Today in Books

All The News Book Riot Covered This Week

Jeff O'Neal

CEO and co-founder

Jeff O'Neal is the executive editor of Book Riot and Panels. He also co-hosts The Book Riot Podcast. Follow him on Twitter: @thejeffoneal.

Here on Today in Books, we round-up book news from around the web. But on Sundays, we recap the book news we covered ourselves on Book Riot. Pretty busy week.

The Literary Landscape and Response to the Los Angeles Wildfires: Book Censorship News, January 24, 2025

This is also part survey of what has and has not survived the fires, based on reports coming out of the area. And, of course, in the spirit of literary activism, this is part compilation of the fundraisers related to the literary world, including places where you can donate money or bid on an array of donated goods to help the people of L.A. get back on their feet.

The Most Read Books on Goodreads This Week

This week, the top four most read books on Goodreads are identical to last week—but we do have a new title that’s broken into the top five! Last week, Quicksilver by Callie Hart took the #5 spot, but now it’s been overtaken by The Wedding People by Alison Espach. The Wedding People has been in the top ten for many weeks, but I’m not sure why it has had a boost in readership this week. It came out in July and was a Read with Jenna pick in August, but I can’t seem to find any additional publicity recently. It may have just accumulated enough word-of-mouth recommendations to give it that bump!

RISE: The Annual Best Feminist Books for Children, Tweens, and Teens List Is Here

One list produced each year since 2002 is RISE: A Feminist Book Project. Formerly called the Amelia Bloomer List, the list was reimagined as the RISE project in 2019. Librarians who create the list are members of the Feminist Task Force and/or the Social Responsibilities Round Table of the American Library Association. Their decision to rename the award came because they saw it the duty of library workers to pursue correcting inequities, something that Bloomer in her era did not model. You can and should read more about that decision on the RISE website.

Check Out The 2025 National Book Critics Circle Finalists

The National Book Critics Circle is a nonprofit that serves a wide range of those involved in literary criticism. This includes professional reviewers, bloggers, publishing professionals, and more. It was founded in April 1974 at the Algonquin Hotel with the intent of taking the Algonquin round table discussions to a national level.

The Bestselling Books of the Week, According to All the Lists

Lately, the bestseller lists have had radically different ideas of the bestselling books of the moment. This week, though, they seem to finally be in alignment again. There are four titles are all five bestseller lists, so we can be confident those are the biggest books of the moment. One of those is The Housemaid by Freida McFadden, which had been sliding down the bestseller lists, but has had a boost lately. That may be because of recent news about the adaptation, which will star Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried.

Check Out The Finalists for the 2025 Edgar Awards

The judging panels for the Edgar Awards are comprised of members throughout the Mystery Writers Association and represent every region of the country, each subcategory of the genre being judged, and from every demographic to ensure as much representation as possible. Despite this, the majority of nominees in each category for this year are books by white authors. 

Here are the nominees in several of the Edgar Award categories this year.

Here Are the Titles Selected for the 4th Year of the Science + Literature Program

Each year since its inception, the program has honored three books—one fiction, one nonfiction, and one poetry title—that deepen our understanding of science and technology. The books’ authors are awarded $10,000 each, celebrated at a ceremony in March, and featured in national public programming. To qualify, books must have been published in English by US publishers within the last three years. Winners are chosen by a committee that operates independently of the National Book Foundation staff.

Here Are The Finalists for Best Audiobooks of the Year

While the Audies focus on the audiobook itself, judging each title for its performance, direction, production, and content, the titles rounding out this year’s finalists in several categories lack in diversity. There are several categories that offer no books written by authors of color, History/Biography (which is also a slate made up entirely of male-identifying authors), Mystery, and Science Fiction. That doesn’t mean other categories lack representation nor that the performers and production teams are not inclusive; it is, however, important to point out that the range of stories can often continue to uplift those with more privilege.