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Gather 'round — we have some fall reading recommendations for you. Above, children listen to a story in Central Park on Oct. 23, 2017. Don Emmert/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Here are the new books we're looking forward to this fall

September 4, 2024 • Bad news: Summer's over. Good news: Fall books are here! We've got a list of 16 titles — fiction and nonfiction — you'll want to look out for.

After buying Twitter in 2022, Elon Musk changed the company's name to X. Alain Jocard/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

What Musk's Twitter takeover could tell us about a possible government appointment

September 11, 2024 • After buying Twitter in 2022, Elon Musk instituted sweeping changes — including rebranding the social media platform as "X." Authors Kate Conger and Ryan Mac recount the takeover in Character Limit.

The StraightForward Foundation helps Russian authors publish abroad. Here are the French and Russian edition covers of a book about the Russian mercenary Wagner Group, by Ilia Barabanov and Denis Korotkov. Edition Flammarion; Meduza.io hide caption

Russian publishers in exile release books the Kremlin would ban

September 11, 2024 • In Vladimir Putin’s Russia, writing about the war in Ukraine, the church or LGBTQ+ life could land you in jail. A new organization helps authors publish books in Russian they couldn't back home.

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Rachel Kushner's new espionage thriller may be her coolest book yet

September 10, 2024 • In Creation Lake, a hard-drinking American spy infiltrates a radical farming collective in a remote region of France. Kushner challenges readers to keep up with her and not to flinch.

By the time he left 10 Downing Street in 2007, Tony Blair had gone from being Britain's most popular prime minister when he entered office to a deeply divisive leader a decade later. Dan Kitwood/Getty Images hide caption

Tony Blair urges leaders to ignore 'waves of populist opinion'

September 10, 2024 • Tony Blair's On Leadership: Lessons for the 21st Century is the political leadership guide he says he would have wanted in 1997, at the start of his 10-year tenure as British prime minister.

ON LEADERSHIP - TONY BLAIR

'We're Alone,' but together, in Edwidge Danticat's remarkable essays

September 9, 2024 • With clear, concise prose that delves into harsh topics without losing its sense of humor, Danticat once again proves that she is one of contemporary literature's strongest, most graceful voices.

'Colored Television' is an ungentle satire set in post-post-racial America

September 9, 2024 • Danzy Senna's new novel is an exhilarating yet poignant riff on the struggling artist as a wannabe middle-aged sellout. The writing is endlessly quotable and meaningfully provocative.

Everything is the worst in this 'Banal Nightmare'

September 8, 2024 • Novelist Halle Butler understands our worst enemy is sometimes our own brain. Her dark, chaotic novel manages to be often hilarious yet relentlessly uncheerful.

Picture This

Some babysitters are forever — just ask 'señora mimí'.

September 8, 2024 • Ana is so excited that her abuela is coming to live with her — until it means saying goodbye to her babysitter. No More Señora Mimí is an ode to caregivers from Meg Medina and Brittany Cicchese.

PICTURE THIS: No More Señora Mimí

Ian Frazier's Paradise BRonx Farrar, Straus and Giroux hide caption

Bullseye with Jesse Thorn

The history of the bronx with writer ian frazier.

September 6, 2024 • Ian Frazier, is a writer who, for lack of a better term, does the thing. If there is a place that fascinates him he goes to that place, immerses himself in it, and writes about it. And that's exactly what he did for his new book about the Bronx called Paradise Bronx . He joins us to talk about the history of the New York borough and even tells us how he mapped out the radius in which residents can smell cookies from a local bakery. Plus, he shares what items he brings with him when he goes out to explore a city.

Listen to this Episode

'I Just Keep Talking' is a refreshing and wide-ranging essay collection

September 5, 2024 • Scholar, historian, artist and raconteur Nell Irvin Painter is the author of The History of White People and Old in Art School. Her latest book is an insightful addition to her canon.

The cover of the Yup'ik alphabet coloring book. Courtesy of Nikki Corbett hide caption

These Alaska moms couldn’t find a Yup’ik children’s book. So they made one themselves

September 4, 2024 • Yup’ik is the most spoken Native language in Alaska, but finding Yup’ik books for young children can be almost impossible. These moms created their own – and now they’re fielding nearly 1,000 orders.

Yup'ik mom in Alaska creates her own books to teach her kids the Yup'ik language

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is sworn-in during her Supreme Court confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 21, 2022. Drew Angerer/Getty Images hide caption

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson shares the poem she's kept in every one of her offices

September 4, 2024 • The first Black woman appointed to the Supreme Court says Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, "The Ladder of Saint Augustine," has been a guiding principle. Jackson's new memoir is Lovely One.

