Our Most Popular Stories of the Week
Welcome to The Best of Book Riot. Here’s your weekend highlight reel of the week’s most popular stories.
The Best-Selling Historical Fiction Books of All Time
Historical fiction can cover real events, reimagine the lives of historical figures, and help us understand humanity then and now. Today, the best sellers of historical fiction range from classics to family sagas and romantic epics. But what makes an all-time best seller? Time. Many of the historical fiction best sellers have been in print for decades, with more people reading and sharing them constantly. Universal stories of love, redemption, identity, and struggle appeal to all kinds of readers.
What historical fiction novels from the last 10-20 years do you think will become all-time best sellers? Books like Pachinko and Homegoing are on my list. In the meantime, these all-time best sellers are still waiting to be read, in no particular order.
The Best New Book Releases Out March 11, 2025
I noticed a mini pattern this week while I was looking for new releases and started to wonder if there was some mid-March witchy memo I didn’t get. There is everything from witchy nonfiction (The Story of Witches: Witchcraft, magic and the Occult by Willow Winsha) to fantasy (The Witch Who Trades with Death by C.M. Alongi, The Anatomy of Magic by J.C. Cervantes) to romantasy (Homegrown Magic by Jamie Pacton, Rebecca Podos) coming out this week. There’s even an Irish mythology-inspired book with Big Witch Energy (The Winter Goddess by Megan Barnard). Can’t say that I’m mad at it.
5 Splendid Science Fiction Detective Novels
“DUNE, DUNE. In the criminal justice solar system…” Paging Doctor Whodunit! (Yes, that’s two pop culture references in one line.) Inspired by the mystery of the missing sock in my house this past weekend (which I solved!), this post contains five great science fiction mysteries! Sci-fi mysteries are like regular mysteries, except the detectives might not be human, or the mystery happens on another planet, or some other exciting thing that doesn’t happen in real life. Which means even more possibilities!
12 Book Club Picks for March 2025 To Start Your Spring Reading
Welcome to spring and a new round of “what did the book clubs select this month”! I have a roundup of selections from a bunch of great book clubs which are all very different from each other but all have at least a virtual component.
This month’s fiction selections: a romance that takes you into the world of podcasting (from an NPR host!); a sweeping saga over 6 decades of Chinese history; a literary debut centering a what-could-be-world with reparations; a near future set sci-fi where dreams are surveilled; a second-chance romcom; a banned YA graphic novel; a multigenerational novel about three friends; a deadly magic dark academia; a twisty suspense; and a genre mix with a love triangle and courtroom drama.
Hunger Games Prequel SUNRISE ON THE REAPING is Out Soon! Here’s What You Need to Know
Sunrise on the Reaping is finally coming out on March 18. Suzanne Collins’s last Hunger Games prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, was so widely loved and hyped. But if you can believe it, there’s even more excitement surrounding the latest in the Hunger Games series, most likely because it centers around one of the series’ most beloved characters, Haymitch Abernathy. But what can we expect from this highly-anticipated entry into the world of the Hunger Games? Here’s everything you need to know!
