Book Review: ‘Permanence,’ by Sophie Mackintosh
Sophie Mackintosh’s new novel *Permanence* explores an alternate reality where an illicit affair becomes a curdled paradise, juxtaposing it against a conventional marriage. The book continues her signature speculative feminist style, using a stark binary to dissect power dynamics and social prohibitions. Critics note the lyrical, precise prose that blends visceral imagery with a dreamlike structure, echoing her earlier work *Blue Ticket*. Mackintosh’s narrative deepens her critique of patriarchal control while offering a fresh, erotic charge.
Jayne Anne Phillips on Chronicling Her West Virginia Upbringing and Writer’s Journey
Jayne Anne Phillips, celebrated author of the war‑novel trilogy and the acclaimed collection Black Tickets, has published her first memoir‑in‑essays, Small Town Girls. The book recounts her West Virginia childhood, family dynamics, and the cultural shifts of the 1950s‑70s, while...
Ghost Stories by Siri Hustvedt Review – Life After Paul Auster
Siri Hustvedt’s new memoir *Ghost Stories* chronicles her four‑decade partnership with novelist Paul Auster and his death in 2024. The book interweaves personal recollections, academic references, and fragmented prose to capture the disorienting experience of grief. Hustvedt reflects on how...
2026 Writers & Illustrators of the Future Awards Winners
The 42nd L. Ron Hubbard Writers and Illustrators of the Future awards took place on April 16, 2026 in Los Angeles, culminating a week of workshops and lectures for the winners. Slovakia’s Bohuslav Argalas “Bafu” earned the Golden Brush for...
Poetry Month Feature: CavanKerry Press
CavanKerry Press is celebrating National Poetry Month by highlighting three "jazz triptychs" from Indigo Moor’s new collection, Reconstructing Eden. The book experiments with a three‑movement structure that combines tercet, the poet‑invented Bastard Villanelle, and Rhyme Royal. Distributed through the University...
Your International Food Choices Will Help Us Guess What Genre Of Books You Love
BuzzFeed launched a new interactive quiz that asks users to select their favorite international dishes and then predicts their preferred book genre, such as romance or fantasy. The quiz leverages cultural food preferences as a proxy for personality traits, using...
‘To Create From a Genuine Place, You Have to Be Open, Vulnerable and Sensitive and when You Put Music Out,...
Delphine Seddon, former COO of September Management—the label behind Adele—has left the music industry to become a novelist. Her debut, "Darkening Song," published by Saturday Books/Macmillan in the US and Blue Neon Books in the UK, draws on her two‑decade...
Are We in the Age of the Indie Bookstore?
Independent bookstores are experiencing a resurgence, with the American Booksellers Association reporting 422 new indie shops opened in 2025—a 31% rise over the previous year. The nonprofit platform Bookshop.org amplified this trend, posting $70 million in revenue for 2025, a 55%...
Veronica Roth Announces New Books Set in the World of DIVERGENT. Sort Of.
Veronica Roth revealed at BookCon that she will launch two new titles set in an alternate version of the Divergent universe, beginning with *The Sixth Faction* slated for fall 2026. The books are not sequels, prequels or interquels; they explore...
Ian Watson (1943–2026)
Ian Watson, the prolific British science‑fiction author, died on April 13, 2026 in Gijón, Spain at age 82. He launched his career with the award‑winning debut novel *The Embedding* (1973) and quickly became a fixture in the genre, earning multiple...
Ande Pliego on the Marvelous Libraries That Inspired Her New Novel
Ande Pliego reveals how iconic libraries across Europe and the United States shaped the setting of her thriller *The Library After Dark*. She draws on the Bodleian’s Art’s End, Vienna’s Hofbibliothek, Cambridge’s Wren Library, the George Peabody Library, and New York’s Morgan...
Veronica Roth Announces New Divergent Books That Will Explore an Alternate Universe
At BookCon 2026, bestselling YA author Veronica Roth revealed she is writing two new entries in the Divergent franchise that will re‑imagine the original storyline through a “what‑if” lens. The first novel, titled “The Sixth Faction,” will explore how protagonist...
Book Review: ‘Jan Morris: A Life,’ by Sara Wheeler
Jan Morris: A Life, Sara Wheeler’s biography of the British journalist and travel writer, revisits the cultural impact of Morris’s 1974 memoir Conundrum, which chronicled a decade‑long gender transition and sold millions worldwide. The new book highlights the flood of...
The Making of ‘Heated Rivalry’ Is Unpacked in New Book From Creator Jacob Tierney, Including Annotated Scripts
Creator Jacob Tierney, alongside Brendan Brady and Accent Aigu, announced a new book titled “I’ll Believe in Anything” that offers an official, fully annotated script collection and exclusive behind‑the‑scenes material from the first season of the hit series “Heated Rivalry.” The volume,...
Reconstructing Faith
Dr. Dick Daniels has released "Reconstructing Faith: 365 Days to Reconsider Jesus," a daily devotional designed for anyone wrestling with doubt. The book offers 365 concise readings that blend Scripture, historical insight, and personal reflection, guiding readers through a three‑stage...
Are Fairy Tales the Missing Puzzle Piece to Hope?
Jack Zipes’s new anthology argues that fairy tales are not escapist fluff but practical tools for imagining change, sustaining hope, and challenging dominant narratives. He traces the stories to oral traditions that helped ordinary people survive wars, climate crises, and...
The Kissinger Tapes
The National Security Archive forced Henry Kissinger to surrender thousands of transcribed phone calls from his tenure under Nixon and Ford, making the documents publicly available. The tapes expose his sharp wit, relentless work ethic, and a pattern of manipulation, deception,...
Krackle’s Last Movie by Chelsea Sutton
Chelsea Sutton’s debut novella *Krackle’s Last Movie* follows Harper, an assistant who pieces together a documentary on people altered by Curious Monster Syndrome after filmmaker Minerva Krackle disappears. The work blends speculative horror with cultural criticism, using monsters as metaphors...
Online Philosophy Resources Weekly Update
The latest Daily Nous roundup highlights fresh and updated entries across major open‑access philosophy platforms. New Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy articles cover Early Modern Rationalism, Discrimination, and Gershom Scholem, while revisions improve entries on Aristotle’s Biology, Paraconsistent Logic, and Korean...
‘Deliciously Dark’: How Freida McFadden’s Twisty Thrillers Gripped Millions of Readers
Freida McFadden, the pen name of Boston‑based doctor Sara Cohen, dominated the UK thriller market in 2025, moving 2.6 million print copies and securing six titles in the Top 10 paperback chart. Global sales across print, ebook and audio now exceed 36 million, bolstered...
Refuse
Megan Branning’s poem “Refuse” debuted in the April 20 2026 issue of Strange Horizons, a leading speculative‑fiction magazine. The piece weaves vivid images of rusted bikes, a deer skull, and hot‑pink yarn to critique decades of waste and environmental neglect. Branning, a...
Pakistani Literature That Refuses to Pigeonhole Its Setting
Mahreen Sohail and Dur e Aziz Amna are reshaping Pakistani literature by centering women’s interior lives rather than treating Pakistan as a geopolitical backdrop. Sohail’s story collection *Small Scale Sinners* and Amna’s novel *A Splintering* examine ambition, morality and self‑hood through flexible, often transgressive female protagonists....
We’ll Soon Find Out What Is Truly Special About Human Writing
The essay argues that large language models (LLMs) are reshaping writing by severing the traditional link between text and a responsible human author. It draws parallels to past disruptions—Gutenberg’s press, typewriters, and word processors—showing how each changed production but not...
Could ‘A River Runs Through It’ Have Been a Hit Today?
Norman Maclean’s novella “A River Runs Through It” turns 50, having sold over a million copies since its 1976 debut and spawning an Academy Award‑winning film starring Brad Pitt. The book cemented the literary fly‑fishing archetype and revitalized outdoor‑culture publishing. Its enduring...
Thistlemarsh by Moorea Corrigan
Moorea Corrigan’s review of *Thistlemarsh* highlights a slow‑burn, lyrical fantasy where protagonist Mouse inherits a manor to care for her war‑scarred brother. A freed faerie, Thornwood, offers magical repairs, but the narrative lingers on detailed description, causing the reviewer to...
No Age Too Early: Lab Exposure Through Children’s Books
Two new children’s books—*Mia the Marvelous Lab Explorer* and *ABCs of Laboratory Medicine*—introduce laboratory medicine concepts to kids aged four to nine. Authored by Dr. Kamran Mirza and Dr. Lotte Mulder, the titles feature a lab‑superhero and a talking microscope...
