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Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss some mystery and thriller recommendations for the 2026 Read Harder Challenge! Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up for our Unusual Suspects newsletter! Things Discussed God of the Woods - Liz Moore - next book club read! - March 6th Read Harder Challenge 2026 This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Books Discussed 22) Nonviolent True Crime: The Dinosaur Artist: Obsession, Betrayal, and the Quest for Earth's Ultimate Trophy - Paige Williams 17) Cults: Kismet - Amina Akhtar 6) Read a gothic novel published in the last ten years - The Empusium: A Health Resort Horror Story - Olga Tokarczuk, Translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones 21) Read a genre (SFF, horror, mystery, romance) book in translation - Death Takes Me - Cristina Rivera Garza, Translated by Robin Myers and Sarah Booker My Husband’s Wife - Alice Feeney (January 20th) On Sundays She Picked Flowers - Yah-Yah Scholfield (Jan 27th) If you want to send an email with feedback or show suggestions, you can reach us at [email protected]. Otherwise you can: Find Kendra on Instagram and Twitter @kdwinchester Find Katie on Twitter @kt_librarylady And we will talk to you all next time! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss their favorite books of 2026! Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up for our Unusual Suspects newsletter! News God of the Woods - Liz Moore - next book club read! - March 6th This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Books Discussed Paper Cut - Rachel Taff (Jan 27) The Body - Bethany C. Morrow (Feb 10) Someone Else’s Husband - Kimberly McCreight (June 16) Whidbey - T Kira Madden (March 10) Hooked: A Novel of Obsession - Asako Yuzuki, Translator Polly Barton (March 17) The Ending Writes Itself - Evelyn Clarke (April 7) The Star From Calcutta - Sujata Massey (March 3) The Keeper - Tana French (March 31) Last One Out - Jane Harper (April 14) If you want to send an email with feedback or show suggestions, you can reach us at [email protected]. Otherwise you can: Find Kendra on Instagram and Twitter @kdwinchester Find Katie on Twitter @kt_librarylady And we will talk to you all next time! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Read or Dead is taking a short holiday break, so we thought we'd share with you a recent episode from our newest Book Riot podcast, Zero to Well-Read, in which Jeff and Rebecca revisit Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol, a story so familiar it’s often mistaken for simple. They consider its moral stakes, its enduring influence on readers and society, and why Scrooge's redemption still resonates. Subscribe to our free newsletter, and become a member for access to early, ad-free listening and bonus content. Follow Zero to Well-Read on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Email us: [email protected] This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss their favorite books of 2025. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up for our Unusual Suspects newsletter! We’ve got the chops to match the book lover in your life with their next favorite read. And it only takes a few clicks to gift Tailored Book Recommendations! Simply head to mytbr.co/gift to get started. News Fern Michaels has died at 92 This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Books Discussed Fiend - Alma Katsu Nothing But Blackened Teeth - Cassandra Khaw Victorian Psycho - Virginia Feito The Buffalo Hunter Hunter - Stephen Graham Jones The Witch’s Orchard - Archer Sullivan King of Ashes - S.A. Cosby They All Fall the Same - Wes Browne If you want to send an email with feedback or show suggestions, you can reach us at [email protected]. Otherwise you can: Find Kendra on Instagram and Twitter @kdwinchester Find Katie on Twitter @kt_librarylady We will talk to you all next time! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester recommend books for Native American Heritage Month and beyond. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up for our Unusual Suspects newsletter! We’ve got the chops to match the book lover in your life with their next favorite read. And it only takes a few clicks to gift Tailored Book Recommendations! Simply head to mytbr.co/gift to get started. Books Discussed This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Sisters of the Lost Nation - Nick Medina Blood Sisters - Vanessa Lillie Sisters in the Wind - Angeline Boulley The Buffalo Hunter Hunter - Stephen Graham Jones If you want to send an email with feedback or show suggestions, you can reach us at [email protected]. Otherwise you can: Find Kendra on Instagram and Twitter @kdwinchester Find Katie on Twitter @kt_librarylady And we will talk to you all next time! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester recommend books for Read or Dead's annual holiday gift guide. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up for our Unusual Suspects newsletter. We’ve got the chops to match the book lover in your life with their next favorite read. And it only takes a few clicks to gift Tailored Book Recommendations! Simply head to mytbr.co/gift to get started. News New Tana French novel!! This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Books Discussed The Dead Path - Stephen M. Irwin Thursday’s Children - Nicci French The Weight of Blood - Tiffany D. Jackson Night Film - Marisha Pessl Portrait of a Thief - Grace D. Li The Feather Thief - Kirk Wallace Johnson Blue Monday - Nicci French, Performed by Beth Chalmers The Kamogawa Food Detectives - Hisashi Kashiwai, Translated by Jesse Kirkwood Restaurant of Lost Recipes - Hisashi Kashiwai, Translated by Jesse Kirkwood Menu of Happiness - Hisashi Kashiwai, Translated by Jesse Kirkwood Midnight Timetable - Bora Chung, Translated by Anton Hur If you want to send an email with feedback or show suggestions, you can reach us at [email protected]. Otherwise you can: Find Kendra on Instagram and Twitter @kdwinchester Find Katie on Twitter @kt_librarylady And we will talk to you all next time! Books Discussed Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss their very first book club pick, Fiend by Alma Katsu. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up for our Unusual Suspects newsletter! Ready for a cozy, bookish autumn? Let Tailored Book Recommendations help you find your next favorite read with handpicked suggestions from professional book nerds. Get started today from just $18! This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Fiend - Alma Katsu Empire of Pain - Patrick Radden Keefe Death in Mud Lick - Eric Eyre Dreamland - Sam Quinones Dopesick - Beth Macy The Nature of Pain - Mandi Fugate Sheffel If you want to send an email with feedback or show suggestions, you can reach us at [email protected]. Find Kendra on Instagram and Twitter @kdwinchester Find Katie on Twitter @kt_librarylady And we will talk to you all next time! Books Discussed Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

de of the fantastic. Be sure to join us for our first book club to discuss The Fiend by Alma Katsu on October 31st. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up for our Unusual Suspects newsletter! Ready for a cozy, bookish autumn? Let Tailored Book Recommendations help you find your next favorite read with handpicked suggestions from professional book nerds. Get started today from just $18! This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Books Discussed Fiend by Alma Katsu Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo Empire of Wild by Cherie Dimaline We Love You, Bunny by Mona Awad Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2025 edited by Don Winslow The Sister’s Curse by Nicola Solvinic Otherwise you can: Find Kendra on Instagram and Twitter @kdwinchester Find Katie on Twitter @kt_librarylady And we will talk to you all next time! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss books on the cozier end of the mystery spectrum. Plus, they all feature cute animals! Be sure to join us for our first book club to discuss The Fiend by Alma Katsu on October 31st. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up for our Unusual Suspects newsletter! Ready for a cozy, bookish autumn? Let Tailored Book Recommendations help you find your next favorite read with handpicked suggestions from professional book nerds. Get started today from just $18! Books Discussed This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. The Fiend - Alma Katsu The Cat Who Could Read Backwards - Lilian Jackson Braun The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra - Vaseem Khan Menu of Happiness - Hisashi Kashiwai, translated by Jesse Kirkwood Mockingbird Court: A Shady Hollow Mystery - Juneau Black The Midnight Timetable: A Novel in Ghost Stories - Bora Chung, translated by Anton Hur I Make My Own Fun - Hannah Beer Otherwise you can: Find Kendra on Instagram and Twitter @kdwinchester Find Katie on Twitter @kt_librarylady And we will talk to you all next time! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Latine Heritage Month! Be sure to join us for our first book club to discuss The Fiend by Alma Katsu on October 31st. (Apologies—we said the 24th in the episode.) Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up for our Unusual Suspects newsletter! Ready for a cozy, bookish autumn? Let Tailored Book Recommendations help you find your next favorite read with handpicked suggestions from professional book nerds. Get started today from just $18! Things Discussed Anthony Awards Latine Heritage Month (PRH) Tomes and Textiles This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Books Discussed Fiend - Alma Katsu The House in the Pines - Ana Reyes More Than You’ll Ever Know - Katie Gutierrez The Vampires of El Norte - Isabel Cañas Liliana's Invincible Summer: A Sister's Search for Justice - Cristina Rivera Garza You Are the Detective: The Creeping Hand Murder - Maureen Johnson, Jay Cooper The Librarians - Sherry Thomas Otherwise you can: Find Kendra on Instagram and Twitter @kdwinchester Find Katie on Twitter @kt_librarylady And we will talk to you all next time! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss dark academia novels. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up for our Unusual Suspects newsletter! Ready for a cozy, bookish autumn? Let Tailored Book Recommendations help you find your next favorite read with handpicked suggestions from professional book nerds. Get started today from just $18! This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Things Mentioned: Obama’s Summer Reading List 2025 Books Discussed: The Fiend - Alma Katsu White Ivy - Susie Yang They Never Learn - Layne Fargo The Library at Hellebore - Cassandra Khaw Bunny - Mona Awad Sisters in the Wind - Angeline Boulley The Belles - Lacey N. Dunham Otherwise you can: Find Kendra on Instagram and Twitter @kdwinchester Find Katie on Twitter @kt_librarylady And we will talk to you all next time! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss historical crime and horror novels! Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up for our Unusual Suspects newsletter! Book Riot is hiring a digital content specialist! If you love books and know the ins and outs of social media strategy, and especially social video, consider joining the team. Find details and apply by August 22, 2025, at riotnewmedia.com/careers. News Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù To Lead Netflix Series ‘All The Sinners Bleed’ Noir at the Bar Kentucky Tour This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Books Discussed Burn Baby Burn - Meg Medina Mrs. Poe - Lynn Cullen The Possession of Alba Díaz - Isabel Cañas Little Deaths - Emma Flint Your Favorite Scary Movie: How the Scream Films Rewrote the Rules of Horror - Ashley Cullins Five Found Dead - Sulari Gentill Otherwise you can: Find Kendra on Instagram and Twitter @kdwinchester Find Katie on Twitter @kt_librarylady We will talk to you all next time! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Month! Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up for our Unusual Suspects newsletter! Book Riot is hiring a digital content specialist! If you love books and know the ins and outs of social media strategy, and especially social video, consider joining the team. Find details and apply by August 22, 2025, at riotnewmedia.com/careers. Things Mentioned Murder, She Wrote is getting a film adaptation with Jamie Lee Curtis starring as Jessica Fletcher Women in Translation Month Books Discussed This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. The Woman in the Purple Skirt - Natsuko Imamura; transl. by Lucy North I Remember You - Yrsa Sigurdardottir; transl. by Philip Roughton Thing We Lost in the Fire - Mariana Enriquez, transl. by Megan McDowell Death Takes Me - Cristina Rivera Garza, transl. by Sarah Booker and Robin Myers The Faceless Thing We Adore - Hester Steel The Dead Husband Cookbook - Danielle Valentine Otherwise you can: Find Kendra on Instagram and Twitter @kdwinchester Find Katie on Twitter @kt_librarylady And we will talk to you all next time! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss books that they’ve been meaning to get to for far too long. No time like the present! Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up for our Unusual Suspects newsletter! Looking to elevate your reading life? Tailored Book Recommendations is here to help! TBR delivers reading recommendations hand-picked just for you by real human book nerds. You can get your recommendations via email, or receive hardcovers or paperbacks in the mail. And with quarterly or annual plans available, TBR has something for every budget. Plans start at just $18! The CWA Dagger Awards This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. The Good Daughter - Karin Slaughter While Justice Sleeps - Stacey Abrams Kala - Colin Walsh Natural Beauty - Ling Ling Huang The Confessions - Paul Bradley Carr A Twist of Fate - Se-Ah Jang, Trans. S. L. Park The Hunger - Alma Katsu Otherwise you can: Find Kendra on Instagram and Twitter @kdwinchester Find Katie on Twitter @kt_librarylady And we will talk to you all next time! Books Discussed Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discuss their most anticipated book for the second half of 2025. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. To get even more mystery/thriller recs and news, sign up for our Unusual Suspects newsletter! Looking to elevate your reading life? Tailored Book Recommendations is here to help! TBR delivers reading recommendations hand-picked just for you by real human book nerds. You can get your recommendations via email, or receive hardcovers or paperbacks in the mail. And with quarterly or annual plans available, TBR has something for every budget. Plans start at just $18! Crime Reads Most Anticipated Books of Summer 2025 This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission An Evil Premise - T. Marie Vandelly (August 12th) The Possession of Alba Díaz - Isabel Cañas (August 19) You Weren’t Meant to Be Human - Andrew Joseph White (September 9) Fiend - Alma Katsu (September 16th) We Love You, Bunny - Mona Awad (September 23rd) Dead Man Blues - S.D. House (October 14th) Otherwise you can: Find Kendra on Instagram and Twitter @kdwinchester Find Katie on Twitter @kt_librarylady And we will talk to you all next time! Books Discussed Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices