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.
Gothic horror is a genre that is often more unsettling than outright terrifying. The horror builds slowly and the setting, often a crumbling castle or ruined building, is a character in and of itself. Characters can be isolated in these settings or societally—struggling with their place, and their safety—alone. Gothic horror digs into the internal struggles of characters, too, and explores things like morality, social standing, and loss. Some of the books in this genre dabble with supernatural elements or the suggestion of them, adding to the tension of the narrative.
Between our newsletters, podcasts, and the site, Book Riot recommends hundreds of books every month, but which of those recommendations are sticking? We don’t have perfect data on that, but we do have a proxy: the books you all clicked on the most. It’s hard for us to know whether a book gets clicked on because you wanted to buy it right then and there or because you just wanted to learn more about it. Either way, it’s an interesting thing to track, especially because it doesn’t neatly map onto our most popular posts.
Many of the 22 MacArthur Fellows this year have published books, whether as their profession, like young adult and middle grade author Jason Reynolds, or as a result of their work, like disability justice activist Alice Wong. Here are ten of this year’s MacArthur Fellows who are authors, starting with those who received the fellowship for their writing.
These historical fiction new releases are all coming out this October 2024, meaning they’ll soon be ready to buy, borrow, or request at your local library, if they’re not already. Lots of these books are perfect for October, too. We’ve got curses and monsters and vampires and witches, just to start things off. In addition to all that spooky, seasonally appropriate horror and gothic historical fiction, we’ve also got spies, daredevil school teachers, and ancient myths retold.
I’ve got new releases by authors that I know to release bangers—there’s an epic fantasy, a killer house party, a demonic possession in Chinatown, and more. Plus, paperbacks that feature Black Hollywood, a bookish romance, and alien-fighting scouts.
The more I read the more I realized I had wrongly assumed that horror was just one thing—in reality, it’s as immense as all other genres with tons of different subgenres. Ultimately, it’s been nice to let go of a long-held fear, to have even more reading options, and to discover the world of social horror. While I continue to read and discover new things in the horror genre, I love seeing authors who I’m already a fan of for their mysteries now writing in horror. So here are some authors who write mysteries and horror books.
Of course, as a fan of true stories, nonfiction is always at the top of my to-be-read pile. With new books, there are so many options—where do you even start? I could read the history of horror in America, which would be perfect for this time of year. Or I could peruse Rae Garringer’s queer oral history project. (Their podcast is a huge favorite of mine!) Or maybe I’ll be in the mood for some easy weeknight cooking with Amina Al-Saigh’s new cookbook. Or what about a memoir from icon Ina Garten? Whatever my choice, I really can’t go wrong.
A Hollywood happily-ever-after that celebrates people who have been sidelined because they don’t fit into rusty, dusty norms? Yes, please! In this excerpt of Because Fat Girl by Lauren Marie Fleming, Diana Smith’s galling moment in the fitting room with a member of the Hollywood elite turns into an offer she can’t refuse.
