Stuck in a reading rut? Want to expand your reading horizons in 2026? You’re in luck! Every month this year, we will be delving deep into popular genres at the library. If you’re already a fan, find readalike suggestions for popular authors and ideas for similar genres to explore. If you’re brand new to the genre in question, you will find a helpful explanation of the hallmarks of the genre, a breakdown of its most common subgenres, and explanations of what readers find so appealing about the most popular authors writing those types of books. A little late for Valentine’s Day but let’s explore romance for February!
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Book Buzz: Digital Romances, Post-WWII Thrillers, and Treasure Hunts
Every month, we’re profiling new-ish releases that are getting critical and commercial buzz. For November, we’re looking at a witty rom com revolving around social media, the intense hunt for a fictional Nazi war criminal in the years following WWII, and a fascinating actual treasure hunt that has spanned over 200 years.
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Book Buzz: Neurotics Broadening Their Horizons, 19th Century Frontier Romances, Real-Life WWII Partisans
Every month, we’re profiling new-ish releases that are getting critical and commercial buzz. For August, we’re looking at a surprisingly sweet romance, a trilogy of historical romances set in 19th century Oklahoma, and a history of British secret operations in France during WWII.
Book Buzz: Aquatic Friendships, Austen in Pakistan, and a Magician’s Secrets
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Discussion Thread: Favorite Literary Love Story
Every week, I tell you all about what I am reading and watching, but this week, it’s your turn to tell me what you’re reading and watching!
Last week was Valentine’s Day, but it’s still the perfect time to revisit your favorite literary love stories and discover new ones. . . .
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Exploring What We Do For Love in Literature
In their analysis of the theme of love, which airs on October 9th, the Great American Read explores many manifestations of it, and not always the romantic kind. It ponders love between family members, love between friends, and even the love that exists between people and animals.
And in the process, it asks us exactly what kind of a love story we, the viewers, prefer.
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What We Do For Love voting bracket
Voting for the Great Berryville Read continues this week with a new category!
Welcome to Bracket #4 – Great Berryville Read What We Do For Love Edition. Next week on Tuesday, October 9th, the Great American Read episode will focus on literary love stories.
This episode is all about love–romantic love, familial love, tragic love. We’ve assembled a bracket that requires you, gentle reader, to pick your favorites and decide which of these 16 books should advance to the next round of the Great Berryville Read voting.
Book Buzz: Lost Items, Successful Suffragettes, and Proper Gothic Murders
Every month, we’re profiling new-ish releases that are getting critical and commercial buzz. For April, we’re looking at a touching tale of things lost and things found, a history of how women won the right to vote in the United States, and a Gothic series about a 19th century woman with an unusually comprehensive knowledge of anatomy. . . .
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Book Buzz: Family Secrets, Aging Nomads, and Amish Firefighter Romances
Every month, we’re profiling new-ish releases that are getting critical and commercial buzz. For February, we’re looking at a tense suburban family drama, an investigative nonfiction book about modern American nomads, and a contemporary Amish romance.
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Oddly Specific Genres: The More, The Merrier
Some writers spend years working painstakingly on one book. Other authors, meanwhile, seem to effortlessly churn out several a year.
For readers, waiting years for the next book can be agonizing, but it can also be frustrating to read something that seems hastily thrown together. For that reason, every reader (and writer, for that matter) definitely has their preference, with some militantly spurning series and others who think that, well, the more, the merrier. (Personally, I’m in the middle. I enjoy a good series, but I’m also not much of one for the seemingly never-ending ones, with a couple of notable exceptions, because I quickly lose interest.)
This month at the library, we’re celebrating those merrier writers, those with long-running series, by highlighting their holiday entries. The good news . . . if you like what you read, there’s plenty more!
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Berryville Book Buzz 