book ratings for adults

Our expert librarians selected the year's best books for kids, teens, and adults. Explore titles in accessible formats , and learn more about our 2023 picks .

Best Books for Adults 2023

Filter results below, 70 books found, above ground.

Smith delves into the profound shifts in our world today with these poems, fearlessly exploring fatherhood and generational heritage as a person of color. His odes to weathering the journey of parenthood and almost lullabies to his child are telling of a world in progress.

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi

The greatest pirate story you have not read… yet. Chakraborty forges a nautical masterpiece ideal for fans of Sinbad the Sailor, the Jack Aubrey series, and fantasy set in the historic Muslim world.

Against the Currant

Spice Isle Bakery in Brooklyn's Little Caribbean brings the delicious treats... and murder.

Age of Vice

After a speeding car kills five people late at night in New Delhi, the driver, a shell-shocked servant, is unable to explain the series of strange events that led to the crime.

All the Beauty in the World

More than just a portrait of an iconic NYC locale and its treasures by a former New Yorker staffer who spent a decade as a museum guard, this book is also a memoir about grief, healing, art, and reinvention.

Translated by Michelle Deeter | Evil comes in all ages in this dark thriller that captivated China.

The Bee Sting

Where did it all go wrong? A patch of ice on the tarmac, a casual favor to a charming stranger, a bee caught beneath a bridal veil—can a single moment of bad luck change the direction of life?

Biting the Hand: Growing Up Asian in Black and White America

Julia Lee shares her journey of self-discovery as an Asian, reckoning with the racial hierarchies and challenging the divisions of a society informed by white supremacism in this blunt and passionate memoir.

Black Observatory: Poems

These sometimes absurd and even slightly surreal vignettes form a weird, witty, and engaging collection that often reads like well-crafted short stories. Murray has crafted an introspective work that remains clever while never taking itself too seriously.

Out in the desert in a place called the Palace, a young man tends to a dying soul, someone he once knew briefly but who has haunted the edges of his life.

Chain-Gang All-Stars

A novel in which two top women gladiators fight for their freedom within a depraved private prison system not so far-removed from America's own.

The Deep Sky: A Novel

The Earth is dying, and humanity places its hope on a single ship on a journey to a new home. The crew, tasked with birthing a new generation, soon finds themselves off course when a bomb is detonated, and Asuka is the prime suspect. Packed with suspense and an intricately woven plot, The Deep Sky is science fiction writing at its best.

Do a Powerbomb

When a necromancer makes aspiring wrestler Lona an offer she can't refuse, she must team up with her late mother's rival and enter a supernatural wrestling tournament. This heartwrenching story will appeal to both wrestling fans and the uninitiated.

Eight Billion Genies Deluxe Edition, Vol. 1

Art by Ryan Browne | If you could wish for anything in the world, what would it be? When the entire world is randomly gifted magical wish-granting genies, everything turns to chaos. This genre-defying story follows a motley crew just trying to survive in aftermath of "G-Day."

An ambitious, eye-opening, myth-busting, and groundbreaking history of the evolution of the female body. With boundless curiosity and sharp wit, Bohannon covers the past 200 million years to explain the specific science behind the development of the female sex.

Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone

In this homage to classic detective fiction, what happens when a family of killers gets snowed in at a ski resort? Murder, of course.

Everything Is Fine, Vol. 1

Follow a perfectly normal couple living on a perfectly normal street with perfectly normal neighbors, and perfectly normal stories within a perfectly normal police state. So it's all perfectly and completely normal.

A Fever in the Heartland

In the early 20th century, a charismatic conman named D.C. Stephenson became the impetus and architect of plans to bring the Ku Klux Klan out of the shadows and into the heartland of the U.S. This is the gripping story of the vulnerable woman who brought him down.

The Glutton

A historical novel set during the French Revolution is inspired by a young peasant boy turned showman, said to have been tormented and driven to murder by an all-consuming appetite.

The Great Displacement

The untold story of climate migration—the personal stories of those experiencing displacement, the portraits of communities being torn apart by disaster, and the implications for all of us as we confront a changing future.

A Guest in the House

Abby is uneasy in her new role as a stepmother, and as she learns more about her husband's first wife, a strange obsession overtakes her. This visually brilliant and engaging mystery seamlessly blurs the lines between fantasy and reality.

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store

When a skeleton is unearthed in a small, close-knit Pennsylvania community in 1972, an unforgettable cast of characters living on the margins of white, Christian America closely guard a secret. What happened? And what role did the town's white establishment play?

The Hive and the Honey: Stories

This collection of seven stories confronts themes of identity, belonging, and the collision of cultures across countries and centuries.

An Island Princess Starts a Scandal

In 1889 Paris, heiress Manuela offers ambitious businesswoman Cora her Venezuelan property in exchange for one last thrilling summer before her impending marriage of convenience.

The Kingdom of Surfaces

Mao writes to escape being "trapped in someone else's imagination," literally shaping poems that challenge empire, cultural plunder, and the ongoing violence Asian people experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic, both in the U.S. and her birthplace of Wuhan.

In Victorian London, Tommy, a Scotland Yard detective, and Imogen, a vigilante, have been circling one another since they met. But Imogen is unsure whom she can trust as they could be tied to a string of crimes she and her friends are investigating.

Land of Milk and Honey

High atop an unnamed Alp with the planet’s only breathable air, an aimless chef is hired to cook lavish meals for a mysterious cabal of plutocrats who've got a taste for weird meats—what could go wrong?

Last on His Feet: Jack Johnson and the Battle of the Century

Art by Youssef Daoudi | Bringing to life the story of eminent boxer Jack Johnson, this book follows his epic battles against famed prizefighters and Jim Crow era inequalities. The poetic dialogue and majestically raw illustrations capture the core of Johnson's experiences, both in and out of the ring.

The Last One

Welcome to the RMS Atlantica, a ship unlike any other. We wish you fair winds and calm seas.

Listen, Beautiful Márcia

Translated by Andrea Rosenberg | Márcia is a nurse living in a favela with her loyal boyfriend Alusio and her rebellious daughter Jacqueline, who creates trouble for them by getting involved with the local gang. This story is a gritty and human exploration of Márcia’s struggle to keep her family together.

The Man in the McIntosh Suit

Part film noir and part dizzying romance, this tale follows Bobot, Filipino American farmhand-turned-rogue investigator. With its shifting monochromatic watercolors and an expertly researched Depression-era setting, readers won't be able to put down this immigrant story.

Centered on Hungarian polymath John von Neumann, a prodigy whose gifts terrified those around him, this book shows the evolution of a mind unmatched and of a body of work that has unmoored the world in its wake, confronting us with profound questions we face as a species.

Marry Me by Midnight

In Victorian London, Jewish heiress Isabelle could lose everything unless she marries the right man. She secretly enlists synagogue custodian, Aaron, to research her potential matches but she quickly finds his understated charm irresistible.

The Mis-Arrangement of Sana Saeed

Sana embraces the prospect of an arranged marriage to secure guardianship of her brother. But when an old love unexpectedly returns, she has to make a choice between her head and her heart.

Mrs. Nash's Ashes

With a storm grounding planes, a former child star, a writer, and an old friend's ashes find themselves on an adventurous road trip to the Florida Keys to reunite former lovers. Along the way, they discover a heartfelt wartime love story.

My Murder: A Novel

What if you had the chance to solve your own murder?

The horrifically complicated birth of their first child has left Ana paralyzed, bitter, and struggling with mobility, her relationship with Reid, and resentment for her baby. That's about to change with the words any New Yorker would love to hear—affordable housing lottery.

The New Guy

New to Brooklyn, Hudson and Gavin hit it off in a bar. They have no idea that they’re neighbors and colleagues on the same professional hockey team. Both have their own reasons to stay away, but their attraction to each other is unstoppable.

The Nigerwife: A Novel

Nicole has a picture perfect life in Lagos, until she goes missing and nobody cares. It's up to her estranged aunt to look under the glamorous surface in this glitzy domestic thriller.

No Sweet Without Brine

Manick embraces Black womanhood in poems that reference personal experience, social circumstance, and sources that range from familial diaries to Jet magazine. The resulting collection is a work that makes the personal a universal read.

Our Share of Night: A Novel

Disquieting slow burn of a horror novel set in 1980s Argentina. It starts with the story of a father and his son who is a medium and unfolds into a world of secrets and the occult.

Promises of Gold

Olivarez reps both his Mexican American heritage and Chicago homeland in this bilingual collection that addresses immigration, capitalism, community, and belonging, writing poems that pay homage to love in all its many forms.

If Twin Peaks , The X-Files , and Doctor Who had a baby from The Twilight Zone , you might come close to this madcap, noir sci-fi featuring one of the genre’s more memorable romances. Weaponized nostalgia makes for an unconventional foil for our protagonists.

The Quiet Tenant

“He seemed like such a nice guy.” Don’t they all?

Quiet: Poems

Quiet boldly explores Black interiority, intimacy, and selfhood, navigating the tension between guarding one's inner life and the realization that silence is not protection. The tone of these poems reflects perfectly the often-fraught negotiation between one's internal self and the surrounding world.

Forensic genius Antonia Scott and disgraced detective Jon Gutierrez must come together to catch a killer in this compelling thriller that took Spain by storm.

The Reformatory: A Novel

Like a haunted Nickel Boys , this fictionalized version of true events took the author 10 years to bring to fruition. You’ll be moved by this story of a boy who sees "haints."

Safe and Sound: A Renter-Friendly Guide to Home Repair

Internet sensation and Handy Ma'am Mercury Stardust has created a comprehensive beginner's guide to basic home repair, including vocabulary, equipment, and processes to tackle over 50 projects (with video links for each).

The Seven Year Slip

Clementine opens the door to her late aunt’s Manhattan condo… and finds herself seven years in the past. Navigating her life between past and present, she tries to reconcile the differences between the sweet guy she meets there and the man he becomes.

Short Film Starring My Beloved's Red Bronco

Combining elegy and fantasy, this collection memorializes a youthful relationship and a former lover's eventual suicide. These wistful, ethereal, and sorrowful poems are both a love letter to the Beloved and also an elegy for an imagined youth free of abuse, homophobia, and fear.

Shubeik Lubeik

In a parallel, modern-day Egypt, djinns and wishes are a reality. But who gets the privilege of using a wish? Can wishes really fix everything? This story shows unique and varied magical experiences in a heartfelt, bittersweet, and humorous epic tale.

Side Notes from the Archivist: Poems

Anastacia-Reneé fearlessly explores the complexities of Black femme lives across time, space, and reality with an unapologetically feminist voice through these poems. This is an eclectic, well-curated archive of Black femme culture-making.

Start Here: Instructions for Becoming a Better Cook

So much more than a collection of mouthwatering recipes, Start Here is an at-home culinary master class, sharing fundamental techniques, culinary science, and tips for all cooks, from the beginner to the seasoned home chef, to level-up in the kitchen.

Starter Villain

If you always suspected cats ruled the world, well, you weren’t wrong, as Charlie learns when he inherits his estranged uncle’s supervillain business that includes unionized dolphins, space lasers, and a formidable bodyguard.

You may already know Bell for his Pulitzer Prize–winning comics, but you will soon become familiar with his incredibly moving memoir. Through his art, Bell uses his witty yet intimate voice to expose the everyday and institutionalized racism he has experienced.

Thank You for Sharing

It all started at Jewish summer camp, and Liyah can’t let it go. However, after running into her former teenage fling turned enemy, Daniel, they agree to a truce as they work together to promote the Chicago Field museum.

Thin Skin: Essays

Shapland's essays examine vulnerability and how our choices impact people, places, and species far away. Weaving together historical research, interviews, and her everyday life in New Mexico, she probes the lines between self and work, human and animal, need and desire.

This Is Salvaged: Stories

Explores the nature of being a child, parent, friend, sibling, neighbor, or lover and the relationships between self and others. Everyone is unmoored and searching for meaning through one another.

To Be Named Something Else

Phenix's poetry struts across the page in a collection that celebrates a matriarchal lineage rooted in Harlem, with a nod to bodega etiquette and summertime fire hydrants. This exaltation of the quotidian raises common city experiences to poetic heights.

Translation State

It's suitably weird and she writes intergalactic diplomacy very well. Works best if you've read the Imperial Radch trilogy first.

Don't get in a car with a stranger. Yet, she walks the same solitary path every night, waiting to catch a ride with a killer.

Unshuttered: Poems

Smith reanimates the static images of 19th-century photographs of Black men, women, and children in these ekphrastic poems that imagine lives of dignity and totality. The collection creates an intimacy with the past that resonates long after its pages are shut.

Vengeance Is Mine

Translated by Jordan Stump | Hired by a man she vaguely remembers to defend his wife, who’s been accused of a horrific crime, quiet middle-aged lawyer Maître Susane finds unsettling memories coming to the surface while becoming increasingly concerned about her housekeeper’s furtive behavior.

Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers

Solving a mystery isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.

We Could Be So Good

In 1950s New York City, two reporters—an Italian American Brooklynite and the Upper East Side-raised son of the newspaper's owner—go from colleagues to roommates, finding friendship and more as they navigate the social norms of the era.

