Ten top YA historical fantasy books

Susie Dumond is a queer writer originally from Little Rock, Arkansas. She is the author of Queerly Beloved, Looking for a Sign, and Bed and Breakup, and she also talks about books as a senior contributor at Book Riot and a bookseller at her local indie bookstore. Dumond lives in Washington, D.C., with her spouse, Mickey, and her cat, Maple. When she’s not writing or reading, you can find her baking cupcakes or belting karaoke at the nearest gay bar.

At Book Riot Dumond tagged ten of the most enchanting YA historical fantasy books. One title on the list:

Brooms by Jasmine Walls and Teo DuVall

This high-flying graphic novel beautifully combines real history from 1930s Mississippi with a fantastical twist where racist anti-magic laws have led to illegal broom races with big prizes. Six members of the Night Storms team see an upcoming race as a chance to hone their powers and take control of their fate. Brooms is an enthralling tale with meaningful insights into the problems teens face in our real world.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Top ten books where women were pushed to the edge

L.M. Chilton is a journalist with fifteen years of experience working on a variety of television shows, such as This Morning, Loose Women, and more. His writing has appeared in Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Metro (London), and The Mirror (London).

The author's novels include Swiped and Everyone in the Group Chat Dies.

In 2024 at The Strand Magazine Chilton tagged "ten books where women take their lives and (mostly men’s’) deaths into their own hands." One title on the list:

YOU’D LOOK BETTER AS A GHOST by Joanna Wallace

Claire enjoys her part-time career as a serial killer, knocking off her victims for the most innocuous of crimes – cutting in front of her in line, or a severe lack of fashion sense. They appear to her as ghost-like entities, an indication that they’re going to be next on her hit-list. But when someone discovers her murderous little hobby, Claire has a new target. Fueled by a terrible childhood and the loss of her father to dementia, you can’t help but feel a degree of sympathy for this otherwise-cold-blooded killer.

Read about the other titles on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Six espionage novels with charmingly clueless protagonists

Jonathan Payne is a British-American writer based in New York City.

His first novel, Citizen Orlov, was named a Book of the Month by Apple Books. It won the 2024 IBPA Silver Medal for Mystery/Thriller and the 2024 IPPY Bronze Medal for Suspense/Thriller.

Payne previously worked in national security for the British government.

He holds a Master of Arts degree in Novel Writing from Middlesex University, London.

Payne's new novel is Hotel Melikov.

[Q&A with Jonathan Payne]

At CrimeReads the author tagged six favorite espionage novels with charmingly clueless protagonists, including:

Graham Greene, Our Man In Havana

Greene’s hilarious, absurd thriller follows James Wormold, a struggling British vacuum cleaner salesman in Cuba, who is recruited by MI6 to provide intelligence in exchange for cash he desperately needs. In order to keep the money flowing, Wormold begins to invent his intelligence, including by photographing vacuum cleaner parts and telling London they’re aerial photographs of secret military bases. When real life begins to imitate Wormold’s inventions, things begin to get very strange.

Alec Guinness gives a great turn as Wormold in Carol Reed’s 1959 movie adaptation.

Read about the other titles on the list.

Our Man in Havana also made Francesca Kay's list of the ten top books about the Cold War, Jesse Armstrong's top ten list of comic war novels, Allegra Frazier's top five list of books to remind you of warmer climes, Pico Iyer's list of four essential novels by Graham Greene and Alan Furst's five best list of spy books; it is one of Stella Rimington's six favorite secret agent novels.

--Marshal Zeringue

Ten literary thrillers set in the artworld

Laura Leffler is a writer and art historian who builds stories within the gorgeous, strange, and sometimes terrifying art world. After receiving a master’s degree in post-war and contemporary art, she spent more than a decade working in commercial galleries, doing everything from art fair sales to condition reporting and logistics. Along the way, she witnessed more of that glittering world’s dark underbelly than she thought possible. Laura currently lives in Colorado with her family.

Tell Them You Lied is her first novel.

At Tertulia the author tagged ten favorite literary thrillers set in the artworld. One title on the list:

Generation Loss by Elizabeth Hand

The title of this book refers to the deterioration of an image each time it is reproduced–think of zooming in on a digital image of an old photograph reproduced in a black and white newspaper. Hand’s novel is a seriously dark and gritty tale of a photographer of a certain age who embarks on a journey to the remote islands of Maine to interview her once-upon-a-time artistic idol—only to find herself embroiled in a missing person’s case.

Read about the other entries on the list.

Generation Loss is among Caroline Wolff's six female characters who defy traditional archetypes.

