20 of the Best Places to Visit…Through Books
Welcome to The Best of Book Riot, our daily round-up of what’s on offer across our site, newsletters, podcasts, and social channels. Not everything is for everyone, but there is something for everyone.
20 of the Best Places to Visit Through Books
As readers as in life, we cultivate preferences, tastes, and biases for and against this or that, and we’re prone to dismissing books that don’t promise more of what we know and love. Sure, we don’t have all the time in the world to get halfway through a stack of books only to DNF most of them, but if you’ve fallen into a slump–a sort of reading ennui where every book reads stale–maybe it’s time to try something new. If you love immersing yourself in worlds, real or imagined, a setting can give you just enough to pique your curiosity without pushing bias to full throttle. And, hey, if you’re participating in the 2025 Read Harder Challenge, this completes Task #9: Read a book based solely on its setting.
The Best Crime Fiction of 2025 So Far
It’s time for a new round of what’s happening in the world of mystery! As always, there’s plenty of adaptation news, and also a Maureen Johnson cover reveal, a Best Of list, and more.
The Best BIPOC Books Out This Week
Now for the most notable BIPOC books out this week. There is a dark social media thriller, a weird horror/mystery, a Ghanaian heiress romance, and a historical merman romance (!).
This Year’s Los Angeles Times Book Prize Winners
The winners of this year’s Los Angeles Times Book Prizes were announced over the weekend. The Book Prizes were founded in 1980, and they honor books published in English in the prior year. Judges come from a wide range of backgrounds, including authors, librarians, journalists, and academics.
10 Fabulous Picture Books Celebrating Neurodivergent Kids
Neurodivergent kids need to see themselves in books, but neurotypical kids need this window into the lives of their peers just as much. Neurodivergence is an umbrella term for anyone who processes information in a way that is not typical for their age. It’s not a diagnosis in and of itself, but can refer to conditions that include autism, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), dyslexia, and dyspraxia. This is not a complete list, and we’re learning more about neurodivergence all the time. Not long ago, care for neurodivergent kids centered around teaching them to conform to neurotypical patterns of seeing the world. Thankfully, as our understanding grows, best practice has shifted to coping mechanisms and highlighting strengths, as opposed to marking differences as deficits.
Just Trust Me When I Say This Book Has Some Bangers
Today’s book recommendation is a substantial read, clocking in at over 670 pages. This is not a book to read all in one go; it’s one to return to, read a section, then ruminate for a while. I remember getting readers from my college professors, and looking back, I don’t think I appreciated them enough for the wealth of content and information they provided, as well as the huge amount of labor they probably took to compile. Yes, please, someone collect the most quintessential essays and excerpts I need to read to get a solid understanding of a subject or concept. That today’s book recommendation is regular book price and not textbook price is an absolute steal. There are so many subjects now that I would pay real money for a reader of, and this is one of them.
5 Books to Recommend to Anyone Who Says “There Are No Good Sapphic Romances”
As a sapphic rom-com author, the first thing I want to do in this situation is light my phone on fire. And not just out of personal offense! There are SO. MANY. WONDERFUL. SAPPHIC. ROMANCES. Claiming they don’t exist is not indicative of the options available; it only shows that you’re not really trying to find these stories. Or it shows that your internalized misogyny has made it impossible for you to appreciate a story about two women finding a happy ending with no men involved. Honestly, I’m sad for you.