Ketanji Brown Jackson talks with All Things Considered co-host Juana Summers. Zayrha Rodriguez/NPR hide caption

Consider This from NPR

Ketanji brown jackson chronicles her path to the supreme court.

September 3, 2024 • When Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson entered the national spotlight, she found praise and also criticism.

Danzy Senna says her first novel, Caucasia, was met with acclaim. "But one of the things I kept hearing from publishers was: Don't do this again. Don't keep writing about mixed-ness. ... it's that idea that you're a predicament. You're not a world." Her latest novel is Colored Television. Dustin Snipes/Penguin Random House hide caption

'I want to write myself into existence,' says 'Colored Television' author

September 3, 2024 • Danzy Senna was born in 1970, just a few years after Loving v. Virginia legalized interracial marriage. “Just merely existing as a family was a radical statement at that time,” she says.

Algorithms are in everything from your social media use to how many companies curate your playlists. Researcher Joy Buolamwini and writer Kyle Chayka question the extent of their influence and helpfulness. Qi Yang/Getty Images hide caption

Algorithms don't just pick playlists. They're changing your life

September 3, 2024 • Humans hallucinate. Algorithms lie.

'The Dictionary Story' is a kids' book that defies definition

August 31, 2024 • Dictionary wants to bring her pages to life but then a hungry alligator chasing a donut crashes into a queen who slips on some soap and chaos ensues. Can Dictionary put herself back together again?

Grief is complicated, but author Annie Sklaver Orenstein tells Morning Edition there are simple ways to help those grieving a loss. Getty Images hide caption

Mental Health

Grieving the dead is complicated. here's how you can help someone experiencing loss.

August 31, 2024 • Annie Sklaver Orenstein, author of Always a Sibling: The Forgotten Mourner’s Guide to Grief , tells Morning Edition that grief is complicated but there are simple things someone can do for those going through it.

Complex grief: Coping with the loss of a sibling

Lynda Barry was a 2019 recipients of MacArthur "Genius" Grant. John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation hide caption

Cartoonist Lynda Barry

August 30, 2024 • Lynda Barry is a legend of alternative comics. These days, she teaches at the University of Wisconsin. Her book What It Is , was recently re-issued on paperback. When we talked to Lynda in 2020, she'd just released Making Comics . It's sort of an illustrated guide on how to create comics. At the heart of the book is a belief Lynda has: Anybody can draw. Anyone can make comics. Yes, even you!

This is genius: A new graphic novel imagines conversations between Einstein and Kafka

August 28, 2024 • Turns out Albert Einstein and Franz Kafka lived in Prague at the same time and had the same circle of friends. In a new graphic novel, Ken Krimstein puts us in the room with two 20th century geniuses.

An illustrated portrait of the famous intellectual and writer James Baldwin. Jackie Lay hide caption

Code Switch

What james baldwin can teach us about israel, and ourselves.

August 28, 2024 • It's been more than ten months since devastating violence began unfolding in Israel and Gaza. And in the midst of all the death, so many people are trying to better understand what's going on in that region, and how the United States is implicated in it. So on this episode, we're looking back to the writing of James Baldwin, whose views on the country transformed significantly over the course of his life. His thoughts offer some ideas about how to grapple with trauma, and how to bridge the gap between places and ideas that, on their surface, might seem oceans apart.

Leonard Riggio, then chairman of Barnes & Noble, arrives at a bookstore in New York on Sept. 12, 2017. Riggio died on Tuesday. Seth Wenig/AP hide caption

Leonard Riggio, who built Barnes & Noble into a bookselling empire, dies at 83

August 27, 2024 • Leonard Riggio transformed the publishing industry by building Barnes & Noble into the country’s most powerful bookseller before his company was overtaken by the rise of Amazon.

Preserving humanity in the age of robots

August 27, 2024 • Human beings are hardwired for social connection – so much so that we think of even the most basic objects as having feelings or experiences. (Yup, we're talking to you, Roomba owners!) Social robots add a layer to this. They're designed to make us feel like they're our friends. They can do things like care for children, the elderly or act as partners. But there's a darker side to them, too. They may encourage us to opt out of authentic, real-life connections, making us feel more isolated. Today on the show, host Regina G. Barber explores the duality of social robots with Eve Herold, author of the book Robots and the People Who Love Them .

Former National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster receives a send-off from the White House staff on his last day in the Trump administration on April 6, 2018. H.R. McMaster hide caption

Former national security adviser McMaster says he won’t work for Trump again

August 26, 2024 • In his new book At War with Ourselves, My Tour of Duty in the Trump White House , Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster recounts his experience working for Trump and his inner circle.

'AT WAR WITH OURSELVES'

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Bright Objects

It is January 1997 in the small town of Jericho, and Sylvia Knight has decided to end her own life. She's already died once before—two years previous, a hit-and-run took her husband Christopher ...

