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What makes a book erotic, you may ask? The amount of sex on the page, mostly. It’s usually a lot. Sometimes the books are romantic, other times it’s just about the sex and, as Ana Steele of Fifty Shades of Grey calls it, “kinky fuckery.” Sometimes the plot is real and thorough, other times it’s just background noise. No matter your specific taste, we’ve got you covered with these new erotic books, whether you dig your sex to be heterosexual, queer, menage, or reverse harem....

In terms of magical connection, I would not say my dog, Eleanor, is a true familiar, but she often knows that my children are awake before I do. She’ll rouse, shake her ears, and jump off the bed. Moments later, my toddler will shuffle in asking for breakfast, or I’ll check the baby monitor and see my 10-month-old staring at the camera with her signature “come get me” face. LISA STARDUST from “What a Witch’s Familiar Really Is” Eleanor is not a guard dog....

My geeky tees run the gamut of comics, Carolina love (I’m a Tar Heel), Harry Potter, and of course, Star Wars. Given that Episode IX is coming out in December, what better way to wear your heart on your sleeve (or uh, chest) than some new Star Wars tees? Okay, I admit: these tees are my favorite and I have…several. There are A TON to choose from, put out by Looking for Leia on Teepublic....

Even more fun than just keeping track of the time? Building in the tracking of your reading! The internet is swimming with ideas for organizing your TBR, rating and reviewing titles you’ve read, and celebrating the act of reading itself, all within the pages of your planner. There might be a connection between being a reader and being a planner, but I doubt it. The amazing planning industry has themed kits for every niche under the sun....

Cookbooks are common to homes and kitchens, but there are many who are deeply devoted to cookbooks. They have the latest titles or every edition of a specific title or series (think: Moosewood Cookbooks, which were among my first and made my trip to the namesake restaurant so freaking cool). Cookbooks serve as pleasure reading, not just as reference material, and often, these cookbook lovers will try out the same recipe among numerous books to find what they consider “the best....

Thankfully, there are an overwhelming number of horror novels coming out in the summer season (June 21 – September 22). So many, in fact, that I had trouble narrowing it down for this list. There are way more than 18 horror novels coming out this season, so if you blow through this list and are still thirsty for more, never fear — or do. You’re reading horror, after all. These 18 horror novels include some of my most anticipated novels not only of the season, but of the entire year....

Fifteen-year-old Ana Cancion never dreamed of moving to America. But when Juan Ruiz proposes and promises to take her to New York City, she has to say yes. It doesn’t matter that he is twice her age, that there is no love between them. Their marriage is an opportunity for her entire close-knit family to eventually immigrate from the Dominican. So in 1965, Ana leaves behind everything she knows and becomes Ana Ruiz....

The answer, Garcia explained, is simple: magic. But how to give readers an authentic experience of such a singular city? Of that magic? Lean on your own experience, of course. But don’t be afraid to call in local back up. Who also happens to be a magic expert. Though Garcia grew up in DC, and thus doesn’t consider herself an “authentic” Southerner, her family is from North Carolina and she spent a lot of time in the state as a child....

T-Shirts for Writers and Editors Go vintage with this retro-inspired writer tee that says everything in a single word. $25 and up. Is there anymore more writerly than a gorgeous vintage typewriter (besides, of course, writing itself)?. Grab this storyteller T-shirt for $24 and up. Or take the typewriter style retro with this writer tee. $25 and up. Even non-writers deserve a future best-selling author T-shirt, if for no other reason than a good ego boost....

Published in 1944, this story has the unwieldy title of “Bruce Wayne Loses the Guardianship of Dick Grayson!” I wonder what the plot could be? Somehow, Batman’s first move is not to investigate the holy heck out of these people. It’s not his second, third, or fourth move either. In fact, we never see him do any detective work of any sort in this issue. Instead we get this subplot about a gangster named Fatso Foley who has it out for Batman because reasons....

I’m talking about getting married in a library. As someone whose local library meant a great deal to her growing up, getting married in a library sounds absolutely magical. These institutions are some of the most important in communities across the globe, providing essential free services and programs that we sorely need. How special would it be to declare your love and celebrate it with your family and friends in those hallowed halls?...

If you’re unfamiliar with the report, it tracks the romance genre publications of indigenous authors and authors of color (AOC). As you can probably guess, the percentage of AOCs published in romance is nowhere near reflective of the percentage of people of color that make up the global population or even the U.S. population. When Leah and Bea Koch, the owner-sisters of The Ripped Bodice, began publishing this report three years ago, they had hoped that it would be a catalyst for the romance publishing industry to make massive improvements in diversity....

Agent Pendergast takes on a bizarre and gruesome case: in the ghost-haunted city of Savannah, bodies are found with no blood left in their veins—sowing panic and reviving whispered tales of the infamous Savannah Vampire. As the mystery rises along with the body count, Pendergast and his partner, Agent Coldmoon, race to understand how—or if—these murders are connected to an infamous skyjacking, and together they’ll uncover not just the answer…but an unearthly evil beyond all imagining....

We here at Book Riot are definitely fans of book box subscriptions—here are 50 of our favorites. (If you’re looking for the best YA book boxes, we have that, too.) In this article, find the five Book Riot–approved best book subscriptions for middle graders. Each of these unique subscriptions have different strengths, from personalized suggestions to fun themes and convenient options. With the push for more diverse books in children’s literature, we made sure to evaluate how each box company values diversity (or not)....

What does first edition mean? To publishers, a first edition is the first version of a book before changes are made (forewords added, afterwords added, typos corrected, whatever requires a new typeset). So, if the publisher prints 5,000 copies of a book, they all sell, and the publisher goes back to print more of the same version of the book? That is a second printing, first edition. The copyright page may even still say “First Edition” on it somewhere....

the last day of emily lindsey by nic joseph For your shorter road trips, I give you this mystery audiobook: The Last Day of Emily Lindsey by Nic Joseph. This is a mystery novel that’s sort of fallen under the radar, as far as I can tell, and I only found out about it because PageHabit sent it to me in my monthly subscription box. And yet, like many books, I still ended up purchasing it and listening to it on audiobook, because these types of books make great listens....

There are a ton of other great books out today, including Barack Obama’s new memoir AND my favorite book of the year, The Orchard by David Hopen. I have been throwing this book at your brain-walls since I read it in May in the hopes it would stick, because it’s my favorite book of the year and I wanted to make sure it was on all your radars. I hope it worked, and you love it as much as I do, because I L-O-V-E it....

These 10 books are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to this year’s queer SFF, but they’re a great place to start. From debut authors to fan favorites back at it again, you’ll find them here. Several of the books are already out, while others will have to wait it out on your TBR in anxious anticipation of their release later this year. I know the feeling well —and I’m sure you do, too....

Without question, if school boards continue to be influenced by right-wing, Christian nationalists, these ratings systems will continue to infiltrate public education, devaluing the professional experience of school and library employees. (This is, of course, a step in the plan of destroying public education at large.) Let’s take a look at several of the biggest databases out there, as well as who they are affiliated with. This is by no means comprehensive, but instead, a way to make sense of where these challenges are coming from and a way to see where book challengers are getting their copy-paste arguments....

There’s not really an official children’s literature canon. There are the award winners like the well-known Newbery and Caldecott winners, the Coretta Scott King award, and the Belpré Medal. Then there are the “classics,” books like The Velveteen Rabbit and The Wizard of Oz. But to my knowledge, there is not a widely agreed-upon canon of children’s literature. If you ask 20 people for the books they would put in a children’s literature canon, I think you’d get 20 different lists....