Bidwell Hollow

Book blogs are great for people who love to read. You know, people like you.

Some book blogs are written by professional book reviewers, journalists, or editors. While others are maintained by amateurs or volunteers.

There are genre-specific book blogs, blogs that focus on the publishing industry, and ones that touch on all things literary. As such, here’s a list of the best book blogs, listed alphabetically.

A List of the Best Book Blogs

Bookforum

Bookforum started as a magazine in 1994. This makes it one of the older book blogs on this list.

The magazine is still around, printing new issues five times a year for paid subscribers. But Bookforum has a robust website, as well. It’s updated daily with free, ad-supported content.

And, true to its name, Bookforum’s site is all about books. Therefore, you’ll find on the blog author interviews, book reviews, and more. 

Book Riot

Book Riot is more than just one of the best book blogs.

Along with a blog, Book Riot offers podcasts and a newsletter. The blog publishes book reviews, reading lists, and daily deals on books.

And you can purchase a Book Riot membership to get exclusive content. Book Riot currently offers three membership levels, at $3, $5, and $10 per month.

The Book Smugglers

The Book Smugglers is one of the top book blogs partially through its focus. Specifically, the site’s theme is speculative and genre fiction. Thus, it publishes reviews and excerpts of books on those topics.

To get their latest blog posts, you can subscribe to The Book Smugglers daily email.

The Book Smugglers also has a publishing wing that produces science fiction and fantasy books.

Bustle Books

Bustle Books is a section on Bustle.com. Therefore, it’s owned and operated by Bustle Digital Group. The section of Bustle that focuses on books features a wide variety of articles related to books.

You should know that the website’s target audience is Millennial women. With this in mind, the site’s articles will be written for that demographic.

For example, some sample article titles include, “11 Literary Office Accessories to Brighten Up Your Workspace,” “This YA Historical Novel About Discrimination & Social Justice Is Painfully Relevant Today,” and “A Sylvia Plath Short Story That’s Never Been Published Before Is Finally Coming Out.”

BuzzFeed Books

Here’s another book-focused section of a larger website.

BuzzFeed Books publishes mostly listicle blog posts. For example, “15 YA Books From The ’80s And ’90s That Have Stood The Test Of Time.”

Still, they publish other articles as well that might be of interest to readers, such as “Writer Kaitlyn Greenidge On Books Every Black Woman Should Read” or “Rate These Literary Quotes From Corny To Deep And We’ll Tell You Which Clueless Character You Are.”

Similarly to Bustle Books, BuzzFeed Books is aimed at Millennials. Moreover, the pieces they publish tend to be light, quick reads that were created to be shared on social media.

The Daily (The Paris Review’s blog)

The Daily, the blog of the renowned literary magazine The Paris Review, is the opposite of Bustle Books and BuzzFeed Books.

On one hand, the other two blogs publish soft content made for quick reading. On the other hand, The Daily takes a more sophisticated approach. For instance, the articles that The Daily publishes include author interviews and introspective looks on creativity and literature.

Although The Paris Review is a paid publication, The Daily is free.

Electric Literature

Electric Literature is a nonprofit digital publisher that focuses on literature. 

As such, the articles that Electric Literature posts cover a wide array of subjects, all connected to books. Furthermore, you can get exclusive content by becoming a paid member.

The site publishes on the platform Medium. For this reason, you can get Electric Literature’s updates by following the blog with your Medium account.

Granta

Granta is a published literary magazine that has a blog of the same name.

The website publishes essays, stories, literature reviews and analyses. Its contributors included well-known writers, such as Alice Munro, Don DeLillo, and Zadie Smith.

In addition to reading the website, Granta offers an email newsletter. What this means is that you can stay updated on content the website publishes.

The Guardian: Books blog

The Guardian is a media outlet covering a wide swath of news, including books.

As a result, on The Guardian Books blog, you’ll get book recommendations, a weekly poem, and other literary-related news updates. Because The Guardian is based on England, this blog tends to have a European tilt to its content.

Granted that the articles on the blog are free to read. However, you’ll need to pay if you want to subscribe to the blog.

Library of America

The Library of America’s website gives book lovers insight into the history of American literature.

What this means is that the Library’s focus is on American authors’ and poets’ work.

As such, the Library of America works to expand awareness of American literature.

And that mission is evident on the Library’s website.