Beyond the Book

Comet Hale-Bopp and the Heaven's Gate Cult

A central event in Ruby Todd's debut novel, Bright Objects, is the sighting of a comet in the atmosphere. Comet St. John appears in January of 1997 over Sylvia's small town in Australia, causing ...

The Dark We Know

Written by Wen-yi Lee, The Dark We Know comes to us from Gillian Flynn Books, so it seems appropriate that there's more than a hint of Flynn's own Camille Preaker in Lee's troubled protagonist, ...

Slate Mining in America

What does one name a fictional small town that once served as a hub for slate mining before its inevitable decline? Well, Slater, of course. In her novel The Dark We Know, Wen-yi Lee describes it ...

At the beginning of Garth Greenwell's novel Small Rain , the protagonist, an unnamed poet in his early forties, is stricken with acute abdominal pain. The COVID pandemic is raging and he's reluctant to...

George Oppen

In Garth Greenwell's novel Small Rain, the unnamed protagonist—facing a difficult and uncertain medical diagnosis—finds solace in a poem by the poet George Oppen. The poem is only a ...

In November 1957, Kathleen and Virgil Beckett are living at Acropolis Place, an apartment complex in Newark, Delaware, an arrangement that was supposed to be temporary after their move from Rhode ...

The Launch of Sputnik 2

Though the story unfolds largely through flashbacks, the present-day events of The Most occur on November 3, 1957, which is the day the Soviet Union launched its satellite Sputnik 2 into space. ...

Unsurprisingly, the 21st century has been something of a boom time for environmental disaster in fiction. The vein of anxiety over what humans are doing to the planet runs deep—stretching back ...

Ultra-Processed Foods

Fernanda Trías's Pink Slime takes its title from the nickname of Meatrite, a fictional meat paste developed by the government to combat food shortages during an environmental collapse. ...

Becoming Earth

The idea of Earth as one living, breathing organism is an age-old one, found in belief systems all over the world. Yet when it was first seriously proposed as a scientific hypothesis in the 1970s&#...

The Promise and Peril of the Haber-Bosch Process

As Ferris Jabr describes in Becoming Earth: How Our Planet Came to Life, he and his spouse discovered an all-too-common problem when they tried to plant a new garden—ruined, lifeless soil. ...

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Blog – Posted on Friday, May 01

The best book review sites for enthusiastic readers.

Book lovers, stop us if you’ve heard this one before: you’ve just finished a mind-blowing book and you need to hear some discussion about it. What do you do? Dive straight into the limitless realm of the Internet and search for book review sites, of course. 

Or here’s another scenario: you’ve finished reading a novel and now you’re searching for something to fill the void. Maybe you want more of the same, or maybe something completely different to switch things up. You’ll probably also scour the Internet for ratings and trustworthy recommendations. 

Fortunately, there are endless review blogs and book review sites that you can peruse. Un fortunately, not every one of them features a wide enough variety to help you. But don’t worry: we’ve got you covered with ten of the best book review sites to satisfy the bookworm in you. If you want to cut to the chase and get a personalized pick for a book review site in 30 seconds, we first recommend taking this quick quiz:

Which review community should you join?

Find out which review community is best for your style. Takes 30 seconds!

Then read on for the full explanation of all of the best book review sites out there!

1. Goodreads 

It’s impossible not to mention Goodreads when discussing book communities: it’s the Facebook of book reviews — the ultimate social media platform for bibliophiles. If you’ve somehow managed to go this long without stumbling upon this omnipresent site, here’s the run-down: you can use Goodreads to organize, display, and discuss your virtual bookshelf with other users. 

Goodreads recommendations are based on your listed interests. You can follow authors and book influencers ranging from Celeste Ng to Bill Gates . This allows you to see all their reviews, which vary from compact one-liners to critical analysis, and watch the new reviews roll in. For a quick verdict, just take a look at the star rating that they give the book. 

Also if you like to browse lists, Goodreads compiles the best and most popular books for every genre. There’s also the annual Goodreads’ Choice Awards to celebrate each year’s new releases, where you can cast your vote or peruse the list of contenders to find a new book to read. It’s a site for every kind of reader, with abundant ways to comment and interact. 

2. LibraryThing

This is the OG of all online book catalogues and discussion boards — take a look and you’ll see that it’s an oldie but a goodie. Of course, the basic functions of LibraryThing are rather similar to Goodreads: there are millions of books that readers can add to their lists, as well as review with star ratings.

While the interface harks back to the earlier days of the world wide web, LibraryThing has a secret weapon that’ll appeal to all readers, especially modern ones: their Zeitgeist . This page displays the latest crème de la crème of the whole site, from the most popular books to the hottest reviews , which you can also write with the help of a good book review template . Just a glance shows that the readers here know how to read between the lines and wield their words!

