A group of authors, editors, illustrators, and agents have responded to the crisis in Minneapolis by organizing an auction to raise money for organizations providing legal aid, emergency assistance, food, and more to those most impacted by ICE raids, including Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota, Women’s Foundation of Minnesota, Midwest Immigrant Bond Fund, and more.

The auction starts today and ends tomorrow, so get your bids in now! Items include signed books, original art, and AMA (Ask Me Anything) Zoom calls with authors like Samantha Irby, Dhonielle Clayton, Mike Chen, and so many more. Mychal Threets, aka, Mychal the Librarian, is also offering a bookish social media collab!

This auction is also a great tool for writers: many authors, agents, editors, and other publishing professionals are offering query critiques, picture book critiques, manuscript critiques, and more. Teachers should also check out the many virtual school visits on offer! - DE

Someone at Sesame Street deserves a raise. Actually, probably everyone at Sesame Street deserves a raise since the Trump-Vance administration blocked funding for PBS last year.

When you need a self-care moment in a place where the air is sweet, head on over to the Sesame Street Classics channel on YouTube, which has a bunch of wonderful old episodes available for free viewing. There’s the one that started it all, the one about a cold day on Sesame Street, and—most appropriate for this moment—the one where Mr. Rogers visits.

For a quick fix:

• James Taylor sings "Up on the Roof" from the actual roof of 123 Sesame Street
• R.E.M.’s "Happy Furry Monsters" remix
• Diana Ross and Big Bird: "Believe in Yourself"

✨ A dazzling dark academia debut. ✨

Secrets, scandals, and a mysterious illness unravel lives in this darkly witty and atmospheric novel set at a failing English girls’ boarding school in the 1980s. Cry Havoc by Rebecca Wait is funny, feral, and unforgettable.

Dear reader, the day is upon us. Season 4 of Bridgerton premieres today.

If you’re new to the ton, each season of the Shondaland production is based on one of the eight books in Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton series, which are each dedicated to one of the eight Bridgerton siblings. This season, based on An Offer From a Gentleman , will follow Benedict Bridgerton’s Cinderella-esque story, a tale of forbidden love that begins with a masquerade ball and a mysterious woman behind a silver mask.

Luke Thompson will reprise his role as Benedict Bridgerton, with the rest of the Bridgerton bunch ( mostly ) returning as well. Yerin Ha will play Benedict’s love interest, Sophie Baek, aka the Lady in Silver. Also new this season are Katie Leung as Lady Araminta Gun, Sophie’s stepmother, and Michelle Mao and Isabella Wei as Sophie’s stepsisters, Rosamund and Posy Li. 

One element I especially look forward to with each new Bridgerton drop is the selection of pop songs given an instrumental remix for the soundtrack. Past gems include “Dancing on my Own” by Robyn, “Diamonds” by Rihanna, “Happier Than Ever” by Billie Eilish, and “Wildest Dreams” by Taylor Swift, each reinvented with brilliant string arrangements that just work. I’m pleased to report that Netflix has released a taste of this season’s delightfully anachronistic selections, which include “DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love” by Usher and Pitbull and “Enchanted" by Taylor Swift. Oh, and be still, my millennial heart—“All I Wanted” by Paramore.

Season 4 is split into two parts with four episodes each, just like Season 3. Part 1 is streaming now on Netflix, and Part 2 will premiere on February 26. -VD

I don’t remember ever seeing this before. The New York Public Library is making all the books in Rachel Reid’s Game Changers series, of which Heated Rivalry is a part, available for instant, no-wait downloads in both ebook and audio format. Anyone with a NYPL library card and Libby installed on their device can listen/read to all the books on demand now through February 14th. 

Anyone who lives, works, or studies in the whole of New York State, not just New York City, can get a NYPL digital library card nearly instantly by applying here. 

Quick thought: how is this being paid for? Is the NYPL dedicating a whole bunch of new budget to meet the demand for Heated Rivalry, possibly using the TV series and book’s success to get people into using the library? Is Libby possibly kicking in a little on their end too, to spur demand and awareness of digital book lending? Could it be both?

Whatever the case may be, Heated Rivalry is on its way to joining the book phenomenon pantheon alongside Twilight, dystopian YA, coloring books, and other market-shaping stories from the last several decades, if it isn’t there already. - JO

Rebuilding your reading as an everyday habit with ThriftBooks’s 500 Billion Page Challenge. Set your goal, read what you love, and contribute to a collective movement to reverse the decline in reading. Every page counts.

At long last, Libro.fm has launched an annual membership plan. For $169.99 a year, members receive:

• 12 audiobook credits upfront
• 30% off additional purchases, including sale titles
• Access to member-only sales
• A bonus 13th credit for a limited time
• The good vibes of supporting independent bookstores with every purchase

And here’s the benefit that is truly clutch: credits never expire.

→ A rec to get you started: several of us on the Book Riot staff have been loving Homeschooled by Stefan Merrill Block, perfect for fans of The Glass Castle and Educated.

Morgan Talty is the award-winning author of Night of the Living Rez and Fire Exit —now available in paperback. Here, he shares three books that influenced his writing.

The Roundhouse by Louise Erdrich: I love that Erdrich tackles nonsensical Federal Indian Law head-on in her award-winning novel. The main character is a 13-year-old boy who recounts his mother having been raped by a white man and how she could not say where the crime occurred, because the crime was committed by a non-Native American on Tribal Nation land. (In the US, Tribal Nations do not have the right to prosecute non-members who commit crimes on their land.) Since she could not say where it happened, nobody knew who had jurisdiction; thus, the novel’s perpetrator walks free. It’s a situation that has happened all over Indian Country. In seeing how Erdrich looked at the law, I wondered, what is a situation that could arise out of the nonsensical structure holding up Indian Country? I thought of blood quantum, and that was the genesis of Fire Exit. 

Heart Berries by Therese Marie Mailhot: This is a story of survival that challenges the reader to go to the darkest places, guided masterfully by the light of Mailhot’s writing. She has a clear, direct voice that is so solemn and real, I dare anyone to try to stop reading this book once they’ve started. Heart Berries plants a seed in your heart and mind, and is a modern classic that will stand the test of time. 

Thunder Song: Essays by Sasha taqʷšəblu LaPointe: Sasha taqʷšəblu LaPointe’s essays weave together family, heritage, history, and music in a strikingly original way. The writing is magisterial, creating countless transcendental moments for the reader, which is not only the wonder of this book but a clear testament to Sasha’s immense storytelling power. Thunder Song is masterful and wise, and it will not be forgotten. 

Ready to make 2026 your best reading year yet? We’ve teamed up with our friends at Penguin Random House Audio to give one lucky reader a 12-credit bundle to  Libro.fm! That is a full year of audiobooks (one per month!) waiting to hit your earbuds. Even better?  Libro.fm  allows you to buy audiobooks through your local independent bookstore, so you can support your community while you listen.

Did you know?: Chekov helped pay for his education by catching and selling goldfinches.

🛀 Engineer your perfect skincare routine with The Ordinary ’s smart ingredients and stripped-back prices.**

🔥 Watch these slow-burn romances while you wait for the next season of Heated Rivalry.

🔎 Sherlock Holmes fans, here’s a trio of recommendations for you.

🍿 An adaptation of Frozen River is in the works.

🏳️‍🌈 Be queer, do sports with these LGBTQ+ YA sports books.

_{** This is a product recommendation from the Book Riot team. When you buy through these links, we may earn a commission.}