There is no doubt that Japanese literature has been one of the outstanding successes for British bookshops in recent years: almost half of the best-selling translated fiction titles in 2024 were from Japan. Most Japanese fiction translated into English fits into broad categories – cats, crime, coffee shops – but one surprising bestseller stands alone.
Edna Bonhomme is the author of Caring for our wounds: an expatriate memoirOut now from Haymarket Books. Below, she recommends three must-read books about colonialism. All empires suffer from the possibility of their collapse. For the marginalized people born and raised in the midst of empires, some plot and hope for their demise. As someone
The beach is read as a concept that means a lot of different things to different people. You can clearly see this in Book Riot’s list of the best beach books of all time, which ranges from thrillers to historical epics. My favorite tongue-in-cheek definition of beach reading is exactly as it’s described: a book
Since 2006, the Center for Fiction has been highlighting the best debut novels of the year through its First Novel Award. This year’s 180 eligible titles were published in the US between January 1 and December 31, and were narrowed down to 19 books by more than 500 authors, librarians, booksellers and others. The shortlist
Matthew Medney is the author of The Existential Equation: What’s the Cost of Humanity?Now off Gungnir. Below, he recommends three thought-provoking science fiction novels. Leaving you stunned… wondering about what could have been… dreaming of a radical change in reality… These are the feelings that all great science fiction should leave you with. Want more,
essential story By Eloghosa Osunde (Queer Fiction) (Paperback Release) new people by Andrea Uptmore (lesbian fiction) while the world slept Iwa by Gerald Onyebuchi (queer short stories) american dreamer (M/M Romance) by Adriana Herrera (Re-release) American fairy tale (M/M Romance) by Adriana Herrera (Re-release) home court advantage By Kimani Mae (F/F Sports Romance) Duneen by
In August 2021, I could not study. I had just had a miscarriage—my second within six months—and every time I picked up a novel, I would become disoriented, the words jumbled up, almost incomprehensible. I complained about this to a friend of mine. “I don’t know what to do,” I said. “It’s like my brain
I have to admit that what is classified as “literary fiction” is a bit slippery. We’ve teased the meaning a bit before, and the consensus among many in the book world is that literature emphasizes prose, character development, and thematic depth. Still, there’s also the argument that this applies to many books, which is my
Every month, Book Riot rounds up the most exciting new science-fiction and fantasy releases of the year. But to be fair, science fiction is often overshadowed by fantasy in the SFF realm. So, we’ve combed through all those new release round-ups to highlight just the science fiction titles in this collection: The Greatest Science Fiction
Author and poet Rebecca Perry has won the 2026 Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize for May We Feed the King, which has been praised as a “delicious and dreamlike story”. Selected from a shortlist of six novellas, May We Feed the King is the story of a present-day curator whose job it is to decorate rooms