So if you’re hoping to read or share some in-depth literary thoughts with fellow sharp-minded users , LibraryThing is the site to browse. (You can even access it without creating an account!) 

3. Reedsy Discovery 

Now, if you’re searching for some hidden gems to peruse, Reedsy Discovery ’s got your back. While our blog features everything from classics to contemporary hits, Discovery’s specialty is indie publications, many of which are accompanied with succinct comments from experienced reviewers . There’s no better way to broaden your horizon! 

Moreover, if casual and creative reviews are more your cup of tea, then rejoice: the burgeoning community of readers on Discovery can leave comments, one-line reviews, and video reviews (calling all Booktubers!) on just about any book. It’s a fun and interactive way to geek out over your favorite reads and discover all the coolest new titles you won’t find anywhere else.

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4. LoveReading 

Though it’s UK-based, this prolific site caters to audiences around the world. LoveReading is strictly a reviewing site, with a base of staff writers and carefully selected contributors, so you know the reviews are top-notch. The staff often give quite personal reading experiences in their reviews, which make their recommendations very endearing, like they’re from a close friend. They even offer you presents — well, if you think of giveaways as presents! 

LoveReading covers books from every genre you can think of. They also have weekly, monthly, and yearly list features to keep you up to date with the latest stellar releases, so you’ll never be in want of something to pore over. 

5. The Millions 

In search of reviews that really dive into the themes, metaphors, and overall executions of interesting and highbrow books? The Millions has got you covered. 

Written by a collection of seasoned critics, these reviews are speckled with memorable quotes, elegant analysis, and plentiful comparisons to other works — which means extra reading recommendations for you! If contemporary and literary fictions are your go-tos, then The Millions is the site for all your lit nerd needs. 

6. SFBook Reviews 

Those who think quantity and quality don’t go hand in hand, you clearly haven’t encountered SFBook Review . The five reviewers on the team here share two common and important goals: firstly, to follow the outpour of new titles in the sci-fi, fantasy, and horror genres every year, and secondly, to give thoughtful reviews to as many of them as possible.

This team knows their SFF niches inside out, so their verdicts are very credible. Still, their reviews are quite friendly and personal — they discuss other related books and share their reading experiences to help you make your own reading choices. 

7. Bookpage

Bookpage features all kinds of genres: from children’s books to nonfiction, from the works of household names to debut authors, and so much more. Their format is neat and straightforward — they bring you the volumes they think are most worthwhile, recommending them to you by summarizing and concisely commenting on the prose, the theme, and the plot of each chosen book.

In addition to this, Bookpage also features author interviews and articles that unearth the deeper themes and purposes of certain books. If you’re a true book lover seeking like-minded literary aficionados, this may be the perfect place for you.

8. Book Riot 

Avid readers, you’ve probably stumbled upon Book Riot more times than you can remember. While it’s not a site that individually assesses titles, it has lists for everything — from timeless literary giants to the top books in each genre. What’s more, Book Riot has lots of thinkpieces that dive deep into the way certain titles make readers feel — be it exhilarated, motivated, or enraged — and that’s really all you need to know when deciding to embark on a new reading adventure. 

Additionally, if you’d rather listen to discussions and reviews rather than read them, you'll be happy to know that Book Riot has a range of podcasts for you to choose from. 

9. NetGalley 

NetGalley is another platform bringing you new and unconventional recommendations. They specialize in connecting authors who are publishing to readers who’d like to preview and put in their two cents. While the database of books available here are not the most expansive, those that are featured are certainly worth your time. 

Readers can benefit most from NetGalley via their book recommendation site, Bookish , where the staff reviewers update you with their recent reads and in-depth thoughts on those reads. Along with that, Bookish also has book club kits, equipped with comprehension questions and discussion points, to help readers explore stories mindfully. 

10. BookBub

While it’s very similar to Goodreads, BookBub focuses more on connecting readers to books that might suit them specifically — which is partly why you’ll see plenty of bargains and deals promoted on the site.

Because of this promotional value, BookBub has quite a strong author community. Diana Gabaldon and Gillian Flynn , for instance, are constantly recommending books on their accounts. So if you’d like to tag along with your favorite author, this is an excellent website to visit. The only drawback of BookBub is that they only have community reviews from users based in the US, and you have to sign up in order to read them. 

With these ten sites, you’ll be sure to find your little community of fellow book lovers regardless of what your interests are. Here’s to exciting TBR lists and nourished minds!

If you want to try your hand at reviewing, we’ve got a little guide to help you out ! On the other hand, if you want to plough away at your books, why not consider the Kindle Cloud Reader ?