When Crack Was King: A People's History of a Misunderstood Era

Beginning with Reagan's war on drugs, Ramsey examines the crack epidemic. He exposes links between the triumphs of the Civil Rights Movement and the consequences we live with today—a racist criminal justice system, mass incarceration, gentrification, and police brutality.

White Cat, Black Dog: Stories

Inspired by the Brothers Grimm, 17th-century French lore, and Scottish ballads, this clever collection of reinvented fairy tales expertly blends realism and the speculative as characters hunt for love, connection, revenge, or their sense of purpose.

This beautiful, meditative work of history puts women of all races—and the landscapes they loved—at center stage and reveals the impact of the outdoors (both nature and sports) on women's independence, resourcefulness, resistance, and vision.

With Love, from Cold World

Asa and Lauren are antagonistic colleagues at a failing winter-themed amusement park in Florida. Things heat up as they are forced to work together over the holidays to brainstorm ways to increase attendance.

Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons

Art by Phil Jimenez, Gene Ha & Nicola Scott | Steeped in Greek mythology, this book tells the formation of the Amazons through rebellious goddesses banding against the patriarchal order of Olympus. This story will entrance readers with its glorious depictions of raw feminine power.

The 13 Best Book Review Sites and Book Rating Sites

Knowing where to buy books can be challenging. So, here are the best book review sites to help you avoid buying books that you'll regret reading.

Nobody likes to spend money on a new book only to face that overwhelming feeling of disappointment when it doesn't live up to your expectations. The solution is to check out a few book review sites before you hit the shops. The greater the diversity of opinions you can gather, the more confidence you can have that you'll enjoy the title.

Which book review and book rating sites are worth considering? Here are the best ones.

1. Goodreads

Goodreads is arguably the leading online community for book lovers. If you want some inspiration for which novel or biography to read next, this is the book review site to visit.

There's an endless number of user-generated reading lists to explore, and Goodreads itself publishes dozens of "best of" lists across a number of categories. You can do a book search by plot or subject , or join book discussions and reading groups with thousands of members.

You can participate in the community by adding your own rankings to books you've read and leaving reviews for other people to check out. Occasionally, there are even bonus events like question and answer sessions with authors.

2. LibraryThing

LibraryThing is the self-proclaimed largest book club in the world. It has more than 2.3 million members and is one of the best social networking platforms for book lovers .

With a free account, you can add up to 200 books to your library and share them with other users. But it's in the other areas where LibraryThing can claim to be one of the best book review sites.

Naturally, there are ratings, user reviews, and tags. But be sure to click on the Zeitgeist tab at the top of the page. It contains masses of information, including the top books by rating, by the number of reviews, by authors, and loads more.

3. Book Riot

Book Riot is a blog. It publishes listicles on dozens of different topics, many of which review the best books in a certain genre. To give you an idea, some recent articles include Keeping Hoping Alive: 11 Thrilling YA Survival Stories and The Best Historical Fiction Books You’ve Never Heard Of .

Of course, there's also plenty of non-reading list content. If you have a general affinity for literature, Book Riot is definitely worth adding to the list of websites you browse every day.

Bookish is a site that all members of book clubs should know about. It helps you prep for your next meeting with discussion guides, book quizzes, and book games. There are even food and drink suggestions, as well as playlist recommendations.

But the site is more than just book club meetings. It also offers lots of editorial content. That comes in the form of author interviews, opinion essays, book reviews and recommendations, reading challenges, and giveaways.

Be sure to look at the Must-Reads section of the site regularly to get the latest book reviews. Also, it goes without saying that the people behind Bookish are book lovers, too. To get a glimpse of what they’re reading, check out their Staff Reads articles.

5. Booklist

Booklist is a print magazine that also offers an online portal. Trusted experts from the American Library Association write all the book reviews.

You can see snippets of reviews for different books. However, to read them in full, you will need to subscribe. An annual plan for this book review site costs $184.95 per year.

6. Fantasy Book Review

Fantasy Book Review should be high on the list for anyone who is a fan of fantasy works. The book review site publishes reviews for both children's books and adults' books.

It has a section on the top fantasy books of all time and a continually updated list of must-read books for each year. You can also search through the recommended books by sub-genres such as Sword and Sorcery, Parallel Worlds, and Epic Fantasy.

7. LoveReading

LoveReading is one of the most popular book review sites in the UK, but American audiences will find it to be equally useful.

The site is divided into fiction and non-fiction works. In each area, it publishes weekly staff picks, books of the month, debuts of the month, ebooks of the month, audiobooks of the month, and the nationwide bestsellers. Each book on every list has a full review that you can read for free.

Make sure you also check out their Highlights tab to get book reviews for selected titles of the month. In Collections , you'll also find themed reading lists such as World War One Literature and Green Reads .

Kirkus has been involved in producing book reviews since the 1930s. This book review site looks at the week's bestselling books, and provides lengthy critiques for each one.

As you'd expect, you'll also find dozens of "best of" lists and individual book reviews across many categories and genres.

And while you're on the site, make sure you click on the Kirkus Prize section. You can look at all the past winners and finalists, complete with the accompanying reviews of their books.

Although Reddit is a social media site, you can use it to get book reviews of famous books, or almost any other book for that matter! Reddit has a Subreddit, r/books, that is dedicated to book reviews and reading lists.

The subreddit has weekly scheduled threads about a particular topic or genre. Anyone can then chip in with their opinions about which books are recommendable. Several new threads are published every day, with people discussing their latest discovery with an accompanying book rating or review.

You'll also discover a weekly recommendation thread. Recent threads have included subjects such as Favorite Books About Climate Science , Literature of Indigenous Peoples , and Books Set in the Desert . There’s also a weekly What are you Reading? discussion and frequent AMAs.

For more social media-like platforms, check out these must-have apps for book lovers .

10. YouTube

YouTube is not the type of place that immediately springs to mind when you think of the best book review sites online.

Nonetheless, there are several engaging YouTube channels that frequently offer opinions on books they've read. You’ll easily find book reviews of famous books here.

Some of the most notable book review YouTube channels include Better Than Food: Book Reviews , Little Book Owl , PolandBananasBooks , and Rincey Reads .

Amazon is probably one of your go-to site when you want to buy something. If you don’t mind used copies, it’s also one of the best websites to buy second-hand books .

Now, to get book reviews, just search and click on a title, then scroll down to see the ratings and what others who have bought the book are saying. It’s a quick way to have an overview of the book’s rating. If you spot the words Look Inside above the book cover, it means you get to preview the first few pages of the book, too!

Regardless of the praises or criticisms you have heard from other book review sites, reading a sample is the most direct way to help you gauge the content’s potential and see whether the author’s writing style suits your tastes.

12. StoryGraph

StoryGraph is another good book review site that's worth checking out. The book rating is determined by the site's large community of readers. Key in the title of a book you're interested in and click on it in StoryGraph's search results to have an overall view of its rating.

Each book review provides information on the moods and pacing of the story. It also indicates whether the tale is plot or character-driven, what readers feel about the extent of character development, how lovable the characters generally are, and the diversity of the cast.

13. London Review of Books

The London Review of Books is a magazine that covers a range of subjects such as culture, literature, and philosophy. Part of its content includes amazingly detailed book reviews. If you feel that most modern book reviews are too brief for your liking, the London Review of Books should suit you best.

You'll gain insight into the flow and themes of the story, as well as a more thorough picture of the events taking place in the book.

Read Book Reviews Before You Buy

The book review sites we've discussed will appeal to different types of readers. Some people will be more comfortable with the easy-to-interpret book rating systems; others will prefer extensive reviews written by experienced professionals.

Although it’s easy to be tempted by a gorgeous book cover, it’s always best to have a quick look at the book reviews before actually buying a copy. This way, you can save your money and spend it on the books that you’ll be proud to display on your shelves for a long time. And check out recommendations, as well, to help you find what's worth reading.

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2021 Reading List: Year's best in genre fiction for adult readers

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For Immediate Release Thu, 02/04/2021

Ninah Moore

Program Officer-Continuing Education

312 280 4398

[email protected]

CHICAGO—The Reading List Council has announced the 2021 selections of the Reading List, an annual best-of list comprised of eight different fiction genres for adult readers. A shortlist of honor titles, up to 4 per genre was also announced. The list was announced Thursday during the Book & Media Awards Virtual Ceremony.

The 2021 selections are:

Winner “The Holdout: A Novel” by Graham Moore (Random House, an imprint and division of Penguin Random House LLC)

Ten years after Maya Seale convinced her fellow jurors to acquit a man of murder, a true crime documentary reunites the jury amid claims of new evidence. When one of them is found dead in Maya’s hotel room, she must prove her own innocence in this taut legal thriller.

“The Body in Question” by Jill Ciment “The Runaway Jury” by John Grisham “Twelve Angry Men” by Reginald Rose

Short List “Blacktop Wasteland: A Novel” by S.A. Cosby (Flatiron Books) “A Good Marriage: A Novel” by Kimberly McCreight (Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers) “A Solitude of Wolverines: A Novel of Suspense” by Alice Henderson (William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers) “When No One Is Watching: A Thriller” by Alyssa Cole (William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers)

Winner “The House in the Cerulean Sea” by TJ Klune (A Tor Book Published by Tom Doherty Associates)

Linus Baker, diligent case worker at the Department of Magical Youth, travels to Arthur Parnassus’ orphanage to determine if any of the magical children in Arthur’s care might cause the end of the world. While getting to know Arthur and his charges, Linus discovers a found family worthy of rule-breaking.

“Every Heart a Doorway” by Seanan McGuire Joe Vs. the Volcano (movie) “Silver in the Wood” by Emily Tesh

Short List “Black Sun” by Rebecca Roanhorse (Saga Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.) “The City We Became” by N.K. Jemisin (Orbit, an imprint of Hachette Book Group) “A Deadly Education: A Novel” by Naomi Novik (Del Rey, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC) “Ring Shout: or, Hunting Ku Kluxes in the End Times” by P. Djèlí Clark (A Tordotcom Book, Published by Tom Doherty Associates)

Historical Fiction

Winner “Conjure Women: A Novel” by Afia Atakora (Random House, an imprint and division of Penguin Random House LLC)

During Slaverytime, conjure woman and healer Rue kept the plantation slaves healthy. With the Civil War over, Rue continues to tend to the formerly enslaved until the birth of a child feared to be a demon and the arrival of a charismatic preacher place Rue in a precarious situation.

“Remembrance” by Rita Woods “The Underground Railroad” by Colson Whitehead “Washington Black” by Esi Edugyan

Short List “Code Name Hélène: A Novel” by Ariel Lawhon (Doubleday, a division of Penguin Random House LLC) “The Cold Millions: A Novel” by Jess Walter (Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers) “The Pull of the Stars: A Novel” by Emma Donoghue (Little, Brown and Company, a division of Hachette Book Group) “The Land Beyond the Sea” by Sharon Kay Penman (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC)

Winner “The Only Good Indians: A Novel” by Stephen Graham Jones (Saga Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.)

This slow-burn horror novel follows four members of the Blackfeet tribe as an illegal elk hunting trip catches up to them ten years later, and the spirit of the elk they wronged methodically tracks them down to exact her bloody revenge.

“Empire of Wild” by Cherie Dimaline “The Ritual” by Adam L.G. Nevill “Trail of Lightning” by Rebecca Roanhorse

Short List “The Hollow Places: A Novel” by T. Kingfisher (Saga Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.) “The Return” by Rachel Harrison (Berkley, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC) “Mexican Gothic” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Del Rey, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC) “The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires” by Grady Hendrix (Quirk Books)

Winner “Fortune Favors the Dead: A Novel” by Stephen Spotswood (Doubleday, a division of Penguin Random House LLC)

Pentecost, premier female detective of 1940s New York, and her right-hand woman Parker, an ex-circus performer, are called to investigate a ghostly murderer. The victim’s shadowy past, an eerily knowledgeable medium, Pentecost’s health, and Parker’s growing attraction to the victim’s daughter complicate this noirish locked room mystery.

“Fer-de-lance” by Rex Stout “Girl Waits With Gun” by Amy Stewart “The Right Sort of Man” by Allison Montclair

Short List “The Devil and the Dark Water” by Stuart Turton (Sourcebooks Landmark, an imprint of Sourcebooks) “The Eighth Detective: A Novel” by Alex Pavesi (Henry Holt and Company) “The Silence of the White City” by Eva García Sáenz, translated from the Spanish by Nick Caistor (Vintage Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC) “A Trace of Deceit: A Novel” by Karen Odden (William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers)

Relationship

Winner “Oona Out of Order” by Margarita Montimore (Flatiron Books)

On New Year’s Eve 1982, 18-year-old Oona Lockhart faces a personal crossroads. But when the clock strikes midnight, she faints and awakens decades in the future as her older self. Jumping to a new age each New Year’s, Oona grapples with constantly changing circumstances and discovers relationships that anchor her.

“Before the Coffee Gets Cold” by Toshikazu Kawaguchi “In Five Years” by Rebecca Serle “The Two Lives of Lydia Bird” by Josie Silver

Short List “Anxious People: A Novel” by Fredrik Backman, translated by Neil Smith (Atria Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.) “His Only Wife: A Novel” by Peace Adzo Medie (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, a division of Workman Publishing) “The Love Story of Missy Carmichael” by Beth Morrey (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC) “This Won’t End Well” by Camille Pagán (Lake Union Publishing)

Winner “The Duke Who Didn’t” by Courtney Milan (Courtney Milan)

Chloe Fong is the capable, list-focused love of Jeremy Wentworth’s life, but she’s looking for someone serious. After three years of chasing seriousness, Jeremy returns for the annual fair determined to show Chloe that he may not be serious, but he’s serious about her. A flirty, sexy historical romance.

“Breathless” by Beverly Jenkins Bridgerton (TV series, Netflix) “True Pretenses” by Rose Lerner

Short List “Love Lettering” by Kate Clayborn (Kensington Books) “Spoiler Alert: A Novel” by Olivia Dade (Avon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers) “Take a Hint, Dani Brown: A Novel” by Talia Hibbert (Avon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers) “You Had Me at Hola: A Novel” by Alexis Daria (Avon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers)

Science Fiction

Winner “The Space Between Worlds” by Micaiah Johnson (Del Rey, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC)

In a future where people can travel to parallel universes in which their counterparts are deceased, Cara’s worth is measured by how easily she dies. Earth after Earth, the poor die to benefit the wealthy, until Cara discovers a secret that could disrupt the whole corrupt system.

“Binti” by Nnedi Okorafor “The Future of Another Timeline” by Annalee Newitz “Recursion” by Blake Crouch

Short List “Axiom’s End: A Novel” by Lindsay Ellis (St. Martin’s Press, an imprint of St. Martin’s Publishing Group) “The Doors of Eden” by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Orbit, an imprint of Hachette Book Group) “Hench: A Novel” by Natalie Zina Walschots (William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers) “A Pale Light in the Black: A NeoG Novel” by K.B. Wagers (Harper Voyager, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers)

The winners were selected by the Reading List Council whose members include eleven expert readers’ advisory and collection development librarians. The eight genres currently included in the Council’s considerations are adrenaline, fantasy, historical fiction, horror, mystery, relationship fiction, romance, and science fiction. However, the Council is adaptable to new genres and changes in contemporary reading interest.

The Council consists of Andrea Gough, The Seattle Public Library, chair; Meagan Day, High Plains Library District; Halle Eisenman, NoveList; Matthew Galloway, Anythink Libraries; Stephanie Handy, Library of Congress; Marlene Harris, Reading Reality LLC; Sarah Jaffa, Kitsap Regional Library; Liz Kirchhoff, Barrington Area Library; Kara Krekeler, University City Public Library; Teresa May, Durham County Public Libraries (retired); Karin Suni, Free Library of Philadelphia.

The Reference and User Services Association (RUSA), a division of the American Library Association, represents librarians and library staff in the fields of reference, specialized reference, collection development, readers’ advisory and resource sharing. RUSA is the foremost organization of reference and information professionals who make the connections between people and the information sources, services, and collection materials they need. Learn more at  www.rusaupdate.org .

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What we're doing and why and how. Here goes.

Because some of us would prefer to read clean books — clean books for young adults or clean books for adults — that aren't filled with bad language, sex or violence. Plus, parents often want to know more about what their children are reading.

Regular reviews of fiction, nonfiction, and young adult books (this broad category includes middle-grade books as well as books aimed at older teens), along with ratings for content.

Take a look at the ratings guide for more details about how we rate content, whether it's in clean books for adults, clean books for young adults ... or not-so-clean books.

A Few Caveats

This site is not intended as any kind of “censoring;” we simply aim to be a resource. Movies and TV shows have ratings so viewers can decide if they will feel comfortable with the level of possibly offensive content for themselves and their families. We are here to provide more information, and information is power.

We can't possibly cover everything , of course; there are far more books being published every week than there are movies coming out, for instance. But hey, we can at least try!

(On that note, if you love to read and can write a simple review, we'd love to have you join as one of our reviewing staff. The more contributions, the more we all benefit. Just contact me . And I always edit reviews before they're published and fix them up a bit if need be, so don't be afraid to volunteer!)

This site will also try to avoid duplicating the work of other useful web sites and services. Other sites (and libraries and reviewers on sites like Goodreads or Amazon) provide lists of classics that are great reading and also tend to be, particularly by dint of their publication date, clean and inoffensive, so I won't address those "oldies but goodies."

I also don’t plan to mention Christian or faith-based books as a general rule, for similar reasons. They tend to be clean anyway, and other people cover this territory quite satisfactorily.

So Rated Reads' focus is on books published more recently, and on providing detailed information about their content so you can make a good judgment about whether you really want to read them before you buy or borrow.

We hope you will find this site a valuable resource not just for which new clean books for adults and clean books for young adults are available, but also for books that are just plain good reading. Why read something that’s merely ACCEPTABLE when you can read something that’s REMARKABLE? We do want to provide you with some tools to make your reading just that much more satisfying.

Oh, and a special thank you goes out to those authors who not only write great books but limit offensive content. Keep up the good work! Many of us wish more writers could write more clean books, whether they're clean books for young adults or clean books for adults.

About our founder

Cathy carmode lim.

Cathy Carmode Lim has been a book reviewer for more than 25 years, two of which she was a newspaper book page editor. The mother of four daughters and three grandchildren founded Rated Reads in January 2008 and reviews many of the books. She has been reading since the age of 2½, according to her mom. She always has a variety of projects going in addition to running Rated Reads and working as a copy editor and writer ( visit her website if you need copy editing for a book manuscript or other project). She lives in Alabama, and she blogs about books and several other topics at LifeandLims.com.

How our Book Content Rating System Works

Wondering how the book content rating system on Book Cave works? Not sure what ratings to sign up for? Let us help out.

What Is Our Book Content Rating System?

On Book Cave, we use our My Book Ratings (or MBR) ebook content rating system. MBR ratings are a lot like movie ratings, and they’re divided into six groups: All Ages, Mild, Mild+, Moderate, Moderate+,  Adult, and Adult+. All Ages is good for young children, with Mild being similar to a very “mild” PG movie. Both Mild+ and Moderate ratings will be somewhere around a PG or a PG-13 rating, with the moderate having slightly more intense language, heat, and violence.

Books are assigned ratings based on seven categories : crude humor/language , profanity , drug and alcohol use , kissing , nudity , sex and intimacy , and violence and horror . Within each of these categories there are levels of varying degrees, which are assigned a rating (All Ages, Mild, Mild+, Moderate, Moderate+, Adult, and Adult+). The book itself is assigned an overall rating in relation to the highest level across all categories, and the individual rating level for each of the categories is also listed in the daily deals email and on the book’s page.

For example,  a book may be rated the following way: Moderate for moderate crude humor/language, some profanity (6 to 40), non-detailed fade-out sensuality, and moderate violence; also contains mild kissing.  In this case, the overall rating for the book will be Moderate because of all 7 categories, Moderate is the highest rating.

So lets deconstruct this book’s rating:

• The book is considered Moderate in the  crude humor/language , profanity , sex and intimacy , and violence and horror categories.
• The “ also contains ” denotes categories where the rating is lower that the book’s overall. In this case, the book is considered Mild in the  kissing category.
• The drug and alcohol use  and nudity categories are not mentioned, which means that there is no notable drug and/or alcohol use, and there is no nudity.

In other words, when you sign up for books rated Moderate, that does not mean that the books will have a Moderate rating in every category (i.e. up to 40 swears, moderate crude humor, passionate kissing, non-graphic discussion of sex, implied closed-door sex, moderate nudity, significant violence, and moderate drug and alcohol use). Instead, it means that at least one of those seven categories is rated as Moderate.

For example, a book may contain significant violence but have no swearing, no sex scenes, no drug or alcohol use, and no crude humor, and yet it will still be rated Moderate+. The rating would look like this: Moderate+ for significant violence.

Choosing a rating does not automatically select all the ratings below it. Let’s say you choose Moderate+. You are now signed up for books that have been given an overall rating of Moderate+, but you are not signed up for books with an overall rating of Moderate, Mild+, Mild, or All Ages. If you want those books as well, you must click the selection boxes for each of those ratings individually.

Some Tips From Us

If you want some romance in your books but don’t want intimacy, sign up for Mild and Mild+. If you prefer your romances with a bit more heat, from some discussion of sex to closed-door scenes, choose Moderate and Moderate+. For up to three on-screen sex scenes, choose Adult. For erotica, choose Adult+.

If you want action and adventure with fight scenes and violence, sign up for Moderate, Moderate+, or Adult. You would sign up for this rating even if you didn’t want any intimacy or swearing or crude humor. Then you’d look at the warnings on each book to make sure it has only the violence and not the other content you don’t want.

If you’re looking for children’s books or nonfiction advice and how-to books, be sure to sign up for All Ages. Very few books are All Ages because most books have some violence, kissing, intimacy, or alcohol use. Think of a book that is rated All Ages as similar to a clean How It’s Made episode or a show like Sesame Street .

If you’re not getting many books in your inbox, take a look at your ratings and change them to also include levels that are below the level you signed up for. So if you only signed up for Moderate, consider signing up for Mild+ and Mild as well. If the content isn’t as intense as you’d like, try signing up for a higher level.

We’ll Tell You Exactly What You’re Getting

In our emails and on our site, we’ll tell you what the book is rated and why. That way, if, for example, you want books with action and fight scenes, but no kissing or intimacy, you can check the rating description and only get the books that match your preference. Here are some examples of our ratings to help you get a feel for how our book content rating system  works:

Genre: Picture Books. Rating: All Ages

Genre: Christian Fiction. Rating: Mild for mild kissing

Genre: Mysteries & Suspense, Cozy. Rating:  Mild+ for mild sensuality; also contains mild (nonsexual) violence

Genre: Teen & Young Adult Fiction. Rating: Moderate for moderate violence; also contains mild kissing (If you want violence but no intimacy, you would get this book.)

Genre: Romance, Contemporary. Rating: Moderate+ for fade-out intimacy with details or significant sexual discussion; also contains moderate crude humor/language, mild substance use, passionate kissing, some profanity (6 to 40), brief nudity, and some violence (If you want a bit more heated intimacy but not much violence, you would get this book.)

Genre: Historical Fiction. Rating: Adult for non-graphic sex; also contains passionate kissing, moderate profanity (41 to 100), brief nudity, and moderate violence (If you want on-screen sex with only a few details but no crude humor or drug use, and less violence, you would get this book. Please note that there is also an adult level of “graphic sex,” and books with that level will include up to three scenes with details.)

Genre: Thriller. Rating: Adult for graphic violence; also contains moderate crude humor/language, mild kissing, some profanity (6 to 40), and non-graphic sexual references  (If you’re fine with graphic violence and crude humor, but prefer only some profanity and no on-screen sex, you would get this book.)

You get the idea! Remember to sign up for all the content ratings you think you might like in your preferences . You can always choose whether or not to download a book when you see the ratings it has for each category in the ebook-deals email we’ll send to you. And as always, let us know if you have any questions.

Happy Reading!

Do you have a blog idea or topic you know our readers would love? Contact  [email protected]  to learn how you could get your blog featured.

Copyright 2016 by Book Cave

Reuse notice: non-commercial users, feel free to print out “how our book content rating system works” for personal use or give to friends, share online, or make a meme of, as long as you attribute and link back to this post. commercial users, you may share a link to this post or quote a short excerpt from it with attribution and a link to this site, but you may not use this post in its entirety. thank you for caring about copyright..

I am a copyeditor and a typesetter of print books, and have been editing and typesetting (using InDesign) for fourteen years. As the executive editor at Book Cave, I enjoy helping authors be successful, and I only get interrupted a little bit (ha!) by my way-too-smart-for-his-own-good three-year-old and my cute 6 month old.

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I was supposed to receive a number to get into app. I never received one.

I have needed you for many years. Not just for myself ( I don’t read books with sexuality, language, content that is against my Christian character). Which believe me -removes 95% of books I love to read-sci-fi, thriller, mystery. But worse, the lack of rating system that is in place for movies and music, allowed my 16 year old to check out fifty shades of gray from her high school library-without my knowledge or approval. I found it hiding Under her bed, all excuses aside, it was the adults responsible for her having the availability. In high school I was the parent the dean of English hated, and I was often my daughter was made the scapegoat for parental morality. On the opposite side-so many parents agreed with me but too afraid to sacrifice their child’s grades, or ‘standing’ with the advanced English department. Perfect example is ‘the things they carried’ for Vietnam vet FICTION book. Due to my ‘up in arms’ attitude, my daughter was required to get a 5 paragraph review from her grandfather who actually served in the Vietnam war, in combat and read the REAL-LIFE story of POW John MCCain. Parents said they were afraid their child would get a low grade or be treated unfairly if they stood with me. My daughter was a -suma cum laude for her masters and grad school. She is a smart independent woman-I believe partly because she saw me stand for what was right. My morals and beliefs were not arbitrary or moveable. Sadly, she has few friends parents she can respect due to how they acted. What made me know? I read the book. It could not be read aloud in class because it would break the honor code, yet it was ok for my child to read female-shaming words as acceptable because ppl spoke that way in Vietnam. My attitude! Ppl speak that way now-the biggest insults are female directed, and females do it-but it’s not ok. I would love to find more sites like yours that actually help our society instead of making excuses. Let me know how I can help. Thank you.

Thank you for the ratings info

I’m hoping this site can help me ! I’m 75 and enjoy murder/mysteries . I do hate graphic sex in books though and crude language I love the Elly Griffith/Ruth Galloway books . Would love to find more with similar standards .

Like mystrities, not bloody messes. Love love stories. Adults

Don’t like graphic violence.

Am I right to assume that the boxes with the check in the boxes already are the boxes I want, and boxes I take away the checks are the ones I don’t want?

How do I obtain your books?

Regards JarvisMcCluskey ([email protected])

My name is Hai Dinh. I recently saw my daughter, who is 12, reading Master of the Game by Sidney Sheldon. I catched some adult content in Chapter 31. I wonder which age range this novel is appropriate for.

Thank you for your advice. Hai Dinh

I just found Book Cave Today, and I’m glad I did. I enjoy reading. I think I have found my new book store.

I really appreciate the information you are supplying on different rating levels. There is nothing more frustrating than to invest in a book, only to find out it is very different than you thought. I also pass over books I would have enjoyed, but the cover was unappealing. This is great!

I’m 75 and I like Thrillers, Mysteries no cozy mysteries for me.

I am 84. Read lots of books. Do not like erotica, violence,paranormal… just a good storyline without all the sexual distractions!!!! Have to skip over a lot!!!! Haven’t figured out how to get books here yet…..

Hi Tommie. Just email us at [email protected] . We’ll gladly answer any questions you may have.

Me too I am 75 and read all the time. That may be 4or5 books a day. I have had a hard time getting my books in by genue selection.

Hi Yvonne. I’ve sent you a new password.

This is wonderful. I am glad I finally stumbled onto this great site. I am 79 and not computer literate so I am thankful for your work. Thanks for providing it.

You’re welcome! We’re so glad you’re enjoying it.

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The Perpetual Page-Turner

Book Recommendations and Book Lists For Adults And Kids

51 Of My Must-Read Adult Fiction Books To Read In 2022

January 22, 2022 - Updated January 22, 2024 // 2 Comments

CHECK OUT THE LIST FOR THE MOST ANTICIPATED NEW BOOK RELEASES OF 2024

Well, if you need any indication on how things are STILL going around here, I’m finally just publishing my list of my most anticipated adult fiction books for 2022 list now — at the end of January (though a whole 10 days earlier than I did last year). But, I figure, better late than never, right?

I posted my 2022 YA Books to Read list earlier this month so take a look at that if you love young adult books! But this list is ALL about all the newly released adult fiction books to read in 2022.

Things about this list that are always true:

• I have such eclectic taste in books so this list is really all over the place — from romcoms to fantasy to literary fiction to escapist thrillers. That can be a good or a bad thing for people. I tend to have more commercial tastes but definitely can get into less commercially appealing stuff.
• This list isn’t at all about what books I think are going to get the biggest hype or big sellers but some of those types of books are definitely on here because I’m excited about them. I pick based on what has me absolutely saying “OH I NEED THIS BOOK!” — books I am personally anticipating. Sometimes they are also the darlings of the book world that year and sometimes they will most definitely be under-the-radar very niche to my tastes books.

I think that’s the beauty of these lists — the must read books for 2022 are going to look different from list to list (honestly even year to year for me) on every website you come across! Sure, most of the big media lists are going for the more popular ones, but depending on the taste of the curator of the list–it looks different giving you a wide range of new books to discover!

If you’ve read my lists before, you know my tastes are ALL over the place! So hopefully you will find something you are interested in genre-wise. And if not, stay tuned for some genre specific lists!

Interesting things about the list this year:

• I remarked at the end of last year on Instagram that 2022 was THE year for YA authors I love to debut their adult fiction. There are so many books I’m excited for from previously loved authors and my experience so far has been GREAT with this adult debuts from YA authors I’ve loved. Hoping that continues and you’ll find a lot of them on here!
• Apparently every book I want comes out on March 1. I had to narrow it down a ton!
• I don’t see a ton of trends for myself this year (last year I was all about the Daisy Jones type reads ) but maybe that’s just because my brain is mush from trying to get this done. Lots of family dramas as always! Quite a bit of speculative stuff!

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links which means that if you click on a link and purchase something I’ve talked about or recommended, I’ll receive a very small percentage of the sale. Please see my disclosure policy for more info

Also check out:

• 2022’s New Thrillers, Mystery & Suspense books
• 2022’s New Historical Fiction Books
• 2022’s New Romances To Read

Anticipated 2022 Adult Fiction

The titles are listed in order of the month they are published in from January to June. Stay tuned for the second half of this list of new books for adults.

There were SO many more selections I’m excited about each month so I highly suggest signing up for my newsletter as they receive even more of a deep dive into what other books are coming out each month. So many books I’m intrigued by that are left off this list and I’m sure books will emerge that weren’t really on my radar or didn’t stick out to me initially.

January 2022 Book Releases

Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez Out January 4, 2022

Looking for a good book about a dysfunctional family whose lives you’ll be invested in? Check out this character-driven (yet propulsive as it goes on) book centering around two siblings who seemingly have it all but who both are struggling under the weight of their own secrets and personal histories. Not to mention the ever looming shadow of their parents – the passing of their father from AIDs and the mother who left them 27 years ago to join the revolutionaries in Puerto Rico’s liberation. Her only form of contact is sporadic letters to them until Puerto Rico experiences their most devastating hurricane in history and their mother reappears in their lives.

Wahala by Nikki May Out January 11, 2022

Part drama, part subtle slow-burn thriller – this one is about the female friendship following three Anglo-Nigerian best friends and the lethally glamorous fourth woman who infiltrates their group. Think Sex in the City meets Big Little Lies – a portrait of friendship in all its messy and wonderful glory.

A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham Out January 11, 2022

Thriller fans in need of an absolutely chilling read that pulls you in and doesn’t let go, do not bypass this one! It’s about a psychologist named Chloe who has really worked hard to put her past behind her and finally feels like she’s achieved a precarious sense of happiness. 20 years ago, when Chloe was 12 years old, her father was locked up after being revealed as a serial killer when six teenage girls went missing that summer. And then a teenage girl goes missing and she’s thrown back to that summer especially as there are similarities between this crime and her father’s, and she tries to work out whether she’s just being paranoid or there really are parallels to that summer.

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Weather Girl by Rachel Lynn Solomon Out January 11, 2022

I really have enjoyed Rachel Lynn Solomon’s YA and adult contemporary books and this is definitely one of my most anticipated books for 2022 because of that. This one looks so fun if you are into romcoms! It’s about an ambitious weather reporter who, with the help of a reserved sportscaster, try to meddle in the stormy relationship between her boss and her ex-husband (the station’s news director) to push them back together so her boss will finally focus on mentoring her instead of constantly being distracted by him. As they spend time scheming together, the temperature between the two of them rises.

Real Easy by Marie Rutksoki Out January 18, 2022

I read this at the end of last year and it was one of the best books I read all year! I genuinely cannot recommend this book enough – definitely one of must-read books for 2022. A character-driven, atmospheric thriller set in a strip club in the 1990’s centering around the murder and disappearance of two of the girls one night after leaving the club. I have rarely read a book that uses  multi-POVs so well – from the girls themselves, to a detective on the case to different patrons. Utterly compelling and perfect for fans of Long Bright River and Mare of Easttown. I’ve been a fan of Marie for years through her YA novels, so I know her talent, and I am absolutely blown away by her adult fiction debut! You can read my full review of this book here .

Yinka, Where Is Your Huzband? by Lizzie Damilola Blackburn Out January 18, 2022

Looking for a fresh, smart, and fun read about love but also really loving and accepting yourself? 30-something Yinka is single, has great friends and a great job but, what she doesn’t have, is a husband – something her mother is constantly reminding her of . It seems that everyone – from her aunties to her co-workers – have an opinion about her love life.  Yinka, however, has always believed that true love will find her when it finds her. But when her cousin gets engaged Operation Get Yinka A Date commences and Yinka is determined to succeed in finding love. Don’t go into thinking this is a straight-up romcom by any means – while it is about love and romance it’s also a book about self-discovery. 

What Might Have Been by Holly Miller Out January 18, 2022

I realized that whenever there is a sliding doors-esque novel in front of me, I will always put it on my must-read new books to read list! It doesn’t matter how buzzed about or how obscure I think the book will be – *I* always anticipate it and on the list it goes!  This one is more a women’s fiction type read. It’s about a woman at a crossroads in her life and has to choose between finally going for her dream of becoming a writer and see what happens with an artistic guy she just met or moving to London to revive her career and see if she can rekindle things with The One Who Got Away. In alternating chapters, we see how her life plays out if she stays or goes as both choices will change her life in big ways.

Notes on An Execution by Danya Kukafka Out January 25, 2022

Fans of a more literary suspense type of novel? You know, a bit more slow burn and character driven? This one deconstructs the story of a serial killer, who is scheduled to die in 12 hours, through the lens of women in his orbit – his mother, sister, the detective who caught him, etc. While it appears to be about a serial killer, it’s largely an examination about our “obsession with true crime, serial killers, and stories about missing/dead girls, deconstructing the familiar trope that murderers are dark, misunderstood geniuses” among many other things worthy of examining. I read that line in quotes in some of the marketing material for this book and this book shot to the top of my list of new books coming out in 2022 that I have to read.

February 2022 Book Releases

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson Out February 1, 2022

I was interested in this one and then @bookofcinz on Instagram was RAVING about it so it shot up to become one of my must-read adult fiction books for 2022! I am a big fan of sibling books, as well as multi-generational stories – and this one has the makings of a book that I will LOVE. It’s about two estranged siblings who must come together after their moms death and are given a recording their mom made for them – a recording that details her life story and reveals so many secrets that make the two siblings have to reconcile with everything they thought they knew about their parents and their life as well as a chance to reconcile with one another.

The Violence by Delilah S. Dawson Out February 1, 2022

This one is going to be a searing but tough read, I have a feeling, as it deals with abuse and violence. It’s about a woman whose marriage to her high school sweetheart turned into a nightmare of abuse and isolation. Suddenly, when a mysterious illness that induces sudden bouts of violence  sweeps the nation, she believes she has found her way out and hatches a plan for her and her daughter to get out. Part thriller, part speculative fiction – sounds good to me!

What The Fireflies Knew by Kai Harris Out February 1, 2022

I feel like I’m picky about adult fiction with young narrators but the ones I love I REALLY love. This one has been getting some rave reviews that caught my attention enough to put it on my list of most anticipated books for 2022. It’s a coming of age story from the eyes of an 11 year old girl who is sent, with her teenage sister, to their estranged grandfather’s for the summer after their father dies from a drug overdose and their mother is disappears. The summer becomes a transformative one for her as she makes sense of her new life, heals from the past traumas and transitions from childhood to adolescence.

A River Enchanted by Rebecca Ross Out February 15, 2022

An adult fantasy from Rebecca Ross that sounds absolutely like something I’d love! It’s about two childhood enemies who have to team up together when girls from their clan start to go missing from the magical isle they grew up on. As they attempt to get the spirits of island, who they think took the girls, to give them back they find darker and more sinister forces at work as they unearth long buried secrets. I’ve heard the setting is Scottish-inspired which intrigues me but also we love a good enemies to lovers romance over here! Also love a good enchanted land!

The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley Out February 22, 2022

I’m so excited for a new Lucy Foley! Her books always keep me in suspense with tons of atmospheric goodness. Jess, broke and alone, decides she needs a fresh start so she contacts her brother in Paris to see if she can crash with him. When she shows up to his surprisingly nice apartment, she finds her brother nowhere to be found and he never does show up. As she tries to piece together her brother’s situation, she meets some of his neighbors and finds that they just might know more than she realizes about her brother’s disappearance. 

Delilah Green Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake Out February 22, 2022

I’m excited for this author’s adult romance debut! It’s about a girl who reluctantly heads back to the town she swore she’d never go back to in order to photograph her estranged step-sister’s wedding for the big paycheck promised. Once there, she is surprised to find herself falling for the mostly unlikely blast from her past – her sister’s mean girl bff from childhood– when the two spend time during wedding celebrations. Looks to be a fantastic sapphic, opposites attract romance in a small town!

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Fake by Erica Katz Out February 22, 2022

One of my most favorite sub-genres of thriller/suspense books are Really Rich People thrillers. Like the 1% dark side. Give them all to me! This one sounds right up my alley! This one, set in the high-stakes world of art forgery across the globe, is about a young woman who is a forger of famous art for high paying clients. When she gets the chance at a new career move she’s always wanted, she’s elated until she realizes none of it comes for free.

Tripping Arcadia by Kit Mayquist Out February 22, 2022

Contemporary Gothic Great Gatsby that blends horror and suspense with a dash of romance!! It’s about a young woman who takes a job with a secretive and elite billionaire family. Between lavish Gatsby-esque parties that threaten to reveal the family’s self-destructive tendencies and the mysterious illness of the heir’s difficult son, the job is strange. But it gets personal as she finds out that the billionaire patriarch is responsible for her own family’s downfall and she gets sucked into their world to plot her poison-wielded revenge (and tries not to fall for their disgraced daughter).

March 2022 Book Releases

One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle Out March 1, 2022

I always have enjoyed Rebecca’s YA books but I have been LOVING her adult fiction – The Dinner List and In Five Years gave me so much to talk about and discuss! This one looks great though on a personal level I know I’m going to cry with all the mother-daughter stuff! It’s about a woman who decides to keep the trip to Italy she was supposed to go on with her mom who recently passed away – a long-planned trip to a town that was so special to her mother’s history. Feeling the spirit of her mother with her, she is shocked when in fact she SEES her mother. Only it’s her mother at 30 years old. Confused at how it is possible, she nonetheless takes that summer to get to know her mother as the young woman she was before she was her mother. This is giving me total Faye, Faraway vibes which I really loved last year as it hit me on such a personal level. Check out other books set in Italy!

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The Night Shift by Alex Finlay Out March 1, 2022

A Y2K New Years Eve set thriller?? Definitely one of my most anticipated new books to read in the thriller genre! While everyone is waiting with bated breath for whatever fallout Y2K is going to bring (I clearly remember being scared as a teen), four teenage working at Blockbuster get attacked and only one survives. The suspect, a boyfriend of one of the girls, flees the police never to be caught. Fast forward 15 years and the same thing happens at an ice cream store in town – 3 girls dead and only 1 survives. In the aftermath of the latest crime, three people’s lives intersect – the lone survivor 15 years before, the brother of the fugitive who believes he’s wrong accused and the FBI agent digging to unearth secrets and solve both crimes.

The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E. Smith Out March 1, 2022

I can’t even tell you how excited I am for Jennifer E. Smith’s adult fiction debut!! She’s a great writer of YA books and this book looks especially up my alley. It’s about a young indie artist who unexpectedly loses her mother and ends up having a public meltdown that puts her career and everything she worked hard for at risk. She reluctantly agrees to go on a week long Alaskan cruise with her father for the trip her parents were supposed to go on for their 40th anniversary with their friends — a tall order considering their prickly relationship. On the trip she ends up finding much needed connection with him as well on a voyage of self discovery in ways she could never imagine – especially when she connects with another passenger on board who is struggling with his own life upheaval.

Tell Me An Ending by Jo Harkin Out March 1, 2022

This feels like a great mashup between two things I love a whole lot – The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (deletion of the bad memories) and Black Mirror (the dark tech side of it). It’s about a tech company that deletes unwanted memories and the doctor who works to protect her patients from further harm from the procedure when she senses something more nefarious going on – four of those patients who we follow and see the very real consequences they face when met with what they tried to forget. Looks like a good discussion-worthy, interesting book – perfect pick for a book club !

The Love of My Life by Rosie Walsh Out March 1, 2022

I really enjoyed Ghosted by this author and this one really piqued my interest as it seems to have that same blend of mystery with romance that makes for an incredibly compelling and page-turning kind of book! This one is about a woman who isn’t who her husband thinks she is – a fact he discovers while digging into her history while preemptively writing her obituary (a way to cope with her cancer and also it being his job as an obituary writer). Who is she? Is everything a lie? The story is told in the present but we also get her perspective from 20 years before that contains all the things she tried to keep hidden from her husband.

The Club by Ellery Lloyd Out March 1, 2022

I already told you I love Rich People Behaving Badly mystery/thrillers and this one is definitely one I am anticipating after not being able to put down People Like Her by Ellery Lloyd. This one is a “murder mystery set in the secretive world of exclusive celebrity clubs, where the A-list members and the staff who serve them all have something to hide.” It’s set during the 3-day grand opening launch of an exclusive new island getaway that only the most A-list of A-listers are invited to – an invitation coveted by all until the body count starts adding up and a glamorous weekend turns sinister. Told through the perspective of four very different people who witnessed the events plus interspersed with news articles about the event, we watch the whole weekend unfold.

The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James Out March 15, 2022

A new Simone St James! An aspiring true crime blogger meets a woman acquitted of two cold cases murders in the 70’s by chance and the woman agrees to let her interview for her website. She visits the woman at the sprawling mansion that she isolated herself in after she was acquitted to conduct the interviews but she can never feel at ease when strange things happen every time she’s there. The closer she gets to the woman and her story the more she thinks something feels very off. Was she really The Lady Killer or is there something strange going on at the mansion? It definitely has those atmospheric, eerie vibes of The Sun Down Motel. I have a feeling it will be on the top of my Fall Vibes Reading List for this year!

A Ballad of Love and Glory by Reyna Grande Out March 15, 2022

Where are my historical fiction lovers at? Especially readers who are looking to get outside of the super popular time periods that reign supreme in the genre? This one is a “sweeping historical saga following a Mexican army nurse and an Irish soldier who must fight, at first for their survival and then for their love, amidst the atrocity of the Mexican-American War.”

In A New York Minute by Kate Spencer Out March 15, 2022

A rom-com set in New York will always catch my eye but add a genuine, personal recommendation from a friend who worked on the book and knows my reading taste in and out? PRICELESS. Ready for this? New York City setting, a humiliating meet-cute gone viral, opposites attract! It’s about a girl who is having a REALLY awful day and the icing on the cake happens when she gets her dress stuck in the subway doors. A handsome (and well-dressed) man comes to her aid with his expensive suit jacket but her embarrassing moment goes viral and the Internet is now shipping these #SubwayQTs. Thinking they will never see one another again, the city (or fate) has different plans for these two absolute opposites!

April 2022 Book Releases

Memphis by Tara M. Stringfellow Out April 5, 2022

Multi-generational family sagas are my favorite type of family drama type book so I am really looking forward to this one! This one spans 70 years following the women of a Southern Black family in Memphis – -inspired in part by some of the author’s own family history. On some marketing material I read the author’s story of how this book came to be and really propelled this book to the top of my list honestly. “In the summer of 1995, ten-year-old Joan, her mother, and her younger sister flee her father’s violence, seeking refuge at her mother’s ancestral home in Memphis. Half a century ago, Joan’s grandfather built this majestic house in the historic Black neighborhood of Douglass–only to be lynched days after becoming the first Black detective in Memphis. This wasn’t the first time violence altered the course of Joan’s family’s trajectory, and she knows it won’t be the last.” We get Joan and her mother’s perspective along with her grandmother’s and aunt’s as the women help Joan understand the line of women she came from, heal and change her family’s legacy. 

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel Out April 5, 2022

Station Eleven is one of my all-time favorite books and I’m so excited for this one as it sounds strange but like in THE BEST WAY POSSIBLE. I saw a letter from the author where she joked her working title for it was “It’s Deranged Because I Wrote it In 2020”  and I’m just telling you I’m very much into that vibe. There’s time travel! Moon Colonies! A story that spans from 1912 to 2401! Lemme just give you the actual summary because it’s a lot: “Edwin St. Andrew is eighteen years old when he crosses the Atlantic by steamship, exiled from polite society following an ill-conceived diatribe at a dinner party. He enters the forest, spellbound by the beauty of the Canadian wilderness, and suddenly hears the notes of a violin echoing in an airship terminal—an experience that shocks him to his core. Two centuries later a famous writer named Olive Llewellyn is on a book tour. She’s traveling all over Earth, but her home is the second moon colony, a place of white stone, spired towers, and artificial beauty. Within the text of Olive’s best-selling pandemic novel lies a strange passage: a man plays his violin for change in the echoing corridor of an airship terminal as the trees of a forest rise around him. When Gaspery-Jacques Roberts, a detective in the black-skied Night City, is hired to investigate an anomaly in the North American wilderness, he uncovers a series of lives upended: The exiled son of an earl driven to madness, a writer trapped far from home as a pandemic ravages Earth, and a childhood friend from the Night City who, like Gaspery himself, has glimpsed the chance to do something extraordinary that will disrupt the timeline of the universe.”

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus Out April 5, 2022

This one looks like a delight for fans of memorable characters a la The Marvelous Ms Maisel, Maria Semple’s Where’d You Go, Bernadette & Gail Honeyman’s Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine. Set in the 1960’s it’s about a female chemist who gets fired from her job because she’s pregnant and unwed and also has a mind of her own. Quite the detour for her life and career, she reluctantly ends up taking a job as the new star of a cooking show where she mixes cooking with science – a revolutionary hour of television that housewives fall in love with and the men do not for the message she’s bringing each week. 

Atomic Anna by Rachel Barenbaum Out April 5, 2022

At this point, if you’ve follow me for a while, you know if there’s time travel I will show up. But this one, oh THIS ONE, is an ambitious book about mothers and daughters AND time travel. Three generations of women must work together, with the aid of time travel, to prevent the Chernobyl disaster and right the wrongs of their own family story. It spans generations and continents and looks truly fantastic – perhaps a great book club book for 2022! 

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The Caretakers by Amanda Bestor-Siegal Out April 12, 2022

Somewhere I saw this pitched as a Little Fires Everywhere set in France and that intrigued me. Plus I used to be a nanny so I’m always keen on the babysitter/nanny/au pair centered thrillers and suspenseful dramas. Set in a wealthy Parisian suburb, centering around a group of au pairs, it tells the story of what happens after one of the au pair’s is arrested after a sudden tragedy in her host family. Told from the view of six different women, we slowly start to put together what really happened and if the au pair is really to blame or something else. 

Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett Out April 12, 2022

This one looks so unique, imaginative and quirky – with some good early reviews to boot! I genuinely feel like this is one of those books where the summary doesn’t seem to do the book justice but it just exudes something that I know I want to read – that “je ne sais quoi.” It looks like a dark comedy-drama with some interesting magical elements? I’ll report back!

The No-Show by Beth O’Leary Out April 12, 2022

I love Beth O’Leary’s The Flatshare and The Switch so I’m eagerly anticipating another clever and delightful read from her! It’s about 3 women who seemingly have nothing in common – except that all three of them are stood up by the same man on Valentine’s Day. Is he just a jerky player? Is there something else going on there? Will they find out about each other? Will they forgive him? WHERE WAS HE IF HE WASN’T WITH ONE OF THEM? I have a lot of questions already without reading and the summary is VAGUE. Probably for some delightful twisty reason.

Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez Out April 19, 2022

An Abby Jimenz romance is always going to be full of heart and tears and the best characters to root for. This one is an age-gap romance AND a social class gap romance between a city-dwelling ER doctor from a renowned medical family and the small town mayor/carpenter/jack of all trades. Their chance meeting has all the chemistry immediately and, what should have been just a fling, begs to be something more. Things feel so right when she’s in his world but could they ever truly fit in each other’s worlds when their lives are so totally different and many things stand in between it working?

Hope and Glory by Jendella Benson Out April 19, 2022

Family drama fans, don’t scroll past! This one is about a woman who returns to London for the sudden death of her father only to find her family has completely fallen apart since she’s been gone – a brother in jail, a sister who has lost her ambition and a mother on the verge of a breakdown. Instead of returning back to LA, she decides to stay around and bring her family back together (and figure out what she wants for her life, too). While still in a town, she has a chance meeting with a man she knew in high school that ends up making her question everything she knew about her family when she unearths a huge family secret – a secret that could risk losing her entire family if she pursues the truth.

I’ll Be You by Janelle Brown Out April 26, 2022

“Two identical twin sisters and former child actors have grown apart–until one disappears, and the other is forced to confront the secrets they’ve kept from each other in this twisty thriller” And that’s really all I needed to add this book to my must-read books for 2022 list! Think Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen but more B-list and now as adults they are estranged. As they moved on from their childhood acting careers one went on to become the perfect suburban housewife while the other was quite destructive after her failed attempt at a solo Hollywood career. Elli goes missing after supposedly checking in to a spa retreat, when things crumble in suburbia for her, leading Sam on a mission to find her sister.

Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel Out April 19, 2022

If you loved Circe by Madeline Miller or are a lover of mythology in general, check this one out This one is the feminist re-imagining of the most vilified and hated Queen from the Indian epic Ramayana. You won’t need to be familiar with the source material to be captivated by this tale that tells the life of Kaikeyi from overlooked princess into the powerful Queen she forged herself to be to carve out a better world for herself and the women around her in a world dictated by men and the gods. In her ascent she learns that the path she is forging is one that clashes with the gods destiny for her family and we’ll see the woman behind the choices that made her the vilified queen.

May 2022 Book Releases

Book Lovers by Emily Henry Out May 3, 2022

Emily Henry has blessed us with some really great perfect-for-summer romcoms in the past couple years and I hope we go 3 for 3 here. A cutthroat literary agent and her sister head off to a small town in North Carolina for a month-long sisterly summer getaway to both escape the city for a little and hopefully break free of the ruts they are in. Her break from the city are halted when she runs into her rival – a brooding editor back in the city. Constantly being thrown together, she realizes they have more in common than the books they both love so much and just maybe it’s time to be the heroine of her own story.

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The Change by Kirsten Miller Out May 3, 2022

“Big Little Lies meets The Witches of Eastwick— a gloriously entertaining and knife-sharp feminist revenge fantasy about three women whose midlife crisis brings unexpected new powers—putting them on a collision course with the evil that lurks in their wealthy beach town.” I’m familiar with this author through her YA stuff but WOAH this sounds like a must-read! A supernatural-ish murder mystery about friendship, sexism and female empowerment. Yes, please.

When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill Out May 3, 2022

This speculative novel sounds incredible! It’s set in our world but in an alternate 1950’s there was an event called The Mass Dragoning of 1955 wherein some women spontaneously turned into dragons, caused destruction and off they went to the sky. After this world-changing event, so many questions abound – why did it happen? Did the women choose it? What does it all mean? All those questions and more swirl in the mind of a young girl named Alex whose aunt became a dragon but whose mother did not and she’s. forbidden to talk about it or acknowledge her aunt exists. The story follows Alex leading up to the big event and then in the aftermath of it.

This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub Out May 17, 2022

I really enjoyed Emma’s book All Adults Here and this one sounds so up my alley because I love the way she writes family stuff and everyday issues but also because I SO want to see her twist on time travel.. This still seems very much at its heart a family story (particularly a father-daughter story) but with a little light time travel a la 13 Going on 30. Alice is turning 40 and her life is pretty great – minus the fact that the single father who raised her is on his deathbed. On the night of her birthday, Alice wakes up and finds out that she traveled back in time to her 16th birthday. The question begs: what would she do differently in this do-over? Can she get herself more time with her dad?

City of Orange by David Yoon Out May 24, 2022

“A man who can not remember his own name wakes up in an apocalyptic landscape, injured and alone. He has vague memories of life before, but he can’t see it clearly and can’t grasp how his current situation came to be. He must learn to survive by finding sources of water and foraging for food. Then he encounters a boy—and he realizes nothing is what he thought it was, neither the past nor the present.” A character driven story with a speculative setting – and a super vague summary going into it? You should know by now that is Jamie-bait.

The Measure by Nikki Erlick Out May 24, 2022

I love a good high concept novel! This one is pitched as The Midnight Library meets The Immortalists. The premise is this: it’s a regular ol’ day until suddenly, waiting for you as you leave your house, is a small wooden box that will tell you the exact number of years you will live. But it’s not just you that has received this – everyone over the age of 22 has too! Society is in a frenzy and we follow some characters who try to decide whether or not they want to know and the implications of that decision.

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You Made A Fool Out Of Me With Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi Out May 24, 2022

It’s been 5 years since the love of Feyi’s life was killed in an accident. She’s rebuilt her life but her best friend insists it is time to start dating again. Not looking for anything serious, she ends up in a steamy encounter that will open the door to so much more that summer – the possible launch of her art career and a tropical getaway to the home of a celebrity chef who happens to be the father of her new blossoming relationship. Once on the island things get very complicated for Feyi and she must contend with what she’s willing to do for her second chance at love and how to hold space for the grief she carries while pursuing her future joy.

Yerba Buena by Nina LaCour Out May 31, 2022

Ahh Nina LaCour has long been a favorite writer of YA literature and I know this is going to be spectacular because her writing and ability to cut to the heart is like no other – especially when it comes to grief, heartbreak and pain. This one is both a coming of age story and a love story between two women who are both employed at a restaurant called Yerba Buena, both having experienced a tough adolescence, who come in and out of each other’s orbit but ultimately being pulled toward one another. Seems like a good one for fans of Sally Rooney!

The Newcomer by Jean Hanff Korelitz Out May 31, 2022

A literary fiction family story about the upending of a fractured family by the late arrival of a fourth sibling when the matriarch of the family decides to have a fourth child, from the last remaining (but still viable) frozen embryo she has, when her triplets are getting ready to go off to college. Will this latecomer bring this distant family together or further drive them apart?

June 2022 Book Releases

These Impossible Things by Salma El-Wardany Out June 7, 2022

This one is about three best friends who have navigated everything together since childhood and continue, on the precipice of adulthood, navigating love, sex, and their Muslim faith as the stakes become higher in their lives – until one night that fractures everything and sends them hurtling towards different paths. Without the support of one another they find themselves adrift and must find their way back to each other but how will they when things were said they’ll never be able to take back? I really, really love books about friendship so I’m very excited about this one!

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Flying Solo by Linda Holmes Out June 14, 2022

A new book from the author of the delightful Evvie Drake Starts Over – one of my favorite light and easy reads to recommend to people! I have a feeling this one is going to be added to that list! This one is about a woman, still reeling from her canceled wedding,  who comes home to her small hometown in Maine to take care of her grandmother’s estate. Her 90 year old grandmother was a spirited adventurer who never married but, among her possessions, she finds a wooden duck along with a love letter at the bottom of a wooden chest. Seemingly not worth anything, things get curious when someone steals the wooden duck and she decides to get the duck back which leads her on a journey of self-discovery but also uncovering her grandmother’s secrets.

More Than You’ll Ever Know by Katie Gutierrez Out June 7, 2022

This one is about a woman who lead a double life with two husbands that ends up with one husband murdering the other and the true-crime writer who, 32 years later, becomes obsessed with digging into the story to tell the woman’s truth of why she would risk it all for a double life. Domestic suspense meets true crime with a portrait of motherhood, marriage and family.

Birds of California by Katie Cotugno Out June 7, 2022

Katie Cotugno writes some of the most piercing and raw contemporary YA I’ve ever read ( How To Love and 99 Days are my faves!) with a specialty in wonderfully flawed characters and relationships and I am eagerly anticipating her adult fiction debut! Definitely one of my must read adult books for 2022. A rom-com, set amidst the background of the #metoo movement in Hollywood, that is about a former child actress who had a terrible public breakdown at the height of her career and has since lived a private life away from the spotlight – that is until her former co-star on their hit show gets back in touch with her to get her on board with the show’s revival that could save his career and the two reconnect but also have to contend with the full story of what led to her breakdown so many years ago.

Counterfeit by Kirstin Chen Out June 7, 2022

“The story of two Asian American women who band together to grow a counterfeit handbag scheme into a global enterprise–an incisive and glittering blend of fashion, crime, and friendship.” I’ve been so in the mood for escape-y, fun grift books and this one is Hustlers meets Crazy Rich Asians . It’s about a woman whose life is imploding when she reconnects with an old college friend who, in need of a partner with a US passport whom nobody would suspect of wrongdoing, gets drawn into a global counterfeit handbag scheme. A success – until their operation is threatened and her friend disappears.

The Lies I Tell by Julie Clark Out June 21, 2022

This one is a cat-and-mouse domestic thriller about the friendship between a con artist and the journalist who has been waiting to expose her for 10 years for her own reasons. As the two get closer in their friendship that is rooted in lies, not everything as it seems. Sounds like a real page-turner!!

So these are the new books to read for adults in 2022. Stay tuned for must-read books for the second half of the year!

P.S. Here are some of the most popular posts on the site for you to check out:

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About Jamie

Jamie is a 32 year old married lady (with a new baby!!) who is in denial that she's actually that old to be a married lady and a mom. When she's not reading you can find her doing Pilates followed by eating ice cream, belting out Hamilton (loud and offkey) and having adventures with her husband, daughter and rescue dog.

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Amber Elise @ Du Livre says

January 23, 2022 at 11:21 am

I noticed that March and April are gonna be busy months for my reading!

I’m really excited for the new Emily Henry, she hasn’t let me down yet. I listened to half of Marie Rutkoski’s book and it was a bit too gritty for me unfortunately.

January 24, 2022 at 6:55 am

Yes so many good ones coming out in those months!!

And agreed! Emily Henry is just hitting every note for me lately. And yeah, definitely Real Easy is a very gritty book! Sorry it didn’t work for you!

More about Jamie

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The Best Book Series for Adults in Every Genre

Emily Martin

Emily has a PhD in English from the University of Southern Mississippi, MS, and she has an MFA in Creative Writing from GCSU in Milledgeville, GA, home of Flannery O’Connor. She spends her free time reading, watching horror movies and musicals, cuddling cats, Instagramming pictures of cats, and blogging/podcasting about books with the ladies over at #BookSquadGoals (www.booksquadgoals.com). She can be reached at [email protected].

View All posts by Emily Martin

Forget about spending your summer marathoning your favorite Netflix shows (again). Try powering through your next favorite book series. With so many great books out there and so little time, it can be hard to know where to begin with book series. So, to make it a little easier for you, I’ve put together a list of some of the best book series for adults in every genre. Now pick your favorite, pick a comfy reading spot, and get to your summer reading marathon ASAP!

Science Fiction

The broken earth series by n.k. jemisin.

On a planet with a single supercontinent called The Stillness, the inhabitants endure what is called a “Fifth Season” every few centuries. The Fifth Season brings on disastrous climate change, and the people on the planet must struggle to survive. The series centers around Essun and her daughter Nassun, two magically talented people (orogenes) who are separated before the start of the most recent Fifth Season.

Area X by Jeff VanDerMeer

Also known as The   Southern Reach Trilogy,  Jeff VanDerMeer’s  Area X  books are now available in one volume for your marathon reading convenience. Area X is a remote location that’s been cut off from the rest of the continent for decades. Expeditions into the area have proven unsuccessful, with the majority of the explorers dying. The 12th expedition is a group of women: an anthropologist, a surveyor, a psychologist, and our narrator, a biologist. This is how  Annihilation , the first book in the trilogy, begins. From there, expect the unexpected.

The MaddAddam Trilogy by Margaret Atwood

This trilogy, featuring the novels  Oryx and Crake ,  The Year of the Flood , and  MaddAddam ,  is set in a dystopian future world that has been forever changed by plagues, floods, and genetic engineering. Only a few humans remain on Earth, fighting to survive. What makes this novel all the more unsettling is how easy it is to imagine our world devolving into the place Atwood has imagined in her series.

The Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson

What would happened if humans colonized Mars? Kim Stanley Robinson explores that idea in this series. The first novel,  Red Mars ,  is about the settlement of a colony on Mars.  Green Mars   picks up thirty years later as the colony is terraforming the planet. Lastly, with a wider scope than the first two books,  Blue Mars   examines the long term effects of the colonization of Mars, with the book covering an entire century. In addition, Robinson has written a collection of short stories called  The Martians   that take place over the same period of time as the three novels in the trilogy. Robinson uses these stories to imagine a successful colonization of Mars while Earth is suffering from ecological disasters and overpopulation.

The Lady Astronaut series by Mary Robinette Kowal

As a newer series, Mary Robinette Kowal’s  Lady Astronaut  series is only two books long; however, Kowal has promised more books in the series are forthcoming. The series starts off in 1952 after a meteorite falls to earth and destroys Washington D.C. along with much of the U.S.’s Eastern coast. The Meteorite will ultimately lead to a climate cataclysm, forcing Earth to accelerate their efforts to colonize space.

The Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss

Another newer series, Patrick Rothfuss’s Kingkiller Chronicles consists of two published books, with the third book in the series,  The Doors of Stone , forthcoming. This is the story of Kvothe, an adventurer and musician, as he recalls his life’s adventures to a scribe named Devan Lochees, also called The Chronicler. Eventually, Kvothe will grow up to be the most notorious wizard the world has even known. This is his journey, alternating between the present timeline and looking back at how Kvothe got to where he is today.

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

This series is so new that there is only one book currently available, but the second book in the series,  The Dragon Republic,  will be released in August of this year. So you won’t have to wait much longer! This adult fantasy series is based on the history and politics of mid-20th century China and the Second Sino-Japanese War. The story follows protagonist Rin as she goes from being a poor orphan to training to be a part of an elite militia academy.

The Malazan Book of the Fallen series by Steven Erikson

For an epic fantasy series with many books currently published, check out this series, starting with the first of the ten books,  Gardens of the Moon .  In this series, Steven Erikson tells the epic fantasy story of the Malazan Empire, including many characters’ stories spanning thousands of years across multiple continents. Interestingly, this world was first created as a backdrop for a  Dungeons & Dragons   campaign, which partially explains why the world and characters in it are so detailed.

Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor

Part fantasy and part dystopian fiction,  Who Fears Death  is set in the distant future in a post-nuclear-holocaust Africa. Onyesonwu (whose name means “who fears death?”) is born into this world out of violence. But she is also born with magic and a destiny to end the genocide of her people. Currently, Who Fears Death  and the prequel  The Book of Phoenix ,  but with HBO recently optioning this for a television series, it’s likely there will be more to this story soon.

The Lady Sherlock series by Sherry Thomas

In this gender-swapped series inspired by Sherlock Holmes ,  Charlotte Holmes investigates crimes under the pseudonym “Sherlock.” Charlotte first gets into investigation in order to clear her family name after her father and sister are suspected of a crime. What follows from there are a series of investigations starring Charlotte and her helpful assistant Mrs. Watson. Thomas’s feminist take on these characters, reimagined as women subverting the gender norms of their time, is a whole lot of fun, and there are currently four novels available in this series. The fifth is expected to release in 2020.

