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. 

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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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15 Fantastic YouTube Book Reviewers For Your Viewing Pleasure

Giovanna Centeno

A polyglot reader, Giovanna Centeno is best described as a traveling book hoarder. Born and raised in the Amazonian region of Brazil, she studied Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies in Switzerland, before moving to her current home in Lisbon, Portugal. Gi is always traveling and reading, and you can tag along on her next bookish adventure by following @gcreads on Instagram.

View All posts by Giovanna Centeno

Lately I have found myself craving very chill book related content, as I have been stuck in a very long reading slump but I also want to keep up with the latest releases. So I tend to turn to YouTube book reviews.

If you are a part of the book community online, you probably have fallen down the rabbit hole that is BookTube. From cozy reading vlogs to book hauls and wrap-ups, there is something for everyone, even if, like me, you were a bit scared for the sheer amount of City of Bones or Sarah J. Mass there when you first discovered BookTube, don’t worry. The community has grown and diversified, with genres and topics for any taste. In this post, I wanted to highlight some review BookTubers, so that if you are looking to explore more in-depth reviews, want some book recommendations, or just a good laugh, you have some excellent places to start.

These are my favorite channels for YouTube book reviews and related bookish content. And, if you’re not already, check out Book Riot’s YouTube channel , too!

BookTube Channels for YouTube Book Reviews

The poptimist.

By far, one of my favorite reviewers on the platform, The Poptimist is almost exclusively a review channel. By all metrics, he is an unconventional BookTuber in that regard, but his super in-depth and top-notch GIF game reviews make every book he talks about super interesting. Whenever he uploads, I know that my TBR is about to grow.

Reading With Cindy

Do you want to laugh your socks off? Look no further than Reading With Cindy. I can safely say one of the funniest people on YouTube. With self-aware and critical humor, her channel is refreshing, with its hyper-analytical rant reviews.

Jean Bookish Thoughts

Jean was one of the first creators I started following when I joined BookTube, and I am still in awe whenever she posts. I would define her content as a mix of fantasy and intellectual; she is getting her PhD in ancient history, and always has excellent recommendations for most genres. Still, I would say her specialty is fantasy and political books. She has also started doing videos that are several short reviews in one go, which are nice if you just want a quick opinion.

Bowties & Books

With lots of energy and a super cool TBR card game, Bowties and Books is the perfect channel if you are looking for mini-reviews/recommendations, to expand your TBR with lots of great LGBTQ and diverse books.

Chanelle Time

Another very funny creator, Chanelle is awesome. Her book reviews combined with makeup tutorials make you feel like you are just having out with one of your funniest friends and talking about books, what more could you ask for?

Ariel Bissett

Ariel Bissett is one of the most expansive creators on BookTube, with a channel that has evolved from your traditional YouTube book reviews and hauls to a documentary miniseries on bookstores and music and book combo reviews. Her videos are well thought out and researched and it definitely shows her range and creativity.

Savidge Reads

Simon’s videos always feel very cozy to me, his wrap up reviews are very interesting, and I feel like he truly thinks about his reading in a more analytical way. So, if you just want to learn about some more books and watch a soothing video, check out his channel.

Paperback Dreams

You want to have ups and downs, honest and funny commentary? Look no further. Paperback Dreams is a great channel if you want your reviews to go through the motions; many times she even vlogs her reading process together with the reviews, so you can see her opinions throughout the entire books as she goes.

Starlah Reads

Starlah Reads does the more traditional formate of reviews, generally in her Best/Worst books of the year videos. But what I like the most is her series “Author Anew” in which she reads a new book from an author she has not liked in the past. These are part vlog, part review.

Jessica Nicole Dickerson

Jessica has a super fun and light energy channel and her reviews combined with wrap-ups always put me in a chill mood. She definitely spends a good amount of time and detail in each book, without spoiling or overlooking content.

Jurassic Reads

With a wide range of genres, Angel does great reviews about both new releases and backlist titles. So if you want to explore anything from romance to sci-fi and horror, she is always a good and reliable source for YouTube book reviews.

Perpetual Pages

One of the most dynamic reviewers on BookTube, Adri has something for everyone. However, I particularly appreciate their reviews, as I feel they are super in-depth without being too long, and the topics they choose to approach when analyzing their reading really resonate with me.

Brown Girl Reading

A more straightforward reviewer, I love turning to her channel whenever I am unsure about a book. Her reviews are deeply honest and very interesting; she is not afraid to speak her mind even on super hyped books.

A Book Olive

Olive reads and reviews almost exclusively adult fiction and nonfiction, which makes her a rare reviewer on BookTube. She does dedicated reviews as also the more traditional wrap-up reviews. If you are looking for a pandemic-related book, she has recently uploaded a very good summary of Spillover by David Quammen.

What Kamil Reads

Kamil’s channel is almost exclusively review based, and with reason. His reviews have historical backgrounds, language analysis, and a very in-depth explanation of why he did or did not like a book.

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List of Famous Literary Critics

List of famous literary critics, with photos, bios, and other information when available. Who are the top literary critics in the world? This includes the most prominent literary critics, living and dead, both in America and abroad. This list of notable literary critics is ordered by their level of prominence, and can be sorted for various bits of information, such as where these historic literary critics were born and what their nationality is. The people on this list are from different countries, but what they all have in common is that they're all renowned literary critics.

List features famous people of literary criticism like Edgar Allan Poe, John Updike and more! Featuring famous book critics of history and the present, this list has it all. 

Lists of fascinating facts and lesser-known details about the lives of people whose names you learned in History class (or should have).

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. 

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7 thoughts on “Book Reviewers List | 250+ Book Review Blogs”

I’m so pleased to have found this site. I am about to upload 4 print books to Draft2Digital . I will then use the information above to find the readers who i hope will let me know which genre will read each one.

I’m pleased you’ve found us too Peter! Congratulations on your impending publications. D2D is a great platform. Very easy to use with great distribution. I wish you the best of luck and hope this list helps!

Thank you very much Richie for curating a list of book reviewers here. I’ve come across many writing gurus who say that getting book reviews is so important. But you’re the first (that I’ve happily stumbled upon) who spelled it out step by step the process of actually achieving this. It seems less daunting now. I’m reading your ‘A Fantasy Writer’s Handbook’. Thank you so much! I really like your friendly and kind style of communicating and advising others.

Hey Zoe! Thank you so much for your lovely comment! It’s so great to hear you found this list and page useful. And thank you for taking a chance on the Handbook! It means a lot. Have you joined our writing group yet? If not let me know and I’ll send you the link

Hey Richie, great list!

