The Finalists for the 2025 Hugo Awards Are…
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.
These are the Finalists for the 2025 Hugo Awards
The Hugo Awards are one of the biggest and longest-running sci-fi and fantasy awards, and through the years, they’ve been plagued with controversy. This year seems to be smooth sailing so far, though, and they’ve just announced the finalists for the 2025 Hugo Awards, Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book, and Astounding Award for Best New Writer.These are the Finalists for the 2025 Hugo Awards
Still Holding On: NEVER LET ME GO by Kazuo Ishiguro is 20 Years Old!
It’s time to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, one of the best books of the 21st century! It seems impossible, but 2005 was two decades ago now. It’s when Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast of the US, the first video was uploaded to YouTube, “We Belong Together” by Mariah Carey topped the music charts, and much-lauded author Kazuo Ishiguro released his sixth novel, Never Let Me Go, a work of dystopian beauty and sadness.
Whether you are a huge fan of the book or have never read it before, read on to learn more! There are no spoilers, I promise.
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12 Must-Read New Queer Books Out in April 2025
This is a great year for new queer books, and April is no exception. While May and June are shaping up to be the biggest months for queer releases—just in time for Pride month—some of my most anticipated titles of the year come out in the next few weeks.
12 Book Club Picks For April 2025
There is something for every reading taste this month: a poetry collection for poetry month; a debut novel written by a poet that was on all the Best of Lists of 2024; a sci-fi book-within-a-book by a Hugo and Nebula award-winning author; a dystopian that could not feel more relevant; an SAT tutor on the run after discovering a murdered couple; a great satire; a novel about a lost hiker in the wilds of Maine; a genre-bending story about sisters over centuries; a London set novel about love and ambition; and a “You’ve Got Mail-esquse romance”.
The Best New Book Releases Out April 8, 2025
Speaking of new books, there are a lot of notable ones coming out this season. Hail Mary by Funmi Fetto is a short story collection that explores “the complexities of African diasporic womanhood,” for starters. Mahjong: House Rules from Across the Asian Diaspora by Nicole Wong also takes a look at diasporic adaptations, this time Asian, and this time as they relate to the game of Mahjong.
A History and Future of School Librarianship
School librarians for me, and hopefully for many of you, were prominent figures in my childhood. I remember the competitions we had to read as many books as possible, which included one of the prizes being a picture of me hung in the library with my favorite book. I remember the reading quizzes, the research projects, the large shining plastic bins in each classroom where we could drop our returns each morning.
But when did librarians start working in schools and how has their role changed since then?
A Found Family Space Romp
If you love a good mystery and books set in space, I’ve got the author for you today. I’ve read and loved both of the two novels this author has published, and a third book out this fall sounds like it’s deep in my wheelhouse as well. The book I’m recommending today is a space romp–a final heist space romp, to be specific, and boy, do I love heist fiction. You’ve got your colorful cast of characters, each with their own motives (some hidden, some obvious) for taking the big risk one last time, each with their specific skills. Not everyone gets along, and the clashes are as interesting as the friendships.
