famous book reviewers

10 Literary critics you should know about

BY Lucy Middleton

18th Jan 2019 Book Reviews

These book lovers (and sometimes haters) are the people to follow for a well-rounded and intellectually stimulating view of literature 

Ever finished a book and immediately wanted to google all its hidden symbolism and meanings online? Without a book club or a GCSE English classroom it can be hard to satisfy our thirst for answers, especially if the author prefers to leave things ambiguous. 

Enter literary critics, who have been interpreting the world’s greatest novels since Daniel Defoe first put pen to paper. Here are ten critics to remember¬—but don’t expect everything they say to be nice…

Harold Bloom

Where best to begin than perhaps the most famous literary critic of them all? New Yorker Harold Bloom was born in 1930 and has analysed everyone from Wordsworth to Shakespeare, even writing a literary appreciation of the Bible and naming Jonah as his favourite book. According to Bloom, Jesus was a “major literary character.”

Bloom has written over 40 books, half of which are works of literary criticism. He joined the Yale English Department in 1955 and is still a professor of the subject, also teaching at New York University at the impressive age of 88.

So what’s the secret to his success? The legendary critic previously told the HuffPost that he remembers everything he has ever read. Unfortunately for him this presumably includes Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone , which he didn’t seem too crazy about. When answering the question “Why read it?” he answered, “Presumably, if you cannot be persuaded to read anything better, Rowling will have to do.” 

Michiko Kakutani

Michiko Kakutani is the Queen of Mean in literary criticism. The Japanese American was formerly the chief book critic at the New York Times and even won a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1998. She has been known to write reviews in the voice of characters such as Elle Woods from Legally Blonde or Brian Griffin from Family Guy before retiring in 2017. 

So how harsh is she? In 2006 Kakutani called Jonathan Franzen’s memoir The Discomfort Zone “an odious self-portrait of the artist as a young jackass: petulant, pompous, obsessive, selfish and overwhelmingly self-absorbed”. The Witches of Eastwick by John Updike was labelled “magical mumbo jumbo” and “cringe-making” and she even fell out with author Norman Mailer after calling his novel The Gospel According to the Sun “a silly, self-important and at times inadvertently comical book”.

But in fairness, the novels Kakutani enjoys are heaped with praise. Don Delillo’s Underworld was a “dazzling, phosphorescent work of art”, while Franzen seemingly redeemed himself with Freedom , which she said was written in “visceral and lapidary” prose.

Andrew Lang  

If you like folklore and fairy tales, Scottish critic Andrew Lang is essential reading. Born in Selkirk in 1844, he was obsessed with mythology and oral history long before he began studying at St Andrews, Glasgow and Oxford Universities. He’s best remembered for publishing a collections of stories for children between 1889 and 1913, known as the Langs’ Fairy Books . 

A self-branded “psycho-folklorist”, Lang was particularly fascinated with the journeys behind well-known stories, analysing how one tale could appear to have origins all over the world. He would ask questions such as: At what point does the tale of Cinderella stop being the same story, if it is altered to fit new cultural surroundings each time it is retold? 

Some might say the presence of two ugly stepsisters or a glass slipper is crucial to the tale. But Lang wrote that it was “a person in a mean or obscure position, [that] by means of supernatural assistance, makes a good marriage”—something we still describe as a “Cinderella story” in popular media today.

Mary McCarthy

In the 1950s and 1960s, American author Mary McCarthy was best known for her open treatment of taboo subjects such as abortion, feminine sexuality and promiscuity. Born in 1912, she fell into writing after intending to be an actress; and her debut novel The Company She Keeps received critical acclaim. 

Yet despite her own positive feedback, McCarthy was unafraid to pass criticism on others. She became one of the most respected and feared critics of her generation, unable to be anything but unsparingly honest. The author once famously wrote that Eugene O’Neill “like other American authors such as Farrell and Dreiser” had thrust themselves upon their chosen careers despite not possessing “the slightest ear for the word, the sentence, [or] the paragraph”. 

But it is clear McCarthy had no regrets. Before her death in 1989, she was asked why she continued to be so fiercely unsatisfied in her reading of others. The Guardian reports that the author simply responded: “There is so much to hate”.

Eric Griffiths  

English professor Eric Griffiths’ lectures were so popular at Cambridge University, student newspaper Varsity featured them in its entertainments listings. Sometimes known as “Reckless Eric”, the Liverpool-born critic was famous for his sharp tongue and quick wit, which would shine through in his analysis of others. 

Griffiths would interpret texts word by word, once notably describing the word “divina” of the Divina Comedia to mean “fabulous poem, darling, loved it loved it loved it”. He was able to demonstrate how a “Kafkaesque” mood, often applied to any situation with a hint of sinister bureaucracy, could be produced by small words like “if” and “but” in Franz Kafka’s sentence structures. 

But it seems not everyone fell for Griffiths’ charm. Despite being called the “cleverest man in England” by the Guardian , poet Donald Davie once called him the “rudest man in the kingdom”. Author AS Byatt even revealed that the critic had reduced her to tears by calling her Booker Prize-winning novel Possession “the kind of novel I’d write if I didn’t know I couldn’t write novels.”

Elaine Showalter

Elaine Showalter dedicated her career to creating a woman-centric approach to the male-dominated field of literary criticism. The American writer is most famous for coining the term “gynocriticism” during the 1970s, which signified a “female framework for the analysis of women’s literature” that would examine the “internalised consciousness” of being female. 

Showalter defined three phases in which women’s literature could be interpreted. From 1840 to 1880, in the “feminine” phase, writers like George Eliot would attempt to imitate male writers and use pseudonyms to publish their work. From 1880 to 1920, authors like Virginia Woolf led the “feminist” phase, full of protest, while an increased self-awareness from 1920 creatd the “female” phase, where women’s experiences became “autonomous art.”

Some experts said gynocriticsm omitted differences between women, such as class, race or sexuality, but the project was also credited with re-examining literary history from a feminist perspective. As Showalter put it, the world needed to “stop trying to fit women between the lines of the male tradition, and focus instead on the newly visible world of female culture.”

James Wood gained a fearsome reputation for reviewing books as the chief literary critic at the Guardian before going on to join the New Yorker in 2007. Financial Times called him “the best literary critic of his generation” the year after. 

Always true to his opinion, Wood advocates an aesthetic approach to literature; even if it makes for a particularly blunt review. In 2015, he argued that Nobel Prize winner Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel Never Let Me Go contained passages “that appeared to have been entered in a competition called The Ten Most Boring Fictional Scenes”. Wood believes that the most important literary style is realism which is always “at the bottom” of his analysis.

But now the author of two novels, the writer has since said he is now much less likely to “slay people” in his reviews. Just last year Wood joked he had “lost his nerve” after being on the receiving end of criticism himself.   

Stephen Greenblatt

Harvard University professor Steven Greenblatt has written seven books about Shakespeare and his Elizabethan world of words. In the 1980s, the critic co-founded New Historicism, arguing that writers are inseparable from the context of their surroundings, stating that he believed “nothing comes of nothing, even in Shakespeare.”

But Greenblatt’s is at his most impressive when linking the world-famous playwright’s writing to today’s top stories. In his latest book, Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics , he hinted at a comparison between King Henry VI and a certain US President. “Drawing on an indifference to the truth, shamelessness and hyperinflated self-confidence, the loudmouthed demagogue is entering into a fantasyland—‘When I am king, as king I will be’—and he invites his listeners to enter the same magical space with him,” Greenblatt wrote.

“In that space, two and two do not have to equal four, and the most recent assertion need not remember the contradictory assertion that was made a few seconds earlier.”

Tzvetan Todorov

In the 1970s, Bulgarian-French critic Tzcetan Todorov originated the concept of the fantastic, a subgenre of fiction characterised by ambiguous supernatural forces which cause the reader to hesitate when questioning reality. For example, in Edgar Allan Poe's The Black Cat , the murderer is unsure whether he is being stalked by an animal or something sinister from beyond the grave.

Todorov stated that readers of the fantastic would most frequently find themselves in two situations: Where supernatural forces are later revealed to have a rational explanation (the uncanny), or a straight up confirmation of a supernatural presence (the marvellous). His analysis has become vital groundwork to understanding the structural conventions of gothic, horror and science fiction.

Also a history, sociology, and philosophy academic, Todorov also studied the moral issues behind the Holocaust and questioned if “extreme situations” turned men into “beasts”. He wrote over 20 books in his lifetime, many of which paved the way for other literary theorists such as Rosemary Jackson, who published Fantasy, the Literature of Subversion in 1981. 

*This post contains affiliate links, so we may earn a small commission when you make a purchase through links on our site at no additional cost to you.

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The 10 Best Book Reviews of 2021

Merve emre on simone de beauvoir, justin taylor on joy williams, and more.

The older I get, the more I’m interested in critics who play around with form and style. Mixing genres, experimenting with voice and structure, and tapping into personal experience are some of my favorite devices, though I still have a soft spot for the formal limitations of an 800-word newspaper writeup. From longform online essays to crisp perspectives in print, here are my 10 favorite book reviews of 2021.