I have two audiobooks coming out this summer (The Stranger’s Guide To Talliston & Letters From The Labyrinth). Both read by the uber-talented Joe Jameson.

Would book fantasy reviewers also be interested in audiobook fantasy — or is that a whole other list!?

Hey John! That sounds fantastic! I look forward to checking them out

I think some of these reviewers do review audiobooks so it’s worth a look. Also try Instagram and search for audiobook-based hashtags. It seems the most active at the minute for reviews

Will do! Excellent advice as always.

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The 20 best books by Stephen King, according to Goodreads users

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• Stephen King is an author famous for his suspenseful horror novels.
• Some of his books have been turned into movies like " The Shining " and " It ."
• We used Goodreads to rank his most popular novels.

While some readers gravitate toward heartwarming love stories or informative nonfiction, others love the wide-eyed suspense and fear of a great horror story or thrilling mystery novel . Stephen King has become a legendary writer since his first book was published in 1974 and has garnered worldwide fans, earned countless awards, and topped bestseller lists with his horror, thriller, science-fiction, and crime reads.  

King has received nearly 17 million ratings from Goodreads reviewers across dozens of novels, so we turned to them to rank his best books. Goodreads is the world's largest platform for readers to rate, review, and recommend books so whether you love a great horror novel or crave a suspenseful book that keeps you up at night, here are the most popular Stephen King novels, as ranked by Goodreads reviewers.

The 20 best Stephen King books, according to Goodreads:

20. a supernatural, science fiction horror story.

"The Institute," available on Amazon and Bookshop , from $13.79

This 2019 Goodreads Choice Awards winner for Best Horror follows Luke Ellis as he wakes up in The Institute after his parents are murdered and he's taken from his home. At The Institute, Luke finds other kids with extranormal gifts like his own and a staff determined to extract them, with brutal punishment waiting for those who disobey. 

Number of 5-star reviews on Goodreads: 85,109

19. The third novel in a thrilling series

"The Waste Lands," available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $12.98

In " The Dark Tower " series, readers follow Roland, the last in a knightly order, on his quest to reach the Dark Tower — the only hope for his world. This is the third book, where Roland experiences double memories as a result of saving a boy who had already died in a parallel universe. Roland and his new gang of fellow gunslingers must draw the boy into their world in order to reach the Dark Tower. This novel is full of important character development and genuine entertainment from the plot, one that solidifies readers' necessity to continue the series. 

Number of 5-star reviews on Goodreads: 91,599

18. A thrilling fantasy tale of a mysterious store

"Needful Things" available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $15.19

In his shop, Needful Things, Leland Gaunt knows that every customer will find the object of their heart's deepest desire. In exchange, Leland asks for a small prank to be carried out on his behalf, generating a novel of chaos in a small town. This story is fascinating as the characters are tempted and lured into complete obsession over possessions, blinded by greed and willing to do anything for the object they want — even murder. It's an intense novel, a thriller and fantasy that swirls with mayhem while still being the small-town horror that King writes so well.

Number of 5-star reviews on Goodreads: 77,940

17. An anticipated sequel to a modern classic

"Doctor Sleep," available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $10.22

In this sequel, readers reunite with Dan Torrance, once the young boy from " The Shining ," but now a middle-aged man drifting through life. When Dan settles into a job at a nursing home in New Hampshire, he's coined "Doctor Sleep," using his paranormal abilities to help and comfort the dying. But there is a group of traveling, murderous paranormals who are deriving their energy from the "steam" given off by paranormal children as they're tortured and killed. When Dan meets 12-year-old Abra with the same gift he has, he knows he must try to save her. This is a psychological and gory sequel, hugely satisfying to readers who adored "The Shining." 

Number of 5-star reviews on Goodreads: 90,138

16. A not-so-sweet story about a Saint Bernard

"Cujo," available on Amazon and Bookshop , from $14.97

" Cujo " is a 1981 psychological horror read about a Saint Bernard named Cujo who gets bitten by a bat while chasing a rabbit and is quickly overcome by a sickness that has turned him uncontrollably towards murder. As Cujo creates a flurry of fear and madness, everyone in their small town fears for their safety in this gruesome and nail-biting read. 

Number of 5-star reviews on Goodreads: 71,244

15. A new suspenseful and haunting horror novel

"The Outsider," available on Amazon and Bookshop , from $8.16

This bone-chilling Stephen King horror won the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Mystery & Thriller in 2018 for its unsettling plot and page-turning investigation. When a young boy's body is found in a park, copious DNA evidence immediately points investigators towards Terry Maitland, a local Little League coach and teacher. Yet after a swift arrest, their investigation slowly brings new and horrifying answers to light.  

Number of 5-star reviews on Goodreads: 78,651

14. The second installment of a beloved series

"The Drawing of the Three," available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $12.99

This is the second book of " The Dark Tower " series, which follows Roland, The Last Gunslinger, on his quest to reach the Dark Tower, the nexus of all universes that his world desperately needs to survive. In this sequel, Roland navigates a world that is a nightmarish mirror of our own to encounter a beach with three doors. Each is a gateway to a person living in New York with whom Roland must collaborate to fight evil forces. This book is a plot-driven horror story mixed with magical realism, a page-turning novel that demonstrates some of the best of King's cross-genre writing. 

Number of 5-star reviews on Goodreads: 106,370

13. A psychological sci-fi novel

"Under the Dome," available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $13.42

On an otherwise normal day, the residents in Chester's Mill, Maine find themselves trapped under an invisible dome, a forcefield separating them from the rest of the world. Told through multiple perspectives, a group of citizens comes together to fight their new enemies in this strange and unprecedented dystopia. There is a large cast of characters in this story, but King writes each one as a prominent individual so readers can easily follow each story. " Under the Dome " is definitely a violent science-fiction thriller, but also comes peppered with dark humor and strong characters, making it a rich read with profound messages about contemporary society. 

Number of 5-star reviews on Goodreads: 91,933

12. A suspenseful true crime mystery thriller

"Mr. Mercedes," available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $9.29

The opening of this book is emotional but quickly turns gruesome, as a man driving a Mercedes plows into a line of innocent people waiting at a job fair. After killing eight and injuring 15, the man gets away and retired detective Bill Hodges is left haunted by the crime. On the verge of suicide, Bill receives a message from the murderer, spurring a mission to catch the killer before he strikes again. The juxtaposition between the conniving and manipulative Mr. Mercedes and the tired but determined Hodges is what makes this King novel such an invigorating read. It continues on to create the " Bill Hodges " trilogy, a fast-paced supernatural series featuring this detective-turned-hero.