Continue reading

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The 10 Best Book Reviews of 2020

Adam morgan picks parul sehgal on raven leilani, merve emre on lewis carroll, and more.

The pandemic and the birth of my second daughter prevented me from reading most of the books I wanted to in 2020. But I was able to read vicariously  through book critics, whose writing was a true source of comfort and escape for me this year. I’ve long told my students that criticism is literature—a genre of nonfiction that can and should be as insightful, experimental, and compelling as the art it grapples with—and the following critics have beautifully proven my point. The word “best” is always a misnomer, but these are my personal favorite book reviews of 2020.

Nate Marshall on Barack Obama’s A Promised Land ( Chicago Tribune )

A book review rarely leads to a segment on The 11th Hour with Brian Williams , but that’s what happened to Nate Marshall last month. I love how he combines a traditional review with a personal essay—a hybrid form that has become my favorite subgenre of criticism.

“The presidential memoir so often falls flat because it works against the strengths of the memoir form. Rather than take a slice of one’s life to lay bare and come to a revelation about the self or the world, the presidential memoir seeks to take the sum of a life to defend one’s actions. These sorts of memoirs are an attempt maybe not to rewrite history, but to situate history in the most rosy frame. It is by nature defensive and in this book, we see Obama’s primary defensive tool, his prodigious mind and proclivity toward over-considering every detail.”

Merve Emre on Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland ( The Point )

I’m a huge fan of writing about books that weren’t just published in the last 10 seconds. And speaking of that hybrid form above, Merve Emre is one of its finest practitioners. This piece made me laugh out loud and changed the way I think about Lewis Carroll.

“I lie awake at night and concentrate on Alice,  on why my children have fixated on this book at this particular moment. Part of it must be that I have told them it ‘takes place’ in Oxford, and now Oxford—or more specifically, the college whose grounds grow into our garden—marks the physical limits of their world. Now that we can no longer move about freely, no longer go to new places to see new things, we are trying to find ways to estrange the places and objects that are already familiar to us.”

Parul Sehgal on Raven Leilani’s Luster ( The New York Times Book Review )

Once again, Sehgal remains the best lede writer in the business. I challenge you to read the opening of any  Sehgal review and stop there.

“You may know of the hemline theory—the idea that skirt lengths fluctuate with the stock market, rising in boom times and growing longer in recessions. Perhaps publishing has a parallel; call it the blurb theory. The more strained our circumstances, the more manic the publicity machine, the more breathless and orotund the advance praise. Blurbers (and critics) speak with a reverent quiver of this moment, anointing every other book its guide, every second writer its essential voice.”

Constance Grady on Anne Brontë’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall ( Vox )

Restoring the legacies of ill-forgotten books is one of our duties as critics. Grady’s take on “the least famous sister in a family of celebrated geniuses” makes a good case for Wildfell Hall’ s place alongside Wuthering Heights  and Jane Eyre  in the Romantic canon.

“[T]he heart of this book is a portrait of a woman surviving and flourishing after abuse, and in that, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall feels unnervingly modern. It is fresh, shocking, and wholly new today, 200 years after the birth of its author.”

Ismail Muhammad on Anna Wiener’s Uncanny Valley ( The Atlantic )

Muhammad is a philosophical critic, so it’s always fun to see him tackle a book with big ideas. Here, he makes an enlightened connection between Wiener’s Silicon Valley memoir and Michael Lewis’s 1989 Wall Street exposé, Liar’s Poker.

“Like Lewis, Wiener found ‘a way out of unhappiness’ by writing her own gimlet-eyed generational portrait that doubles as a cautionary tale of systemic dysfunction. But if her chronicle acquires anything like the must-read status that Lewis’s antic tale of a Princeton art-history major’s stint at Salomon Brothers did, it will be for a different reason. For all her caustic insight and droll portraiture, Wiener is on an earnest quest likely to resonate with a public that has been sleepwalking through tech’s gradual reshaping of society.”

Hermione Hoby on Mieko Kawakami’s Breasts and Eggs ( 4 Columns )

Hoby’s thousand-word review is a great example of a critic reading beyond the book to place it in context.

“When Mieko Kawakami’s Breasts and Eggs  was first published in 2008, the then-governor of Tokyo, the ultraconservative Shintaro Ishihara, deemed the novel ‘unpleasant and intolerable.’ I wonder what he objected to? Perhaps he wasn’t into a scene in which the narrator, a struggling writer called Natsuko, pushes a few fingers into her vagina in a spirit of dejected exploration: ‘I . . . tried being rough and being gentle. Nothing worked.’”