Brought to you by Book Marks , Lit Hub’s “Rotten Tomatoes for books.”

Parul Sehgal on Soyica Diggs Colbert’s Radical Vision: A Biography of Lorraine Hansberry ( New York Times )

Sehgal deftly takes on the style of the theatre in her review of a book about Chicago’s greatest playwright, by opening her first paragraph like the first scene in a play.

“The curtain rises on a dim, drab room. An alarm sounds, and a woman wakes. She tries to rouse her sleeping child and husband, calling out: ‘Get up!’ It is the opening scene—and the injunction—of Lorraine Hansberry’s 1959 play A Raisin in the Sun , the story of a Black family living on the South Side of Chicago.”

Merve Emre on Simone de Beauvoir’s The Inseparables (tr. Lauren Elkin) ( The New Yorker )

Emre always helps readers see things in a new way, in this case not just Simone de Beauvoir’s lost novel, but also Simone de Beauvoir herself.

“To read The Inseparables is to learn what could have been, and to judge what was a little more harshly. It is to see in the memoirs a lingering refusal to give Zaza the autonomy that everyone in life seems to have denied her at the greatest possible cost. And it is to see in The Second Sex an inability, or perhaps an unwillingness, to make as affirmative a case as possible for lesbian identity.”

Victoria Chang and Dean Rader on Douglas Kearney’s Sho ( Los Angeles Review of Books )

Reviews-in-dialogue are my new favorite thing. I love how naturalistic and conversational they are, as the form really allows critics to be themselves. Chang and Rader are a joy to read.

“Kearney’s body of work is very much about play with language, yet, that somehow feels like it diminishes the political aspects of his poems and his body of work. Perhaps play itself in Kearney’s work is a political act. I find this tension fascinating because on the one hand, I often get carried away in Kearney’s language (and the conceptual aspects of his work), but I’m also acutely aware of the humanity in his work (or the exploration of anti-humanity). In this way, maybe play and the political are not mutually exclusive. Maybe for Kearney, play = confrontation.”

J. Howard Rosier on Frederick Seidel’s Selected Poems ( Poetry Foundation )

Rosier does a great job bringing paratext to bear on the text itself, in this case interviews and Seidel’s other work.

“For a poet as revered as Seidel, there are scant mentions of turns of phrase being Seidelian, few poetic narratives or structures construed as Seidelesque. Chalk it up to the oddity of a formalist disassociating form from content; Seidel uses form like a hypnotist to mesmerize readers so that they are sedated, or at the very least put at ease, in spite of his content.”

Sheila Liming on Edith Wharton’s Ghosts ( Cleveland Review of Books )

Every editor’s dream assignment is a critic with deep subject matter expertise, and you can’t beat Liming—author of What A Library Means to A Woman: Edith Wharton and the Will to Collect Books —writing about Wharton’s ghost stories.

“Here are ‘fetches’ (ominous doppelgangers) of Celtic superstition, zombie mistresses rising from the grave, and ghost dogs, even. But for each of these paranormal threats there is an equally normal, equally mundane, and equally human villain attached to the story. In this way, Wharton’s Ghosts can be read and interpreted in concert with many of her better-known works, including novels like The House of Mirth and The Age of Innocence , which tell stories of everyday human malice.”

Meg Ringer on Jon McGregor’s Lean Fall Stand ( Chicago Review of Books )

Some of the best reviews are the product of a critic who brings personal experience into their analysis of the book at hand. Ringer’s perspective on Lean Fall Stand is full of unique insights and emotional power. (Disclosure: I founded the Chicago Review of Books in 2016, but stepped back from an editorial role in 2019.)

“Though there was a time—before we met, before his diagnosis—when my husband traveled to Antarctica, Robert and Anna’s story is not ours. It is barely even close. But Lean Fall Stand reads like a meditation on the questions we all must someday face: Who am I? What can I stand? Who will be there when I fall?”

Ryan Ruby on Peter Weiss ( The Point )

Speaking of hybrids between personal essays and reviews, Ruby’s experience discovering the work of Weiss during the 2016 election is riveting stuff.

“By creating physical objects that survive their creators and the world in which they were made, the artist helps to manufacture the continuity of our collective experience of historical time, and to the extent that it distinguishes itself, the work of art can become a symbol of that continuity. ‘Imagination lived so long as human beings who resisted lived,’ the narrator writes, but in the end what Weiss demonstrates in The Aesthetic of Resistance is that the converse is also true, and just as important, then as now, for what the imagination always has and always will resist is death.”

Justin Taylor on Joy Williams’ Harrow ( Bookforum )

I love a good delayed lede. In this marvelous example, the title of the book Taylor’s reviewing doesn’t even appear until more than 800 words have passed.

“I drove across the Everglades in May. I had originally planned to take Alligator Alley, but someone tipped me off that, in the twenty years since I left South Florida, the historically wild and lonesome stretch of road had been fully incorporated into I-75, turned into a standard highway corridor with tall concrete walls on both sides, designed to keep the traffic noise in and the alligators out.”

Lauren LeBlanc on Maurice Carlos Ruffin’s The Ones Who Don’t Say They Love You ( Los Angeles Times )

Ruffin’s fiction does a lot of interesting things with place, and LeBlanc smartly centers her review on New Orleans, as well as the way Ruffin subverts geographical expectations.

“Several recent story collections (Bryan Washington’s Lot and Dantiel W. Moniz’s Blood Milk Heat spring to mind) present geographies as characters. While Ruffin’s stories can’t help but transport the reader to humid, sunken, decaying New Orleans, it’s too easy to say this book is merely a set of love songs to the city. What makes such collections ring true is the way they subvert conventional knowledge.”

Victor LaValle on James Han Mattson’s Reprieve ( New York Times )

Opening a review with a question can be a powerful way to focus a reader’s attention, as LaValle does here with a compelling lede drawn from his own insights as a horror fiction writer.

“Why do people enjoy being scared? This is a pretty common question for those of us who write horror, or stories tinged with horror, and maybe for those who design roller coasters too. Why do some people take pleasure in terror?”

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Best Book Review Blogs in 2024

Showing 240 blogs that match your search.

Snazzy Books

https://snazzybooks.com/about/

This blog is mainly to share books I’ve read, whether good or bad, along with other stuff I think is interesting or worth recommending. As well as reading lots I love crafty stuff, make up, fitness, shopping and delicious food. I decided to start this blog mainly because I noticed a lack of blogs about adult fiction in general, compared to many blogs focusing on Young Adult books. Now that I’ve got more deeply into the blogging world I see there are actually lots of amazing blogs focusing on adult fiction, but I didn’t realise that when I started this blog! Still, what’s one more eh? 🙂

Blogger : Laura Nazmdeh

Genres : Contemporary Fiction, Crime, Non-Fiction, and Romance

🌐 Domain authority: 25

👀 Average monthly visits: 5,000 p/mo

💌 Preferred contact method: Mail

⭐️ Accepts indie books? Yes

Brewing Writer

https://www.brewingwriter.com

Brewing Writer is a place for anyone who who loves reading and/or writing. Here, you'll find lists of book recommendations, bookstagram and book blogging tips. If you love a good book and coffee, here's the place to be!

Blogger : Sonia Singh

Genres : Contemporary Fiction, Historical Fiction, Poetry, and Romance

🌐 Domain authority: 9

👀 Average monthly visits: 25,000 p/mo

💌 Preferred contact method: Email

http://bookpage.com/

BookPage reviews almost every category of new books, including literary and popular fiction, nonfiction, children's books, audiobooks and gift books. We rarely review poetry or scholarly books, and we do not give review consideration to self-published books, print-on-demand titles or books from presses that lack major distribution.

Blogger : Book Page Contributors

Genres : YA, Crime, Contemporary Fiction, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Romance, Mystery/Thriller, Science Fiction, Paranormal, New Adult, Children's, LGBT, Humor, Horror, and Urban Fantasy

🌐 Domain authority: 67

👀 Average monthly visits: 135,000 p/mo

⭐️ Accepts indie books? No

https://booksirl.com/

books irl is committed to highlighting and celebrating various diverse characters, stories, and authors.

Blogger : Alex

Genres : LGBT, Mystery/Thriller, New Adult, Romance, and YA

🌐 Domain authority: 1

👀 Average monthly visits: 100 p/mo

💌 Preferred contact method: Website contact form

Best Thrillers

https://bestthrillers.com/

Featuring trusted thriller book reviews, awards and author lists, BestThrillers.com helps mystery and thriller fans discover the best new books and writers.

Blogger : Bella

Genres : Mystery/Thriller

🌐 Domain authority: 14

👀 Average monthly visits: 2,300 p/mo

💌 Preferred contact method: online form

YA Books Central

http://www.yabookscentral.com/

Hey, thanks for joining! We're so happy you're here! We accept review requests from indie authors (small press, independent press, and self pub) and traditionally published authors. We do not guarantee reviews. IMPORTANT: Do not contact our staff reviewers directly with review requests. They will not respond. Repeated contacts will result in your email being blocked.

