The State of State Library Closures
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.
We’ve Staved Off State Library Closure Measures–For Now
Three states floated legislation this year that directly targeted the future of their state libraries. State libraries, as more folks have come to understand thanks to the dismantling of the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) at the federal level, help their local and regional level libraries in a variety of ways. Each state library operates differently, just as each state librarian is appointed, elected, or hired differently (in Illinois, for example, the Secretary of State is also the State Librarian). But ultimately, state libraries distribute funds to public libraries under their umbrella, provide programming and professional development, offer consulting and legal counsel, negotiate vendor contracts, and more. They are an authority accessible to smaller libraries, even if they do not oversee the day-to-day at any of these libraries.
Where to Start Reading About Disability
As someone who shares a lot of my experience as a neurodivergent disabled person, I recommend many books about disability. So much so that someone recently asked me, “But where should I actually start?!” If you’re in the same boat, here are a few of my most recommended titles.
Black Vampire Books to Read After You’ve Seen SINNERS in Theaters 3 Times Already
So we can all agree that Sinners is the best movie of 2025 so far. Ryan Coogler’s historical horror film, starring Michael B. Jordan (two times!), Hailee Steinfeld, Miles Caton, Jack O’Connell, and Wunmi Mosaku, is breaking box office records left and right. It’s also currently sitting at an impressive 98% Fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Critics are praising the film’s accomplishments, and fans are returning to theaters to see the film over and over again. But what do you do after you’ve seen this vampire movie multiple times in theaters and are still thirsty for more? Here are three vampire novels by Black authors that you should read.
Our Biggest Superhero Movie Pet Peeves
For all the talk of superhero fatigue and formulaic films — and I don’t necessarily disagree with any of it — superhero movies remain incredibly popular and are still among my favorite films to watch and rewatch. The action! The bombast! The pathetic attempts to turn it into a Serious Genre for Serious Adults instead of acknowledging it’s all kind of silly! Aren’t superhero movies great?!
Or, some of them are. Others…well, they can’t all be Winter Soldier or Lego Batman.
Based on my own experiences and some very passionate feedback from my fellow Book Riot writers, here are the superhero film tropes that we could do without. There will be spoilers, but most of the movies I discuss are several years old at least, so hopefully I’m not ruining anyone’s day.
This Cozy Mystery Will Make You Laugh Out Loud
Cozy mysteries are the best. They somehow manage to take murder and turn it into the readerly equivalent of a giant fuzzy blanket. One of my all-time favorite cozy mysteries is Jesse Q. Sutanto’s 2023 novel Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers. I’ll be the first to admit that when I found out Sutanto was releasing a second book in the Vera Wong series, I was worried. After all, the first book was so good! And I thought it was meant to be a standalone mystery, so wasn’t expecting a second book at all. Then along came Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping (On a Dead Man).