Number of 5-star reviews on Goodreads: 93,372

11. An autobiographical self-help book about writing

"On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft," available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $17.99

In a book that is part-memoir and part-advice, Stephen King uses his personal anecdotes to inspire budding and aspiring writers. While his guidance is not always sparkling with encouragement, it's always realistic: imploring that those who wish to be writers must be constantly learning, reading, and writing every day. King is honest about his own struggles and setbacks and offers insight into his methods and inspirations which culminate in a master class from one of the most successful writers of this generation. 

Number of 5-star reviews on Goodreads: 134,058

10. A dramatic and emotional book

"The Green Mile," available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $9.29

" The Green Mile " is a series that was released one volume at a time in 1996, with each installment landing on the "New York Times" Best-Seller List. Now compiled as a single work, it follows Paul Edgecombe, a prison guard at Cold Mountain Penitentiary where convicted killers wait to walk "the green mile" to the electric chair. Though Paul has seen nearly everything, his experiences with inmate John Coffey are like no other. John is a strange inmate, convicted of a depraved crime despite appearing to have the mind of a child. This is a thought-provoking and emotional novel, an iconic and believable story that mixes in shocking elements consistent with King's horror style. 

Number of 5-star reviews on Goodreads: 167,629

9. A horrifying vampire story

"Salem's Lot," available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $8.36

This was Stephen King's second published novel, the story of writer Ben Mears who returns to his childhood town of Jerusalem's Lot (nicknamed 'Salem's Lot) to confront the evil he once escaped. This unique vampire story is packed with more horror than most of King's other works and is inspired by classic vampire tales and films. King writes incredible small-town horrors and this one is no different, featuring a wonderful, quaint town with secrets of abuse, violence, and murder not far beneath the surface. This story is suspenseful and foreboding, a vampire horror for any reader who's ready to be scared. 

Number of 5-star reviews on Goodreads: 145,157

8. A paranormal novel with building horror

"Pet Sematary," available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $14.99

In rural Maine, a picturesque family has moved into a perfect home to live a simple and happy life, just to find the town is haunted by horrors that should have remained dead — all seeming to originate from an evil and ominous nearby pet cemetery. This is a slow-burn horror, one that offers less gore but rather builds and builds on disturbing elements and skin-crawling feelings to scare readers in a way only Stephen King can. The developments in this novel are shocking and nightmarish, with even King admitting that this story scared him more than his others. 

Number of 5-star reviews on Goodreads:  189,058

7. A historical fiction, time travel thriller about JFK

"11/22/63," available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $18.25

This is a time travel adventure novel that tells the story of Jake Epping, a high school English teacher who is introduced to a portal to 1958 and sets out on a mission to stop the JFK assassination. Jake adopts a new identity, tests the rules of time travel, and discovers what may wait in the present if he's to succeed. With very little (if any) horror in this novel, King fans get to experience a thrilling historical fiction story, one where the fascinating "what ifs" of history are explored through time travel. 

Number of 5-star reviews on Goodreads: 244,754

6. The first of a heroic fantasy series

"The Gunslinger," available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $11.62

This is the first installment of King's hugely popular series " The Dark Tower ," of which there are eight books and a short story. Roland of Gilead is The Last Gunslinger — the final hero in a knightly order. With a mix of dark fantasy, horror, and Western themes, the story follows Roland as he sets off on his quest for the Dark Tower which holds all of existence together. On his journey, he pursues his arch-nemesis, develops a friendship, and meets a mysterious woman. An added excitement for regular King readers is the tie-ins to other novels: references and Easter eggs that expand and intertwine King's multiverse. 

Number of 5-star reviews on Goodreads: 213,445

5. A supernatural horror story centered on bullying

"Carrie," available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $7.99

Stephen King's first published novel focuses on Carrie White, a telekinetic teenager who's able to move objects with her mind. Abused and bullied all her life, one particularly traumatic day unleashes a streak of revenge that cumulates with a famously terrifying prom night scene. This modern horror classic is also a powerful anti-bullying testament, offering the frightening combination of real and supernatural elements that makes it an exceptionally fast read.

Number of 5-star reviews on Goodreads: 210,851

4. An intense psychological thriller about an obsessive fan

"Misery," available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $13.69

After celebrating the release of a new novel, Paul Sheldon gets in a car accident in the Rocky Mountains and is rescued by Anne Wilkes, his #1 fan. While nursing Paul back to health after he shattered both his legs, she compels him to write a new novel, furious that he killed off her favorite character. Fueled by obsession, Anne keeps Paul captive in a story of torture, psychological manipulation, and addiction. This is a gory and gruesome horror novel with a multi-dimensional villain, an intense and graphic tale of the struggle between prisoner and captor. 

Number of 5-star reviews on Goodreads: 267,279

3. A post-apocalyptic fantasy thriller

"The Stand," available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $14.89

This book begins the day after 99% of the Earth's population is killed from a man-made flu that was accidentally released. The few remaining survivors are plagued with strange dreams and struggle with a society torn between two prevailing allegiances. At over 1,100 pages, this masterpiece combines King's classic supernatural and fantasy elements and combines them with an apocalyptic dystopia that addresses huge topics of survival, religion, and the ultimate compass of morality. 

Number of 5-star reviews on Goodreads: 386,896

2. An iconic creepy clown horror story

"It," available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $15.97

In Derry, Maine, seven teenagers first discovered the horror that they deemed "It" — often taking the form of Pennywise the Clown. Now adults, each with their own successes, one of the self-proclaimed "Losers Club" asks the gang to return and end the evil creature's reign once and for all. Stephen King uses dual timelines from 1958 and 1985 and chilling descriptions to develop unique characters and explore deep themes that extend far beyond the traditional horror genre. 

Number of 5-star reviews on Goodreads: 490,912

1. A modern horror classic

"The Shining," available on Amazon and Bookshop , from $8.36

It should hardly be a surprise that Stephen King's most popular book is also his first-ever bestseller: " The Shining ," a classic 1977 horror novel, spurred a cult-favorite movie and a sequel. It's a deeply suspenseful paranormal story about Jack Torrance, who starts a new job as a caretaker at the Overlook Hotel, hoping to spend more time with his family and work on his writing. During the off-season, a chilling winter storm confines Jack to the hotel — and sinister forces begin to emerge. It's a classic haunted house story that has been scaring readers for nearly 50 years.

