American Dreamer by Adriana Herrera Let’s start with the inspiration for this post. Nesto Vasquez is trying something new, moving his Afro-Caribbean food truck out of NYC and upstate. He’s got six months to make this thing float, otherwise he has to go back to a miserable day job. Jude Fuller is a local and has a great life, good job, but he’s single and feeling lonely. When he tries Nesto’s food truck, he finds he can’t get enough of the food or the hunky truck owner....

In Daevabad, djinn summon flames with the snap of a finger, blood can be dangerous as any spell, and a clever con artist from Cairo will alter the fate of a kingdom in the thrilling sequel to THE CITY OF BRASS. As Nahri carefully navigates life in the dangerous royal court, Ali has been exiled and must rely on the frightening abilities gifted to him by unpredictable spirits in order to survive....

I’m a sucker for a good coming-of-age story, especially about girls. There’s just something special about listening to the story of a young woman spreading her wings and flying out into the world on her own that hits the literary spot for me. I have read A LOT of them, but to narrow it down, here are a few of my favorite coming-of-age audiobooks.

Personally, I’ve been making my way through Albert Camus’s The Plague—did you see this piece in the New York Times from Laura Marris, a literary translator working on a new translation as the coronavirus began its spread?—because WHY NOT TORMENT MYSELF???? It’s simultaneously fascinating and horrifying. The most moving piece about COVID-19 that I’ve read is by Patricia Lockwood, author of Priestdaddy, who wrote about her experience with the virus for the London Review of Books, aptly titled “Insane after coronavirus?...

Calling someone “the [adjective] Sherlock Holmes” or “the Sherlock Holmes of [noun]” is a succinct, headline-friendly way of saying that someone has solved a complicated mystery through extraordinary cleverness and observational skills. This phrase has been used throughout history to celebrate especially brave, successful, or innovative investigators. It is easy to become skeptical at the frequent usage of this term. Surely all of these people couldn’t be as brilliant as Holmes himself?...

I don’t know about you, but I’ve found a lot of comfort and solace in reading comics this year. Maybe because I’m drawn in by gorgeous art or a storyline that proves to move swiftly (or both!), I’ve been unable to get enough comic reading in. Since this month I’m highlighting YA nonfiction, why not take a gander at some great nonfiction comics for YA readers? What makes nonfiction comics so compelling is that they offer a way into so many lives....

For even more great audiobook recommendations, check out “10 of the Most Innovative Audiobooks to Listen To” and “10 of Libro.fm’s Most Pre-ordered Audiobooks for Summer 2022”!

Book Riot is teaming up with Macmillan eDeals to giveaway one Kindle Paperwhite. Enter the form and sign-up for the Macmillan eDeals newsletter for a chance to win! Here’s a little more about the Macmillan eDeals newsletter: Be the first to hear about our down-priced eBooks across a variety of genres from your favorite authors, starting at $2.99! For even more audiobooks by disabled, chronically ill, Deaf, and neurodivergent authors, check out “5 OwnVoices Audiobooks about Women with Chronic Illnesses or Disabilities” and “7 of the Best Audiobooks to Celebrate Disability Pride Month....

Now I can’t get enough of reading challenges (My TBR might disagree, but shh). Of course there’s Book Riot’s own 2021 Read Harder Challenge, and we’ve already covered some other reading challenges and lists for 2021. But here are a few more recent additions that will diversify your shelf and bring lots of nerdy fun to your reading life. The Free Black Women’s Library Reading Challenge Led by OlaRonke Akinmowo, creator and director of The Free Black Women’s Library, this challenge includes 30 prompts to help you reach the goal of reading 25 books by Black women or Black nonbinary authors in 2021....

Whether because readers had waited so long for new material or just because it is far and away the best of the four Holmes novels, The Hound of the Baskervilles remains among Sherlock Holmes’s best-known adventures. Its renown has been magnified by countless adaptations. I would like to discuss some of those adaptations today. Unlike my article on A Scandal in Bohemia, where I highlighted the adaptations that remained most faithful to the source material, this article will do the opposite....