Blogger : YA Books Central Team

Genres : YA

🌐 Domain authority: 47

👀 Average monthly visits: 45,000 p/mo

💌 Preferred contact method: Submission manager

karl's book blog

https://www.karlcalagan.com/

Karl's book blog features reviews of mostly horror, historical, mystery, thriller, and queer literature. All are welcome!

Blogger : Karl Khumo Calagan

Genres : Historical Fiction, Horror, LGBT, Mystery/Thriller, Non-Fiction, and Paranormal

🌐 Domain authority: 5

Book Briefs

http://www.bookbriefs.net/

I read all YA and New Adult books for the most part, but do read some Adult Paranormal and contemporary Romance as well as some adult Chicklit, Romance and Mystery/Suspense. My favorite genres of YA/NA books.

Blogger : Michelle

Genres : YA, Romance, Mystery/Thriller, Paranormal, and New Adult

🌐 Domain authority: 41

👀 Average monthly visits: 5,500 p/mo

GLBT Reviews

https://www.glbtrt.ala.org/reviews/

GLBT Reviews is the official source of media reviews for the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Round Table (GLBTRT) of the American Library Association (ALA). Reviews are written by GLBTRT members and cover GLBT-themed materials for children, young adults, and adults. We review a variety of genres and formats including: books, films, comics, music, and websites.

Blogger : GLBT Reviews Team

Genres : LGBT

🌐 Domain authority: 83

👀 Average monthly visits: 8,000 p/mo

The Next Best Book Blog

http://www.thenextbestbookblog.blogspot.com/

I focus mainly on independent/small press and self published literary fiction. My preferred format is printed/bound books, though I have reluctantly moved into the digital age and accept ebooks for review (PDF and .mobi). I am open to working with various authors, publishers, publicists, and literary agencies - reading and reviewing ARC's and backlist titles. I would love to hear about your book as well.

Blogger : Lori

Genres : Contemporary Fiction

🌐 Domain authority: 35

👀 Average monthly visits: 3,000 p/mo

A Little Blog Of Books

http://www.alittleblogofbooks.com/

It may not come as a surprise to you that I like books and I read quite a lot of them Ð mostly contemporary, literary and translated fiction. I love stories with unreliable narrators and my greatest fear is running out of books to read. I don't accept review copies of self-published books. However, do feel free to contact me with all queries via email or Twitter. Please be aware that I may not be able to respond straight away.

Blogger : Clare

🌐 Domain authority: 26

👀 Average monthly visits: 7,000 p/mo

https://barbtaub.com/

As a writer myself, I welcome the work of others. If you're interested in having me review a book, please see the submission guidelines below the Contact Form.

Blogger : Barb

Genres : Romance, Mystery/Thriller, Science Fiction, Paranormal, and Urban Fantasy

🌐 Domain authority: 30

The Chrysalis BREW Project

https://thechrysalisbrewproject.com/

The Chrysalis Books, Reviews, and Everything Written (BREW) Project is an up-and-coming platform that aims to help content creators and audiences to grow, thrive, and soar through reviews, interviews, features, news, press releases, podcasts, and promotions. BREW hosts the monthly and annual BREW Readers' Choice Awards, the annual BREW Book Excellence Awards, and the quarterly and annual BREW International Blog Awards.

Blogger : Esperanza Pretila

Genres : Children's, Christian, Contemporary Fiction, Crime, Erotica, Fantasy, Graphic Novel, Historical Fiction, Horror, Humor, LGBT, Mystery/Thriller, New Adult, Non-Fiction, Paranormal, Poetry, Romance, Science Fiction, Sports, Urban Fantasy, and YA

🌐 Domain authority: 18

http://bookangel.co.uk/

Bookangel started as a London bookclub's private site to swap book recs and highlight free books. It opened to other users a few years back after realising that there weren't many sites that focus on UK readers.

Blogger : Book Angel Team

🌐 Domain authority: 29

Children's Book Daily

http://www.childrensbooksdaily.com/

We are happy to receive books and products suitable for Children's aged 0-16 years old (approximately). If you would like to submit a book or a child related product for review with Children's Books Daily, please bear in mind the following policy points, which you can find on our book blog.

Blogger : Megan Daley

Genres : Children's

🌐 Domain authority: 40

So you want to find a book blog?

If you’re a voracious reader, you might think of a book blog as an oasis in the middle of the desert: a place on the Internet that brims with talk about books, books, and more books.

Well, good news — we built this directory of the 200 of the best book blogs  to satiate your thirst. Take a walk around, use the filters to narrow down your search to blogs in your preferred genre, and feel free to bookmark this page and come back, as we do update it regularly with more of the best book blogs out there. 

If you’re an aspiring author, you might see a book blog more as a book review blog: a place where you can get your yet-to-be published book reviewed. In that case, you’ll be glad to know that most of the book blogs in our directory are open to review requests and accept indie books! We expressly designed this page (and our book marketing platform, Reedsy Discovery ) to be useful to indie book authors who need book reviews. If you’re wondering how to approach a book blog for a review request, please read on. 

You’ve found a book blog. Now what? 

Let’s say that you’re an author, and you’ve found a couple of book blogs that would be perfect fits to review your book. What now? Here are some tips as you go about getting your book reviews:

• Be sure to read the review policy. First, check that the book blog you’re querying is open to review requests. If that’s the fortunate case, carefully read the blog’s review policy and make sure that you follow the directions to a T.  
• Individualize your pitches. Book bloggers will be able to immediately tell apart the bulk pitches, which simply come across as thoughtless and indifferent. If you didn’t take the time to craft a good pitch, why should the blogger take the time to read your book? Personalize each pitch to up your chances of getting a response. 
• Format your book in a professional manner before sending it out. Ensure that your manuscript isn’t presented sloppily. If the book blogger asks for a digital ARC, you might want to check out apps such as Instafreebie or Bookfunnel. 
• Create a spreadsheet to track your progress. Wading through so many book blogs can be troublesome — not to mention trying to remember which ones you’ve already contacted. To save yourself the time and trouble, use a simple Excel spreadsheet to keep track of your progress (and results). 

Looking to learn even more about the process? Awesome 👍 For a detailed guide, check out this post that’s all about getting book reviews . 

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The 13 Best Book Review Sites and Book Rating Sites

Knowing where to buy books can be challenging. So, here are the best book review sites to help you avoid buying books that you'll regret reading.

Nobody likes to spend money on a new book only to face that overwhelming feeling of disappointment when it doesn't live up to your expectations. The solution is to check out a few book review sites before you hit the shops. The greater the diversity of opinions you can gather, the more confidence you can have that you'll enjoy the title.

Which book review and book rating sites are worth considering? Here are the best ones.

1. Goodreads

Goodreads is arguably the leading online community for book lovers. If you want some inspiration for which novel or biography to read next, this is the book review site to visit.

There's an endless number of user-generated reading lists to explore, and Goodreads itself publishes dozens of "best of" lists across a number of categories. You can do a book search by plot or subject , or join book discussions and reading groups with thousands of members.

You can participate in the community by adding your own rankings to books you've read and leaving reviews for other people to check out. Occasionally, there are even bonus events like question and answer sessions with authors.

2. LibraryThing

LibraryThing is the self-proclaimed largest book club in the world. It has more than 2.3 million members and is one of the best social networking platforms for book lovers .

With a free account, you can add up to 200 books to your library and share them with other users. But it's in the other areas where LibraryThing can claim to be one of the best book review sites.

Naturally, there are ratings, user reviews, and tags. But be sure to click on the Zeitgeist tab at the top of the page. It contains masses of information, including the top books by rating, by the number of reviews, by authors, and loads more.

3. Book Riot

Book Riot is a blog. It publishes listicles on dozens of different topics, many of which review the best books in a certain genre. To give you an idea, some recent articles include Keeping Hoping Alive: 11 Thrilling YA Survival Stories and The Best Historical Fiction Books You’ve Never Heard Of .

Of course, there's also plenty of non-reading list content. If you have a general affinity for literature, Book Riot is definitely worth adding to the list of websites you browse every day.

Bookish is a site that all members of book clubs should know about. It helps you prep for your next meeting with discussion guides, book quizzes, and book games. There are even food and drink suggestions, as well as playlist recommendations.

But the site is more than just book club meetings. It also offers lots of editorial content. That comes in the form of author interviews, opinion essays, book reviews and recommendations, reading challenges, and giveaways.

Be sure to look at the Must-Reads section of the site regularly to get the latest book reviews. Also, it goes without saying that the people behind Bookish are book lovers, too. To get a glimpse of what they’re reading, check out their Staff Reads articles.

5. Booklist

Booklist is a print magazine that also offers an online portal. Trusted experts from the American Library Association write all the book reviews.

