Still riding the high of their list of the 100 best books of the century, the folks at the New York Times have turned their attention to genre fiction, which didn’t get much love the first time around.

The Times recently unveiled the 50 best thrillers of the 21st century, as determined by the nearly 300 experts—authors, librarians, editors, critics, and bookish influencers—who each contributed their top 10 list.

The list is bangers all the way down. Here are a few highlights:

Claiming the belt for #1 is none other than Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, which we just discussed earlier this week as the most influential thriller of the century. Oh, the validation is sweet.

📋 Compare the NYT list to Book Riot’s own best mystery & thrillers of the century so far, and don’t miss our Zero to Well-Read episode about how Gone Girl changed publishing and pop culture.

It’s all about the vibes as we sit down each month to assess the It Books that will dominate review space and readers’ attention.

The ideal It Book rings four bells:

The contenders for August include a buzzy novel about fame, beauty, and truth rumored to be based on Natalie Portman; a big-picture examination of AI’s impacts on democracy; a novel from the POV of a military dog returning from war; and a genre-defying work from a beloved poet.

🎧 Listen as we play a knockout round to crown the It Book of August.

Hot magic with a hotter attitude

K.F. Breene’s Born in Fire has everything you want from sizzling romantasy: a kickass, snarky heroine with a sword, a gun, and a chip on her shoulder—and a hot, elder vampire at her side.

“Supernatural Bounty Hunter” isn’t a job listed on LinkedIn. With her rare type of magic, Reagan’s job options are limited. So, dangerous or not, the job is hers…until an old-as-sin vampire steals her mark and her payday. Desperate, she must work with him to help solve a top-secret case – one that may threaten her very existence. 

Perfect for readers who love fast-paced action, sarcastic female protagonists, witty banter, and slow-burn romance.

This fall, I will have been covering books online for more than 15 years. And like cicadas returning to drone every so often, certain “questions” cycle up and down. Do characters have to be likeable? Do you prefer hardcovers or paperbacks? Are books always better? And on and on. None of them are remotely interesting, but I have special animus for “do audiobooks count as reading?” I have always thought this one was simple: absolutely. 

I am less sure now, though not because I think audiobook listening is somehow less valuable than word scanning. It’s because I do think they are different. I read text for different reasons than I listen to narration (mostly, sometimes it is a little arbitrary), and I do think they are different kinds of experiences, neither less than the other. I do find myself experiencing a momentary squirm when someone asks me if I have read a particular book and answer “I listened to it.” I would like to just say yes, but that also doesn’t feel right. 

What I want is for the question to be something like “Have you [verb that doesn’t exist that encompasses both eye and ear book experiences] that book?” To which I could answer, “yes, I did listen to/read it” depending on what format it was. 

There are no good extant options. There are not even good options if we cede “to read” to the larger category of book consumption and wanted to use a different word for eye-reading (scan? Decipher? Peruse? So many wrong manner verbs). Some linguistic inventor with greater craft would need to intervene and spare us all from the minor awkwardness of sometimes imprecision. Though, what do I really expect in a language that has no synonyms for thesaurus. —JO

Book Riot All Access members get a pile of benefits, including unlimited reading on bookriot.com, recommendations for the Read Harder Challenge, and access to our Collections feature and the New Release Index to curate your TBR. Here are a few recent highlights:

🔓 Unlock access for just $6/month.

She’s full of rage, and he’s a tortured magical immortal.

In Steelborn, the stunning debut from Taylor J. LaRue, enter a world ruled by tyrants and thieves, where magic is outlawed, revolution brews, desire is dangerous, and an impossible cure may prove deadlier than the curse.  

Fans of Danielle L. Jensen and Callie Hart will devour this epic, slow burn enemies-to-lovers romantasy novel in which a quest to cure a deadly curse brings Reya Connery, the most notorious thief in Rhiterra, together with Caelan Halcyon, an immortal warrior whose magic makes him a valuable target. 

The Kindle Unlimited offerings are vast, and you might be wondering what to fire up next. Here’s what we recommend: a tense psychological thriller, a historical mystery set in 1960s Scotland, and the latest in a BookTok-famous dark fantasy series. 

—VD

P. Paramita is the author of Appetite, a novel about a “young chef chasing her dreams—and the pro wrestler she idolizes who derails everything,” out this week from Dial. Below, she discusses three books about parasocial relationships.

Most of us have found ourselves in a parasocial relationship or two. Fandom communities are born when people’s intense love for something or someone brings them together. The unpredictability of what happens when parasocial relationships take over one’s life a little too much leads to great stories. If you’re in search of a book that explores fandom and its undeniable effect on people and culture, these are three I adore.

Superfan by Jenny Tinghui Zhang: Superfan is full of the joys and devastations that come with being a part of an online fan community. The main character, Minnie, finds solace in discovering a boy band at a time of trauma and loneliness. What makes it a standout from other novels that tackle the phenomenon that is K-Pop (and in this case, a group creating K-Pop-influenced music) is that it’s a dual narrative where one of the voices belongs to an idol himself and gives readers a unique look at the pitfalls of fame.

American Spirits by Anna Dorn: Rose finds herself working as the personal assistant to Blue Velour, the artist she created a whole subreddit for. A dual-POV novel that offers insight into how COVID impacted art and artists’ lives, American Spirits is messy in the best way. I love how Dorn crafts Blue’s legacy and explores the relationship between artist/fan, artist/producer, and even producer/fan. 

Everything I Need I Get From You: How Fangirls Created the Internet As We Know It by Kaitlyn Tiffany: “I’m looking for the shrine to Harry Styles’s vomit. I know it was on Tumblr—I remember seeing it there.” Society looks down on pop culture, especially pop culture whose primary audience is young girls and women; this book investigates why it shouldn’t. Tiffany combines her own experience as a One Direction fan with scholarly research to dive into how fangirls played a pivotal role in communication that permeates Internet culture and daily life. She looks at fandom history, conspiracy theories, and takes readers into the depths of Tumblr with expert knowledge and humor.

Don’t miss this limited-time exclusive offer for verified ThriftBooks 4 Teachers® members!

Receive 100 bonus ReadingRewards points on every qualifying order of $50 or more during the promotional period. Combine this offer with ThriftBooks’ everyday savings on new and used books.

It’s a great opportunity to stock up on classroom libraries, curriculum resources, and personal reading before the school year begins. Shop now, only at ThriftBooks.

Did you know? Tennyson wrote a poem that imagined Odysseus leaving Telemachus to rule Ithaca while he went back out to explore the world (though with no mention of taking Penelope with him). I have been thinking of this ever since seeing Nolan’s adaptation and wondering if it had any part to play in the ending he chose.

🌈 Place your preorders and holds on the best new queer books out in August.

💥 Find more than 20,000 golden age comics available for free online.

🫶 Send some love to George R. R. Martin. Dude is having a rough go.

📚 Catch up with all of the 2026 picks for Reese’s Book Club.

Written by Rebecca Schinsky, Jeff O’Neal, Vanessa Diaz. Thanks to Vanessa Diaz for copy editing.

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