--Marshal Zeringue

Five top speculative books for fans of "Pluribus"

At Book Riot Liberty Hardy tagged "five great speculative books, chosen for various similar aspects as Pluribus" [the sci-fi show that’s the brainchild of Vince Gilligan, the writer-producer-director behind shows like Breaking Bad and Better Caul Saul]. One title on the list:

The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier

In Pluribus, Carol is one of the few people left on the planet who are not infected by the alien virus. In this inventive novel, Laura Byrd is the only person left alive on Earth. She’s a scientist at an isolated Antarctic research station, so when the killer virus spreads across the globe, it doesn’t reach her. But the other layer to this story is the City, a liminal space where the dead reside as long as someone alive on Earth remembers them. So when everyone dies on Earth except Laura, the City is then only populated by people she remembers.

Read about the other entries on the list.

The Brief History of the Dead is among Tim Thornton's top ten books about the afterlife.

--Marshal Zeringue

Five novels about living near serial killers

Amy K. Green is a contemporary American author from New England who made an unconventional journey to becoming a writer. Originally pursuing a career in accounting, her transition to writing came after years of working in corporate finance and film production.

Growing up as an only child in a small New England town, Green credits her active imagination to solitary hours spent playing in the woods and her enthusiasm for pop culture. Her debut novel, The Prized Girl, published in 2020, was written during downtime between film productions. The novel showcased her skill in crafting complex narratives.

Green’s new novel is Haven't Killed In Years.

At CrimeReads the author tagged "five books that hinge on living in the close proximity of a serial killer." One title on the list:

Oyinkan Braithwaite, My Sister, the Serial Killer

Korede is bitter. She’s sick of cleaning up after her little sister, literally. Ayoola kills her victims and relies on Korede to handle the aftermath. From the first page, My Sister, The Serial Killer contrasts the complexities of family loyalty with morality.

Korede’s loyalty is tested when her longtime unrequited love asks for her sister’s phone number. Korede knows what it means to be one of the men in Ayoola’s life, or more accurately, how it ends.

I love how this story weaves in glimpses of the past to explain Korede’s mindset. She was her sister’s protector from a very young age and that relationship does not dissipate after one murder…or two…or maybe three? Korede’s struggle is a fascinating conundrum and an unnerving story.

Read about the other titles on Green's list at CrimeReads.

My Sister the Serial Killer is among Anna Barrington's six social thrillers that will make you question who you can trust, Kate Alice Marshall's six great thrillers featuring sisters (and murder), Margot Douaihy's four novels that show the power of siblings in mysteries & thrillers, Francesca McDonnell Capossela's seven books about women committing acts of violence, Tessa Wegert's five thrillers about killer relatives, Catherine Ryan Howard's five notable dangers-of-dating thrillers, Sally Hepworth's top five novels about twisted sisters, Megan Nolan's six books on unrequited love and unmet obsession, Sarah Pinborough's top ten titles where the setting is a character, Tiffany Tsao's top five novels about murder all in the family, Victoria Helen Stone's eight top crime books of deep, dark family lore, and Kristen Roupenian's six best books.

--Marshal Zeringue

Ten brutal survival thrillers

At Fully Booked Laura Tarallo tagged ten books like The Running Man, including:

Vertical Run by Joseph R. Garber

One morning, you show up at work and suddenly everyone is trying to kill you. That’s Vertical Run, a claustrophobic thriller that trades game shows for office buildings and contestants for conspiracies.

While less grand in scale, the paranoia is thick enough to slice. It’s a game of corporate cat-and-mouse, and it never stops moving.

Why we recommend it: Sometimes, claustrophobia is the deadliest enemy. Perfect for fans of paranoid, high-stakes chases where every shadow could be your last. It’s the kind of thriller that keeps your pulse pounding long after the final page.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Nine books about forbidden desire

Amy Shearn is the award-winning author of the critically acclaimed novels Dear Edna Sloane, Unseen City, The Mermaid of Brooklyn, and How Far is the Ocean From Here. She has worked as an editor for Medium, and her work has appeared in the New York Times Modern Love column, Slate, Real Simple, Martha Stewart Living, Oprah, Coastal Living, Poets & Writers, Literary Hub, Catapult, The Millions, The Rumpus, and many other publications.

Shearn has an MFA from the University of Minnesota, and currently lives in Brooklyn with her two children.

Her latest novel is Animal Instinct.