You can see snippets of reviews for different books. However, to read them in full, you will need to subscribe. An annual plan for this book review site costs $184.95 per year.

6. Fantasy Book Review

Fantasy Book Review should be high on the list for anyone who is a fan of fantasy works. The book review site publishes reviews for both children's books and adults' books.

It has a section on the top fantasy books of all time and a continually updated list of must-read books for each year. You can also search through the recommended books by sub-genres such as Sword and Sorcery, Parallel Worlds, and Epic Fantasy.

7. LoveReading

LoveReading is one of the most popular book review sites in the UK, but American audiences will find it to be equally useful.

The site is divided into fiction and non-fiction works. In each area, it publishes weekly staff picks, books of the month, debuts of the month, ebooks of the month, audiobooks of the month, and the nationwide bestsellers. Each book on every list has a full review that you can read for free.

Make sure you also check out their Highlights tab to get book reviews for selected titles of the month. In Collections , you'll also find themed reading lists such as World War One Literature and Green Reads .

Kirkus has been involved in producing book reviews since the 1930s. This book review site looks at the week's bestselling books, and provides lengthy critiques for each one.

As you'd expect, you'll also find dozens of "best of" lists and individual book reviews across many categories and genres.

And while you're on the site, make sure you click on the Kirkus Prize section. You can look at all the past winners and finalists, complete with the accompanying reviews of their books.

Although Reddit is a social media site, you can use it to get book reviews of famous books, or almost any other book for that matter! Reddit has a Subreddit, r/books, that is dedicated to book reviews and reading lists.

The subreddit has weekly scheduled threads about a particular topic or genre. Anyone can then chip in with their opinions about which books are recommendable. Several new threads are published every day, with people discussing their latest discovery with an accompanying book rating or review.

You'll also discover a weekly recommendation thread. Recent threads have included subjects such as Favorite Books About Climate Science , Literature of Indigenous Peoples , and Books Set in the Desert . There’s also a weekly What are you Reading? discussion and frequent AMAs.

For more social media-like platforms, check out these must-have apps for book lovers .

10. YouTube

YouTube is not the type of place that immediately springs to mind when you think of the best book review sites online.

Nonetheless, there are several engaging YouTube channels that frequently offer opinions on books they've read. You’ll easily find book reviews of famous books here.

Some of the most notable book review YouTube channels include Better Than Food: Book Reviews , Little Book Owl , PolandBananasBooks , and Rincey Reads .

Amazon is probably one of your go-to site when you want to buy something. If you don’t mind used copies, it’s also one of the best websites to buy second-hand books .

Now, to get book reviews, just search and click on a title, then scroll down to see the ratings and what others who have bought the book are saying. It’s a quick way to have an overview of the book’s rating. If you spot the words Look Inside above the book cover, it means you get to preview the first few pages of the book, too!

Regardless of the praises or criticisms you have heard from other book review sites, reading a sample is the most direct way to help you gauge the content’s potential and see whether the author’s writing style suits your tastes.

12. StoryGraph

StoryGraph is another good book review site that's worth checking out. The book rating is determined by the site's large community of readers. Key in the title of a book you're interested in and click on it in StoryGraph's search results to have an overall view of its rating.

Each book review provides information on the moods and pacing of the story. It also indicates whether the tale is plot or character-driven, what readers feel about the extent of character development, how lovable the characters generally are, and the diversity of the cast.

13. London Review of Books

The London Review of Books is a magazine that covers a range of subjects such as culture, literature, and philosophy. Part of its content includes amazingly detailed book reviews. If you feel that most modern book reviews are too brief for your liking, the London Review of Books should suit you best.

You'll gain insight into the flow and themes of the story, as well as a more thorough picture of the events taking place in the book.

Read Book Reviews Before You Buy

The book review sites we've discussed will appeal to different types of readers. Some people will be more comfortable with the easy-to-interpret book rating systems; others will prefer extensive reviews written by experienced professionals.

Although it’s easy to be tempted by a gorgeous book cover, it’s always best to have a quick look at the book reviews before actually buying a copy. This way, you can save your money and spend it on the books that you’ll be proud to display on your shelves for a long time. And check out recommendations, as well, to help you find what's worth reading.

Book Reviewers List | 250+ Book Review Blogs

Finding book reviewers and book blogs can be a wearisome task. With few comprehensive lists and guides, it can be tough to know where to look and who to send your story to. 

Some websites and services exist promoting book review services. But their prices can be staggeringly high and the results not guaranteed. That’s why I put together this list, to help you find reviewers. 

Getting reviews is important. Not only do they send a positive message to the world that your book is worth buying, but it gives writers crucial affirmation that they have the ability to do the thing they’ve poured their hearts and soul into.

Most of the lovely people below review books of all genres from self published authors and traditional publishers and everything in between.

They’re all wonderful people and passionate readers who love the written word. And in many cases, they offer free reviews in exchange for a copy of your book.

As well as a list of over 200 book reviewers, blogs and social media profiles, I’ve provided my insights into how to successfully get reviews, where to look and a bit more about what they are and why they’re important.

Jump To A Section

• List of Book Reviewers And Book Blogs 

What Is A Book Review?

Why are book reviews important, how do you pitch your book to a reviewer, how long do book reviewers take to get back to you, the book blog survey – research on the perspective of book reviewers, more writing resources, list of book reviewers and book blogs.

• SFF – Sci-fi, fantasy and speculative fiction as a whole (horror, dystopian etc.)
• Fiction – all types of fiction reviewed
• Defunct – Lots of people use this list of book reviewers and refer back to it regularly. Bloggers and book review sites can and do disappear quickly. It’s a voluntary pursuit after all and some people get snowed under with book review requests. As a result, they shut down their sites. Rather than remove them from the list, I mark them as “defunct” so that anyone who may have submitted can update their own records. 

A book review is the honest opinion of a published piece of fiction or non-fiction. This review might be published on online stores like Amazon, websites like Goodreads and Bookbub, and on the likes of book blogs.

Many book reviews are given voluntarily and free of charge. Some writers and publishers may solicit reviews, seeking honest opinions in exchange for free copies. Some platforms charge writers for reviews.

A book review is a great way for a writer to help spread the word about their book. Honest opinions of dedicated readers, especially ones with followings, can help a writer reach new audiences, especially for an indie author.

And when it comes to convincing people to take a chance on your story, if you have a bunch of flowing book reviews, it’s going to help defeat the cynicism in their minds and encourage them to take a chance.

I’ve experienced the benefit of this first hand. When  Pariah’s Lament  came out, more people bought copies off the back of the early reviews. People would say to me “the reviews were brilliant; I’ve got my copy.”

Reviews tell people what the book is about, that it’s a good story worth reading. While we writers are supposed to contribute to that end, it can be difficult to remove yourself from the story and present it as a reader. In fact, writing a blurb and synopsis can be more difficult than writing a book!

For the help this can give you, it’s definitely worth giving away a free copy. 

Book bloggers get bombarded with review requests every week. The more popular the blog, the more requests they’re likely to get.

This can make it tricky for a writer to stand out from the crowd. But there are a few things you can do:

• Always be polite and courteous. Appreciate the position the book reviewer may be in—swamped with requests, pushed for time maybe, with this being their hobby, after all.
• Provoke curiosity. This is a pitch. We need to sell the story to the reviewer. Lure them in with intriguing detail. Give them a means to learn more if they want to (a link to your Goodreads page perhaps). But be sure to give them all the key details – book title, word count, genre.
• Read their guidelines and adhere to them.
• Offer to support the book blog in some way. Can you write a guest post or take part in an interview?

It’s important to be patient too. Following up a couple of weeks after not hearing anything is worthwhile, but beyond that, it’s a waste of time.

This purely depends on the reviewer, how busy they are and how quickly they read. When you first send your request you may be met with silence. That could go on for weeks or maybe months. Then out the blue you may hear back. However, most reviewers, if they’re interested, will respond to you within a few days asking for more information. 

When a book blogger accepts your story, they will ask when you’d ideally like the review by (often relating to the release date of the book).

Most book reviewers will aim to hit that date. And if they can’t many of them are honest and open so will tell you straight. Generally, the timeframe will be agreed upon at the outset. But remember that everyone is human and a multitude of factors can impact deadlines, so be patient and understanding.

Last month I conducted some primary research. I asked a number of book reviewers about their perspectives and the advice they’d give to writers looking to pitch their work to them.

The results of my Book Blogs Survey are some of the most fascinating and useful I’ve ever compiled for this website. Below, you can find a breakdown of just some of the findings, with a full downloadable report to follow in the near future. 

What advice would you give to authors querying book reviewers?