Number of 5-star reviews on Goodreads: 652,896

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Blog – Posted on Friday, Mar 29

17 book review examples to help you write the perfect review.

It’s an exciting time to be a book reviewer. Once confined to print newspapers and journals, reviews now dot many corridors of the Internet — forever helping others discover their next great read. That said, every book reviewer will face a familiar panic: how can you do justice to a great book in just a thousand words?

As you know, the best way to learn how to do something is by immersing yourself in it. Luckily, the Internet (i.e. Goodreads and other review sites , in particular) has made book reviews more accessible than ever — which means that there are a lot of book reviews examples out there for you to view!

In this post, we compiled 17 prototypical book review examples in multiple genres to help you figure out how to write the perfect review . If you want to jump straight to the examples, you can skip the next section. Otherwise, let’s first check out what makes up a good review.

Are you interested in becoming a book reviewer? We recommend you check out Reedsy Discovery , where you can earn money for writing reviews — and are guaranteed people will read your reviews! To register as a book reviewer, sign up here.

Pro-tip : But wait! How are you sure if you should become a book reviewer in the first place? If you're on the fence, or curious about your match with a book reviewing career, take our quick quiz:

Should you become a book reviewer?

Find out the answer. Takes 30 seconds!

What must a book review contain?

Like all works of art, no two book reviews will be identical. But fear not: there are a few guidelines for any aspiring book reviewer to follow. Most book reviews, for instance, are less than 1,500 words long, with the sweet spot hitting somewhere around the 1,000-word mark. (However, this may vary depending on the platform on which you’re writing, as we’ll see later.)

In addition, all reviews share some universal elements, as shown in our book review templates . These include:

• A review will offer a concise plot summary of the book. 
• A book review will offer an evaluation of the work. 
• A book review will offer a recommendation for the audience. 

If these are the basic ingredients that make up a book review, it’s the tone and style with which the book reviewer writes that brings the extra panache. This will differ from platform to platform, of course. A book review on Goodreads, for instance, will be much more informal and personal than a book review on Kirkus Reviews, as it is catering to a different audience. However, at the end of the day, the goal of all book reviews is to give the audience the tools to determine whether or not they’d like to read the book themselves.

Keeping that in mind, let’s proceed to some book review examples to put all of this in action.

How much of a book nerd are you, really?

Find out here, once and for all. Takes 30 seconds!

Book review examples for fiction books

Since story is king in the world of fiction, it probably won’t come as any surprise to learn that a book review for a novel will concentrate on how well the story was told .

That said, book reviews in all genres follow the same basic formula that we discussed earlier. In these examples, you’ll be able to see how book reviewers on different platforms expertly intertwine the plot summary and their personal opinions of the book to produce a clear, informative, and concise review.

Note: Some of the book review examples run very long. If a book review is truncated in this post, we’ve indicated by including a […] at the end, but you can always read the entire review if you click on the link provided.

Examples of literary fiction book reviews

Kirkus Reviews reviews Ralph Ellison’s The Invisible Man :

An extremely powerful story of a young Southern Negro, from his late high school days through three years of college to his life in Harlem.

His early training prepared him for a life of humility before white men, but through injustices- large and small, he came to realize that he was an "invisible man". People saw in him only a reflection of their preconceived ideas of what he was, denied his individuality, and ultimately did not see him at all. This theme, which has implications far beyond the obvious racial parallel, is skillfully handled. The incidents of the story are wholly absorbing. The boy's dismissal from college because of an innocent mistake, his shocked reaction to the anonymity of the North and to Harlem, his nightmare experiences on a one-day job in a paint factory and in the hospital, his lightning success as the Harlem leader of a communistic organization known as the Brotherhood, his involvement in black versus white and black versus black clashes and his disillusion and understanding of his invisibility- all climax naturally in scenes of violence and riot, followed by a retreat which is both literal and figurative. Parts of this experience may have been told before, but never with such freshness, intensity and power.

This is Ellison's first novel, but he has complete control of his story and his style. Watch it.

Lyndsey reviews George Orwell’s 1984 on Goodreads:

YOU. ARE. THE. DEAD. Oh my God. I got the chills so many times toward the end of this book. It completely blew my mind. It managed to surpass my high expectations AND be nothing at all like I expected. Or in Newspeak "Double Plus Good." Let me preface this with an apology. If I sound stunningly inarticulate at times in this review, I can't help it. My mind is completely fried.

This book is like the dystopian Lord of the Rings, with its richly developed culture and economics, not to mention a fully developed language called Newspeak, or rather more of the anti-language, whose purpose is to limit speech and understanding instead of to enhance and expand it. The world-building is so fully fleshed out and spine-tinglingly terrifying that it's almost as if George travelled to such a place, escaped from it, and then just wrote it all down.

I read Fahrenheit 451 over ten years ago in my early teens. At the time, I remember really wanting to read 1984, although I never managed to get my hands on it. I'm almost glad I didn't. Though I would not have admitted it at the time, it would have gone over my head. Or at the very least, I wouldn't have been able to appreciate it fully. […]

The New York Times reviews Lisa Halliday’s Asymmetry :

Three-quarters of the way through Lisa Halliday’s debut novel, “Asymmetry,” a British foreign correspondent named Alistair is spending Christmas on a compound outside of Baghdad. His fellow revelers include cameramen, defense contractors, United Nations employees and aid workers. Someone’s mother has FedExed a HoneyBaked ham from Maine; people are smoking by the swimming pool. It is 2003, just days after Saddam Hussein’s capture, and though the mood is optimistic, Alistair is worrying aloud about the ethics of his chosen profession, wondering if reporting on violence doesn’t indirectly abet violence and questioning why he’d rather be in a combat zone than reading a picture book to his son. But every time he returns to London, he begins to “spin out.” He can’t go home. “You observe what people do with their freedom — what they don’t do — and it’s impossible not to judge them for it,” he says.

The line, embedded unceremoniously in the middle of a page-long paragraph, doubles, like so many others in “Asymmetry,” as literary criticism. Halliday’s novel is so strange and startlingly smart that its mere existence seems like commentary on the state of fiction. One finishes “Asymmetry” for the first or second (or like this reader, third) time and is left wondering what other writers are not doing with their freedom — and, like Alistair, judging them for it.

