Seven New Genre-Blending Books Out in June 2025
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.
7 New Genre-Blending Books Out in June 2025
Whether you’re looking for something that mixes mystery and romance, sci-fi and horror, spy thriller and romance, or literary and paranormal, I have the new releases for you.
BIPOC Beach Reads
For the past little while, we’ve had staff and contributing writers nominate, vote for, and write about what we think are the best beach reads ever. We recently released the list as our contribution to the list of summer season reading. Below is a sampling of the BIPOC books on the list, with descriptions written by our Executive Director of content, Sharifah Williams, and yours truly.
19 June Romance Reads to Ring in Summer
But we’re all used to that, so let’s crank up the AC or open the windows and sit down to read some of the absolute bangers set to come out this month. For the most part, they’re all contemporary, but a few are Contemporary Plus, with a bit of fantasy or science fiction built in. There’s also some historical romance (which is not dead, thank you very much). There are comedies and dark stories, familiar names and potential new friends.
Start Summer With 18 New Mystery, Thrillers & True Crime for June 2025
There is absolutely something here for every crime reader, no matter the subgenre, tropes, age, or tone you’re looking for. You want a funny mystery? I got you! You want an epic crime drama? Coming right up! There’s also a Japanese nod to the Golden Age of Mystery, amateur sleuths, journalists, missing persons, cold cases, elite boarding schools, family secrets, historical, cozy, and so much more.
A Read for Journalers, Aspiring Journalers, or Anyone Who Likes a Good Story
Today’s book recommendation is for the journalers, the aspirational journalers, and folks who just like to hear a good story. I am a journaler in my heart; that is, I have journaling aspirations. I have failed dozens of times over the years to form a journaling habit, though I do write a newsletter regularly, so it kind of depends on your definition of journaling. Personally, I do not count it as actual journaling for myself. I’ve tried free-writing, prompts, guided journals, morning pages, you name it. Like many folks, I’ve built up in my mind what I think journaling should be and today’s recommendation has opened me up to new journaling possibilities. I had a lot of reservations going into this read and I ended up enjoying it immensely.
13 Great New Children’s Books Out in June 2025
There’s also plenty of great stories for middle grade readers, particularly in the mystery genre. Whether it’s a murder mystery with a comedy edge, or a historical mystery about family and music, there’s a story out there for budding young sleuths to puzzle through. We also have stories with a touch of fantasy, whether it’s the tale of tiny people living in shells in the sea, or a clumsy yeti causing chaos for a young boy on summer break. For fans of classic children’s literature, June also sees the publication of an Alice in Wonderland retelling with a World War One twist that is bound to enchant readers. Whatever their tastes, young readers will find something for them in June’s crop of fantastic children’s books.
Deal of the Day
We round up the best ebook deals we can find over at Book Riot Deals every day. Let me double curate by picking one of those picks to highlight: the new novel from recently minted Nobel Laureate for Literature Han Kang’s We Do Not Part. Rebecca and I were pretty gaga for it on the BR pod and scoop it up for $1.99 on Kindle (and probably other ebook places if you go elsewhere.