Always read blogger’s review policies. Are they open for requests? Is your genre one of their accepted genres? Many of us don’t have time to write back to everyone, so if an author’s query doesn’t respect my guidelines, I generally will delete the email without reply. The reviewer gives instructions on how to request or query a review follow the instructions completely. Not doing so is the quickest way to get tossed in the discard pile. Please include a synopsis that is compelling and concise. If a blogger says they don’t read a genre your book falls into, please don’t send a request and waste both parties’ time. Keep your pitches short. Say “here’s my book if you fancy reviewing it” rather than “would you like a copy of this to review”. Include a link to book file so we don’t have to specifically request. Basically, don’t try to put the reviewer under any obligation. Leave the book on my desk and walk away. Read their review policy and don’t send a query if they are closed to reviews or don’t read your genre. They shoud do research on the Blog or whichever mean the reviewer uses before submitting a query

What attracts you most to a book when reading a query?

• 81% of responders said the description of the book
• 5% said the book cover
• 5% said other reviews
• 5% said the genre of the book

What turns you off a book most of all when reading a query?

• 29% of responders said authors who failed to research their blog
• 24% said receiving a generic query
• 10% said a weak pitch
• 5% said not following submission instructions
• 5% said a new author comparing their book to a legend
• 5% said very lengthy descriptions. 

If you happen to be looking for publishers for your work, I also have the following lists too, as well as other  writing tools  and guides:

• List of fantasy publishers
• List of fantasy magazines and journals
• List of writing groups
• Check out my free book description generator here

If you need any help navigating this list of book reviewers, please get in touch. 

• Recent Posts

• Mastering Dialogue: The Very Best Tips - January 12, 2024
• The Proven Method Of Writing Short Story Cover Letters - November 10, 2023
• Tips, Advice And Guidance On Writing Villains And Antagonists - November 7, 2023

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10 TikTok Book Reviewers You Should Be Following

Kate is a 2011 Drake University grad, where she received her BA in magazine journalism. A hopeless romantic with a cynical heart, Kate will read anything that comes with a content warning, a love triangle, and a major plot twist. Twitter: @katekrug Blog:  http://snarky-yet-satisfying.com

View All posts by Kate Krug

We also know that BookTok has its fair share of drama (helloooo Hockey BookTok Controversy of 2023 ), but I think it is also clear that these videos have encouraged people to pick up a book, whether they are devoted readers or trying to get back into the habit. What #BookTok has done for many creators, the industry, and a resurgence of love for books cannot be ignored. As with all social media platforms, we can hold both good and bad simultaneously. 

Also, let’s just say it: while the TikTok FYP is amazing for curating your own experience, it’s all too easy to get stuck in a non-diverse echo chamber. Every few months, I highly recommend doing a search within the #BookTok or other related hashtags to find some new faces or even crowd-sourcing from friends. We’ve got an entire article on diversifying your BookTok FYP . 

So now I’m going to take you on a tour of my FYP and recommend some top-notch BookTokers whose opinions I regard highly and have taken many recommendations from. We’re talking about content quality here, not necessarily the size of their following. No matter what, I will stop scrolling and watch these TikTok book reviewers’ videos in their entirety each time. 

1. Tritney – @Tritney

This creator does a series called Spice vs Spice where she reads a spicy romance book while indulging in some spicy food. Combining two of my favorite things on this app — I absolutely adore these videos. This is also the account where I learned about the infamous sentient door novella. IYKYK.

@tritney I’m stuffed on buldak chapate & she’s stuffed by a pillow! #spicevsspice #stuffedsylviamorrow #spicyromancereads ♬ original sound – tritney🍓

2. Ayushi – @BookWormBullet

Ayushi is my absolute go-to creator for any South Asian recommendation. I appreciate her commentary on the books she reads and also the genre and author diversity!

@bookwormbullet 📚 MAYA’S LAWS OF LOVE by @Alina Khawaja!! Thank you @Harlequin Trade Publishing for the copy! 🫶🏽 #booktok #desibooks #desibooktok #southasianbooks #southasianbooktok #mayaslawsoflove #pakistani #bollywood #k3g #ddlj #srk #desi #desitiktok #romancebooks #bookrecommendations #bookwormbullet ♬ original sound – riya

3. Muhammad – @GoatFantasyBooks

I’m typically not a repeat reader, especially for massive epic fantasies. But if anyone could convince me to reread Brandon Sanderson, it would be Muhammad. His passion for the genre is infectious and truly makes me to want read more fantasy.

@goatfantasybooks come at me #booktok #fantasy #books #reading #brandonsanderson #rfkuang #babel #swordofkaigen #theswordofkaigen #neverletmego #theliesoflockelamora #booktube #bookreviews #fyp #bookworm #mlwang #recommendations ♬ original sound – Muhammad Mustafa

4. Abbie – @ AbbieKonnick

I came for the books and stayed for her lovely personality and yummy recipes (and, of course, I stayed for the books, too!) Also, if I get a Kindle Unlimited subscription to read every Freida McFadden, it will definitely be because of her.

@abbiekonnick Replying to @mistykay85 Just me and my *hot takes* here with Miss Freida McFadden 🙈📚 WHAT ARE YOUR FAVS? #freidamcfadden #freidamcfaddenbooks #freidamcfaddenrankings #thrillerbooktok #thrillerbookrecs #neverliefreidamcfadden #theexfreidamcfadden #thehousemaidfreidamcfadden #theteacherfreidamcfadden #theinmatefreidamcfadden #top5thrillerbooks #thrillerbooks #fyp #amazonbooks #topthrillerbooks #booktok #bookish ♬ Autumn Leaves – Timothy Cole

5. Marines – @MyNameIsMarines

I found Marines after her take on the hockey romance drama ended up on my FYP, and it was an instant follow. She’s so incredibly smart and I always value her reviews and opinions on books.

@mynameismarines its ambiguous at best #books #booktok #sjm #acotar ♬ original sound – Mari – booktok + media reviews

6. Brandon – @Baker.Reads

I read Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke on his recommendation, and it was so unhinged that it blew my mind. Now, I watch all of his videos not necessarily to get recommendations, but to hear the out-of-the-box plots. I’m also a sucker for a video that starts with ‘These are the most disturbing books I’ve ever read.”

@baker.reads #Inverted dark reads to keep you hooked!! #booktok #bakerreads #horrorbooks #disturbingbooks #psychologicalthriller #bookrecommendations ♬ original sound – Brandon Baker • baker.reads

7. Kayla – @KaylaBerman_

Anyone giving love to my fave, Jodi Picoult, is an instant follow from me. I also love how she adds commentary and talks about the books she necessarily didn’t enjoy. It’s always a good sign when I can appreciate a “negative” review just as much as a positive one.

@kaylaberman_ Let me know your thoughts if you have read any of these!! 💭📖 #booksineverseeonbooktok #booksineversee #shouldireadit #booksidontseeonbooktok #booksidontsee #booktok #booklover #books #unpopularbooks ♬ original sound – books with kay ✨📚

8. Az – @Azhangia

Something about Az’s videos is so calming. I love her video editing style! Also, hot tip: her playlists are A+ for both background music while reading and even for workday concentration.

@azhangia my 3 favorite fantasy duologies! #booktok #fantasybooks #bookrecs #sixofcrows #onedarkwindow #strangethedreamer #favoritebooks ♬ original sound – azhangia | 📖

9. Aubrei – @EarlGreyPls

Aubrei has a series where she talks about the words she learned through reading, and it has inspired me to do the same. I love expanding my vocabulary, and it’s been a wonderful addition to my reading routine.

@earlgreypls too much chortling tho #funnystoryemilyhenry #emilyhenry #berkleypartner ♬ original sound – aubrei

10. Zoranne – @Zoranne_

I found Zoranne after I finished The Will of the Many and needed to see other people’s opinions. I love her passion, and she always has me nodding to her videos.

@zoranne_ more fantasy book recommendations based on your favorite trope ◡̈ #fantasybookrecs #epicfantasybooks #fantasybookseries ♬ original sound – Zoranne | Fantasy Book Reviews

On TikTok, we know it’s all too easy for the same books to get recommended over and over again. If you’re looking for some unique and personalized recommendations, our subscription service, TBR , is a great way to get made-for-you book recommendations to supplement your BookTok discoveries.

And if you’re looking for more BookTok content, we’ve got that too:

• BIPOC BookTokers to Follow
• 7 Types of Booktoks That Skyrocketed My Reading By 1000%
• 12 BookTok Accounts You Need to Follow

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All 66 stephen king books ranked from worst to best.

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10 Wild Theories That Completely Change Stephen King Movies

How 1 stephen king book was left unfinished by his readers, 10 great horror & thriller books recommended by stephen king.

• Stand By Me is Stephen King's favorite movie adaptation as it faithfully followed the novella The Body and captured the emotional essence of the story.
• Stephen King's uncut version of The Stand is considered a masterpiece due to its detail, immersive storytelling, and gruesome nature.
• King's iconic novel The Shining delves into Jack, Wendy, and Danny Torrance's haunting experiences at the Overlook Hotel, where spirits torment them with a history of substance abuse and violence.

