—such as the...
Lit Hub’s Daily roundup for March 16, 2026 aggregates a slate of literary and cultural pieces ranging from classic criticism of Frances Burney to contemporary fiction by Jade Song. The selection spotlights essays on grief as a narrative device, Barbara Pym’s everyday‑life focus, and a...
Yuichi Yokoyama’s 2013 manga "Sekaichizu no Ma" epitomizes his neo‑manga movement, discarding conventional panels for a dreamlike, geometry‑driven visual language. Set in an unnamed megacity, three nameless protagonists wander toward a secret business rendezvous, their journey rendered through expansive full‑page...
The London Book Fair attracted 33,000 publishing professionals and produced headline deals, including a thriller series co‑written by Idris Elba and seven‑figure fantasy and rom‑com acquisitions. Non‑fiction rights flowed around hot topics such as GLP‑1 drugs, sober curiosity and assisted dying,...
The article spotlights nine recent gothic novels, ranging from the award‑winning Southern Gothic "Beloved" to the breakout hit "Mexican Gothic" by Silvia Moreno‑Garcia. It highlights how contemporary authors are remixing classic haunted‑house tropes with modern themes like consent, domestic violence,...
Adam Phillips’s latest book, The Life You Want, examines how desire, frustration and the tension between novelty and continuity shape our lives. Drawing on Freud’s depth and Richard Rorty’s pragmatism, he argues that therapy should be a listening cure that...
Travis S. Taylor and Les Johnson’s *Crisis at Proxima* attempts to revive classic hard‑science storytelling, but the review finds it mired in technobabble, shallow world‑building, and dated cultural tropes. The novel’s plot—centered on a fertility crisis and an awakened Atlantean...
Eva St John’s debut, *Flint in the Bones*, launches the Norwich Map Runners series with a genre‑bending blend of time‑travel, police procedural, magic and murder mystery set in an unexpectedly magical Norwich. The review praises vivid characters—detective Eliza Barnaby, a...
Ian Buruma’s new book *Stay Alive* chronicles ordinary Berliners’ daily existence under Nazi rule, showing how most citizens chose conformity over resistance. The narrative highlights escapist pursuits—cinema, concerts, sports—and the crucial role of personal connections (“Beziehungen”) in securing scarce resources....
Howard Jacobson’s new novel *Howl* offers a tragicomic portrait of a London headteacher grappling with the fallout of the Oct 7 2023 Hamas attacks. The protagonist, Ferdinand Draxler, spirals into guilt‑driven madness as antisemitic tensions erupt across the city. Jacobson mixes sharp...
The Authors Guild has broadened its Human Authored Certification, allowing any writer to obtain the mark for a $10 fee. The program relies on an honor system, with authors self‑certifying that their text contains only minimal AI‑assisted editing and no...
Barbara Pym’s modest post‑war novels about spinsters, church life and quiet village politics fell out of print in the 1960s until a 1977 Times Literary Supplement endorsement sparked a revival and a Booker‑Prize nomination. The resurgence highlighted the literary value...
The Memoir Nation podcast featured author and residency adjudicator Janine Kovac discussing how writers can secure writing residencies and book festival slots. Kovac, a former ballet dancer and co‑director of Litquake’s Lit Crawl, shares practical advice drawn from her experience reviewing...
Pulitzer‑winning poet Philip Schultz discusses his new collection "Enormous Morning" on the "First Draft" podcast. The book confronts mortality, weaving childhood memories, philosophical reflections, and present‑day family scenes. Schultz reveals he only recently returned to manuscript work after a five‑year...
Everyone knows @naval. Not enough people know his brother @kamalravikant. That asymmetry is strange. Because Kamal went somewhere Naval never publicly went. He broke completely. And then wrote the most honest book about it he almost did not publish. Here is what I found when I...
I Touched the Sun – a tender illustrated fable about how to find and bear your inner light https://t.co/I6uFCzCfZO
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association unveiled the 2025 Nebula Awards finalists across eight categories, including Novel, Novella, Novelette, Short Story, Poetry, Andre Norton, Comics, Ray Bradbury, and Game Writing. The Novel shortlist features titles such as Daryl Gregory’s *When...
Paul R. Ehrlich, the Stanford ecologist whose 1968 bestseller “The Population Bomb” warned of imminent famines, died at 93 from cancer complications. The book sold three million copies and made Ehrlich a household name, especially after frequent TV appearances. His...
The post announces the emergence of “New Cultural Criticism,” a long‑form nonfiction style that fuses novelistic storytelling with cultural analysis. It contrasts this movement with the 1960s New Journalism, noting that today’s critics operate on platforms like Substack rather than...
The article spotlights three distinct mother‑themed books released between 1988 and 2022: Timothy C. Baker’s memoir "Reading My Mother Back," which weaves classic children’s animal stories with personal grief; Jenny Diski’s dark novella "Like Mother," portraying inherited trauma through a...
For any one who is curious about promo related stuff, my publisher is going to start sending out physical ARCs of my 1940s noir The Intrigue at the end of the month. Some ARCs were already gifted at a couple...
Loving Bill Gurley's new book: "Runnin' Down a Dream" Bill Gurley's core argument is that a broken education system and family pressure push too many young people onto a conveyor belt toward a small subset of "safe" jobs — and that...
