Must-Read Under the Radar Historical Fiction
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 Historical Fiction Books You Haven’t Read
So, how many of you are reading this post to see if you have in fact read any of the books mentioned in it? Welcome! Either you have excellent taste, if you have in fact read any of them, or you’re about to add a lot of books to your TBR. It’s a win-win situation! It’s not possible to actually know what every single person in the world has or hasn’t read, so this list is based on the books’ low number of Goodreads rating.
We all know that there are SO many books in the world, and we will only ever be able to read a very small fraction of them. (*SOB*) But getting to read any amount of books is an incredible, positive addition to our lives. And just like we can’t read every book, we also can’t hear about every book. That’s why these lists exist—to help amazing books find new readers!
Politics Can Now Dictate Public Library Collections in Three States, Per Fifth Circuit Ruling
In an en blanc panel opinion, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Friday, May 23, 2025, that the First Amendment cannot be used to challenge book removals in three U.S. states. The majority ruling held that library books are government speech and thus, not subject to the Free Speech clause. This was the first loss to the Leila Green Little, et al. v. Llano County, et al. case, where a group of library patrons in Llano County, Texas, sued on the grounds their First Amendment Rights to information and access were curtailed when 17 books were removed in the Llano County Public Library based on their contents.
The Current and Future State of BookTok
Indeed, it almost seems impossible to compare the state of book marketing before the onset of TikTok’s popularity. Walk into any bookstore in the year 2025 and you will find a table, most likely front and centre, displaying BookTok’s most popular titles at any given moment. While much of this literary marketing via TikTok is attributed to pandemic lockdowns and people reading more while stuck at home, BookTok is still considered “the dark horse of the economy” according to at least one source.
5 Best Mystery & Thriller Beach Reads Of All Time!
Welcome to Beach Read season! What does that mean? Probably something slightly different to every reader as we enter the summer season in the US and many people take vacations, pop out to the pool, beach, or participate more in outdoor activities. While relaxing and stretching out with a good book and a cold drink, many readers want something that will be absorbing, fun, and that they can put down and pick up as they try and de-stress and be one with the spirit of summer.
To ring in the season, Book Riot put together The Best Beach Reads of All Time list, with everyone shouting many of their all-time favorites. I’m sharing a few of my fellow Book Riot writers’ mystery and thriller selections, and I thought I’d also add a couple more of my own.
The 1970s “Filipino Invasion” of Comics
The comic book industry has a reputation for being made up of overwhelmingly, or even exclusively, straight white men until very recently. There’s truth to that, of course—comics are very straight, white, and male even today, especially superhero comics—but this received wisdom also sometimes erases the very real historical presence of other demographics.
For example, despite two decades of reading comics, I only recently learned about the so-called “Filipino Invasion” of the 1970s: an influx of talent from the Philippines into the American comic book market, particularly at DC. This was kicked off by the immensely talented Tony DeZuñiga, co-creator of cult favorites Jonah Hex and Black Orchid, who started as an inker at DC in 1970 before working his way up to penciling.