Dublin Murder Squad by Tana French

Each novel in this mystery series follows a different detective character loosely connected to previous protagonists in the series because they all work within the same murder squad in Dublin, Ireland. If you’re interested in a character-driven mystery series, Tana French’s novels cannot be missed. Start with the first book in the series,  In The Woods,  or read them in whatever order you’d like. For a thoughtful suggestion on which Dublin Murder Squad books you should read first, check out this Book Riot article .

The Easy Rawlins series by Walter Mosley

Walter Mosley’s private detective Easy Rawlins is a compelling character for many reasons. He’s an African American private detective working in the often racist setting of Los Angeles in the 1940s to the 1960s. Because of this, issues of racism and social justice are just as integral to the storyline as the mysteries Rawlins is solving. Mosley has written 14 novels and a collection of short stories featuring Rawlins, so there are plenty of Rawlins mysteries to get you through the rest of the summer.

The Perveen Mistry series by Sujata Massey

If you’re looking to jump into a newer mystery series, Sujata Massey’s  Perveen Mistry  series is the way to go, with the second novel in the series,  The Satapur Moonstone ,  having just been published a month or so ago. This series is set in 1920s Bombay, and it is based on an actual person from history, Cornelia Sorabji, India’s first woman lawyer.

The Loyal League series by Alyssa Cole

There are three books currently available to read in this historical romance set during the Civil War in America. The books in this series follow the story of a group of Black spies who are working for the Union Army. While on missions, however, these spies find much more than just the information they need to fight against the Confederate soldiers. They find romance.

The Beautiful series by Christina Lauren

Written by Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings under the singular pen name Christina Lauren, The Beautiful Series(also known as The Beautiful Bastard Series) is a collection of romance novels and novellas featuring Chloe, a hardworking intern, and Bennett Ryan, her no-nonsense, extremely demanding (and yet extremely attractive) boss.

Bollywood by Sonali Dev

Sonali Dev’s  Bollywood  series currently consists of four loosely connected romance novels which can be read in any order. The first novel in the series,  A Bollywood Affair ,  follows Mili, a girl who grew up in a small village and was promised to a man when she was only four years old. In order to prepare her for this marriage, Mili’s family sends her off to America to go to school and learn how to be the perfect modern wife. However, unbeknownst to Mili, the man she is meant to marry has moved on and is involved with another woman. Samir Rathod, a beloved Bollywood director, goes to America to find Mili and secure a divorce for his brother. But when Samir meets Mili, he becomes much more involved in her life than he intended.

The Crossfire Series by Sylvia Day

The Crossfire Series  follows the romantic journey of Eva Tramell and Gideon Cross. Eva moves to New York from San Diego for a chance at a new start after an abusive childhood. When she meets her boss Gideon Cross, she immediately feels a connection. Then she discovers Gideon also comes from a troubled past, and the two begin to find ways to heal one another.

The Newsflesh series by Mira Grant

In the year 2014, humans discovered a means for curing diseases. Cancer became a thing of the past. The only problem? The cure created something new: an infection that spreads quickly and takes over a person’s body and mind, essentially creating zombie-like beings. This series starts twenty years after the spread of this infection. Protagonists Georgia and Shaun are trying to discover what lead to this infection. But in a future America paralyzed by fear, no one with any sense dares to leave their home. Georgia and Shaun’s search for the truth might just kill them.

The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice

Interview with the Vampire   by Anne Rice is basically a classic by now, and for good reason. Anne Rice’s vision of vampires has essentially shaped the way we view vampires in contemporary literature. With 13 books currently available in the series, you could be following Lestat and his fellow vampire’s storylines through an intense marathon reading session all summer long. The most recent novel in the series,  Blood Communion ,  just came out last year, so it doesn’t look like Anne Rice’s successful vampire chronicles are going anywhere anytime soon.

Historical Fiction

The war of the roses series by conn iggulden.

There are many adult series about The War of the Roses out there, but Con Iggulden’s is by far the best, especially if you’re looking for thoughtful and meaningful characterization. The first novel,  Stormbird ,  begins in 1437, following the death of King Edward III. Following what was a mostly peaceful regency, Henry VI ascends the throne to an atmosphere of political unrest and uncertainty.

The Wolf Hall series by Hilary Mantel

Wolf Hall chronicles one of the most fascinating moments in British history, the reign of Henry VIII. The novels are told from the perspective of Thomas Cromwell, one of Henry Tudor’s most trusted advisors. Mantel follows Thomas Cromwell’s journey from his humble beginnings, to his rise to a powerful advisor of the court, and finally to his eventual downfall. The first two books in the series are currently available, and the third is coming out in 2020. So catch up on the first two now so you can start preparing for this series’ thrilling conclusion.

Still not sure which is the best book series for adults for you to read? Be sure to check out Book Riot’s subscription service TBR for tailored book recommendations, picked out just for you. Specify that you’re looking for an adult series, and your Bibliologist will hook you up!

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Elizabeth Acevedo's adult debut receives an SLJ star this month, along with the latest Adam Gidwitz novel, two books for young readers about Eid al-Fitr, and more.

Board Books

Beautiful Butterflies . illus. by Margarida Esteves. Gibbs Smith. 

Evans, Harriet. Big and Little: A Book of Animal Opposites . illus. by Linda Tordoff. Tiger Tales. 

Hodgson, Rob. Knock Knock: Who’s There?   Magic Cat.

Osakwe, Leah. Let’s Be Brave . illus. by Becky Paige. Tiger Tales. 

Otter, Isabel. Color Gallery .   illus. by Sophie Ledesma. Tiger Tales. 

Selena, Elena.  Peekaboo Who?   Twirl Bks. 

Urban, Chiêu Anh. Illusions in Art: Food . Candlewick.

Wenzel, Brendan. Hello Hello Shapes .   Chronicle. 

Zanotto, Lucas. Where Is My Nose? Tra Publishing. 

Acabado, Hana. My Mama Is a Work of Art .   Running Pr. 

Jaleel, Aaliya. EidTale: An Eid al-Fitr Adventure .   Abrams/Appleseed. 

Levington, Rebecca Gardyn. Afikoman, Where’d You Go?: A Passover Hide-and-Seek Adventure . illus. by Noa Kelner. Penguin/Rocky Pond. 

Talkhani, Zeba. The Most Exciting Eid . illus. by Abeeha Tariq. Scholastic.

Yuksel, M.O. Sami’s Special Gift . illus. by Hüseyin Sönmezay. Charlesbridge. 

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Arthur, Kate. Our Woolly Bear .  Owlkids. 

Hilderman, Tasha. Métis Like Me . illus. by Risa Hugo. Tundra. 

Moreira, Henrique Coser. The First Day of May . Levine Querido. 

Wiley, DeAnn. Homegrown . Holt. 

Wong, Jack. All That Grows .  Groundwood. 

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Bates, Janet Costa. A Week of Shenanigans .  illus. by Gladys Jose. Candlewick. 

iwai, Melissa. Gigi and Ojiji: Perfect Paper Cranes . HarperCollins. 

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Gidwitz, Adam. Max in the House of Spies: A Tale of World War II . Dutton. 

Lewers, Nedda. Daughters of the Lamp .   Putnam. 

Williams, Alicia D. Mid Air . illus. by Danica Novgorodoff. Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy. 

Chee, Traci. Kindling .   HarperCollins.

Gomera-Tavarez, Camille. The Girl, the Ring, & the Baseball Bat . Levine Querido. 

Le, Vanessa. The Last Bloodcarver .  Roaring Brook. 

Nicholls, Sally. Yours from the Tower .   Candlewick/Walker. 

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Doucet, Rashad. Art Club . Little, Brown Ink. 

HANAOR, Ziggy. The Egg Incident . illus. by Daisy Wynter. Cicada. 

Roman, Dave. Unicorn Boy .  First Second.

Alexander, Lori. Cactus Queen: Minerva Hoyt Establishes Joshua Tree National Park . illus. by Jenn Ely. Astra/Calkins Creek. 

Behrman, Sarah T. The Sea Hides a Seahorse .   illus. by Melanie Mikecz. Collective Book Studio. 

Jewell, Tiffany. Everything I Learned About Racism I Learned in School . HarperCollins/Versify. 

Larsen, Mylisa. All of Those Babies . illus. by Stephanie Laberis. S. & S./Beach Lane. 

Pew, Kailei. Kid-Ventors: 35 Real Kids and Their Amazing Inventions . illus. by Shannon Wright. Feiwel & Friends. 

Rosenstock, Barb. The Great Lakes: Our Freshwater Treasure . illus. by Jamey Christoph. Knopf. 

Adult Books 4 Teens

Acevedo, Elizabeth. Family Lore .   HarperCollins/Ecco. 

Boey, Brandon Ying Kit. Karma of the Sun .   CamCat. 

Parry, H.G. The Magician’s Daughter .   Orbit/Redhook. 

Tobar, Héctor. Our Migrant Souls: A Meditation on Race and the Meanings and Myths of “Latino. ” MCD. 

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Cluing in to the crossword’s political meanings

Crossword constructor anna shechtman writes about the women who pioneered the pastime in ‘the riddles of the sphinx’.

Word games are knotty, paradoxical devices. They offer players the illusion of control: What could be tidier than a Scrabble board, or the orderly grid of a crossword puzzle? But they are possible only because language is untamable, flush with connotations and insinuations that we cannot hope to systematize.

No one knows this better than Anna Shechtman, who confronts the waywardness of words both in her capacity as a literature professor at Cornell University and as a contributor of crosswords to the New Yorker. Shechtman was a precocious constructor, as authors of crosswords are called (at least when they are not called, somewhat grandiosely, cruciverbalists); her puzzles were first published in the New York Times when she was in college. After she graduated, she secured a job as assistant to Will Shortz, the paper’s longtime crosswords editor, and it was in his employ that she began to reflect on the political implications of the seemingly innocuous games she designed and tweaked each day. Crossword clues are supposed to draw on “common knowledge,” but who are the proprietors of this mystical article? Is there any such thing? And perhaps most important, can constructors neutralize the chaos of language, with its mad tumult of jostling meanings? Should they even try?

These are some of the questions Shechtman poses in “ The Riddles of the Sphinx ,” a book too mischievously multiform to classify. It is in part a history of the crossword puzzle, which was invented by Arthur Wynne in 1913 and quickly denigrated as a frivolously feminine pursuit. The press delighted in framing the crossword craze that erupted in the 1920s as a “vice,” sometimes even an addiction. Columnists and commentators went so far as to worry that the puzzle was a “threat to the family unit,” as Shechtman writes: Women suspected of contracting “crossword puzzleitis” were accused of neglecting their household duties to riffle through their dictionaries.

For the affluent White women who dominated the field in its first decades of existence, however, crosswords were more than an engrossing distraction. “Writing puzzles offered three unique satisfactions,” Shechtman explains. It afforded the women she surveys throughout the book “a job in journalism, a profession that might otherwise exclude them; a political tool with which to shape the canon of ‘common knowledge’; and, perhaps above all, a coping mechanism for a life under patriarchy.”

For first-wave feminists like Ruth Hale (1887-1934), crosswords were an escape into a domain in which women might exercise some authority for once (indeed, Hale is responsible for formally codifying the rules by which puzzle constructors abide to this day). For traditionalists like Margaret Farrar (1897-1984), the first crossword editor at the New York Times, writing puzzles was work that masqueraded as leisure — and that therefore allowed her to think of herself as a housewife even as she hunched over the grid. (Farrar, who once remarked that the crossword is “as old as the Sphinx … and as fatal in its fascination,” gives the book its title.) And for radicals like Julia Penelope (1941-2013), an erstwhile lesbian separatist who ended up alienating most of her closest allies, crosswords were an occasion to overhaul a language that had been irrevocably tainted by misogynistic associations.

Associations, it emerges, are the currency of crosswords — the cleverest clues are dense with puns, word play and sly allusions — and they are also the currency of Shechtman’s witty and rewarding book. She relates her fascination with puzzles to her love of modernist authors like James Joyce and Samuel Beckett, who unsettled language by calling attention to its formal qualities in much the same way that the best constructors can, and she allows herself unrepentantly cerebral essayettes on topics ranging from the cantankerous fiction writer and crossword aficionado Jean Stafford to Freudian psychoanalysis — subjects that could prove unapproachably academic in the wrong hands but become fresh fascinations in Shechtman’s.

She even proposes that there is a parallel between her propensity for puzzle-making and her severe anorexia as a teenager and young adult, a connection that she concedes “will strike most people as tenuous or arbitrary.” But by the end of “The Riddles of the Sphinx,” the comparison makes good sense. Whether she was counting calories or organizing words into clean squares in her notebook, Shechtman felt that she was “mastering forms that should be unmasterable,” establishing the dominance of mind over matter. “The crossword constructor makes chaos out of language and then restores its order in the form of a neat solution,” she writes, and the anorexic sets out to impose a similar sort of tidiness onto the unwieldy body.

