As a fan of speculative fiction, I think it’s safe to say that you can’t be scared of a chunky 400-plus-word tome, but we deserve nice (shorter) things too and nothing’s better than a short story collection. Not only do you get a great range of stories—and a great way to get more from your favorite writers—but it's also an easier time investment to help your reading pace. Short stories can be just as immersive as full-length novels, with plenty of genre-bending and experimentation, and these authors certainly pull it off well.



To make sure this list leads you to your next favorite read, I decided to pass on the juggernauts of the genre and include as many amazing, slightly under-the-radar collections as possible. So, if you need a quick palate cleanser or a boost for your Reading Challenge, take a break from those thick novels and check out the collections below.

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Happy reading!

It’s no secret that we’re in a golden age of television, with multiple networks and streaming services in healthy competition. Movies, too, on screens big and small. The result is a wide range of quality options for anyone who loves the art of storytelling.

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Here at Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ World Headquarters, we’re devoted book people, of course. But when it comes to movies and TV shows, , too. There’s no reason we can’t enjoy the best of all worlds.

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Today’s collection is devoted to those who have found the kind of storytelling they like on-screen but don’t know where to turn for similar books. Luckily, our tireless editorial squad knows a little bit about TV/movies and a whole lot about books. We have some suggestions.

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For instance, perhaps you like The White Lotus, and you’d like to find a book with similar ratios of luxury and malfeasance. We have some ideas. Six, actually. Or you’re looking for interesting variations on the zombie apocalypse template, à la The Last of Us. Or Succession or Sinners or Yellowjackets or Nosferatu or ±á²¹³¦°ì²õâ€�

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Click on the book cover images for more information about each title. And you can use the Want to Read button to add books to your digital to-do shelf.

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Novels if you like

For today’s collection, we begin with an earnest appeal from the Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ editorial team: If you’re not already in the habit, try mixing some short story collections into your regular diet of novels.

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It's great, we’re telling you. Short fiction moves to different rhythms, obviously, and it’s fascinating to see how different authors achieve different effects with the format. It’s also an absolutely fantastic way to discover new writers.

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We’ve gathered below a curated cross-section of new and recent single-author short story collections. All the books here have publication dates from the beginning of 2024 to April of this year.

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Some starting points, in no particular order: Tony Tulathimutte’s Rejection features interconnected short fiction on the topic of, yes, rejection. Marie-Helene Bertino’s Exit Zero collects 12 strange tales on the guises of death. And dedicated fantasy readers already know that you just can’t miss with a Naomi Novik short story collection. Also look for new short fiction from Amanda Peters, Jared Lemus, Lydia Millet, and…hey, is that Rupert Everett? It is!

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Finally, our unofficial Best Book Title award goes to Jessie Ren Marshall for her exclamatory collection Women! In! Peril! Click on the cover images for more information about each book, and add any interesting leads to your Want to Read shelf.

As a genre, historical fiction tends to be restless. It often likes to jump shelves, wandering into other bookstore sections. This results in fun cross-category adventures like historical romance, historical fantasy, even historical sci-fi—a seemingly tricky maneuver, but it can be done.

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We’ve gathered several specimens of new and recent books in this area and sorted them into piles. Sarah Raughley’s The Queen’s Spade, for instance, is a streamlined historical mystery-thriller, with a kidnapped African princess fighting back against imperial power in 1862 London. Stephen Graham Jones� The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, likewise, brings historical horror—and vampires!—to the ruthless days of the American West.

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If you really want to cross some narrative wires, check out Kirsten Menger-Anderson’s new novel, The Expert of Subtle Revisions, which blends elements of mystery, love story, time travel, and Vienna circa 1933. You’ll find plenty of other veteran authors exploring these borderlands, including Jess Kidd, William Kent Krueger, Victor LaValle, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, and Brandon Sanderson.

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Scroll down for a tour of the cross-genre categories, and click on the book cover images for more details about each title. If anything looks promising, use the Want to Read button to add it to your digital shelf.

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At the beginning of each calendar month, Å·±¦ÓéÀÖâ€� crack editorial squad assembles a list of the hottest and most popular new books hitting shelves, actual and virtual. The list is generated by evaluating readersâ€� early reviews and tracking which titles are being added toÌýWant to ReadÌýshelves by Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ regulars.

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Each month’s curated preview features new books from across the genre spectrum: contemporary fiction, historical fiction, mysteries and thrillers, sci-fi and fantasy, romance, horror, young adult, nonfiction, and more. Think of it as a literary smorgasbord. Check out whatever looks delicious.

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New in May: Acclaimed author Ocean Vuong is back on shelves with his highly anticipated sophomore novel, The Emperor of Gladness. Chilean American novelistÌýIsabel AllendeÌýcombines historical adventure with a detailed character portrait in My Name Is Emilia Del Valle. And grimdark specialist Joe Abercrombie returns with the dark fantasy adventures of The Devils. Werewolves and vampires and necromancers. Oh, my.