Despite its title, “Asymmetry” comprises two seemingly unrelated sections of equal length, appended by a slim and quietly shocking coda. Halliday’s prose is clean and lean, almost reportorial in the style of W. G. Sebald, and like the murmurings of a shy person at a cocktail party, often comic only in single clauses. It’s a first novel that reads like the work of an author who has published many books over many years. […]

Emily W. Thompson reviews Michael Doane's The Crossing on Reedsy Discovery :

In Doane’s debut novel, a young man embarks on a journey of self-discovery with surprising results.

An unnamed protagonist (The Narrator) is dealing with heartbreak. His love, determined to see the world, sets out for Portland, Oregon. But he’s a small-town boy who hasn’t traveled much. So, the Narrator mourns her loss and hides from life, throwing himself into rehabbing an old motorcycle. Until one day, he takes a leap; he packs his bike and a few belongings and heads out to find the Girl.

Following in the footsteps of Jack Kerouac and William Least Heat-Moon, Doane offers a coming of age story about a man finding himself on the backroads of America. Doane’s a gifted writer with fluid prose and insightful observations, using The Narrator’s personal interactions to illuminate the diversity of the United States.

The Narrator initially sticks to the highways, trying to make it to the West Coast as quickly as possible. But a hitchhiker named Duke convinces him to get off the beaten path and enjoy the ride. “There’s not a place that’s like any other,” [39] Dukes contends, and The Narrator realizes he’s right. Suddenly, the trip is about the journey, not just the destination. The Narrator ditches his truck and traverses the deserts and mountains on his bike. He destroys his phone, cutting off ties with his past and living only in the moment.

As he crosses the country, The Narrator connects with several unique personalities whose experiences and views deeply impact his own. Duke, the complicated cowboy and drifter, who opens The Narrator’s eyes to a larger world. Zooey, the waitress in Colorado who opens his heart and reminds him that love can be found in this big world. And Rosie, The Narrator’s sweet landlady in Portland, who helps piece him back together both physically and emotionally.

This supporting cast of characters is excellent. Duke, in particular, is wonderfully nuanced and complicated. He’s a throwback to another time, a man without a cell phone who reads Sartre and sleeps under the stars. Yet he’s also a grifter with a “love ‘em and leave ‘em” attitude that harms those around him. It’s fascinating to watch The Narrator wrestle with Duke’s behavior, trying to determine which to model and which to discard.

Doane creates a relatable protagonist in The Narrator, whose personal growth doesn’t erase his faults. His willingness to hit the road with few resources is admirable, and he’s prescient enough to recognize the jealousy of those who cannot or will not take the leap. His encounters with new foods, places, and people broaden his horizons. Yet his immaturity and selfishness persist. He tells Rosie she’s been a good mother to him but chooses to ignore the continuing concern from his own parents as he effectively disappears from his old life.

Despite his flaws, it’s a pleasure to accompany The Narrator on his physical and emotional journey. The unexpected ending is a fitting denouement to an epic and memorable road trip.

The Book Smugglers review Anissa Gray’s The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls :

I am still dipping my toes into the literally fiction pool, finding what works for me and what doesn’t. Books like The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls by Anissa Gray are definitely my cup of tea.

Althea and Proctor Cochran had been pillars of their economically disadvantaged community for years – with their local restaurant/small market and their charity drives. Until they are found guilty of fraud for stealing and keeping most of the money they raised and sent to jail. Now disgraced, their entire family is suffering the consequences, specially their twin teenage daughters Baby Vi and Kim.  To complicate matters even more: Kim was actually the one to call the police on her parents after yet another fight with her mother. […]

Examples of children’s and YA fiction book reviews

The Book Hookup reviews Angie Thomas’ The Hate U Give :

♥ Quick Thoughts and Rating: 5 stars! I can’t imagine how challenging it would be to tackle the voice of a movement like Black Lives Matter, but I do know that Thomas did it with a finesse only a talented author like herself possibly could. With an unapologetically realistic delivery packed with emotion, The Hate U Give is a crucially important portrayal of the difficulties minorities face in our country every single day. I have no doubt that this book will be met with resistance by some (possibly many) and slapped with a “controversial” label, but if you’ve ever wondered what it was like to walk in a POC’s shoes, then I feel like this is an unflinchingly honest place to start.

In Angie Thomas’s debut novel, Starr Carter bursts on to the YA scene with both heart-wrecking and heartwarming sincerity. This author is definitely one to watch.

♥ Review: The hype around this book has been unquestionable and, admittedly, that made me both eager to get my hands on it and terrified to read it. I mean, what if I was to be the one person that didn’t love it as much as others? (That seems silly now because of how truly mesmerizing THUG was in the most heartbreakingly realistic way.) However, with the relevancy of its summary in regards to the unjust predicaments POC currently face in the US, I knew this one was a must-read, so I was ready to set my fears aside and dive in. That said, I had an altogether more personal, ulterior motive for wanting to read this book. […]

The New York Times reviews Melissa Albert’s The Hazel Wood :

Alice Crewe (a last name she’s chosen for herself) is a fairy tale legacy: the granddaughter of Althea Proserpine, author of a collection of dark-as-night fairy tales called “Tales From the Hinterland.” The book has a cult following, and though Alice has never met her grandmother, she’s learned a little about her through internet research. She hasn’t read the stories, because her mother, Ella Proserpine, forbids it.

Alice and Ella have moved from place to place in an attempt to avoid the “bad luck” that seems to follow them. Weird things have happened. As a child, Alice was kidnapped by a man who took her on a road trip to find her grandmother; he was stopped by the police before they did so. When at 17 she sees that man again, unchanged despite the years, Alice panics. Then Ella goes missing, and Alice turns to Ellery Finch, a schoolmate who’s an Althea Proserpine superfan, for help in tracking down her mother. Not only has Finch read every fairy tale in the collection, but handily, he remembers them, sharing them with Alice as they journey to the mysterious Hazel Wood, the estate of her now-dead grandmother, where they hope to find Ella.

“The Hazel Wood” starts out strange and gets stranger, in the best way possible. (The fairy stories Finch relays, which Albert includes as their own chapters, are as creepy and evocative as you’d hope.) Albert seamlessly combines contemporary realism with fantasy, blurring the edges in a way that highlights that place where stories and real life convene, where magic contains truth and the world as it appears is false, where just about anything can happen, particularly in the pages of a very good book. It’s a captivating debut. […]

James reviews Margaret Wise Brown’s Goodnight, Moon on Goodreads:

Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown is one of the books that followers of my blog voted as a must-read for our Children's Book August 2018 Readathon. Come check it out and join the next few weeks!

