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.

The Perfect Dark Academia Novel for Your Fall TBR

In the fall months, it’s all about dark academia. Give me a creepy school. Give me suspicious students. Give me teachers with secret agendas. I’m looking for a book with all the vibes of a perfect crisp fall day during back-to-school season. But while dark academia is a genre that is really known for the vibes, we need more than a feeling to get us through a whole book, right?

Library News Round-Up

What happens when a library bans Banned Books Week? Well, if you’re Sierra Benjamin, a longtime staff member at the Flathead County Library (MT), you sit outside the library on your days off with a stack of banned books and a sign that says “Banned Books Week is BANNED in your public library!” The library director, Teri Dugan, said that Sierra is allowed to do what she likes in her free time, and that because the library has a number of materials that patrons can check out at any point, they “‘didn’t see a need to necessarily highlight [Banned Books Week].'” Well, maybe they should, because Flathead County has had a few issues with banned and challenged books over the last few years.

Welcome to The Best of Book Riot, our daily round-up of what’s on offer across our site, newsletters, podcasts, and social channels. Today, we look back at the most popular stuff we did this week.

The Best New Books Out in October, According to Indie Booksellers

This is a mix of September and October releases, and I’m going to be honest with you, I’m not sure why the Indie Next List is organized this way. Maybe the publication dates shifted since they were nominated, or maybe indie booksellers are just mysterious that way.

Nothing Says Lovin’ Like Something from the Coven: Witchy Romance Novels!

A chill in the air? Check. Pumpkin spice-flavored everything hitting the shelves? Check. Pop-up Halloween stores appearing overnight? Check. It’s official: it’s the season of the witch! Today’s recommendations have hex appeal and feature witches who can work all kinds of spells (or maybe not), but can’t stop themselves from falling in love. Oh-oh-oh, it’s magic!

Book Riot Exhorts You to Vote and Endorses Kamala Harris for President

I can say it no better than our own Sharifah Williams does in our endorsement of Kamala Harris:

We find ourselves, again, approaching an election season where it is imperative to lend our voices to the call for every American to vote and be heard. The last time we published a political endorsement, we had not yet witnessed the January 6th attack on the Capitol, which resulted in at least seven deaths and more than 150 injuries in connection with the insurrection as well as a shaken nation. Roe had yet to be overturned, placing politicians between doctors and patients and giving states often catastrophic power over the reproductive health and family planning decisions of many. Book bans and censorship had yet to reach a critical point, with political groups standing in front of parents, librarians, and educators, telling them what their children and students can and cannot read. Americans who have witnessed their country’s descent into a regressive age demand freedom and change.

It’s October, the one month of the year when I join the crowd of horror fans. Something about the weather cooling off, the leaves falling, and the approach of Halloween has me reaching for horror, thrillers, dark fantasy, and everything unsettling. I especially look forward to the October 24-hour readathon, which I’ve been doing every year for more than a decade. It’s the perfect time to read through a big stack of horror comics and novellas in one sitting!

Currently, my dresser is covered in stacks of horror books, most of them queer. I save them all year, and I place a bunch of library holds to come on October 1st, so I’m drowning in options. I’m reading An Education in Malice by S. T. Gibson at the moment, a sapphic vampire dark academia novel based on Carmilla, and I’m loving it so far. A Dowry of Blood is one of my favourite books, so that’s not a surprise. I’m also listening to the audiobook of If I Stopped Haunting You by Colby Wilkens, a bi4bi M/F romance between two Indigenous horror authors set in a haunted castle. I’m really enjoying it, partly because Penelope is one of the most stubborn woman main characters I’ve ever read, and I’m here for it.

As I mentioned, I have dozens of queer horror/Halloween books to choose from this month, but here are five of the titles on my TBR, from a queer monster anthology to a trans YA horror novel to an asexual romance set in a haunted house.

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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.

The Best New Books Out in October, According to Indie Booksellers

This is a mix of September and October releases, and I’m going to be honest with you, I’m not sure why the Indie Next List is organized this way. Maybe the publication dates shifted since they were nominated, or maybe indie booksellers are just mysterious that way.

New Horror for October Because It’s The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

This year, there are sooooo many good horror books coming out to celebrate the season. You’ll see plenty from horror staples like Nick Cutter and Richard Chizmar. But this October is also going to introduce us to some new spooky authors on the scene. For instance, check out Del Sandeen’s gothic horror debut.

The Most Read Books on Goodreads This Week

We have a new book on the list this week! Most of the time, the most read books on Goodreads stays pretty similar week to week, shifting slightly but keeping most of the same names. That’s true of numbers two through five of the most read books this week, but number one is appearing here for the first time. I won’t spoil what it is, but here are some hints: it came out last year, and there’s a good reason that it rose to popularity in this precise week…also, you might want to read it while sipping a specific seasonal beverage.

8 Recent and Forthcoming Children’s Book Adaptations

If you’re on the lookout for something to watch with your kids now and in the near future, these excellent children’s book adaptations might be right for you. The children’s book selections here cover a wide range of genres. There’s a book that explores the struggles of a young girl during a war, a boy who can create anything with his magical crayon, a mystical world up in the trees, Greek gods and goddesses battling it out, superheroes and heroines saving the world, and many more stories for kids.

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.