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Also on tap this month: gothic romantasy, Singaporean family drama, and new novels from Fredrik Backman, Carley Fortune, and some guy named Stephen King.



Add the books that catch your eye to yourÌýWant to ReadÌýshelf!

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It’s May, and in the U.S. that means it’sÌý, dedicated to celebrating the culture, history, and contributions of those with Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Island backgrounds.



This year, in honor of the monthlong celebration, ·É±ð’v±ð compiled a collection of new adult fiction, nonfiction, and young adult fiction fromÌýauthors of Asian and Pacific Islander heritage, published in the U.S. since the beginning of 2024 and through the end of May 2025. Of course, given the size of the API diaspora across the globe, this is by no means a comprehensive list, but it should offer you plenty of great books to add to your year-round What to Read shelf.



Some highlights: Acclaimed poet and novelist Ocean Vuong returns to the fiction well this month with a bighearted novel about chosen family. Makana Yamamoto offers up a sci-fi heist-slash-love-letter-to-Hawaii inÌýHammajang Luck. In the YA space, Randy Ribay's National Book Award–nominatedÌýEverything We Never HadÌýfollows four generations of Filipino American boys. And nonfiction authors ponder big topics like "how to tell when we will die"Ìýand "how a girl like me falls for a cult like that."



Click on the book cover images for more information about each title, and use theÌýWant to ReadÌýbutton to add to your digital shelf.

Springtime always presents a dilemma for the dedicated bookworm. Get out in the sun, or stay in and read?

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Why not do both? We’ve gathered here 48 new nonfiction nature books on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ, published over the past five years. You don’t have to read them outdoors and in the sun. But it’s more fun if you do.

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Many of the books here are species-specific or otherwise focused, so you can read up on your favorite plants and critters: mushrooms, raptors, owls, trees, sheep, horses, eels, and the occasional felonious moose. Others are more concerned with a comprehensive overview of our urgent ecological challenges. Some are maybe even life-changing, like Robin Wall Kimmerer’s instant classic The Serviceberry, which outlines an entire nature-based philosophy based on stewardship, gratitude, and community.

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So grab a chair and a sun hat and your favorite SPF number. As always, you can click on the book cover images for more details about each title, and use the Want to Read button to add books to your digital shelf.

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April can be a tricky month for bookworms, especially those who set ambitious reading plans for the new year. Everyone starts with good intentions to read more, but then life starts to get lifey and the dreaded reading slump sets in.

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Today’s collection is designed to help combat this unfortunate phenomenon. We’ve assembled here a list of books scientifically engineered to be reading-slump busters. By “scientifically engineered� we mean “largely improvised,� but we did put our backs into this one by scouring our member data for tried-and-true recommendations from your fellow readers. Our editorial team can also personally vouch for the slump-busting abilities of some of the books below.

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We’ve sorted this collection into stacks so you can drill down to your personal areas of interest. You should be able to find several options here, whether you’re into superior fantasy worldbuilding or heart-tugging romance, page-turning mysteries or sanity-threatening horror. Watch for some specialty categories below, too.

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If you see any good leads, use the Want to Read button to add the book to your digital shelf. Happy reading!

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Here at Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ World Headquarters, we like to occasionally step back for a really high-altitude assessment of readersâ€� favorite books. The idea behind today’s collection: Identify the most popular books published over the past 100 years, as determined by Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ members' digital shelves.

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To do this, we trawled through the most popular books on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ and sorted by publication date, from 1925 to 2024. Then we picked out one title from at or near the top of each year. We didn’t always grab the top book for a few reasons. Repeats, for one—some eras are very Agatha Christie, for instance. Other years had multiple good contenders for the top spot and we resorted to metaphorical arm wrestling to determine which book made it in.

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We’re looking to curate a list that covers a wide range of genres, topics, authors, and ideas. You’ll see several stone-cold classics, along with a few books you probably read in your high school English class. Click around a bit and you’ll find beloved children’s books, famous fantasy worlds, scary-as-hell horror stories, pioneering historical fiction, literary science fiction, old-school whodunits, and several international blockbusters. (Also, if you’re in that kind of mood, a good deal of existentialist dread and grim dystopian visions.)

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Scan the list in chronological order to get a sense of the zeitgeist passing, as told from the shelves of fellow readers. It’s a fascinating collection. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ members are interesting, widely read, devastatingly good-looking people. Click on the book cover images for more information about each title, and use that Want to Read button to add books to your own aspirational shelf.

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1925

14942

1926

6251566

1927

545951

1928

355697

1929

57640287

1930

10974

1931

46114

1932

5129

1933

374388

1934

46164

1935

44494254

1936

33052