This picture book was such a delight. I hadn't remembered reading it when I was a child, but it might have been read to me... either way, it was like a whole new experience! It's always so difficult to convince a child to fall asleep at night. I don't have kids, but I do have a 5-month-old puppy who whines for 5 minutes every night when he goes in his cage/crate (hopefully he'll be fully housebroken soon so he can roam around when he wants). I can only imagine! I babysat a lot as a teenager and I have tons of younger cousins, nieces, and nephews, so I've been through it before, too. This was a believable experience, and it really helps show kids how to relax and just let go when it's time to sleep.

The bunny's are adorable. The rhymes are exquisite. I found it pretty fun, but possibly a little dated given many of those things aren't normal routines anymore. But the lessons to take from it are still powerful. Loved it! I want to sample some more books by this fine author and her illustrators.

Publishers Weekly reviews Elizabeth Lilly’s Geraldine :

This funny, thoroughly accomplished debut opens with two words: “I’m moving.” They’re spoken by the title character while she swoons across her family’s ottoman, and because Geraldine is a giraffe, her full-on melancholy mode is quite a spectacle. But while Geraldine may be a drama queen (even her mother says so), it won’t take readers long to warm up to her. The move takes Geraldine from Giraffe City, where everyone is like her, to a new school, where everyone else is human. Suddenly, the former extrovert becomes “That Giraffe Girl,” and all she wants to do is hide, which is pretty much impossible. “Even my voice tries to hide,” she says, in the book’s most poignant moment. “It’s gotten quiet and whispery.” Then she meets Cassie, who, though human, is also an outlier (“I’m that girl who wears glasses and likes MATH and always organizes her food”), and things begin to look up.

Lilly’s watercolor-and-ink drawings are as vividly comic and emotionally astute as her writing; just when readers think there are no more ways for Geraldine to contort her long neck, this highly promising talent comes up with something new.

Examples of genre fiction book reviews

Karlyn P reviews Nora Roberts’ Dark Witch , a paranormal romance novel , on Goodreads:

4 stars. Great world-building, weak romance, but still worth the read.

I hesitate to describe this book as a 'romance' novel simply because the book spent little time actually exploring the romance between Iona and Boyle. Sure, there IS a romance in this novel. Sprinkled throughout the book are a few scenes where Iona and Boyle meet, chat, wink at each, flirt some more, sleep together, have a misunderstanding, make up, and then profess their undying love. Very formulaic stuff, and all woven around the more important parts of this book.

The meat of this book is far more focused on the story of the Dark witch and her magically-gifted descendants living in Ireland. Despite being weak on the romance, I really enjoyed it. I think the book is probably better for it, because the romance itself was pretty lackluster stuff.

I absolutely plan to stick with this series as I enjoyed the world building, loved the Ireland setting, and was intrigued by all of the secondary characters. However, If you read Nora Roberts strictly for the romance scenes, this one might disappoint. But if you enjoy a solid background story with some dark magic and prophesies, you might enjoy it as much as I did.

I listened to this one on audio, and felt the narration was excellent.

Emily May reviews R.F. Kuang’s The Poppy Wars , an epic fantasy novel , on Goodreads:

“But I warn you, little warrior. The price of power is pain.”

Holy hell, what did I just read??

➽ A fantasy military school

➽ A rich world based on modern Chinese history

➽ Shamans and gods

➽ Detailed characterization leading to unforgettable characters

➽ Adorable, opium-smoking mentors

That's a basic list, but this book is all of that and SO MUCH MORE. I know 100% that The Poppy War will be one of my best reads of 2018.

Isn't it just so great when you find one of those books that completely drags you in, makes you fall in love with the characters, and demands that you sit on the edge of your seat for every horrific, nail-biting moment of it? This is one of those books for me. And I must issue a serious content warning: this book explores some very dark themes. Proceed with caution (or not at all) if you are particularly sensitive to scenes of war, drug use and addiction, genocide, racism, sexism, ableism, self-harm, torture, and rape (off-page but extremely horrific).

Because, despite the fairly innocuous first 200 pages, the title speaks the truth: this is a book about war. All of its horrors and atrocities. It is not sugar-coated, and it is often graphic. The "poppy" aspect refers to opium, which is a big part of this book. It is a fantasy, but the book draws inspiration from the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Rape of Nanking.

Crime Fiction Lover reviews Jessica Barry’s Freefall , a crime novel:

In some crime novels, the wrongdoing hits you between the eyes from page one. With others it’s a more subtle process, and that’s OK too. So where does Freefall fit into the sliding scale?

In truth, it’s not clear. This is a novel with a thrilling concept at its core. A woman survives plane crash, then runs for her life. However, it is the subtleties at play that will draw you in like a spider beckoning to an unwitting fly.

Like the heroine in Sharon Bolton’s Dead Woman Walking, Allison is lucky to be alive. She was the only passenger in a private plane, belonging to her fiancé, Ben, who was piloting the expensive aircraft, when it came down in woodlands in the Colorado Rockies. Ally is also the only survivor, but rather than sitting back and waiting for rescue, she is soon pulling together items that may help her survive a little longer – first aid kit, energy bars, warm clothes, trainers – before fleeing the scene. If you’re hearing the faint sound of alarm bells ringing, get used to it. There’s much, much more to learn about Ally before this tale is over.

Kirkus Reviews reviews Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One , a science-fiction novel :

Video-game players embrace the quest of a lifetime in a virtual world; screenwriter Cline’s first novel is old wine in new bottles.

The real world, in 2045, is the usual dystopian horror story. So who can blame Wade, our narrator, if he spends most of his time in a virtual world? The 18-year-old, orphaned at 11, has no friends in his vertical trailer park in Oklahoma City, while the OASIS has captivating bells and whistles, and it’s free. Its creator, the legendary billionaire James Halliday, left a curious will. He had devised an elaborate online game, a hunt for a hidden Easter egg. The finder would inherit his estate. Old-fashioned riddles lead to three keys and three gates. Wade, or rather his avatar Parzival, is the first gunter (egg-hunter) to win the Copper Key, first of three.