Taylor Moore on C Pam Zhang’s How Much Of These Hills Is Gold ( The A.V. Club )

Describing Zhang’s wildly imaginative debut novel is hard, but Moore manages to convey the book’s shape and texture in less than 800 words, along with some critical analysis.

“Despite some characteristics endemic to Wild West narratives (buzzards circling prey, saloons filled with seedy strangers), the world of How Much Of These Hills Is Gold feels wholly original, and Zhang imbues its wide expanse with magical realism. According to local lore, tigers lurk in the shadows, despite having died out ‘decades ago’ with the buffalo. There also exists a profound sense of loss for an exploited land, ‘stripped of its gold, its rivers, its buffalo, its Indians, its tigers, its jackals, its birds and its green and its living.’”

Grace Ebert on Paul Christman’s Midwest Futures ( Chicago Review of Books )

I love how Ebert brings her lived experience as a Midwesterner into this review of Christman’s essay collection. (Disclosure: I founded the Chicago Review of Books five years ago, but handed over the keys in July 2019.)

“I have a deep and genuine love for Wisconsin, for rural supper clubs that always offer a choice between chicken soup or an iceberg lettuce salad, and for driving back, country roads that seemingly are endless. This love, though, is conflicting. How can I sing along to Waylon Jennings, Tanya Tucker, and Merle Haggard knowing that my current political views are in complete opposition to the lyrics I croon with a twang in my voice?”

Michael Schaub on Bryan Washington’s Memorial ( NPR )

How do you review a book you fall in love with? It’s one of the most challenging assignments a critic can tackle. But Schaub is a pro; he falls in love with a few books every year.

“Washington is an enormously gifted author, and his writing—spare, unadorned, but beautiful—reads like the work of a writer who’s been working for decades, not one who has yet to turn 30. Just like Lot, Memorial  is a quietly stunning book, a masterpiece that asks us to reflect on what we owe to the people who enter our lives.”

Mesha Maren on Fernanda Melchor’s Hurricane Season ( Southern Review of Books )

Maren opens with an irresistible comparison between Melchor’s irreverent novel and medieval surrealist art. (Another Disclosure: I founded the Southern Review of Books in early 2020.)

“Have you ever wondered what internal monologue might accompany the characters in a Hieronymus Bosch painting? What are the couple copulating upside down in the middle of that pond thinking? Or the man with flowers sprouting from his ass? Or the poor fellow being killed by a fire-breathing creature which is itself impaled upon a knife? I would venture to guess that their voices would sound something like the writing of Mexican novelist Fernanda Melchor.”

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The 13 Best Book Review Sites and Book Rating Sites

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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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Book Review: Brathwaite flexes his writing chops and expands Black literary canon with debut ‘Rage’

This cover image released by Tiny Reparations shows “Rage: On Being Queer, Black, Brilliant...and Completely Over It” by Lester Fabian Brathwaite. (Tiny Reparations via AP)

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There was a class at my university called Black Arts, Black Power. Lester Fabian Brathwaite’s “Rage” would fit snugly right into that syllabus.

With an extensive writing portfolio already under his belt working for publications like “Out,” Brathwaite’s debut book is part memoir, part academic review of culture and society, part philosophical musings of a queer Black millennial man who was born in Guyana and grew up in New York. It fits comfortably alongside the works of other greats to whom it pays homage, like Huey P. Newton, James Baldwin and Nina Simone — the latter being apparent by the book’s full title: “Rage: On Being Queer, Black, Brilliant ... and Completely Over It.”

No doubt Brathwaite is a great writer, but he’s also a great thinker.

In a chapter largely focused on muscular dysmorphia, he makes a shockingly persuasive — if bracingly cavalier — argument for bodily autonomy that invokes trans rights, women’s rights, drug use and bodybuilding.

“Rage” is conceptually heavy and multilayered, but with casual syntax and regular use of pop icons and common people, places and things as touchstones. At the same time, there’s a touch of high-brow, with several literary references and famous turns of phrases thoughtfully employed to bring new light to old ideas — and sometimes turn an idea on its head.

With a teaspoon of empathy and an open mind, you’ll find that any differences between the author and the reader melt away because the heart of what Brathwaite is saying is universal.

That said, “Rage” is anything but demure. The Table of Contents is peppered with profanities and even a chapter titled “I Hate the Gays.” Readers will either be turned off here before ever buying the book, or tempted to know more about this self-described “hateful child who grew into an even more hateful adult” — said, like most reflections in the book, with a protective layer of comedy around a kernel of truth.

But being off-putting is part of Brathwaite’s shtick, one readers have not only allowed but praised time and again with arguably more upsetting works (looking at you, “Lolita”).