As the king of horror, almost all the 66 Stephen King books ranked among the best in the genre. When he authored Carrie , his first novel, in 1974, his name immediately skyrocketed to one of the most recognizable in the horror genre — both for his novels and short stories. Studios noticed Stephen King's literary talent and offered movie adaptations immediately with Carrie . King remains a powerhouse with new stories and movie/TV adaptations coming from the mind of horror's most cherished author every year, but how do they compare?

King has authored over 200 stories, with short stories, novellas, and novels. Carrie was his first movie adaptation, but it was nowhere near the last. Movie adaptations of Stephen King books are released at the same frequency as his literary tales, with at least one making its debut every year since 1980. Numerous upcoming King stories are in development to become a series or movie. King's legacy makes his last name the definition of the genre . Each of Stephen King's novels is impeccable in its own right, but some Stephen King books ranked higher than others.

Stephen King movies have made way for a variety of theories, and if some of them were true, they would completely change one or more movies.

Stephen King's short story collections are not included in this list.

66 Dreamcatcher

March 20, 2001, dreamcatcher.

Stephen King's Dreamcatcher amalgamates some of horror's greatest sci-fi elements, including alien invasion and body horror. The story is set in Derry, Maine, one of the three fictional towns that King created for his literary multiverse. Dreamcatcher has some captivating moments but leads to underwhelming scenes and dialogue that could've been bettered had its plot not been reliant on so many sub-genres meshing together.

Despite its closeness to the source material, even the movie adaptation is regarded as one of King's worst — though some find it underrated . King himself said he doesn't like Dreamcatcher very much (via Rolling Stone ). He said he wrote the book after an accident where he was out walking and was hit by a van. He said, " I was pretty stoned when I wrote it, because of the Oxy, and that’s another book that shows the drugs at work. " He personally ranked it below Tommyknockers as his least favorite release.

65 The Tommyknockers

November 1987.

The Tommyknockers is a Lovecraftian tale with Stephen King stylization, However, it was also one of King's first attempts to go outside the horror genre with a pure sci-fi tale here. There are horror elements, as King drifts into hints of body horror in the story, but at the end of the day, this ended up as one of King's lesser-liked books in his illustrious career. Not only was it disappointing for fans at the time of its release, but it is one of the books King himself hates the most .

King blames the poor writing on his drug use at the time, and he calls it an " awful book " that he wrote while embroiled in the harsh drug addiction that he dealt with in the 1980s. However, he said it had some good ideas underneath it all (via Rolling Stone ). " The Tommyknockers is an awful book. That was the last one I wrote before I cleaned up my act . And I’ve thought about it a lot lately, " he said at the time. " The book is about 700 pages long, and I’m thinking, 'There’s probably a good 350-page novel in there. '"

February 2006

If there's one thing that Stephen King books do well, it's the apocalypse. In the 2006 novel Cell, a New England artist discovers that a bizarre cellular signal transforms people into zombie-like creatures. It is no George A. Romero horror story , but it is King's valiant attempt at making his mark in the zombie horror sub-genre . Due to the vast amount of literature featuring the living dead, it reads as an unremarkable tale that could've been far better had he focused more on the technological aspects and social commentary that was woven into Cell.

It was mostly lightweight stuff and the movie that resulted received terrible reviews. Interestingly, Stephen King wrote the script for Cell and decided to change the story's ending in the script, as the book ends without a clear resolution and readers have to determine if the book's hero, Clay, is able to save his son Johnny or not. It didn't help as the movie ended up certified rotten with an 11% score on Rotten Tomatoes , and even the audience hated it, rating it at a low 17% rotten score.

63 Rose Madder

Rose Madder features a common theme in King's stories: domestic violence . It is an unbelievable tale about a woman named Rose who dares to leave her abusive husband before he has the chance to take her life. Rose then finds a painting where she sees her life mirrored in the painting. The painting itself constantly changes and expands, and soon Rose has to help a woman in the painting save her baby while having to protect herself when her abusive husband finds her.

King said in his memoir On Writing that he was " trying too hard " when writing this novel. While its story is important, the book's fantasy elements threaten to overwhelm the true message. It seems that the best villain in the book was "Nearly Normal Norman," the husband, and when the story veered into the arena of mythology, it kind of fell apart. However, King did write a solid story of an abusive relationship, which he had done before, but made the woman here powerful, standing on her own .

62 The Regulators

September 1996.

Stephen King returned to his pseudonym of Richard Bachman years after retiring the name with the book The Regulators. Unlike the previous Bachman novels, King let his fans know this was him as he released it simultaneously with Desperation in 1996. The two novels act as mirror stories to one another , taking place in a parallel universe with the same characters - but in very different situations. King wanted to tell two stories - a horror tale under the name King and a more fantasy story under the Bachman name.

In The Regulators , the story follows various people who live in a small neighborhood, but all find themselves sucked into a horrific situation thanks to a young boy who might have supernatural powers that he can't fully control. This manifests when mysterious people show up in vans and begin shooting people , which leads to an increase in local violence. The Regulators is more complex than Desperation but wasn't quite as strong of a tale.

61 Gwendy's Button Box

While Gwendy's Button Box is considered a novella, it is consistently listed under King's bibliography of full-length novels. He co-wrote the story with Richard Chizmar, and it follows the story of a young girl named Gwendy Peterson, who lives in the fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine . Castle Rock, King's most beloved fictional town, returns to his novels for the first time since he said goodbye in Needful Things .

It isn't a very remarkable story, as it is composed of remnants of each author that merge into an account that only strengthens the mythos of Castle Rock rather than Gwendy's experiences in the town. Chizmar and King are strong writers, but their styles are different and that makes the book a little different than most King novels , as it makes it a strange read at times. However, King said that it was Chizmar who helped him finish the story, with the two re-writing each other's work. " I had a story I couldn't finish, and [Chizmar] showed me the way home with style and panache " (via EW ).

60 From A Buick 8

September 2002.

King has written several stories about cars throughout his career. From A Buick 8 features a supernatural car that can shift between worlds. It's an entirely different take on his first story about a possessed car, Christine, but its uniqueness does not make it better than its predecessor. It lacks the excitement attached to a killer Stephen King car story and opts for a bizarre story about a car that can travel between worlds instead . This is far more reminiscent of Charlie Manx's Rolls-Royce Wraith in Joe Hill's novel, NOS4A2.

The story has little in the way of a plot arc, but the idea of a kid learning more about his dad through the car is pure King. The novel is one of the few that King optioned to a movie studio, but it was never able to get made . George A. Romero, Tobe Hooper, and Thomas Jane have all been attached to the story, but it has never made it to the big or small screen, likely because of the lack of an in-depth plot.

59 Gwendy's Final Task

February 15, 2022.

Stephen King collaborated with fellow writer Richard Chizmar to write the Gwendy's Button Box trilogy. In this finale, the mysterious and destructive button box makes its final appearance after Gwendy reaches fame as a successful novelist and rising political star. Gwendy reconciles with the box, drawn to both its remarkable effects on well-being and its terrible power. King gets the chance to bring in more of his favorite sci-fi influences , as the main character must go from King's cursed Castle Rock to the MF-1 space station.

The stakes are incredibly high in the book, but King and Chizmar have distinctly different styles, and the change in tone hurts here . This was the end of the Gwendy trilogy and the two authors sought to take it to an apocalyptic level. It is a good ending to what started out as a mostly slight and short tale, and one that morphed into something entertaining and exciting.

58 The Running Man

The running man.

Set in 2025, The Running Man tells the story of Ben Richards as he participates in a game show that shares a title with the novel. The contestants are required to outrun hunters who are sent out to kill them under the totalitarian regime of the new world . Ben is a man living in this world who needs money for his gravely ill daughter and agrees to the competition so he can afford her medicine. However, the games are dangerous and soon Ben realizes his family might also be in danger.

The Running Man is as if Stephen King had written a long-form episode of Black Mirror . The book features elements of Charlie Brooker's series with its dystopian setting and the exploration of technology's impact on the world. The Running Man was also a Richard Bachman book that predicted the rise of reality television two decades before it became such a successful genre. It also spawned a fun adaptation starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and will get a second one soon from Edgar Wright.

November 1984

Thinner (1996).

Billy Halleck is cursed by a Romani man named Taduz Lemke after killing an elderly woman in a car accident - and getting away with it in court. Soon, he begins to shed weight at an alarming rate. While doctors speculate that he likely has cancer, others involved in his legal battle begin to show signs of growing scales and painful acne, all of which were not present before the case. The man then has to find out more about the curse and see if there is a way to reverse it before he wastes away.

Thinner has not aged well due to its ascription of curses alongside Romani people and their culture, but its story remains socially relevant. At its core, the novel is about the pressures of weight loss and disordered eating. Tom Holland ( Cujo ) adapted the novel, which was the last that King wrote as Richard Bachman before his discovery, into a movie that received mostly negative reviews and barely made back its budget at the box office.

56 Sleeping Beauties

September 2017.