Halliday was obsessed with the pop culture of the 1980s, primarily the arcade games, so the novel is as much retro as futurist. Parzival’s great strength is that he has absorbed all Halliday’s obsessions; he knows by heart three essential movies, crossing the line from geek to freak. His most formidable competitors are the Sixers, contract gunters working for the evil conglomerate IOI, whose goal is to acquire the OASIS. Cline’s narrative is straightforward but loaded with exposition. It takes a while to reach a scene that crackles with excitement: the meeting between Parzival (now world famous as the lead contender) and Sorrento, the head of IOI. The latter tries to recruit Parzival; when he fails, he issues and executes a death threat. Wade’s trailer is demolished, his relatives killed; luckily Wade was not at home. Too bad this is the dramatic high point. Parzival threads his way between more ’80s games and movies to gain the other keys; it’s clever but not exciting. Even a romance with another avatar and the ultimate “epic throwdown” fail to stir the blood.

Too much puzzle-solving, not enough suspense.

Book review examples for non-fiction books

Nonfiction books are generally written to inform readers about a certain topic. As such, the focus of a nonfiction book review will be on the clarity and effectiveness of this communication . In carrying this out, a book review may analyze the author’s source materials and assess the thesis in order to determine whether or not the book meets expectations.

Again, we’ve included abbreviated versions of long reviews here, so feel free to click on the link to read the entire piece!

The Washington Post reviews David Grann’s Killers of the Flower Moon :

The arc of David Grann’s career reminds one of a software whiz-kid or a latest-thing talk-show host — certainly not an investigative reporter, even if he is one of the best in the business. The newly released movie of his first book, “The Lost City of Z,” is generating all kinds of Oscar talk, and now comes the release of his second book, “Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI,” the film rights to which have already been sold for $5 million in what one industry journal called the “biggest and wildest book rights auction in memory.”

Grann deserves the attention. He’s canny about the stories he chases, he’s willing to go anywhere to chase them, and he’s a maestro in his ability to parcel out information at just the right clip: a hint here, a shading of meaning there, a smartly paced buildup of multiple possibilities followed by an inevitable reversal of readerly expectations or, in some cases, by a thrilling and dislocating pull of the entire narrative rug.

All of these strengths are on display in “Killers of the Flower Moon.” Around the turn of the 20th century, oil was discovered underneath Osage lands in the Oklahoma Territory, lands that were soon to become part of the state of Oklahoma. Through foresight and legal maneuvering, the Osage found a way to permanently attach that oil to themselves and shield it from the prying hands of white interlopers; this mechanism was known as “headrights,” which forbade the outright sale of oil rights and granted each full member of the tribe — and, supposedly, no one else — a share in the proceeds from any lease arrangement. For a while, the fail-safes did their job, and the Osage got rich — diamond-ring and chauffeured-car and imported-French-fashion rich — following which quite a large group of white men started to work like devils to separate the Osage from their money. And soon enough, and predictably enough, this work involved murder. Here in Jazz Age America’s most isolated of locales, dozens or even hundreds of Osage in possession of great fortunes — and of the potential for even greater fortunes in the future — were dispatched by poison, by gunshot and by dynamite. […]

Stacked Books reviews Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers :

I’ve heard a lot of great things about Malcolm Gladwell’s writing. Friends and co-workers tell me that his subjects are interesting and his writing style is easy to follow without talking down to the reader. I wasn’t disappointed with Outliers. In it, Gladwell tackles the subject of success – how people obtain it and what contributes to extraordinary success as opposed to everyday success.

The thesis – that our success depends much more on circumstances out of our control than any effort we put forth – isn’t exactly revolutionary. Most of us know it to be true. However, I don’t think I’m lying when I say that most of us also believe that we if we just try that much harder and develop our talent that much further, it will be enough to become wildly successful, despite bad or just mediocre beginnings. Not so, says Gladwell.

Most of the evidence Gladwell gives us is anecdotal, which is my favorite kind to read. I can’t really speak to how scientifically valid it is, but it sure makes for engrossing listening. For example, did you know that successful hockey players are almost all born in January, February, or March? Kids born during these months are older than the others kids when they start playing in the youth leagues, which means they’re already better at the game (because they’re bigger). Thus, they get more play time, which means their skill increases at a faster rate, and it compounds as time goes by. Within a few years, they’re much, much better than the kids born just a few months later in the year. Basically, these kids’ birthdates are a huge factor in their success as adults – and it’s nothing they can do anything about. If anyone could make hockey interesting to a Texan who only grudgingly admits the sport even exists, it’s Gladwell. […]

Quill and Quire reviews Rick Prashaw’s Soar, Adam, Soar :

Ten years ago, I read a book called Almost Perfect. The young-adult novel by Brian Katcher won some awards and was held up as a powerful, nuanced portrayal of a young trans person. But the reality did not live up to the book’s billing. Instead, it turned out to be a one-dimensional and highly fetishized portrait of a trans person’s life, one that was nevertheless repeatedly dubbed “realistic” and “affecting” by non-transgender readers possessing only a vague, mass-market understanding of trans experiences.

In the intervening decade, trans narratives have emerged further into the literary spotlight, but those authored by trans people ourselves – and by trans men in particular – have seemed to fall under the shadow of cisgender sensationalized imaginings. Two current Canadian releases – Soar, Adam, Soar and This One Looks Like a Boy – provide a pointed object lesson into why trans-authored work about transgender experiences remains critical.

To be fair, Soar, Adam, Soar isn’t just a story about a trans man. It’s also a story about epilepsy, the medical establishment, and coming of age as seen through a grieving father’s eyes. Adam, Prashaw’s trans son, died unexpectedly at age 22. Woven through the elder Prashaw’s narrative are excerpts from Adam’s social media posts, giving us glimpses into the young man’s interior life as he traverses his late teens and early 20s. […]

Book Geeks reviews Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love :

WRITING STYLE: 3.5/5

SUBJECT: 4/5

CANDIDNESS: 4.5/5

RELEVANCE: 3.5/5

ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 3.5/5

“Eat Pray Love” is so popular that it is almost impossible to not read it. Having felt ashamed many times on my not having read this book, I quietly ordered the book (before I saw the movie) from amazon.in and sat down to read it. I don’t remember what I expected it to be – maybe more like a chick lit thing but it turned out quite different. The book is a real story and is a short journal from the time when its writer went travelling to three different countries in pursuit of three different things – Italy (Pleasure), India (Spirituality), Bali (Balance) and this is what corresponds to the book’s name – EAT (in Italy), PRAY (in India) and LOVE (in Bali, Indonesia). These are also the three Is – ITALY, INDIA, INDONESIA.

