This year’s investigation into the realms and labs of fantasy and science fiction reveals a genre with pure magnetic attraction, while genre blends—from romantasy to SF mystery to SFF horror—redefine what’s possible and rocket toward their day in the sun.

South Korean novelist Han Kang, best known for 2016’s Booker Prize–winning The Vegetarian, wins the Nobel Prize in literature. The shortlist for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize is announced. BBC’s Between the Covers book club has revealed its books and guests for its eighth season, starting with Chris Whitaker’s All the Colors of the Dark. Winners of the New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards and Scholastic UK’s inaugural Graphic Novel Prize are announced. Created by Humans, a company that helps writers license their works for use by AI, has forged a partnership with the Authors Guild. Plus new title bestsellers.

It is game, set, and match as romances capture readers’ attention and provide swoony delights. Sports romances set pulses racing, romantasy rises, and moms star in rom-coms.

The shortlist for the Nota Bene Prize, for novels “that have received organic, word-of-mouth recognition and are deserving of a wider readership,” is revealed. Annabel Sowemimo wins the Bread and Roses Award for Radical Publishing for Divided: Racism, Medicine and Why We Need To Decolonise Healthcare. Salman Rushdie wins the Halldór Laxness International Literary Prize. Winners of the V&A Illustration Awards and the shortlist for the Financial Times and Schroders Business Book of the Year are also announced. Several academic publishers facing an antitrust suit over unpaid peer review processes. Plus, new title bestsellers and an Isabel Allende Barbie doll.

LitHub releases its ultimate fall reading list. Nadia Davids wins the Caine Short Story Prize, and the German Book Prize shortlist is announced. LibraryReads and LJ offer read-alikes for Richard Osman’s latest novel, We Solve Murders. Memoirs from Connie Chung, Jaleel White, Melania Trump, Wilmer Valderrama, Katherine Moennig, and Leisha Hailey get buzz. Plus, interviews with Srikanth Reddy, Stephen Colbert and Evie McGee Colbert, Sharon McMahon, Terry Szuplat, and Francis S. Collins.

We Solve Murders by Richard Osman leads holds this week. Also getting buzz are titles by Laura Dave, Kelly Bishop, Hilary Rodham Clinton, and Rumaan Alam. People’s book of the week is The Wildes: A Novel in Five Acts by Louis Bayard. All the National Book Award longlists are out now. Shōgun, based on the novel by James Clavell, wins big at the 2024 Emmys.

The busiest book season of the year showcases the big titles and trends readers will be following for the next several months. Escapist stories, tinged with fantasy, are highlights, and cli-fi and nature writing come to the fore as well. A surprising number of subjects appear in both novels and nonfiction—including books about grief and hope and those that evoke a feeling of coziness.

The titles LJ Book Review editors are eager to read and share.

Vampires stake a renewed claim, women’s stories and translated novels expand the genre, and psychological horror challenges tropes.

The Briar Club by Kate Quinn leads holds this week. Also getting buzz are titles by Emily Giffin, Daniel Silva, Taffy Brodesser-Akner, Linda Castillo, and Lana Ferguson. July Book Club picks include All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker (Read with Jenna), The Love of My Afterlife by Kirsty Greenwood (GMA), The God of the Woods by Liz Moore (B&N), and The Cliffs by J. Courtney Sullivan (Reese Witherspoon). People’s book of the week is The God of the Woods. The August Indie Next list is out, featuring #1 pick The Wedding People by Alison Espach. Audiofile announces the July Earphones Award winners, and The Millions publishes its summer 2024 preview. Plus, Alice Munro’s family secrets roil the literary world.