Pick Up Some New Releases This Week
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.
The Best New Book Releases Out February 18, 2025
In new books this week, there’s The Portable Feminist Reader, edited by Roxane Gay—a collection of the feminist canon, in all its scholarly, historical, and even contradictory glory. YA readers have the very intriguing Unhallowed Halls by Lili Wilkinson, which is a Scottish dark academia replete with demons.
The other new books that should be on your radar include a spicy/fun alien romp, a Carmilla retelling set against the backdrop of the Industrial Revolution, an unsettling and exploratory collection of South Korean short stories, and more.
Black Historical Fiction to Read With Your Book Club
Speaking of fresh, the books I’ve rounded up below are just a few of the newest historical fiction releases featuring Black women and girls—from a real-life opera singer to the story of Queen Victoria’s Nigerian Princess goddaughter.
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8 New Sapphic Romance Books Out in 2025
This list includes F/F romances as well as a few F/NB (nonbinary) romances. They’re mostly contemporary, but there are a couple of historical romances thrown in, too. As for tropes, there are friends-to-lovers, enemies-to-lovers, and two different takes on second-chance romance. There are new books by big names in sapphic romance, like Ashley Herring Blake’s newest, as well as authors who are writing adult sapphic romance for the first time, like Jasmine Guillory.
5 Spectacular SFF Books with Spies
Hello, book lovers! Recently, people have been telling me I need to watch the British spy show Black Doves, with Keira Knightley and Ben Whishaw, which hit Netflix a few months ago. While I haven’t taken this advice—but I still plan to watch it eventually!—it did get me thinking about spies and double agents in science fiction and fantasy. With political intrigue and war a part of so many sci-fi and fantasy books, there are a ton of spies to talk about. These are five that I think you’ll really enjoy. The spies in these books are all ultimately good, because the kingdom/organization/despots in the stories need to be brought down! And remember, it’s not considered tattling if you call yourself a spy!
A Tender Graphic Novel About a Queer Teen Vampire
When you’re young and crushing and (avoiding) blood-sucking, what’s a teen vampire to do? For that middle grade reader in your life, who might be wading into the uncharted and uncertain waters of attraction and self-searching, here’s a graphic novel you should absolutely check out. Read on for a cover reveal of First Kiss with Fangs, where cinnamon roll Ivan sorts out his feelings for classmate Damien—and keep scrolling for an excerpt where Ivan tries to bounce back from a challenging day only to stumble into an awkward moment with Damien.