Some authors have done all this with gentleness and ease, even while writing about heavy themes. Their honesty has created a safe space to explore and process difficult emotions. So here’s a list of authors who I’ve felt taken care of by. They live in my head rent free, and their words breathe hope and warmth into my days. I’ve added excerpts and quotes from some of their books here, and I hope you find something that comforts you too....

Abbi and Van are having a sleepover at Grammy and Pop’s. Should be fun! But there’s a storm, with loud thunder and bursts of lightning. The lights go out. Van is way past scared. What can make him feel better? These don’t always come naturally, though. Sometimes, even as adults, we have a hard time pinpointing exactly what we are feeling or why we might be feeling a certain way....

Pre-Vacation Tips for Book Lovers Add Bookish Stops to Your Itinerary If you already know where you’re going, do some research on local literary spots like indie bookstores and unique public libraries. It’s a great way to soak up local flavor and to find a home away from bookish home. Get a head start on your search with Book Riot’s literary tourism series. Another great way to get to know the community you’re visiting is to spend some time reading in a local coffee shop....

Baby has arrived! The world is eager to meet the newcomer, but there will be time enough for that later. Right now, the family is on its babymoon: cocooning, connecting, learning, and muddling through each new concern. While the term “babymoon” is often used to refer to a parents’ getaway before the birth of a child, it was originally coined by midwives to describe days like these: at home with a newborn, with the world held at bay and the wonder of a new family constellation unfolding....

Garfield Logan has spent his life being overlooked. Even in his small town, the 17-year-old with green streaks in his hair can’t find a way to stand out—and the clock is ticking. Then Gar accepts a wild dare, and his social status soars. Overnight, Gar grows six inches, his voice drops, and he’s stronger and faster. He’s getting everything he wanted, but his popularity has a price. When Gar realizes the extent of his physical changes, he has to dig deep and face the truth about himself—and those who truly matter—before his life spirals out of control....

Problem Solvers: Grayson by Tom King, Tim Seely, and Mikel Janen Pieces of a dead god scattered around the world with the potential to be used as horrific super weapons? No problem. There’s a former Batman sidekick for that. Despite never having been trained as a spy, there’s no reason to think Dick Grayson can’t immediately master the necessary skills, as well as those needed to become a teacher. And of course, at the end, Dick’s nearest and dearest forgive him for faking his death and thoroughly traumatizing them because, well, he’s Dick Grayson....

Though representation isn’t the end-all-be-all goal of equality, of course, it sure feels good to see nonbinary authors killing it in the literary scene. The fact that I had to narrow down this list at all is amazing. I’m sure 20 years ago you’d be hard-pressed to find even three mainstream nonbinary authors to put on a list like this. While bills against trans and gender-nonconforming folks proliferate across the country, these authors and their amazing works give us hope....

Stargazing is a pursuit that continues to fascinate us: from Copernicus to Carl Sagan, astronomers throughout history have spent their lives trying to answer the biggest questions in the universe. Now, award-winning astronomer Emily Levesque shares the stories of modern-day stargazers, the people willing to adventure across high mountaintops and to some of the most remote corners of the planet, all in the name of science.From the lonely quiet of midnight stargazing to tall tales of wild bears loose in the observatory, The Last Stargazers is a love letter to astronomy and an affirmation of the crucial role that humans can and must play in the future of scientific discovery....

One More for Christmas is an uplifting tale following businesswoman Gail as she summons her estranged family to spend a snowbound Christmas together in Scotland. I am in my element right now. But during the hottest months of the summer, I often turn to books to get a taste of my beloved cold. These nine books are some of my favorite wintery reads. They are set in Greenland and Iceland and Antarctica, in the bleak cold of a tide-locked planet, in snowstorms and chilly forests and tiny northern towns....

But I do think that there are some books out there that are just made to be reread. These books are twisting, turning, meta miracles: books that can be appreciated even more on the second read, when you’ve reached the end and can double back, connecting clues and motifs, discovering small riddles and magical turns in the author’s work. They are books that reveal so much by the end that you want to go back and look for clues; they are books that ask so many questions that you want to search for the answers; they are books that are so meta, they don’t have traditional endings at all....