While King's works with his son, Joe Hill, are the most well-known King family collaborations, he also co-authored a novel with his youngest son, Owen. Sleeping Beauties features women wrapped in gauze who could become feral if given the opportunity. It is a bizarre story that includes a somewhat Biblical character named Evie (Eve Black), the only woman who is immune to the illness that is causing women to fall into deep slumbers . If the women are awakened they wake up as feral and violent creatures.

This global pandemic ("Aurora") is unlike any other in King's repertoire , making it stand out among the rest of his novels that feature a dystopian world or apocalyptic disaster. It is clear that this is a book that Stephen King, and his son Owen, wanted to write as a message about the women in the world and the dangers they face, but at times it seems a little heavy-handed.

September 1977

Rage is the first novel King penned under the name Richard Bachman . Since he was restricted to publishing one book a year, he created Bachman to produce more content outside the horror genre. Rage is also the only book that King wrote that he has taken off the market because of the rash of school shootings across America. According to King, " I pulled it because in my judgment it might be hurting people, and that made it the responsible thing to do " (via Business Insider ).

The story is good, but it is a challenging read that struggles when putting readers in the mind of the school shooter, and seeing everything from his point of view, which is often the view of a young man with no moral character. Rage's ending is particularly maddening, as it finds the school shooter with a somewhat sympathetic ending where he is found not guilty due to his mental instability; his victims find no justice. However, that is also King's point, as he questions who is really responsible for these tragedies.

54 Elevation

October 2018.

When Scott Carey discovers that he has contracted a strange illness, he is faced with several symptoms that are nothing short of bizarre. Set in Castle Rock, Maine, Elevation includes social and political discourse intertwined with an otherworldly story of a man struggling to be cured of his new ailment. It is considered a sequel to Gwendy's Button Box, but it is more of a soft sequel than anything. " it’s almost like a sequel to Gwendy. Sometimes you seed the ground, and you get a little fertilizer, and things turn out ," King explained (via EW ).

It isn't an entirely remarkable tale, as its attempt at detailing specific social problems in the world tends to fall short of achieving its intended purpose. This is also short, a novella in length, and while it is one of King's more political-leaning stories, its main message is that people can just get along if they try . There is a movie in the works, but it hasn't made it to production yet.

53 The Gunslinger (Dark Tower Book #1)

October 1978.

The Gunslinger is the first installment in King's The Dark Tower series . It introduces Roland Deschain, one of the last remaining gunslingers, who must navigate a fantastical world filled with demons, monstrous creatures, and more. In this story, nothing much happens other than Roland wandering across the desert, looking for the Man in Black. He does meet Jake in this novel, but this is more of a meditative tale that doesn't dig too deep into the mythology that makes it such a great series . However, it is important to read before starting the main journey.

While it is not a particularly bad novel, it's the weakest of the books in that particular series. Stephen King is primarily recognized for his horror novels, and The Gunslinger is far more fantasy-oriented than anything he had done before this 1982 book. It was new to the author's general wheelhouse, and it seems that King struggled to get his pacing right with this introduction to the Dark Tower.

52 Insomnia

October 1994.

When Ralph Roberts of Derry, Maine, begins to experience severe insomnia, his sleep deprivation allows for supernatural abilities to develop . He perceives people's auras as well as entities that are divided into "The Purpose" and "The Random." It is an investigation into the realities of life while questioning the concepts of fate and destiny. The problem with the book is that when the demonic creatures become the main part of the story, it loses a little concerning the best parts of the book — the characters and their relationship with each other.

Insomnia ties in with several Stephen King books, including The Dark Tower, IT, Dreamcatcher, Black House, and Pet Semetary. While it could be perceived as solely serving the purpose of being a universe-building device, the lengthy novel uniquely captures the impact of insomnia on the human psyche as well as life's greater design.

51 Song Of Susannah (Dark Tower Book #6)

While some book series get better over time, The Dark Tower's sixth novel, Song Of Susannah, proved that some things don't always hold up over the years. As the title indicates, this book in the series follows Susanna Dean mostly, as she is trapped in her own mind by Mia, the former demon who is now pregnant in this part of the tale.

The fantastical elements are only utilized in an attempt to connect Stephen King's massive multiverse, as the characters find themselves in the author's own home with a copy of his novel 'Salem's Lot. Thanks to the personal Easter eggs King includes ( including Father Callahan from Salem's Lot ), Stephen King even introduces himself in this book as a character. Song Of Susannah remains slightly better than the first novel in the series. However, it was appreciated by genre fans as it won the Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel in 2005.

Clayton "Blaze" Blaisdell Jr. is a con artist who plans on kidnapping a wealthy man's son in hopes of making his partner in crime proud. While the story is somewhat cut and dry, it is complicated by Blaze's mental disability , similar to The Stand's Trashcan Man. It impacts the entire storyline and creates a terrifying image of manipulation and coercion.

Blaze , written using the pseudonym Richard Bachman , was a complex story to craft and navigate for the author, which shows through each page as Blaze's character is confronted with the spirit of his partner in crime. King wrote this novel before he wrote Carrie , but published it decades later (via Lilja's Library ). King said at the time that he never got around to writing it because it was a " tearjerker of a book ," and he was writing mostly horror as King, which is why he felt it needed to be a Bachman book, to set it aside from his popular novels.

49 The Dark Tower (Dark Tower Book #7)

September 2004.

The Dark Tower's seventh installment and the final chapter of the story, The Dark Tower, features Stephen King as a secondary character. This time, Jake rescues King from the van that nearly killed him in 1999. By the time that King had made himself a fully-fledged character in his own books, things seemed to grind to a halt for many fans of the Dark Tower series. This is also the novel that King wanted to wrap up the story in, and for people who had followed the journey for over two decades, it would never end how everyone had hoped it would.

It is an interesting read and showcases the author's ability to weave his personal stories into the greater narratives of his fantastical and horrific tales. Despite all of its good aspects, several elements introduced in this book cause the overall series to become a bit more complex than is entirely necessary . The book won the British Fantasy Award in 2005 but was polarizing to many fans of the series.

48 Roadwork

A Richard Bachman book, Roadwork tells the story of Barton George Dawes. While grieving over the loss of his child and divorce, he delves further into mental instability with the news that he will be left homeless and jobless as an interstate makes its way through his Midwestern town. The story is a personal one, as King said he wrote it to come to terms with his mother's death (via The Guardian ), something he also wrote about in the short story, The Woman in the Room .

"I think it was an effort to make some sense of my mother's painful death the year before – a lingering cancer had taken her off inch by painful inch. Following this death I was left both grieving and shaken by the apparent senselessness of it all... Roadwork tries so hard to be good and find some answers to the conundrum of human pain."

The Stephen King book is currently in development to become a full-length movie with Andy Muschietti ( IT: Chapter One and IT: Chapter Two) set to produce it and Pablo Trapero as its director.

47 Bag Of Bones

September 1998.

After author Mike Noonan's pregnant wife unexpectedly dies, he is sent into a state of writer's block that he is desperate to break free from. He isolates himself at a lakeside home in Maine in hopes of bringing back his authorial spark. While there, he meets a young widowed mother and her daughter and develops a psychic connection with the girl. This is where it becomes a riveting paranormal story, but it leaves a lot of questions unanswered.

The book is considered one of King's most literary novels as he tells his own story of the struggle writers go through. It went on to win the 1999 Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel. The book was also turned into a television miniseries directed by Mick Garris, who has helmed several of King's works. The movie stars Pierce Brosnan ( James Bond movies) as Mike Noonan, with Annabeth Gish as his wife Jo. The miniseries changed things up from the novel, including changes to the actual ending of the story.

• Stephen King

Charlie Cox Reveals How Many ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Episodes They’ve Filmed

Cox returns alongside Vincent D’Onofrio, Jon Bernthal, and Deborah Ann Woll in the Disney+ series.

The Big Picture

• Daredevil: Born Again is confirmed for release in March 2025, a year late, but the wait is worth it for fans.
• Charlie Cox also revealed that they've filmed nine episodes for Season 1.
• Cox is set to return with Vincent D’Onofrio, Jon Bernthal, Deborah Ann Woll, and more in the Marvel reboot series.

Disney+’s takeover of what was once part of Netflix’s Marvel slate with Daredevil: Born Again has been a bumpy ride for all those connected — fans included. But it has now been confirmed that the series — which faced a multitude of setbacks — is on track for a release in March 2025 . The news came straight from the show’s superhero and villain as Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio took the stage at Disney’s Upfront presentation to advertisers earlier this afternoon, not to rough each other up, but to deliver the exciting announcement. This is the most definitive answer that we’ve gotten for the release window for the show that wrapped filming over a month ago at the beginning of April. Along with this huge reveal, Cox also confirmed that the cast and crew shot nine episodes total for the production’s big comeback.

Yes, for those reading and doing the math, the show’s 2025 arrival is a full year after when it was meant to premiere but these types of slowdowns have been haunting the MCU as — from Captain America to Agatha — no character has been safe from the studio’s scheduling delays. For now, we’re just happy to see that Daredevil: Born Again has actually been born again on Disney’s release schedule . The project was chugging along at a seemingly fine pace up until last fall when it was announced that Disney was doing a creative overhaul . The House of Mouse decided to go in a completely different direction, scrapping the original plan and turning to directors, Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, to take the reigns . With the pair previously involved with Marvel and Disney’s series Moon Knight and Season 2 of Loki , they were just the people needed for the job.

