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.
It’s only November, but I’m ready to call it. These are my favorite horror books of 2024. Yes, we do have another month and a half of reading content to get through, but these books are so good that I’ve already shoved them into many reader’s hands. These books have already ascended to all-time faves. And if you’re a horror lover and you haven’t read these four books this year, it’s time to add them to your TBR! You might have trouble sleeping at night, but you won’t regret it.
The top five most read books on Goodreads this time around are the same as last week, but there are some less familiar titles in the top ten: Lost and Lassoed by Lyla Sage, which came out last week, and Lights Out by Navessa Allen, which came out in August, but seems to be getting more attention recently.
Book Riot has talked a lot about graphic novel adaptations. What’s up with those, anyway? When did we start trying to adapt prose novels into comics, and why? To help me answer these questions, I spoke with A. David Lewis, who, along with artist Justin Rentería, took on the challenge of adapting Kahlil Gibran’s seminal book of verse poetry, The Prophet.
If you follow Kelly Jensen’s weekly Censorship News roundups, you’ll likely recognize Texas county Corpus Christi: they have been pushing for book bans in public libraries for quite a while. The newest developments are that they are considering a new “parent/guardian must be present” library card, which would block these minors from accessing self-checkouts and would require them to check out books only while their parent is present, who must show their ID. The updates to equipment would cost about $10,000.
Time travel narratives can be some of the most fun narratives out there. Getting to experience, along with the characters, iconic time periods, historic events, or even infinite potential futures is delightful. The locations we’ve only read about, people who are key figures in our history books, events that changed the world, it’s all on the table. The opportunities are endless!
Like many kids, I loved chapter books when I was growing up. The appeal lay in what they offered me: adventure. They let me go on quests and undertake explorations, be a detective and travel to outer space, all from the safety and comfort of my home. If the kids in your life are similarly adventure-minded, they will love the eight books gathered here. With plots ranging from monster-fighting to quests for world (neighborhood) domination, and characters who are endearing and resourceful, these stories are sure to fit the bill for any child who is looking for an adventure of their own.
The debates over abortion and reproductive justice were full of misinformation both before and after the Dobbs ruling was handed down. I attended protests and donated my money, but I knew that to truly be able to debate the issues of reproductive justice, I would need to be more informed. And I still had my own questions that weren’t being answered in the traditional debates.
This book answered my questions.