The Illuminated Man by Christopher Priest and Nina Allan Review – an Unconventional Portrait of JG Ballard
Christopher Priest’s posthumously completed biography, The Illuminated Man, offers an unconventional portrait of JG Ballard, intertwining the writer’s tumultuous life with his groundbreaking "inner‑space" fiction. Priest, diagnosed with terminal cancer, managed only 65,000 words before his death, and his partner Nina...
Son of Nobody by Yann Martel Review – Life of Pi Author Discovers a Long-Lost Poem From Troy
Yann Martel’s fifth novel, Son of Nobody, follows Canadian classicist Harlow Donne on an Oxford fellowship as he translates a cache of Oxyrhynchus papyri and uncovers a purportedly lost Trojan‑war poem, the Psoad. The book intertwines the ancient epic—presented in...
Sororicidal Review: Edwina Preston Mines the Very Relatable Desire to Kill Your Sister
Edwina Preston’s novel *Sororicidal* charts the volatile bond between sisters Mary and Margot from a 1915 Adelaide vineyard to their twilight years. The story shifts between the sisters’ viewpoints, exposing how memory reshapes truth and how artistic ambition fuels resentment....
Inside the Twisted Life of Roald Dahl
Rolling Stone’s Aaron Tracy hosts the ten‑part podcast "The Secret World of Roald Dahl," diving into the author’s multifaceted life—from beloved children’s classics to his antisemitic remarks, Hollywood missteps, and a life‑saving medical invention. The series brings together voices like...
Stop Paying for Books: These 5 NYT Bestsellers Are Free with Amazon Prime Right Now
Amazon Prime members can borrow five current New York Times best‑sellers at no extra cost through Prime Reading. The list includes Jasmine Mas’s mythic fantasy Blood of Hercules, Noelle W. Ihli’s thriller Ask for Andrea, Chloe Walsh’s sports romance Binding 13, Meghan Quinn’s...
All The Science Fiction And Fantasy Novels Reimagining China’s Past May Be Doing Weird Political Things Today
Chinese science‑fiction and fantasy novels are increasingly set in reimagined historical China, inserting modern technology and contemporary ideology into ancient backdrops. A growing body of scholarship argues these stories do more than entertain—they subtly reinforce the legitimacy of the current...
BookCon 2026: Authors Rachel Reid, Stephanie Archer Talk Hockey Romance and How It Could Change the Sport for the Better
At BookCon 2026, a panel of romance authors—including Rachel Reid and Stephanie Archer—explored the booming subgenre of hockey romance. They highlighted the sport’s cultural mystique, the genre’s reliance on white‑centric tropes, and a growing push for BIPOC and queer representation....
The Book News We Covered This Week
This week’s Book Riot roundup highlighted several notable developments in the literary world. Spotify announced a partnership with Bookshop.org to sell physical books in the US and UK via its app, marking a new entry of a streaming platform into...
Book Review: ‘When We See You Again,’ by Rachel Goldberg-Polin
Rachel Goldberg‑Polin’s new memoir, *When We See You Again*, chronicles the life and tragic death of her son Hersh, one of the “Beautiful Six” Israeli hostages killed in a Gaza tunnel in August 2024. The book intertwines intimate family memories...
![[Video] Sunday Book Review: April 19, 2026, The UC Press Edition](/cdn-cgi/image/width=1200,quality=75,format=auto,fit=cover/https://jdsupra-static.s3.amazonaws.com/profile-images/og.2237_4849.jpg)
[Video] Sunday Book Review: April 19, 2026, The UC Press Edition
Compliance evangelist Tom Fox’s Sunday Book Review highlights four newly released University of California Press titles: "American Peril," "Brand New Beat," "The Ultraview Effect," and "SwiftyNomics." Each book tackles distinct themes ranging from Asian American history and civil rights to...
Ver Pattru: Caught Between One’s Roots and Student Politics
Indira Parthasarathy’s new novel Ver Pattru charts the decline of student activism in post‑Independence Tamil Nadu through the eyes of protagonist Kesavan. The narrative ties the waning political fervor on campuses to the state’s cinematic‑political culture, recalling how film stars like M.G. Ramachandran once reshaped...