In particular, there you’ll find articles highlighting past poets and authors and books the Library is publishing. For example, some blog post titles include, “From ‘lovelorn, insecure young man’ to resolute commander—the private side of Ulysses S. Grant” and “St. John the Divine and LOA celebrate Madeleine L’Engle’s 100th birthday with words and music.”

Literary Hub

Visiting Literary Hub’s website is like walking into the world’s largest bookstore. Thus, the site has everything.

There are book reviews, articles on being a writer, short stories, literary news, and more. Also, an easy way to stay on top of everything Literary Hub has to offer is by subscribing to their daily email.

Although, be warned that each email contains a lot. Therefore you may need an hour each day to get through it.

A Little Blog of Books

You could describe A Little Blog of Books as an indie book blog. That’s because a woman named Clare runs the site. She’s been blogging about books since 2002.

Indeed, Clare lists all of the books she’s reviewed on the blog. And there are a ton. What’s cool is that you can search for a book and, if she’s reviewed it, you’ll see her review.

Clare also points out that she runs the site as a part-time hobby. However, you wouldn’t know it by the frequency and depth of her reviews.

Los Angeles Review of Books

Like some of the other book blogs on this list, the Los Angeles Review of Books (LARB) is a paid literary magazine with a free website.

The site publishes reviews, author and poet interviews, and essays of literary criticism. The LARB posts daily updates.

Therefore, to stay on top of what LARB publishes, you can follow them on social media. Or, they offer a weekly newsletter containing much of their content.

The Millions

If you want reading lists, The Millions has them. Author interviews? The Millions has them. What about book reviews, literary essays, and updates about new releases? 

Yep, The Millions has them.

The Millions is a free, ad-supported site. However, paid membership options are available. And paid members get perks such as an exclusive monthly email, which The Millions bills as “a great way to find new books to read.”

The New Yorker: Page-Turner

You may not realize it, but The New Yorker has a book blog. And the site’s articles takes a different approach than what you’ll often find in the magazine.

Where as the magazine offers book reviews and analysis, Page-Turner takes a wider approach. Some sample article titles include, “The Sub-Gatsby Phantasmagoria of Anthony Scaramucci’s Book Party” and “Donald Hall’s Late Burst of Creativity.”

Non-New Yorker subscribers only get five free articles a month, though. After that, you’ll need to buy a subscription.

The New York Review of Books

Like its namesake city, The New York Review of Books (NYR) is a substantial website.

It’s the online home for a literary magazine. And on the site, you can read selections from the magazine’s current issue for free.

But what puts NYR’s site on this list of best book blogs? It’s blog, NYR Daily. There you can read well-written, frequently updated content for free. And if you want more New York Review of Books, you can subscribe to their newsletter.

Omnivoracious

Amazon isn’t always the most popular company in the book world. (Disclosure: This site is an Amazon affiliate.) And Omnivoracious is Amazon’s book review blog.

But it’s a really good book review blog. It may be one of the best book blogs out there. It publishes book reviews and reading lists. This includes a weekly list of books to read over a weekend. 

Omnivoracious consistently publishes two blog posts per day. Each blog post is concise, direct, and well designed. Perfect for online reading.

The Rumpus

Essays, book reviews, comics, poems, interviews, and more. These are all things you’ll find on The Rumpus.

But there’s something that makes The Rumpus stand out in this list of book blogs. The site focuses on publishing marginalized voices. Many of its content is written by people from groups who are often ignored in publishing.

This includes people of color, LGBTQ writers, and more.

Sarah’s Book Shelves

Many of the book blogs on this page are run by companies. Sarah’s Book Shelves is the complete opposite.

It’s a site written by a stay-at-home mom of two kids. Her name? You guessed it: Sarah. 

On her website, Sarah points out that she doesn’t work in publishing. She has no financial stake in the books she reviews. This, she says, makes her reviews “honest, unbiased, and based solely on my opinion of the book.”

You can follow Sarah on social media and subscribe to her weekly email newsletter.

Vol. 1 Brooklyn

Here’s another “amateur” book blog. Vol. 1 Brooklyn’s focus is on discovering writers in Brooklyn.

But that doesn’t keep it from being a good website for all book lovers. Brooklyn is, after all, a diverse place with a lot of writers. Vol. 1 Brooklyn is one of the best book blogs because it makes frequent book recommendations.

And these recommendations come from a variety of writers. Do you want your next read to be something different and unexpected? You might get it from Vol. 1 Brooklyn.

What’s Missing?

Alright, that’s the list of best book blogs. Did your favorite book blog make the cut?

If not, let me know in the comments what websites I need to add to this post.