Still, the writing can admittedly be annoyingly abrasive, like with its overuse of the f-slur and other choices that I personally didn’t love. But in the end, Brathwaite really grew on me. He wholeheartedly owns these pieces of himself. He reclaims words and is ready to live wildly, make mistakes and then grow from them.

And the tender moments hit harder for it, whether Brathwaite is describing his mother’s burial on his 14th birthday or the fifth-grade teacher who took him to Boston for being her top student.

Is “Rage” a little thick? Yes, at times, for sure. But it’s more like academic-lite, broken up with comedic relief, romantic exploits and, as Brathwaite loves to say, debauchery. If you find the starting pace a bit slow, rest assured it ramps up — quickly.

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Book Review: Ragnar Jonasson channels Agatha Christie in his latest puzzle mystery

Icelandic author Ragnar Jonasson loves Agatha Christie’s mysteries, so it’s no surprise that his latest, “Death at the Sanitorium,” contains the intricate plotting and startling twists Christie was known for

Law professor and investment banker Ragnar Jonasson loves Agatha Christie’s puzzle mysteries so much that, starting at the age of 17, he translated more than a dozen of them into his native Icelandic.

It should come as no surprise, then, that most of his own mysteries, 13 in all, have the same intricate plotting, multiple red herrings and startling twists that Christie was known for. This is certainly true of his latest, “Death at the Sanatorium.”

Three decades ago, in a small town in northern Iceland, a nurse at a former tuberculosis sanitorium turned medical research facility was tortured and brutally murdered. Police initially identified five suspects, but when one of them, the chief physician, plunged to his death from a hospital balcony, the case was closed. The physician, the police concluded, committed suicide after killing the nurse.

Thirty years later, young Helgi Reykdal, curious about what modern scientific police methods might have brought to the case, makes it the subject of his college criminology thesis and starts digging into the past. He knocks on the doors of people who had once worked at the research facility. He seeks out police who had investigated the case and the suspects they had exonerated.

To his surprise, his inquiries are greeted with fear, suspicion and lies. Clearly, he realizes, something is amiss.

Before long, what began as an academic exercise turns into a full-blown reinvestigation of the old case. The tension mounts as people Helgi interviews are themselves murdered in an apparent attempt to bury the truth.

Helgi, it turned out, is the son of a man who once owned a mystery bookshop. Like his creator, Jonasson, he admires classical murder mysteries. He often reads them to escape the torment of his mentally ill and often violent wife, who provides the novel’s final twist.

“Death at the Sanatorium” was originally written in Icelandic and was translated into English by Victoria Cribb. She relies on too many clichés (the crack of dawn, wheat from the chaff, throwing in the towel, etc.), but otherwise does a fine job of preserving the tone and crisp style of Jonasson’s prose.

Bruce DeSilva, winner of the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Award, is the author of the Mulligan crime novels including “The Dread Line.”

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I currently use Amazon and Goodreads where I see reviews for books that aren't even out yet or reviews that read like they are straight from the publisher. I suppose there really is no way to stop the guerilla marketing tactics and fanboy reviews but surely there are sources that take a genuine interest in prohibiting these type of reviews.

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Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

• New book tells the story of 16 Catholic heroes of civil and human rights

The authors of a new book profiling 16 holy men and women who championed civil and human rights want readers to know: You can be a saint.

“Most importantly, they should understand that every single person, through the power of God, can do the things that these men and women did,” Matthew Daniels, coauthor of “Catholic Heroes of Civil and Human Rights: 1800s to Present,” said during a virtual book launch Sept. 9.

Daniels, a distinguished professor of law, political science and human rights at Anderson University in Anderson, South Carolina, and founder of the human dignity advocacy group Good of All, together with coauthor Roxanne King, former editor of the Denver Catholic Register and a freelance writer, spoke about the book at the virtual event held ahead of its Sept. 13 release.

More than 100 people registered for the hour-long event that took place on the 40th anniversary of the publication of a pastoral letter by U.S. Black Catholic bishops as a witness to Black American communities called “What We Have Seen and Heard.” It also marked the feast day of St. Peter Claver, a Jesuit priest who ministered to Africans under slavery, and advocated for their human dignity, during the 17th century in Cartagena, Colombia.

The event featured a panel about the book, which tells the stories of 16 Catholics who advanced civil and human rights while dedicating their lives to God. They include St. Teresa of Calcutta, St. Katharine Drexel, St. Oscar Romero, Blessed Franz Jägerstätter, Venerable Augustus Tolton, Venerable Pierre Toussaint, Servant of God Dorothy Day, Servant of God Nicholas Black Elk and Servant of God Thea Bowman.