Though she had everything a middle-aged American woman can aspire for – MONEY, CAREER, FRIENDS, HUSBAND; Elizabeth was not happy in her life, she wasn’t happy in her marriage. Having suffered a terrible divorce and terrible breakup soon after, Elizabeth was shattered. She didn’t know where to go and what to do – all she knew was that she wanted to run away. So she set out on a weird adventure – she will go to three countries in a year and see if she can find out what she was looking for in life. This book is about that life changing journey that she takes for one whole year. […]

Emily May reviews Michelle Obama’s Becoming on Goodreads:

Look, I'm not a happy crier. I might cry at songs about leaving and missing someone; I might cry at books where things don't work out; I might cry at movies where someone dies. I've just never really understood why people get all choked up over happy, inspirational things. But Michelle Obama's kindness and empathy changed that. This book had me in tears for all the right reasons.

This is not really a book about politics, though political experiences obviously do come into it. It's a shame that some will dismiss this book because of a difference in political opinion, when it is really about a woman's life. About growing up poor and black on the South Side of Chicago; about getting married and struggling to maintain that marriage; about motherhood; about being thrown into an amazing and terrifying position.

I hate words like "inspirational" because they've become so overdone and cheesy, but I just have to say it-- Michelle Obama is an inspiration. I had the privilege of seeing her speak at The Forum in Inglewood, and she is one of the warmest, funniest, smartest, down-to-earth people I have ever seen in this world.

And yes, I know we present what we want the world to see, but I truly do think it's genuine. I think she is someone who really cares about people - especially kids - and wants to give them better lives and opportunities.

She's obviously intelligent, but she also doesn't gussy up her words. She talks straight, with an openness and honesty rarely seen. She's been one of the most powerful women in the world, she's been a graduate of Princeton and Harvard Law School, she's had her own successful career, and yet she has remained throughout that same girl - Michelle Robinson - from a working class family in Chicago.

I don't think there's anyone who wouldn't benefit from reading this book.

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8 New Books We Recommend This Week

Suggested reading from critics and editors at The New York Times.

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Our recommended books this week include three very different memoirs. In “Grief Is for People,” Sloane Crosley pays tribute to a lost friend and mentor; in “Replay,” the video-game designer Jordan Mechner presents a graphic family memoir of three generations; and in “What Have We Here?” the actor Billy Dee Williams looks back at his life in Hollywood and beyond.

Also up this week: a history of the shipping companies that helped Jewish refugees flee Europe before World War I and a humane portrait of people who ended up more or less alone at death, their bodies unclaimed in a Los Angeles morgue. In fiction we recommend a posthumous story collection by a writer who died on the cusp of success, along with a ripped-from-the-headlines thriller and a big supernatural novel from a writer previously celebrated for her short fiction. Happy reading. — Gregory Cowles

WHAT HAPPENED TO NINA? Dervla McTiernan

Despite its title, this disturbing, enthralling thriller is less concerned with what happened to 20-year-old Nina, who vanished while spending the weekend with her controlling boyfriend, than it is with how the couple’s parents — all broken, terrified and desperate in their own ways — respond to the exigencies of the moment.

“Almost painfully gripping. … The last scene will make your blood run cold.”

From Sarah Lyall’s thrillers column

Morrow | $27

THE UNCLAIMED: Abandonment and Hope in the City of Angels Pamela Prickett and Stefan Timmermans

The sociologists Pamela Prickett and Stefan Timmermans spent some 10 years studying the phenomenon of the unclaimed dead in America — and, specifically, Los Angeles. What sounds like a grim undertaking has resulted in this moving project, in which they focus on not just the deaths but the lives of four people. The end result is sobering, certainly, but important, readable and deeply humane.

“A work of grace. … Both cleareyed and disturbing, yet pulsing with empathy.”

From Dan Barry’s review

Crown | $30

THE BOOK OF LOVE Kelly Link

Three teenagers are brought back from the dead in Link’s first novel, which is set in a coastal New England town full of secrets and supernatural entities. The magic-wielding band teacher who revived them gives the kids a series of tasks to stay alive, but powerful forces conspire to thwart them.

“It’s profoundly beautiful, provokes intense emotion, offers up what feel like rooted, incontrovertible truths.”

From Amal El-Mohtar’s review

Random House | $31

GRIEF IS FOR PEOPLE Sloane Crosley

Crosley is known for her humor, but her new memoir tackles grief. The book follows the author as she works to process the loss of her friend, mentor and former boss, Russell Perreault, who died by suicide.

“The book is less than 200 pages, but the weight of suicide as a subject, paired with Crosley’s exceptional ability to write juicy conversation, prevents it from being the kind of slim volume one flies through and forgets.”

From Ashley C. Ford’s review

MCDxFSG | $27

NEIGHBORS AND OTHER STORIES Diane Oliver

This deceptively powerful posthumous collection by a writer who died at 22 follows the everyday routines of Black families as they negotiate separate but equal Jim Crow strictures, only to discover uglier truths.

“Like finding hunks of gold bullion buried in your backyard. … Belatedly bids a full-throated hello.”

From Alexandra Jacobs’s review

Grove | $27

WHAT HAVE WE HERE? Portraits of a Life Billy Dee Williams

In this effortlessly charming memoir, the 86-year-old actor traces his path from a Harlem childhood to the “Star Wars” universe, while lamenting the roles that never came his way.

“He writes with clarity and intimacy, revealing the person behind the persona. And he doesn’t scrimp on the dirty details.”

From Maya S. Cade’s review

Knopf | $32

THE LAST SHIPS FROM HAMBURG: Business, Rivalry, and the Race to Save Russia’s Jews on the Eve of World War I Steven Ujifusa

Ujifusa’s history describes the early-20th-century shipping interests that made a profit helping millions of impoverished Jews flee violence in Eastern Europe for safe harbor in America before the U.S. Congress passed laws restricting immigration.

“Thoroughly researched and beautifully written. … Truth as old as the Republic itself.”

From David Nasaw’s review

Dutton | $35

REPLAY: Memoir of an Uprooted Family Jordan Mechner

The famed video-game designer (“Prince of Persia”) pivots to personal history in this ambitious but intimate graphic novel. In it, he elegantly interweaves themes of memory and exile with family lore from three generations: a grandfather who fought in World War I; a father who fled Nazi persecution; and his own path as a globe-trotting, game-creating polymath.

“The binding theme is statelessness — imposed by chance, antisemitism and personal ambition — but memoirs are about memory, and so it is also a book about the subtleties and biases of recollection.”

From Sam Thielman’s graphics column

First Second | $29.99

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