For the remainder of 2023, the creative team literally went back to the drawing board , reworking the next chapter in the story of Matt Murdock (Cox). By early 2024, cameras had picked up on the series and, shortly after that, the team started hitting fans with a slew of content in the form of images and casting reveals . It’s been fun to see the new direction in which the show is headed, whether it be Matt hitting it off with a new love interest or the highly anticipated return of Jon Bernthal’s Punisher .

Who’s In ‘Daredevil: Born Again’?

Along with the familiar faces of Cox, D’Onofrio, and Bernthal, audiences can expect to see names like Wilson Bethel back as Bullseye with Ayelet Zurer reprising her role as Vanessa Mariana . Other names associated with the production include Nikki M. James , Michael Gandolfini , Sandrine Holt , Lou Taylor Pucci , Arty Foushan , and Margarita Levieva .

Stay tuned to Collider for the official release date announcement and learn everything there is to know about Daredevil: Born Again here in our guide .

Daredevil: Born Again

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The 10 Best Books of 2021

Editors at The Times Book Review choose the best fiction and nonfiction titles this year.

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How Beautiful We Were

By imbolo mbue.

Following her 2016 debut, “ Behold the Dreamers ,” Mbue’s sweeping and quietly devastating second novel begins in 1980 in the fictional African village of Kosawa, where representatives from an American oil company have come to meet with the locals, whose children are dying because of the environmental havoc (fallow fields, poisoned water) wreaked by its drilling and pipelines. This decades-spanning fable of power and corruption turns out to be something much less clear-cut than the familiar David-and-Goliath tale of a sociopathic corporation and the lives it steamrolls. Through the eyes of Kosawa’s citizens young and old, Mbue constructs a nuanced exploration of self-interest, of what it means to want in the age of capitalism and colonialism — these machines of malicious, insatiable wanting.

Random House. $28. | Read our review | Read our profile of Mbue | Listen to Mbue on the podcast

By Katie Kitamura

In Kitamura’s fourth novel, an unnamed court translator in The Hague is tasked with intimately vanishing into the voices and stories of war criminals whom she alone can communicate with; falling meanwhile into a tumultuous entanglement with a man whose marriage may or may not be over for good. Kitamura’s sleek and spare prose elegantly breaks grammatical convention, mirroring the book’s concern with the bleeding lines between intimacies — especially between the sincere and the coercive. Like her previous novel, “A Separation,” “Intimacies” scrutinizes the knowability of those around us, not as an end in itself but as a lens on grand social issues from gentrification to colonialism to feminism. The path a life cuts through the world, this book seems to say, has its greatest significance in the effect it has on others.

Riverhead Books. $26. | Read our review | Read our profile of Kitamura

The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois

By honorée fanonne jeffers.

“The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois,” the first novel by Jeffers, a celebrated poet, is many things at once: a moving coming-of-age saga, an examination of race and an excavation of American history. It cuts back and forth between the tale of Ailey Pearl Garfield, a Black girl growing up at the end of the 20th century, and the “songs” of her ancestors, Native Americans and enslaved African Americans who lived through the formation of the United States. As their stories converge, “Love Songs” creates an unforgettable portrait of Black life that reveals how the past still reverberates today.

Harper/HarperCollins. $28.99. | Read our review | Listen to Jeffers on the podcast

No One Is Talking About This

By patricia lockwood.

Lockwood first found acclaim as a poet on the internet, with gloriously inventive and ribald verse — sexts elevated to virtuosity. In “ Priestdaddy ,” her indelible 2017 memoir about growing up in rectories across the Midwest presided over by her gun-loving, guitar-playing father, a Catholic priest, she called tweeting “an art form, like sculpture, or honking the national anthem under your armpit.” Here, in her first novel, she distills the pleasures and deprivations of life split between online and flesh-and-blood interactions, transfiguring the dissonance into art. The result is a book that reads like a prose poem, at once sublime, profane, intimate, philosophical, hilarious and, eventually, deeply moving.

Riverhead Books. $25. | Read our review | Read our profile of Lockwood

When We Cease to Understand the World

By benjamín labatut. translated by adrian nathan west..

Labatut expertly stitches together the stories of the 20th century’s greatest thinkers to explore both the ecstasy and agony of scientific breakthroughs: their immense gains for society as well as their steep human costs. His journey to the outermost edges of knowledge — guided by the mathematician Alexander Grothendieck , the physicist Werner Heisenberg and the chemist Fritz Haber , among others — offers glimpses of a universe with limitless potential underlying the observable world, a “dark nucleus at the heart of things” that some of its witnesses decide is better left alone. This extraordinary hybrid of fiction and nonfiction also provokes the frisson of an extended true-or-false test: The further we read, the blurrier the line gets between fact and fabulism.

New York Review Books. Paper, $17.95. | Read our review

The Copenhagen Trilogy: Childhood; Youth; Dependency

By tove ditlevsen. translated by tiina nunnally and michael favala goldman..

Ditlevsen’s gorgeous memoirs, first published in Denmark in the 1960s and ’70s and collected here in a single volume, detail her hardscrabble upbringing, career path and merciless addictions: a powerful account of the struggle to reconcile art and life. She joined the working ranks at 14, became a renowned poet by her early 20s, and found herself, after two failed marriages, wedded to a psychopathic doctor and hopelessly dependent on opioids by her 30s. Yet for all the dramatic twists of her life, these books together project a stunning clarity, humor and candidness, casting light not just on the world’s harsh realities but on the inexplicable impulses of our secret selves.

Farrar, Straus & Giroux. $30. | Read our review

How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning With the History of Slavery Across America

By clint smith.

For this timely and thought-provoking book, Smith, a poet and journalist, toured sites key to the history of slavery and its present-day legacy, including Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello; Angola, the Louisiana State Penitentiary; and a Confederate cemetery. Interspersing interviews with the tourists, guides, activists and local historians he meets along the way with close readings of scholarship and poignant personal reflection, Smith holds up a mirror to America’s fraught relationship with its past, capturing a potent mixture of good intentions, earnest corrective, willful ignorance and blatant distortion.

Little, Brown & Company. $29. | Read our review | Listen to Smith on the podcast

Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival and Hope in an American City

By andrea elliott.

To expand on her acclaimed 2013 series for The Times about Dasani Coates, a homeless New York schoolgirl, and her family, Elliott spent years following her subjects in their daily lives, through shelters, schools, courtrooms and welfare offices. The book she has produced — intimately reported, elegantly written and suffused with the fierce love and savvy observations of Dasani and her mother — is a searing account of one family’s struggle with poverty, homelessness and addiction in a city and country that have failed to address these issues with efficacy or compassion.

Random House. $30. | Read our review | Listen to Elliott on the podcast

On Juneteenth

By annette gordon-reed.

This book weaves together history and memoir into a short volume that is insightful, touching and courageous. Exploring the racial and social complexities of Texas, her home state, Gordon-Reed asks readers to step back from the current heated debates and take a more nuanced look at history and the surprises it can offer. Such a perspective comes easy to her because she was a part of history — the first Black child to integrate her East Texas school. On several occasions, she found herself shunned by whites and Blacks alike, learning at an early age that breaking the color line can be threatening to both races.

Liveright Publishing. $15.95. | Read our review | Listen to Gordon-Reed on the podcast

Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath

By heather clark.

It’s daring to undertake a new biography of Plath, whose life, and death by suicide at 30 in 1963, have been thoroughly picked over by scholars. Yet this meticulously researched and, at more than 1,000 pages, unexpectedly riveting portrait is a monumental achievement. Determined to rescue the poet from posthumous caricature as a doomed madwoman and “reposition her as one of the most important American writers of the 20th century,” Clark, a professor of poetry in England, delivers a transporting account of a rare literary talent and the familial and intellectual milieu that both thwarted and encouraged her, enlivened throughout by quotations from Plath’s letters, diaries, poetry and prose.

Alfred A. Knopf. $40. | Read our review

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As book bans have surged in Florida, the novelist Lauren Groff has opened a bookstore called The Lynx, a hub for author readings, book club gatherings and workshops , where banned titles are prominently displayed.

Eighteen books were recognized as winners or finalists for the Pulitzer Prize, in the categories of history, memoir, poetry, general nonfiction, fiction and biography, which had two winners. Here’s a full list of the winners .

Montreal is a city as appealing for its beauty as for its shadows. Here, t he novelist Mona Awad recommends books  that are “both dreamy and uncompromising.”

The complicated, generous life  of Paul Auster, who died on April 30 , yielded a body of work of staggering scope and variety .

Each week, top authors and critics join the Book Review’s podcast to talk about the latest news in the literary world. Listen here .