Daniels and King spoke during the panel moderated by Kathryn Jean Lopez, senior fellow at the National Review Institute and editor-at-large of National Review, which included Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers, a Catholic author and speaker known as the “Dynamic Deacon;” Christopher Pichon, the supreme knight and CEO of the Knights of Peter Claver, and Father Maurice Henry Sands, executive director of the Black and Indian Mission Office and a priest of the Archdiocese of Detroit.

The book published by Ignatius Press draws from church documents and presents the stories of holy men and women in sections organized by the natural law pillars of freedom, perseverance, hope, justice and conscience.

“Each of them in their unique ways in different eras, ranging from the birth of the United States to World War II Germany to the current Latin American immigration crisis, courageously advanced civil and human rights, transformed lives and paved the way for a more equitable society,” King told OSV News ahead of the event.

“My hope,” she said, “is that they may inspire readers to be the light in this world God desires and to realize their own call to holiness.”

The book boasts the endorsements of several Catholic leaders, including Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles; Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila of Denver; retired Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia; Danielle M. Brown, director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism; and Mary Ann Glendon, the Learned Hand Professor of Law, emerita, at Harvard University and a former U.S. ambassador to the Holy See.

Daniels expressed his excitement over the endorsements and hoped that the book would educate Americans.

“It is a shame that most Americans — including many Catholics — do not know the true and inspiring stories of most of the men and women profiled in our book,” he told OSV News ahead of the event.

During the panel, the participants discussed their favorite saints in the book while stressing the importance of making these lives known.

“People don’t appreciate all the gifts that the Catholic Church and the heroes of the Catholic Church have given us, especially contemporary (heroes),” Lopez said, calling the book a blessing.

Deacon Burke-Sivers revealed that his mother, a convert to the Catholic faith, wanted him and his siblings to have positive role models and introduced them to saints of color.

“We need to get this book in the hands of Catholic schools so that when they’re learning about our Catholic faith and the history, they get a full spectrum of the church,” he said.

The legacy of saints lives on today, Pichon said. He spoke about how the Knights of Peter Claver, a historically Black Catholic fraternal organization, serves with a focus on social justice and strives to transform the world by modeling their patron saint.

Daniels hoped that readers remember that “the story of civil rights is really a story of people of faith.” He and the other panelists also emphasized that saints are accessible as regular people.

“I think it’s a mistake that we sometimes make to put saints up on pedestals and treat them as if they’re superheroes,” Daniels said. “When you read these stories, what you’re going to find is that they were broken people with doubts; they struggled; they had setbacks; and they overcame by the power of God.”

Father Sands agreed, saying that when people look at the lives of remarkable people, it’s easy to think that they’re very gifted and that they lived charmed lives.

“But if you really read … about the lives of people who lived saintly lives, you’re able to see that actually a big part of how their life is (is) carrying the cross, sharing in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,” he said.

“It’s our response to the crosses that are presented in our lives,” he said, “that enable us to really make a difference.”

A link to the book “Catholic Heroes of Civil and Human Rights: 1800s to Present” is available here: https://ignatius.com/catholic-heroes-of-civil-and-human-rights-chchrp/ 

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A few weeks ago, I heard a report on NPR’s “Weekend Edition” about efforts to bring more books into the Los Angeles County Jail . It was an interesting story in its own right, but the tidbit that has stuck with me was a detail at the very end, about the kinds of books that donors aren’t allowed to give: no hardbacks (presumably they could be used as weapons), no porn (to avoid inflaming the passions, I guess?) and — the real kicker — no romance novels for the male inmates, although they’re fine for the women.

I would love to hear the rationale for this decision, which feels completely arbitrary on the one hand and, on the other, hauntingly resonant with book-banning battles playing out elsewhere at the moment, insofar as it starts from the premise that certain kinds of books are inherently dangerous for certain kinds of readers.

As it happens, one book that would almost certainly be forbidden in the Los Angeles County Jail was itself originally written in prison: the Marquis de Sade’s notoriously filthy novel “120 Days of Sodom.” This week we recommend a fascinating history of the book’s creation and its subsequent fate — “ The Curse of the Marquis de Sade, ” by Joel Warner — along with Joseph Earl Thomas’s coming-of-age memoir and a host of new fiction, including novels by Jenny Jackson , Donal Ryan and Jessica George . Happy reading.

—Gregory Cowles

PINEAPPLE STREET Jenny Jackson

Jackson’s smart, dishy debut novel embeds readers in an upper-crust Brooklyn Heights family — its real estate, its secrets, its just-like-you-and-me problems (which threaten to weaken the clan’s stiffest upper lip). Does money buy happiness? “Pineapple Street” asks a better question: Does it buy honesty?

“This is an unabashedly old-fashioned story involving wills, trust funds, prenups and property — lots of property. ... Jackson’s characters are admirably complex.”

From Jean Hanff Korelitz’s review

Pamela Dorman | $28

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