Combining my love of audiobooks with my adoration for this Tony Award–winning musical, I decided to compile a list of audiobooks narrated by the original Hamilton cast. I’m excluding the obvious ones—books written primarily by Hamilton cast members—because, come on, if you’re a fan, you already know about Hamilton: The Revolution, Gmorning, Gnight!, and Failing Up. But what about the hidden gems? Members of the original Hamilton cast have narrated an Afrofuturist novella, a YA romance, and a history of the Civil Rights Movement....

Among the Hall of Fame members is Puerto Rican baseball player Roberto Clemente—the first Latino player inducted. He was a great athlete, and also a humanitarian; his untimely death was the result of a plane crash, when Clemente was trying to bring aid to Nicaragua after an earthquake. “Any time you have an opportunity to make a difference in this world and you don’t, then you are wasting your time on Earth,” he said....

We have a diverse library of books at home in general, but regarding Judaism and Jewish themes, sometimes these books are harder to find—although I think that’s changing. I still think there is a lack of diversity regarding family structures and disabilities in Jewish books (especially for kids), but I also think this reflects attitudes in the larger Jewish community as well—there are a lot of conversations to be had, and hopefully change will keep happening....

Book Riot is teaming up with FSG’s Work in Progress Newsletter to give away a year’s subscription to TBR at the hardcover level! Our book subscription service pairs you with a professional book nerd who creates your own tailored book recommendations. You get the best books you didn’t know you were looking for, and a reading experience that’s expertly-curated with recommendations that are as diverse and exciting as books and readers are....

Gifted and cursed with the ability to see the future, Mildred Groves takes a position at the Hanford Research Center in the early 1940s. Hanford tests and manufactures a mysterious product to aid the war effort. Only the top officials know that this product is processed plutonium, to make the first atomic bombs. Inspired by the classic Greek myth, this 20th-century reimagining is based on a real WWII compound. A timely novel about patriarchy and militancy, The Cassandra uses both legend and history to examine man’s capacity for destruction, and the compassion it takes to challenge the powerful....

Before we dive into the howling hilarity of these mistakes, it’s worthwhile to note how they’re probably happening. First of all, the bestsellers are very fluid. They change from hour to hour depending on real-time sales, so enjoy the mis-categorized madness retroactively. By the time this essay gets to your screen, there will be a whole new batch of nonsense in the bestseller categories and I’m not up for the Sisyphean task of continuously cataloging book-placing ineptitude....

Fast forward to me listening to Padma Lakshmi’s memoir. While listening to this, Padma name drops various books and published authors and I recall holding my breath whilst listening. My friend called me once when I was in the middle of listening and she was startled by how…starstruck I sounded. That is when I realized: I had it in me to be enamored, too. I just sought another kind of star — literary stars, or the literati....

Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew Sullivan This deliciously twisty page turner begins with a death. Lydia Smith is a clerk at the Bright Ideas Bookstore whose job consists of hovering around bookshelves and engaging with her Bookfrogs—the lost and lonely regulars who spend their time marauding the crammed shelves of the store. However, when her favourite Bookfrog hangs himself in the bookstore, she must unravel the mystery he left behind and come to terms with her own dark past....

But you cannot talk about human migration without acknowledging the fact that often people do not have the choice to stay where their home is. Forced displacement has become a bigger issue in recent years due to climate change, ethnic cleansing, and war, but it is about as new as our drive to travel in the first place. Sure, now there’s a more frequent need to leave your home because you’ve had multiple once-in-a-lifetime natural disasters happen to your home, but having to flee your home because others are forcing you is nothing new....

As you get more and more lost in the pages of these mysteries and thrillers, you will find yourself unknowingly gasping and sighing while rooting for the mothers. Their preoccupation with their children’s well-being is a propelling force driving the plots forward. As they march on, they shudder, they collapse, but in the end, they bounce back for the sake of their children. There is a hero latent in each of them, a hero who is not defined by conventional rules of morality but by the love for their kids....

Novel Gazing is your destination for all things literary fiction, bringing you news from the world of fiction, and recommendations for under the radar reads, works in translation, buzzy books, and more. Stay in the know, expand your TBR and your view of literary fiction, and, of course, have some laughs with hosts Mary Kay McBrayer and Louise Johnson. Novel Gazing is a biweekly show available wherever you get your podcasts–go listen to episode one now!...

(I’m going somewhere with this, I swear.) There are probably more sapphic romances about chefs, bakers, and other food lovers to dig up. Do you know a good one? Tell me on the socials!

An obsession with the internet’s obsession with the story 2. The need to read about cats The former was quickly remedied with a hearty scroll through twitter, but I didn’t have time to read an entire Murakami novel to satisfy the latter. Like any good reader, I turned to poetry. So, if you too found yourself lamenting the lack of cats in Cat Person, quickly sate your feline appetite with these cat poems (for cat people)....

From the author of the beloved national bestseller Migrations, a pulse-pounding new novel set in the wild Scottish Highlands. “So damn good. A page-turner that makes you think and has a huge emotional impact.” -Jeff VanderMeer, New York Times bestselling author of Annihilation (via Twitter) If you’re looking for a similar sense of clarity, you can’t go wrong with a memoir about others’ experiences in the natural world and musings on the environment....

This year has included some big name releases. For example, we got the (re)release of Melissa by Alex Gino. Formerly titled George, this classic queer middle grade book is a triumph, as the title now reflects who the main character truly is. Gino had long lamented their inadvertent deadnaming of their title character, so it’s wonderful they’ve had the opportunity to make it right. That’s the gift of offering queer representation in children’s literature....

Back on track. This trend has spilled over to the world of books as well. Multiple genres use reality TV as a focal point of the story. If you’re a fan of any type of reality TV show and want a break from watching TV, then pick up some of these reality TV romcom books! Take the Lead by Alexis Dare An #OwnVoices novel that takes place on the fictional reality show, The Dance Off, this book stars recurring dancer Gina Morales and her celebrity dance partner Stone Nielson....

Welcome back to the bookish road trip series. This is going to be an exciting one, folks. We’re going to explore one of the most gorgeous coastlines in the country, and this coastline is hiding some amazing literary gems just waiting for you to discover them. We’re going to travel down the Pacific Coast Highway. Seattle to San Diego. It may only span three states, but this route covers over 1,200 miles of road....

There are plenty of long, long roads to choose from in the U.S., but today let’s focus on the bookish gems you could uncover if you embarked on a cross-country journey using one of America’s longest interstate highways, which will take you from Seattle to Boston: The I-90. At first glance, it may not look like the most exciting journey. This road will take you through some remote, rural parts of the country, and only a handful of larger cities....

Because the ultimate goal of botanical illustration is not necessarily to be attractive, but to literally illustrate a plant for identification, there is a distinction between botanical illustration and botanical painting. Botanical illustration almost always includes many life stages of a plant and its various bits and pieces. Because many plants look alike, the combination of life stages and individual parts is necessary to distinguish similar species from one another....

William Shakespeare’s plays are nearly all based on myths, history, and other stories that he brought to life with his fantastic words—there are 410 adaptations on film and television of his works. A lot of film adaptations of his work attempt to re-contextualize these plays into the contemporary moment, while others focus on doing the plays as written in the “original” time period. There are merits to both methods, but it’s not really about the set design—it all depends on the strength of the actors....