All posts tagged: BIPOC

6 New BIPOC Books About Family

6 New BIPOC Books About Family

Published by Jenni Sidey

Algonquin Books In Sisters of a Halved Heart, the acclaimed author of The Magnificent Ruins returns with a propulsive story of love and passion and the ultimate pull of family. The novel examines the lengths we will go to in order to make our own narratives of love work out, the lies we tell ourselves, and the ways in which the truth, often right in front of you, can be impossible to see. Whether close-knit, estranged, or at each other’s throats, family dynamics offer a never-ending well of themes for authors to explore across genres. And it doesn’t matter how many books about family are written, the dynamics are so specific to every family that we will never be done wanting to peek into someone else’s home to understand, empathize, feel seen, and maybe even judge a little.  Below you’ll find very different families facing different issues, while all trying their best. While they are all family-centered novels, there’s a mix of categories, genres, and tropes used to explore family themes. There’s a complicated father-daughter …

Must-Read 2026 BIPOC Books, Editor Picks

Must-Read 2026 BIPOC Books, Editor Picks

Published by Jenni Sidey

The year always presents more anticipated books than most people can get through in 365 days, but that doesn’t stop us from building our towering stacks. I have so many 2026 BIPOC books to look forward to picking up during the second half of the year. A couple of BIPOC books I’ve already enjoyed and recommend are Kin by Tayari Jones, The Seven Daughters of Dupree by Nikesha Elise Williams, and Whidbey by T Kira Madden. Below, I’m sharing my picks and briefly talking about why I can’t wait to pick up the books I’ve placed at the top of my to-be-read list. Before I get to my anticipated 2026 BIPOC books, I’m taking a moment to shout out a 2026 BIPOC must-read by my smart and talented sister from another mister, Chanda Prescod-Weinstein: The Edge of Space-Time: Particles, Poetry and the Cosmic Dream Boogie. I contributed illustrations to the book but, more importantly, Chanda is a thoughtful and provocative teacher of science, presenting fresh ways to think about the cosmos, exploring it through the …

Kid-Tested, Expert-Approved BIPOC Board Books

Kid-Tested, Expert-Approved BIPOC Board Books

Published by José Betancourt

Book lovers with kids in their lives can’t help but be choosy about what books to place into the hands of young readers. We linger over fuzzy first memories of books, how they shaped our imaginations, how we thumbed through them time and time again, and how we lovingly and literally made our mark on them. I couldn’t wait to introduce my kids to books, and my husband and I got started right away reading aloud to our sleepy potatoes their very first days on Earth. One thing I knew for certain was that my babies would have access to a variety of BIPOC board books. Now, at two-and-a-half, they’re as vocal and opinionated about their home library as I am. It’s been fascinating and surprisingly freeing to let them take the wheel and see what lands. From the cheerful and mouth-watering jingle of Vincent Chen’s Hot Pot Night! to the relatable (for kids and caregivers) subject matter of Please, Baby, Please by Spike Lee and Tonya Lewis Lee, here’s a brief selection of BIPOC …

Fae-Bulous BIPOC and/or Queer Romantasies

Fae-Bulous BIPOC and/or Queer Romantasies

Published by José Betancourt

This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Romantasy has kind of always been a thing, but there was just something about officially putting the portmanteau together that really made the subgenre take off in the last few years. And I mean really take off—some of the most popular and bestselling books are romantasies, and books that cater to this popularity are being released left and right. Which is great! Romantasy has a very dedicated following, both online and off, but it does feel at times like the genre suffers from what many other genres suffer from: a lack of diversity. Scrolling through the latest #romantasy books on BookTok, you’ll find plenty of delicious enemies-to-lovers or grumpy-sunshine pairings, but if you are hoping to find something with a different mythological basis for the magic system, or queer love interests, things can get a little tricky, which is why task #9 of the 2026 Read Harder Challenge is “Read a romantasy book with a queer and/or BIPOC main …

The Best Books of April, BIPOC Edition

The Best Books of April, BIPOC Edition

Published by Jenni Sidey

This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. As we enter the end of the month, now is a great time to reflect on some of the month’s most talked-about and loved books. Some of these books were on our list of the most anticipated books of 2026 that we dropped at the top of the year, while others were in our monthly new book round-up. No matter the list they made it on to, they are books that are living up to the hype. In these BIPOC releases, we get a tale of early 2000s Brooklyn by Xochitl Gonzalez, two timelines in a gothic Japan, a steamy romance with an artist, and more. Last Night in Brooklyn by Xochitl Gonzalez Putting aside my discomfort that a historical novel can be set in 2007, this is a fantastic meditation on a very particular moment in Brooklyn history. The neighborhood where the main character, Alicia, lives is Fort Greene. She finds joy and possibility in the all-night …