Sarah Gailey’s *The Echo Wife* follows Evelyn Caldwell, a pioneering cloning scientist whose husband secretly creates a docile genetic replica of her named Martine. When the husband is murdered, Evelyn must cooperate with her clone to untangle the fallout and...
On March 19, writer‑critic William Giraldi will host a live two‑hour class titled “Five Things I’ve Learned from Raymond Carver.” The session, part of the Five Things I’ve Learned platform, will dissect five of Carver’s most iconic short stories and explore...
Charlotte Duckworth’s new release, *Connie*, chronicles the chilling case of Connie Cross, a teenage pharmacy assistant who murdered at least seven strangers and now serves a whole‑life order. The narrative follows former police officer Olivia Lang, who revisits the case...
Dervla McTiernan returns with *Three Reasons for Revenge*, a 336‑page thriller released June 4, 2026 by HarperCollins. The plot follows Detective Sergeant Judith Lee as she investigates a missing assault victim and a series of revenge‑filled packages targeting three unrelated individuals....
Heather Fawcett’s *Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter* blends urban fantasy with a cat‑centric premise, set in a timeless Montreal where magic is illegal and tied to ordinary artefacts. The protagonist, Agnes, must relocate her shelter after a magical feud destroys...
Anne Lamott, prolific author of 20.5 books, is promoting her new co‑written guide *Good Writing: 36 Ways to Improve Your Sentences*, slated for release on March 17. In a recent interview she highlighted Barbara Kingsolver’s works, recommended the novel *Demon Copperhead*,...
“It’s going to break your heart if you’ve always wanted to write a memoir or novel but never got around to it.” -Anne Lamott on her Substack, 3/12/26.
Growing up in Philadelphia, the library was my babysitter. I waited for my mom to come and pick me up after work, and books became my safe place. I got lost in the Amelia Bedelia and American Girl book series. I...
Levy Rozman, the International Master and popular chess streamer, has authored a new board book titled "Chess for Babies," released March 3 2026 by Ten Speed Young Readers. Priced at $8.99, the book targets children ages one to five and introduces basic...
Excited to announce my third book on AI in finance coming in a few months. Pre-order now: https://t.co/pqBz1Qkiyg
How to save a life – Little Prince author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, who was once a prisoner of war, on the power of the smallest kindnesses https://t.co/4oUrLLfPoK
Tim Tebow has released a new illustrated children’s book, "If the Tree Could Speak," which retells the story of Jesus’ crucifixion from the viewpoint of the wooden cross. The book combines vivid artwork with a fresh narrative that positions the...
A nice early moment for The Borrowed Mind. 👉The book is currently #1 New Release in Cognitive Psychology on Kindle and climbing in Epistemology. 🙏Thank you to everyone helping this conversation about AI and human thought get started. https://t.co/D7TcstgnY1
I saw the revised complete edition of “Kisou, Ten wo Ugokasu” by Soji Shimada in the new releases section at the bookstore, so I bought it. https://t.co/hz4z2q6huB
Japanese platform Jump+ awarded Tendai Yano the 2023 Serialization Audition grand prize, debuting the action manga "Daddy and Buddy." The story follows laid‑off father Tanaka Kanata, who becomes a Gymnastics Buddy protecting children from grumble bugs, highlighting adult career reinvention....
Daniel Rachel’s new book chronicles the persistent use of Nazi imagery by rock and pop artists, from David Bowie’s Goebbels desk to Sid Vicious’s swastika‑t‑shirt. The work highlights a pattern of provocative symbolism that fans and media often dismiss as...
In this episode, author and storytelling researcher Will Storr explains how narratives function as psychological transactions that shape belief, identity, and behavior, drawing on neuroscience, psychology, and real‑world examples. He discusses why stories often trump facts, the role of status...
A bookseller recommended *So What If I’m a Puta?* by Amara Moira, a translated diary of a Brazilian travesti sex worker. The 44‑crônica collection blends humor, heartbreak, and political insight, exposing Brazil’s alarming trans‑violence statistics. It delves into consent, safe...
Dennis Walder, a South African literary scholar, has published Amid the Alien Corn, a memoir that follows his lifelong quest to uncover his mother Ruth’s concealed past spanning Namibia, Germany and apartheid South Africa. The narrative weaves childhood recollections, encounters...
Rebecca Serle’s latest novel, Once and Again, intertwines a speculative premise—a single‑use silver ticket that rewinds time—with the gritty realities of marriage, infertility, and family dynamics. The story follows accountant Lauren Novak as she returns to her Malibu childhood home,...
In this lively book‑club session the hosts and guest Natafe Faye explore the themes of "true self" and personal evolution as presented in *The Book of Burnett*. They discuss how authenticity evolves into a divine higher self, share personal awakenings,...
My new book, The Meaning of Your Life, comes out March 31. If you’d like to pre-order, you’ll get access to the virtual launch event on March 27. You can find all the details here: themeaningofyourlife.com
My new book, Writer Career Paths, comes out March 24th! You can pre-order the eBook or print on Amazon. I've read hundreds of books on the subject of writing. But this is a book I've never been able to find—explaining the "different...
Mr Science is always the first person to read the latest book I wrote, which inevitably means I just sit beside him with a different book, rereading the same page 3 times while pretending I’m not watching him read my...
I’m hearing this from others, that the book would make a great graduation gift. Let me know in this thread if I can help in any way.