[The Page 99 Test: How Far Is the Ocean from Here; Writers Read: Amy Shearn (March 2013); Q&A with Amy Shearn; My Book, The Movie: Dear Edna Sloane; The Page 69 Test: Dear Edna Sloane; The Page 69 Test: Animal Instinct; Writers Read: Amy Shearn (March 2025); My Book, The Movie: Animal Instinct]

At Tertulia Shearn tagged "nine great works of fiction about characters who lust after what they’re not supposed to." One title on the list:

Panpocalypse by Carley Moore

One of the first great pandemic novels to appear, this initially serialized book tells the story of Orpheus, who is queer, disabled, poly, and searching the city for her long lost love, Eurydice. What she finds is a portal that takes her to a lesbian bar in 1930s Paris. I’m not sure I’ve ever wanted to live inside of a fictional world as much as I do this one.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Four academia-centered mysteries

Peggy Townsend is an award-winning journalist and author. Her work has appeared in Catamaran literary magazine, Santa Cruz Noir, The Boston Globe Magazine, Memoir, and the San Francisco Chronicle, among other publications. Twice she lived for seven weeks in her van, traveling to Alaska and along the back roads of the U.S.

Townsend's new novel is The Botanist's Assistant.

At CrimeReads she tagged four favorite academia-centered mystery novels, including:

Katy Hays, The Cloisters

While this delicious novel is set at The Cloisters, a gothic museum and garden in New York City, academic research is at its core. Art-history student Ann Stilwell is a summer hire at the museum and is thrilled to dig into the history of fortune-telling as her research project.

When Stilwell, however, discovers a fifteenth-century deck of tarot cards that may or may not tell the future, she is pulled into a world of obsession, secrets and greed. Smartly written and wonderfully plotted, The Cloisters is one of those novels you won’t soon forget.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Ten titles that refuse to dramatize or sanitize mental illness

Fredrik deBoer is a writer and academic. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Playboy, and Harper’s among many others. His nonfiction books include The Cult of Smart (2020) and How Elites Ate the Social Justice Movement (2023). He holds a PhD in English with a concentration in writing assessment and higher education policy from Purdue University.

The writer's new novel is The Mind Reels.

At Electric Lit deBoer tagged ten books

that make a noble attempt at negotiating the gap between interior illness and exterior narrative. They don’t sanitize the disorientation, the self-doubt, the breakdowns that follow breakdowns; they resist turning mental illness into a metaphor or exotic spectacle.

One title on the list:

Prozac Nation: Young and Depressed in America by Elizabeth Wurtzel

Few memoirs have ever been more willing to make the memoirist look unsympathetic than Prozac Nation; three decades after its release, the book’s critics still don’t understand its self-awareness. A raw memoir of depression lived in excess—an excess of shame, despair, and spectacularly fractured ambition. Wurtzel writes of growing up bright, sensitive, full of promise, then gradually being undone by an illness that induces acute panic, long stretches of exhaustion, and humiliations she feels she can’t escape. Wurtzel’s language is blistering, grandiose, and often unbearably earnest. Long passages feel (and are) performative, as critics have charged, but with a purpose: Wurtzel understood that depression makes you pretentious, selfish, and myopic—and that the most unlovable parts of her are the parts she must learn to live with. Prozac Nation doesn’t offer tidy lessons, only a voice that says, this is what it was like. In that willingness to be ugly, the book is an act of great bravery.

Read about the other entries on the list at Electric Lit.

Writers Read: Elizabeth Wurtzel (June 2008).

--Marshal Zeringue

Eight notable true stories from history about survival

Carolina Ciucci is a teacher, writer and reviewer based in the south of Argentina. She hoards books like they’re going out of style. In case of emergency, you can summon her by talking about Ireland, fictional witches, and the Brontë family. At Book Riot she tagged eight compelling true stories from history about survival. One title on the list:

Into Thin Air by John Krakauer

Mount Everest seems tailor-made for survival stories… that is, if you survive it. That’s what Jon Krakauer did, barely, when a deadly snowstorm unleashed during his descent. One of the only two survivors, this book explores the allure of such a lethal mountain, on top of recounting Krakauer’s story.

Read about the other entries on the list.

Into Thin Air is among Amy McCulloch's eight thrilling books about mountaineering, four books that changed Rupert Guinness, Jeff Somers's five best books where nature is the antagonist, Nicole Dieker's top nine books even non-readers will love, James Mustich's five top books about mountaineering, and Ed Douglas's ten best survival stories.

--Marshal Zeringue

The 15 best "Frankenstein" retellings

Emily Burack is the Senior News Editor for Town & Country, where she covers entertainment, culture, the royals, and a range of other subjects. Before joining T&C, she was the deputy managing editor at Hey Alma, a Jewish culture site.