Get Involved With This BIPOC Poetry

Get Involved With This BIPOC Poetry

Published by José Betancourt

Night Owl by Aimee Nezhukumatathil The author of the bestselling World of Wonders turns her nature-loving pen to the surreal splendor of nighttime. The magic that unfolds during the night transforms nature, not unlike how love transforms us and our relationships with others, all of which she explores here. In a recent guest post, she said, “The nighttime world keeps offering small gifts, even in the face of so much injustice and destruction. My poems hope to gather those moments (while not ignoring the very real pain and suffering of so many lives) and set them gently before the reader. In this way—when I have my writing hat on—I feel like a crow, offering up a collection of tinsel, buttons, or a bit of a calico scallop shell on a gentle person’s windowsill.” Read the full post here. Source link

Genre-Bending BIPOC Romance

Genre-Bending BIPOC Romance

Published by José Betancourt

This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Yesterday, for our Today in Books newsletter, I wrote briefly about how, previously, Muslim erotica writers in Nigeria were being censored, with some even having their books burned. But now? Now the girlies have found another way. They’ve been outsmarting religious censors by sharing their stories on WhatsApp. A New York Times reporter covered the story, sharing how she had been invited to a WhatsApp group by an erotica author, Oum Hairan, who would post a chapter that would get the readers all hot and bothered (the title of the book being published, chapter-by-chapter at the time, was Nymphomaniac King), then apply a paywall. And Hairan isn’t alone. Other Nigerian erotica and romance writers have been using the app to get their stories to readers—stories that explore everything from queer relationships to sugar daddies to polygamy, to abuse, all of which opens them up to be reprimanded by the morality police. This is a great example of how, …

22 of the Century’s Best Mystery and Thriller Books (So Far), BIPOC Edition

22 of the Century’s Best Mystery and Thriller Books (So Far), BIPOC Edition

Published by José Betancourt

This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. For the longest time, mystery and thriller books have been among my most-read genres. I’ve awaited exciting mystery and thriller titles for months, just as I’ve picked them up randomly to get out of a reading slump. Recently, we released a list of what we think are the best mystery and thriller books of the century. We got everyone—from our Chief of Staff to our contirbuting writers—to chime in on what they thought were the best cozy, literary, noirish, and psychological mysteries and thrillers. The books below are the 22 from the list that were written by BIPOC authors. There’s a gender-flipped Sherlock Holmes adventures, a cozy foodie mystery full of Filipine dishes, a genre-bending sapphic fantasy with classic noirish elements, and much more. A Study in Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas In this brilliant gender-flipped take on Sherlock, Charlotte Holmes makes a living assisting her brother Sherlock in solving cases in Victorian England. But there is no …

5 of the Buzziest Books by BIPOC Authors to Read This Month

5 of the Buzziest Books by BIPOC Authors to Read This Month

Published by José Betancourt

This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. As we head into the month of spring, I figure we’re about due for some sunshine. You can, like me, take yours in the form of this PBS interview with Mychal Threets, the librarian who went viral and who is now the new host of Reading Rainbow. Also make sure to check out Black horror novels coming out in 2026. And, if you like to keep up with the Book Joneses, so to speak, the most anticipated books by BIPOC authors—which were listed by everyone from Esquire to Roxane Gay’s book club to us—include a new book by Tayari Jones, a literary mystery that deals with trauma, a death-obsessed coming-of-age tale, and more. Kin by Tayari Jones From the bestselling, award-winning author of An American Marriage comes a tale of sisterhood, mothers, and daughters in the American South. Vernice and Anne are two motherless girls who grow up as best friends in Honeysuckle, Louisiana, but whose lives are set on …

The Best Bookstore Newsletters from Women and BIPOC Owned Bookstores

The Best Bookstore Newsletters from Women and BIPOC Owned Bookstores

Published by Jenni Sidey

I’ve spent most of the past decade reading, writing, reviewing, and talking about books. But it wasn’t until I became a bookseller that I realized just how powerful independent bookstores are when it comes to helping connect readers and great books they’ll love. Booksellers develop a special talent for pairing readers with the perfect books. (Maybe we should be called book sommeliers?) They know what books speak to their specific community and customer base. Staff picks from my favorite bookstores consistently lead me to new favorites. And I’m not alone! Our 2025 Book Riot Reader Survey found that independent bookstore newsletters are one of the most popular ways folks stumble upon new books. If you’re looking to escape the algorithms and bestseller lists to find great, lesser-known books, hit subscribe on these best bookstore newsletters. As a bookseller myself, I’m obviously a bit biased. My personal favorite bookstore newsletter comes from Loyalty Bookstore, the Black, Asian, and queer-owned indie in Washington, DC, where I work (co-owned by Hannah Oliver Depp, a former Book Riot contributor!). …