Yet the flesh is a repository of appetites that we cannot ultimately repress, and language, too, is a trickster intent on defying its speakers. Crosswords work precisely because words cannot be stripped of what Shechtman so beautifully calls their “polymorphic perversity,” because they are drenched in meanings — and because they are not just ethereal abstractions but also shapes and sounds.

The very genre of the crossword relies on the recognition that language is not merely an intellectual instrument but also a substance with material properties. Shechtman, a witty and crisp stylist, evidently relishes its sensuality. She is almost lovingly attuned to all its awkward oddities, writing hilariously, for instance, of “that unholiest of hyphenates, work-life balance.”

But she also understands that words and the games that recruit them are never neutral or innocuous. By the time Shechtman embarked on her constructing career, crosswords were no longer coded as a feminine pastime. Instead, they were regarded as math-adjacent and therefore masculine. “During Shortz’s thirty-year tenure at the Times,” Shechtman writes, “roughly 80 percent of the paper’s puzzles had been created by men.” No Black female constructors were featured in the paper until 2021, a scandal Shechtman rightly deems “shocking.”

The authorship of crossword puzzles is not unrelated to their content. Ever since Hale set out the rules for constructors, according to which “the only requirement [for a crossword clue] is common sense,” cruciverbalists have been custodians of language, as Shechtman discovered when she tussled with Shortz over which words were, in the lingo of the business, “puzzle-worthy.” She bristled when Shortz removed “male gaze,” an allusion to an influential feminist theory, from one of her puzzles, and she soon realized that their clashes were implicitly disagreements over the role of constructors. Was it their job to reflect the linguistic biases of the paper’s readership, or to correct those biases? To reflect that slippery and devious fiction, “common knowledge,” or to reimagine it? Many constructors, it turns out, are not so constructive after all.

But Shechtman is a constructor in the best sense of the word. “I am strongly of the opinion that looking up an unknown word or phrase is not cheating but learning,” she writes. Her puzzles are designed to teach us. Her book, at once a celebration and demonstration of the riotousness of words, does the same.

Becca Rothfeld is the nonfiction book critic for The Washington Post.

The Riddles of the Sphinx

Inheriting the Feminist History of the Crossword Puzzle

By Anna Shechtman

HarperOne. 271 pp. $29.99

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Heresy by Catherine Nixey review – book of revelations

From Herod as the Messiah to a virginity test for Mary – the Christian story, but not as you know it

A s far as variant versions of the nativity story go, the one from the second-century Gospel of James is hard to beat. It starts off rather beautifully by telling how, at the moment of Jesus’s birth, the world suddenly stops turning: birds hang in the air, a shepherd’s arm is frozen and the stars stand still. A few minutes later, a woman arrives and, sceptical about whether Mary can really be a virgin, insists on shoving her finger up the new mother’s vagina, whereupon her hand is immediately burned off. “Woe,” says the woman. Mary’s reaction is unrecorded, perhaps because she felt that she had made her point.

This is just one of the hundreds – thousands, probably – of alternative versions of Christianity that teemed in the centuries following Jesus’s life and death. Take the Ophites, who believed that Christ had appeared on Earth in the form of a serpent. They celebrated mass by encouraging a snake to crawl over the altar on which loaves had been placed, consecrating them in the process. Another sect from the first century AD believed that King Herod rather than Jesus was the Messiah they had been waiting for. In Ethiopia, meanwhile, Pontius Pilate was looked on as far more than a Roman middle manager with a tendency to dither. He is revered there as a saint to this day.

And that’s even before we get to the Apocrypha, those ancient texts that teeter on the edge of legitimacy and offer a kind of through-the-looking-glass version of the gospels. Here you will find tales of how dragons worshipped the young Jesus and of how Mary was capable of breathing fire. The tone is usually highly excitable. Another version explains how Herod’s daughter was accidentally decapitated by her mother while worms poured out of her father’s mouth. Talking donkeys and a dash of necrophilia provide the final flourish.

The reason that we haven’t heard of these disreputable variants of the Christian story, suggests Catherine Nixey in this enthralling book, is that the early Church Fathers moved heaven and earth to ensure they were nipped in the bud. Whenever they came across something – a text, a practice, a belief – that they hadn’t authorised, they labelled it as “heresy” and threw the book at it. Flogging, fining and banishment were the obvious sanctions. But if you really wanted to send a message, then rowing heretics out to the middle of the sea, weighing them down with a sack of sand tied to the neck and legs, and pushing them overboard was the way to go. The idea was to make sure that no body could be recovered and turned into an object of veneration.By dint of such repressive measures, only one version of Christianity survived and flourished. That is the Christianity of the Sistine Chapel,the King James Bible, Milton’s Paradise Lost and Bach’s Magnificat.

In Nixey’s words: “heresy would tilt European history for centuries”. It would lead to the excommunication of Martin Luther and the house arrest of Galileo. Heresy – or rather fear of it – pushed Thomas Cranmer into writing the Book of Common Prayer in 1549. As late as 1947, a group of British bishops attempted to pass a vote of censure at the heresy of a fellow bishop because he had written a book that rejected the virgin birth. They failed, but the fact that they thought it worth a try tells you a lot about heresy’s continuing ability to disquiet and even dismay.

At the beginning of this revelatory account, Nixey tells us that she is the child of a former nun and monk, and, until her late 20s, counted herself a believing Roman Catholic. There is then nothing sneery about her wonderful writing, although you will detect occasional flashes of anger when she recounts some egregious bit of censorship and repression.

What shines through is a kind of exasperated love for the tradition in which she was raised and an impossible-to-suppress laugh at the idea of a Virgin Mary who blasts out flames from every orifice as if it were some kind of Marvel superpower.

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Read Like the Wind

Molly on philosophy for kids and british suspense for adults.

Jean-Luc Nancy’s “God, Justice, Love, Beauty”; Barbara Vine’s “A Dark-Adapted Eye”

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By Molly Young

Dear readers,

Happy Saturday. Today I pop in with two book recommendations — we’re visiting the philosophy and suspense aisles — and a quick personal note, which is that I am expecting a baby soon. (I mean, I don’t want to be presumptuous, but all signs do point to “impending baby”…)

If all goes well, I’ll be off the newsletter beat for a couple of months while conducting field studies in child husbandry. Recommendations will continue to be furnished by the gang of well-read colleagues you’ve come to know and love.

See you on the other side.

“God, Justice, Love, Beauty: Four Little Dialogues,” by Jean-Luc Nancy; translated by Sarah Clift

Nonfiction, 2011

How does one discuss philosophy with children? Midway through the first of four lectures in Jean-Luc Nancy’s book, a reader begins to suspect that the answer is: a lot more easily than with adults. Beginning in the early 2000s Nancy, a French philosopher, embarked on a project of “little dialogues” in which he delivered thoughts on Big Topics — love, God, justice, beauty — to an audience of schoolchildren. Each presentation was followed by a Q. and A. where the students posed questions to Nancy about his ideas; these exchanges are included in the volume and are its true joy.

The book is slender but tremendously repeatable. Read once through to capture and contend with Nancy’s ideas. Read a second time to admire his grace in illuminating (but not simplifying) thorny concepts. A third time for the joy of teleporting yourself into a room where David Hume and a skateboard hold equal citational utility. Then stick it on the shelf and revisit as needed.

Read if you like: Christian Marclay’s “ The Clock ,” Claire Denis, recreational theorizing Available from: Fordham University Press

“A Dark-Adapted Eye,” by Barbara Vine

Fiction, 1986

Barbara Vine is a pseudonym for the author Ruth Rendell. I’ve read several Vines but no Rendells, which may be the equivalent of memorizing Ringo Starr’s solo catalog without having listened to a single Beatles track. Then again, it might be the opposite. I’ll have to survey Rendell and report back.

In her Barbara Vine costume, the author writes books of suspense, though “A Dark-Adapted Eye” ignores most of the genre’s constraints, opting instead for postmodern maneuvering and structural experimentation. The characters are three-dimensional and the period (1930s-50s England) photorealistically evoked. There are not one but two scintillating female villains. The more conventional aspects of the plot — murder, poison, lies — catch a glow from Vine’s innovations.

I find that English suspense novels are often rendered doubly mystifying by frequent allusions to class that are too fine-grained for my blunt New World sensibility. Trying to interpret the significance of, for example, a couple’s wedding venue in suburban England in 1946 is like trying to examine a nanoparticle with a child’s microscope. (Preposterous.) It may be the rare case in which readerly ignorance can be said to enhance a text.

One warning: Over the course of the first 37 pages Vine lays out an exhaustive family genealogy of the sort that tends to be infuriating in any context other than Faulkner or the Bible — but what follows is, amazingly, worth it.

Read if you like: Euphemism, fussy domestic details, terrible secrets, misanthropy, the actor Shelley Duvall Available from: Check your local library or bookstore, or search online for a new or used copy

Why don’t you …

Belly up to Charles Willeford’s sleazy 1955 novel “ Pick-Up ” — about a couple of bottom-feeding drunks in San Francisco — knowing nothing in advance except what I’ve mentioned between the em dashes above?

… and then, if “Pick-Up” pleases you, proceed to Dorothy Hughes’s “ The Expendable Man ,” from 1963. I read these novels back to back and caught a strong case of the willies upon discovering that they share a device I’ve seen nowhere else. (If you know the device of which I speak and have seen it elsewhere, kindly alert me in the comments. But try to be cunning in your wording, to avoid spoiling it for others.)

Find it in your heart to forgive me for self-promotion and read a story I wrote for The New York Times Magazine about scent, Italy, secrecy, throwing tomatoes at opera performers, nostalgia and more? This is the piece I coyly referenced in an earlier issue of RLTW. It is a lengthy one; you may wish to prepare three to five aperitivi as accompaniment.

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RYVE Adult Coloring Book for Women - Mindfulness Coloring Book with Personal Growth Prompts - Coloring Book for Adults Relaxation, Coloring Book Adult, Mindfulness Gifts, Relaxation Gifts for Women

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Adore Yourself - Affirmations

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• ✨ UNLEASH YOUR INNER ARTIST - Dive into a world where creativity meets tranquility. This Adult Coloring Book is more than just patterns and lines; it's a canvas for self-expression and mindfulness. Each page offers a unique design paired with self-reflection exercises, encouraging you to explore your thoughts and feelings creatively. The premium paper quality welcomes all mediums, ensuring your artistic journey is as limitless as your imagination.
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Product Description

Mindfulness Coloring Book

30 original coloring images to unwind and relax.

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Customer Review: Color AND self reflect

Stunning Drawings, But How's The Quality of the Book Itself?

Lori Richardson

Customer Review: Relaxing book, meaningful

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Self-Love and Self-Care Can Begin Here... Beauty Is Within

Gorgeous Drawings Plus Simple Mindfulness Exercises

Unwind and grow with our mindfulness coloring book for women

RYVE Mindfulness Coloring Book for Women

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Customers say

Customers find the coloring book inspirational, uplifting, and a great gift. They also describe the book as relaxing, calming, and good for mindfulness and anxiety healers. Customers also appreciate the beautiful designs and illustrations. They say the wording is great to read and not unreadable. Customers are also satisfied with the quality.

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Customers find the coloring book designs beautiful, great, and relaxing. They also appreciate the affirmations opposite each picture. Overall, customers recommend the book for its beautiful illustrations and positive mood.

"...Uplifting text and wide variety of things to color . Perfect for adult looking for positive vibes and therapeutic activity." Read more

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Customers are satisfied with the quality of the paper. They mention that it is good quality, well made, and beautiful pages to color. They also appreciate the thick pages and easy removable pages.

"...Paper has enough weight that it works for Ohuhu markers . You can see color on backside of page, but no bleeding or marks on subsequent pages...." Read more

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" Great product " Read more

Customers find the coloring book very relaxing, calming, and good for mindfulness and anxiety healing. They also say it's a stress reliever, great for positive vibes, and a therapeutic activity. Customers also mention that it'll help with boredom, and is satisfying to do.

"...Perfect for adult looking for positive vibes and therapeutic activity ." Read more

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Customers find the style of the coloring book inspirational, uplifting, and wonderful. They also appreciate the affirmations and mindfulness messages throughout the book.

"...Uplifting text and wide variety of things to color. Perfect for adult looking for positive vibes and therapeutic activity." Read more

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Customers find the gift to be a great and perfect for a stress relief gift.

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"Beautiful! Great gift for any woman and girl . Helps your creativity and self love at the same time with great messages" Read more

Customers find the book readable, with nice quotes and quality paper. They also say the book is not unreadable, but colored on.

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"I think the idea of this coloring book is great. It has quotes on the left side and coloring on the right page...." Read more

"... Has nice quotes in it as well." Read more

"I love the wording in this book ...." Read more

Customers like the page quality of the art media paper. They mention that the pages are very thick, smooth, and have enough weight that it works for Ohuhu markers.

"... Paper has enough weight that it works for Ohuhu markers. You can see color on backside of page, but no bleeding or marks on subsequent pages...." Read more

"I enjoy the thickness of the pages and how simple it is to color and understand!..." Read more

"Very happy with this book! The pages are thick and smooth . The coloring pages are very pretty. I also love the quotes and journal prompts!..." Read more

"the pages are very thick , excellent quality" Read more

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