At Town & Country she tagged fifteen of the best Frankenstein retellings, including:

Eileen M. Hunt’s Artificial Life After Frankenstein is not a retelling; rather, it uses Shelley’s work as a lens to understand the “ethics and politics of making artificial life and intelligence in the twenty-first century.” Hunt is a professor of Political Science at the University of Notre Dame; Publishers Weekly reviews that her book “succeeds as an impressive and resounding challenge to technology-driven doomsday scenarios, replacing these with a vision of a gentler, kinder future in which humankind preserves both its existence and its best, most humane qualities.”

Read about the other entries on the list.

Also see seven great horror novels inspired by Frankenstein.

--Marshal Zeringue

Nine divorce memoirs about the empowering potential of endings

Heather Sweeney is a Virginia-based writer whose essays and creative nonfiction work about life as a military spouse, divorce and relationships, parenting, and women’s health have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, HuffPost, The TODAY Show, Newsweek, Business Insider, Good Housekeeping, and elsewhere.

Sweeney's new memoir is Camouflage: How I Emerged from the Shadows of a Military Marriage.

At Electric Lit the writer tagged nine books that "speak to the universal truths and personal trials that accompany the end of a marriage." One title on the list:

We Are Too Many by Hannah Pittard

No relationship or friendship is perfect. Sometimes love runs its course. Sometimes we outgrow people. In Hannah Pittard’s case, everything happens all at once. This genre-bending memoir cleverly combines fact and fiction as Pittard tells the story of her discovery that her husband is having an affair with her best friend, which results in the end of her marriage and her long friendship with a woman she trusted. With humor and candor, Pittard shares real exchanges and fills in the blanks of her knowledge with speculation as she analyzes what went wrong. We Are Too Many pulls readers into a fast-paced, time-jumping narrative about the demise of a marriage, betrayal, broken trust, and starting over while coping with heartbreak. The fact that this memoir is told through dialogue creates the illusion that we’re part of the conversations, experiencing the emotions right alongside the author. But even as it shows how complicated relationships and female friendships can be, this book also reminds us that it’s possible to find humor in dark times.

Read about the other entries on the list.

We Are Too Many is among Fran Littlewood's nine stories and folktales featuring sisters.

--Marshal Zeringue

Eleven mystery novels that explore the power of rumors and gossip

Lauren Oliver is an author, screenwriter, and media entrepreneur. Her works include multiple New York Times bestselling novels for teens, including Before I Fall (which spent seventeen weeks on the list and was adapted into a feature film released by Open Road), the Delirium trilogy (a two-million-copy-selling dystopian series translated into thirty-five languages), and Panic, which she later adapted into the streaming TV show on Amazon Prime of the same name, for which she wrote every episode and served as Executive Producer.

Oliver's new novel is What Happened to Lucy Vale.

At CrimeReads the author tagged eleven novels in where "the truth is hidden not under a rock but concealed in the rumors passed between neighbors." One title on the list:

Liane Moriarty, Big Little Lies

This novel masterfully uses the small-town gossip mill to drive its narrative. The story unravels through the perspectives of several women, with their interconnected lives and the rampant speculation about their secrets and relationships ultimately leading to a shocking event at a school trivia night.

The gossip is both a red herring and a crucial tool for revealing character and motive.

Read about the other entries on the list at CrimeReads.

Big Little Lies is among Jennifer Jabaley's six novels where competitive parenting goes off the rails, Sandra Chwialkowska's five books where bad things happen in beautiful places, Jamie Day's seven crime books featuring special events going off the rails, Ashley Audrain’s six great thrillers featuring manipulative mom-friends, Nicole Hackett's six top mysteries about motherhood & crime, Janice Hallett's five notable gripping mysteries set in small towns, Tracy Dobmeier and Wendy Katzman's six riveting titles of ultra-competitive parents, Pamela Crane's five novels featuring parenting gone wild, Michelle Frances's eight top workplace thrillers, and Jeff Somers's ten novels that teach you something about marriage.

--Marshal Zeringue

Five contemporary mysteries for those who love the classics

Dana Johnson Vengrouskie is a writer, copy editor, and general creative who’s passionate about storytelling, art, and language. She writes fiction and poetry as Wendelyn Vega. When she’s not writing, editing, or daydreaming, she enjoys reading, doodling, trying out new recipes, spending time with her husband, and playing with the three mini tigers she keeps in her house.