My Phantoms Author Gwendoline Riley on Winning $175,000: ‘It Was Unimaginable. I Felt Overwhelmed.’
British novelist Gwendoline Riley received the 2026 Windham‑Campbell prize, a $175,000 award (≈ £135,000) that aims to give writers financial security. The prize, granted to eight authors across genres, is notable for its low‑key selection process and lack of media fanfare....
Thomas McGuane on Decency and Feral Charm
Thomas McGuane discusses his short story “Ordinary Wear and Tear,” focusing on the divergent lives of Carl, a comfortably‑raised lawyer, and Jed, a self‑made, feral‑charming outsider. The interview reveals how memory, unconscious impulses, and class contrast shaped the characters and their...
Book Review: ‘This Vast Enterprise,’ by Craig Fehrman.
Craig Fehrman's new book "This Vast Enterprise" revisits the Lewis and Clark expedition through ten first‑person narratives, expanding the story beyond the famous leaders to include lesser‑known Corps members and multiple Native American voices. The author draws on extensive archival...
SBTB Bestsellers: April 4 – April 17
SBTB released its bestseller list for April 4‑17, highlighting eleven titles that topped affiliate‑driven sales across Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Kobo. The list features a mix of romance, speculative fiction and literary debut works, with Caitlin Rozakis’s *Dreadful* occupying the...
The Dark Heart of the Kidfluencer Industry
The family‑vlogging boom has exposed a hidden epidemic of child exploitation, highlighted by the Ruby Franke scandal and the new book *Like, Follow, Subscribe*. Influencer parents routinely monetize intimate moments for millions of viewers, often earning as little as $100...
Crowds Pack USC Campus on Opening Day of L.A. Times Festival of Books
The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books opened at USC with tens of thousands of visitors, launching what organizers project will be 150,000‑155,000 attendees over the weekend. The 31st edition features more than 550 authors, actors and musicians across eight...
Brooding on Verandas, Slurping Pepsi Max, Carefully Observing the Color of Urine — Across Thousands of Pages, Certain Knausgaardian Tropes...
Karl Ove Knausgaard closed his monumental six‑volume autobiographical saga *My Struggle* in 2011 and immediately launched a new seven‑book series, *The Star* septology, now at over 2,500 pages. The new cycle abandons a single first‑person voice for a choral narrative...
Elitist Critics Condemn Literary “Slop,” But in 50 Years They May Write Redemptive Theories of Such Slop and Cut the...
The article examines the clash between elite literary judgment and the rise of mass‑market "slop"—romantasy, fan‑fiction, and AI‑generated prose—within publishing, academia, and criticism. It highlights how editorial assistants, scholars like Mark McGurl, and independent presses navigate pressures to favor commercially...
After the Mystics
Lauren Kane, managing editor of The New York Review, discusses how medieval religious art—especially the Cloisters’ “Spectrum of Desire” exhibit—reveals a surprisingly erotic and transgressive side to the Middle Ages. Her academic background in religion at Yale Divinity School sparked a...
Gord Magill Wrote the Book Trucking Needed
Gord Magill’s new book, “End of the Road: Inside the War on Truckers,” offers a first‑hand exposé of the trucking industry’s systemic decline. Drawing on three decades behind the wheel, Magill traces deregulation, wage compression, fabricated driver‑shortage narratives, and a...
Ideas Podcast: Overinvested
Nina Bandelj’s new book *Overinvested* examines how modern parents have turned child‑rearing into a high‑stakes financial and emotional venture. Drawing on interviews, national data and decades of parenting literature, she shows that today’s families spend, save and even incur debt to...
Jan Prins’ Book, Freestyle Biomechanics, a Must-Read for Coaches
Jan Prins, Ph.D., a veteran swim scientist and former Indiana University assistant to Doc Counsilman, has published *Freestyle Biomechanics*, a detailed manual that dissects every element of the freestyle stroke. Drawing on elite‑athlete data captured with wearable sensors and advanced motion‑analysis...
The Best Way to Keep Track of New and Upcoming Queer Books
Book Riot’s New Release Index offers a searchable database of upcoming LGBTQ titles, organized by release date and genre. Curators, including the article’s author, add dozens of queer books each month, allowing readers to filter for niche combos like queer...