At The Nerd Daily she tagged "five contemporary mysteries to read if you enjoy the classics," including:

Body and Soul Food by Abby Collette (2021)

If you enjoy your murder mysteries with memorable characters and a healthy dose of small-town coziness along the lines of Miss Marple, Abby Collette’s Body and Soul Food will be right up your alley. A pair of fraternal twins is pulled into a mystery when a friend/former foster brother is murdered in public on a light rail. After they are labeled as suspects, the siblings determine to discover the culprit, beginning their first foray into detective-work.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Eight books about the excesses & intrigues of celebrity

Hannah Beer is a writer from North West England. She lives in London and works in communications. A reformed fangirl, she has an encyclopedic knowledge of celebrity culture that she writes about in her newsletter Emotional Speculation. When not working or writing, she enjoys reading, going to gigs, and cooking elaborate meals for her friends.

Beer's new novel is I Make My Own Fun.

At Electric Lit the author tagged eight books about the excesses and intrigues of celebrity. One title on the list:

The Favorites by Layne Fargo

Wuthering Heights meets Ice Princess. Need I say more? In all seriousness, I was wildly entertained by this novel. Following competitive figure skater Katarina Shaw and her childhood sweetheart-turned skating partner Heath Rocha on their dramatic, often scandalous road to the Olympics, it’s a tale of love, ambition, and notoriety. It asks whether it’s possible to have one without sacrificing the others. What this book does well—alongside making reading about figure skating feel like watching it (no mean feat)—is showcase just how many people are involved in making—and keeping—somebody famous. It offers as much a peek behind the fame machine as it does the world of Olympians, and I gobbled it up in one sitting.

Read about the other entries on Beer's list at Electric Lit.

--Marshal Zeringue

Four novels about obsession, power, and dangerous bonds

Robin Merle is the author of Involuntary Exit: A Woman’s Guide to Thriving After Being Fired. She has published short fiction in The Chouteau Review, South Carolina Review, Kalliope, and Real Fiction. She holds a master’s degree from The Johns Hopkins Writing Seminars, where she earned a fellowship. In her other professional life, as a nonprofit executive, she has raised over a half-billion dollars in philanthropic support to improve individuals’ quality of life and access to opportunities. A longtime New Yorker, Merle now lives in Scarborough, Maine with her family.

Her new novel is A Dangerous Friendship.

At CrimeReads Merle tagged four irrestible novels that "expose the shadow side of intimacy, the thin line between attraction and peril that reflects our darkest longings." One title on the list:

We Were Never Here — Andrea Bartz

Best friends Emily and Kristen can finish each other’s sentences, send messages in code, and take trips to exotic lands where the unthinkable happens – twice! A night out in Cambodia and a similar night years later in Chile end in bloodshed, both allegedly in self-defense from male predators. They help each other cover up the murders, until stories of inexplicable violence from Kristen’s past starts to unravel their friendship. Unexplained coincidences, secrets, and lies multiply as Kristen morphs into a stalker and Emily into an untrustworthy narrator. This is a thriller about loyalty twisted into coercion and the terrifying realization that the person who knows you best could also destroy you.

Read about the other entries on Merle's list at CrimeReads.

We Were Never Here is among Jilly Gagnon's five top thrillers featuring toxic friendships and Megan Collins's seven thrillers in which friendships are tested.

--Marshal Zeringue

Five novels featuring the Black bourgeoisie

Brittany K. Allen is a writer and actor living in Brooklyn.

At Lit Hub she tagged five novels to read if you’re fascinated by the Black bourgeoisie. One entry on the list:

Colson Whitehead, Sag Harbor

As winter rolls over New York, I’m dreaming of beaches. What better time to revisit this earlier Whitehead novel? Sag Harbor places us in the rare air of the Hamptons, among a cadre of Black elites in the 1980s.

This is fundamentally a coming-of-age tale, freighted with more nostalgia for certain wonder years than social critique. But as Todd McEwen noted in The Guardian on its release, Whitehead uses his dorky hero, Ben, to map the “melancholy geography of class.”

Read about the other entries on the list.

Sag Harbor is among Benjamin Markovits's top ten stories of male friendship, Amanda Brainerd's eight books to take you back to the Eighties and Jeff Somers's top ten books to take you someplace you’ve likely never been.

--Marshal Zeringue

Eight titles to help you own your wild

Kim DeRose writes dark, magical stories about strong, magical girls for teens and former teens. She is the author of Hear Her Howl and For Girls Who Walk Through Fire, which was selected for ALA’s 2025 Rise: A Feminist Book Project List, received a starred review from School Library Journal, praise from Kirkus Reviews and Booklist, and was the recipient of the 2024 Millikin Medal for Excellence in Young Adult Fiction.

[Q&A with Kim DeRose; The Page 69 Test: For Girls Who Walk through Fire; My Book, The Movie: For Girls Who Walk through Fire; The Page 69 Test: Hear Her Howl; Writers Read: Kim DeRose]

She grew up in Santa Barbara, California, earned her MFA in film directing from UCLA, and currently lives in Brooklyn, NY as a recovering Catholic and ex-good girl. When she’s not writing or reading, she can be found listening to endless podcasts, taking long walks through the woods (of Prospect Park), and teaching her children how to howl.

Hear Her Howl is her most recent book.

At The Nerd Daily DeRose shared eight book recommendations to help you own your wild. One title on the list:

The Wilderness of Girls by Madeline Claire Franklin

When I first saw the announcement for this book on Instagram I immediately reached out to Madeline Claire Franklin and basically forced her to become my writer friend. A foster teen discovers a pack of feral girls in the forest (being guarded by wolves no less), who claim to be princesses from another realm raised by a prophet named Mother. And they are convinced that the girl is their lost fifth sister. But when she helps bring them into the modern world, she is forced to face her own traumatic past and ultimately ask the question of whether helping these wild girls adapt is truly the best thing. I loved this book and have been lucky enough to be on two panels with Madeline. The book is nuanced, beautiful, and 100% worth your time.

Read about the other entries on DeRose's list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Eight books that reckon with the impacts of cancel culture

Allie Tagle-Dokus is a writer and high school teacher. She received her BFA in writing, literature and publishing from Emerson College and her MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. She currently lives in Gardner, Massachusetts.

Tagle-Dokus's new novel is Lucky Girl.

At Electric Lit the author tagged eight titles that reckon with the impacts of cancel culture: seven novels and a play that "ask how we strike the balance between calling out harm and accepting when accountability goes too far." One title on the list:

Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe

After an affair with a college professor leaves her pregnant, penniless, and alone, single mom Margo turns to OnlyFans. It seems a perfect work-from-home solution for her childcare dilemma; Margo can remain anonymous and make enough money to get back on her feet. But she learns that sex alone doesn’t sell. Margo must devise a compelling alt-ego to attract more viewers, so she taps her ex-pro wrestler Dad. As it turns out, the pro-wrestling world and this new frontier of digital sex work both depend on crafting enticing storylines for viewers. Thorpe does a masterful job comparing these two mediums: Both rely on using your body, yet one is celebrated while the other shamed.

Read about the other entries on the list at Electric Lit.

--Marshal Zeringue

Seven thrillers & mysteries where the celebration turns deadly

Heather Gudenkauf is the critically acclaimed author of several novels, including the New York Times bestsellers The Weight of Silence, The Overnight Guest, and Everyone Is Watching. She lives in Iowa with her husband and children.

[Coffee with a Canine: Heather Gudenkauf and Maxine; Coffee with a Canine: Heather Gudenkauf & Lolo; My Book, The Movie: Not A Sound; The Page 69 Test: Not A Sound; Writers Read: Heather Gudenkauf (April 2019); The Page 69 Test: Before She Was Found; The Page 69 Test: This Is How I Lied; The Page 69 Test: The Overnight Guest; Q&A with Heather Gudenkauf]

Gudenkauf's new novel is The Perfect Hosts.

At CrimeReads she tagged "seven mysteries and thrillers that prove that even the most meticulously planned parties can simmer with tension, secrets, and even murder." One title on the list:

With a lightning-fast plot and a fully realized cast of characters, in Jamie Day’s The Block Party, the neighbors on Alton Road set up the badminton court, fire up the grills, bring out the potato salad, and red Solo cups for their annual Memorial Day block party. The weather is beautiful, music is blaring, and the drinks are flowing, but danger is just around the corner. When a body is discovered, the residents of Alton Road don’t know who to trust and who from the cul-de-sac may be the next to die.

Read about the other novels on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Six great brain-on science fiction and fantasy books

At Book Riot Liberty Hardy tagged six top sci-fi and fantasy books that may require your full concentration, including:

Down in the Sea of Angels by Khan Wong

And last, but not least, this recent dystopian fantasy that follows three time lines involving individuals who are linked to each other through psionic (I had to look it up) or psychic abilities. In 2106, Maida Sun is able to garner the history of an object through touch, which connects her with a tech designer in 2006 and a sex-trafficking victim in 1906. Maida will need all the information from the past she can find to help her stop a politician who plans to round up all the psychic people and take their powers for himself.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Seven books that explore motherhood's complexities

Donna Freitas is the author of a number of award-winning, critically acclaimed books, including the novel The Nine Lives of Rose Napolitano (published in twenty languages) and Her One Regret, the memoirs Consent and Wishful Thinking, and over a dozen novels for children and young adults. She has a PhD in Gender Studies and Religion, and teaches creative writing.

At CrimeReads Freitas tagged "seven of my favorite books/series that offer portraits of very complicated motherhood." One title on the list:

Lionel Shriver, We Need to Talk About Kevin

I think of We Need to Talk About Kevin and [Ashley Audrain's] The Push as a pair, with The Push as the more accessible, kinder, gentler version of We Need to Talk About Kevin. Yeah. So not for the faint of heart.

Shriver’s novel is about a similar circumstance yet told in reverse (Shriver’s novel came first, by the way, before Audrain’s): Eva’s young son, Kevin, has already committed mass murder on the scale of Columbine, and we are with Eva after the fact as she parses out how this possibly could have happened, and her share of the responsibility because she’s Kevin’s mother—but also how this became her life when she didn’t really want to become a mother in the first place.

Whenever I recommend this book to people I do so with a strong caveat: this is one of the darkest novels I’ve ever read. But I absolutely could not put it down, the writing is extraordinary, and I’d venture that the portrait of motherhood is one of the most complex I’ve ever read. And even though we already know that horrific tragedy has occurred when we begin the novel—we still cannot stop turning pages to find out how and why as well as the extent of the tragedy. Utterly shocking and compelling.

Read about the other entries on the list.

We Need to Talk about Kevin is on J.A. Rock's list of five books about human horror, Dea Brøvig’s top ten list of books about mothers, Michael Hogan's list of the ten best fictional evil children, Fiona Maazel's list of the ten worst fathers in books, John Mullan's list of ten of the best sentences as book titles, and Shirley Henderson's six best books list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Ten memoirs that take readers on a medical journey

Tiffany Graham Charkosky’s writing explores love, human dynamics, and relationships. Her essays and short stories have been published in Gordon Square Review, Mutha Magazine, The Avalon Literary Review, and South Dakota Review. She lives in Northeast Ohio with her family and has worked in the arts for over twenty years.

Charkosky's new memoir is Living Proof: How Love Defied Genetic Legacy.

At Electric Lit the author tagged ten memoirs that take readers on a medical journey, including:

Between Two Kingdoms by Suleika Jaouad

Suleika Jaouad was in college when her battle with leukemia started. In Between Two Kingdoms, Jaouad shows us how her illness impacted her family and the loving, youthful relationship that carried her through her treatment. When she had to be isolated during treatment, she filled her days with painting and journaling. Upon being declared cancer-free, Jaouad takes a road trip around the country, connecting with those who reached out during her periods of isolation. She demonstrates how even when your world feels unbearably small, tapping into your creativity can sustain you through even the darkest days.

Read about the other entries on Charkosky's list at Electric Lit.

--Marshal Zeringue

Five titles featuring fatal friendship failings

Born in the Midwest, Jenna Satterthwaite grew up in Spain, lived briefly in France, and is now happily settled in Chicago with her husband and three kids. Satterthwaite studied classical guitar, English Lit and French, and once upon a time was a singer-songwriter in folk band Thornfield. She loves sushi, reading in her natural habitat (aka her bed), and women taking back their power.

She is the author of Made For You and The New Year’s Party.

At CrimeReads Satterthwaite tagged "five books that deal with friend groups, toxic friendships, family and friend breakups–and of course, murder," including:

Lucy Foley, The Hunting Party

This one is an “oldie by a goodie”—and the second book I ever read by The Queen of multi-POV suspense (since then, I’ve obviously read them all!). A friend group takes a vacation in a luxurious hunting cabin in the Scottish Highlands, gets snowed in, and while they’re trapped without transportation or communication, murder ensues.

With the weight of ten years of friendship behind them, the group is full of secrets, lies and resentments—and Foley is a master at revealing just the right tidbit at the right moment.

Read about the other entries on the list at CrimeReads.

The Hunting Party is among Jaclyn Goldis's six mysteries set in luxurious destinations.

--Marshal Zeringue

Eight literary horror novels

At Book Riot Addison Rizer tagged eight literary horror novels, including:

I’m Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid

For the first time, Jake has a girlfriend to take home to meet his parents. He’s ecstatic, and the couple sets off on a road trip to the rural farm where he grew up. But his girlfriend is thinking of ending things, and Jake can sense it. Through philosophical discussions, an impending snowstorm, and odd parental dynamics, tensions rise as the couple heads back home, detours halting their progress.

Read about the other entries on the list.

I’m Thinking of Ending Things is among Claudia Guthrie's ten wintery horror novels.

--Marshal Zeringue

Eight books that embrace the expansiveness of queer families

Josefin Dolsten-Kuhel is a New York-based writer and communications strategist. She provides strategic counsel to organizations that work to advance public health, education access, LGBTQ+ equality, reproductive rights and more. Her writing has been published in Daily Beast, GO Magazine, Refinery29, JTA and elsewhere.

At Electric Lit she tagged eight books that "share a nuanced, authentic representation of queer families." One title on the list:

Exalted by Anna Dorn

This is an edgy, captivating, astrology-themed book that follows two women who are trying, but not necessarily succeeding, to get their lives together. Emily is a millennial who makes a living running a famous Instagram astrology account and struggles with a dysfunctional relationship with a guy she refuses to call her boyfriend. 40-something Dawn is searching for meaning while navigating a breakup with a girlfriend and a tense relationship with her son, whose needs she never seems to put before her own. Dorn doesn’t shy away from a characters’ lack of likeability, which makes her examination of psychology, queer identity, and surprising familial relationships all the richer. It also contains a shocking plot twist that will leave you reeling.

Read about the other titles on the list at Electric Lit.

--Marshal Zeringue

Seven Booker Prize-nominated novels that incorporate sports

Emily Facoory curated a list of Booker Prize-nominated novels "that incorporate sports, whether as a central theme or simply a brief scene." One title on the list:

The Van by Roddy Doyle

The Van, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1991, is the third installment of Roddy Doyle’s acclaimed Barrytown Trilogy, a series which began life with The Commitments in 1987 – a novel that was later adapted into the cult-status film of the same name. His comedy-drama centres around the Rabbitte family in Dublin and in The Van, he follows the escapades of down-and-out Jimmy Rabbitte Sr. and his best friend Bimbo as they buy an old fish and chip van in an attempt to lift themselves out of unemployment.

Football fever has gripped Ireland as the national team finds some unlikely success in the Italia ’90 World Cup, which serves as a backdrop to the novel. The duo capitalise on the baying football crowds outside their local pub, as the fans gather to toast their wins and drown their sorrows. At its heart, The Van is a novel about people, rather than events, one that explores male friendship through the witty and sharp Irish vernacular that Doyle is renowned for.

Read about the other novels on the list.

The Van is among David F. Ross's ten top books about soccer.

--Marshal Zeringue

Nine novels that find comic truth in disability

Brian Trapp is the author of Range of Motion (2025). He is the director of disability studies at the University of Oregon, where he also teaches creative writing and serves as editor of the Northwest Review. His work has been published in the Kenyon Review, Southern Review, Longreads, Brevity, and elsewhere. He grew up near Cleveland, Ohio, with his twin brother, Danny.

At Electric Lit Trapp tagged nine novels by authors who have "lived experience as either a disabled person or a caregiver—and each chose the novel and the comic mode to tell their tales." One title on the list:

A Room Called Earth by Madeleine Ryan

Plotwise, this 2020 novel sounds like a tough sell: a young Australian woman in Melbourne gets ready for a Christmas party, goes to the party, observes people, meets a cute guy near the bathroom, and goes home with him. But Ryan’s narrator, who is on the autism spectrum like Ryan herself, is well-worth following into the night. Written in 60 short chapters, the novel’s special pleasure is the comic digressions that follow this neurodivergent character’s thoughts on everything from Heath Ledger to rules for witches. She feels disconnected from her own species, prone to getting overwhelmed, and more at home alone or with animals (especially her cat, Porkchop). Ryan’s character is a Allistic anthropologist, dissecting “normal” social situations with observations that are acerbic, whimsical, and profound. While Ryan dramatizes its social challenges, autism is not a pathology in this novel. It’s an alternative way of thinking—a vehicle for revelation and, yes, humor.

Read about the other novels on the list at Electric Lit.

--Marshal Zeringue

Ten cozy mysteries featuring animals other than cats

A former Spanish teacher, Allison Brook writes mysteries, romantic suspense, and novels for young readers.

She loves traveling, reading, knitting, doing Sudoku, and visiting with her grandchildren on FaceTime.

Her new novel, Death on Dickens Island, is the series debut of Books on the Beach Mysteries.

At CrimeReads Brook tagged a collection of cozy mysteries featuring animals other than cats. One title on the list:

Sasscer Hill, Full Mortality

Horses take first place in the Nikki Latrelle Horse Racing mysteries by Sasscer Hill, a former amateur jockey who once bred racehorses herself. In Full Mortality, her first book in the series, jockey Nikki Latrelle looks after a badly treated racehorse and protects the filly from going to the slaughter house.

Read about the other titles on Brook's list at CrimeReads.

--Marshal Zeringue