Oh and as part of prep for my forthcoming novel THE FIST OF MEMORY, I'm making a list of science fiction novels by BIPOC or non-Western authors that include either 1) First Contact or 2) a Big Dumb Object (BDO) or 3) A Hivemind. Really want to get as many as possible. All recommendations welcome!

If you are (like me) an unapologetic isekai goblin, you will probably enjoy the sequel EVEN MORE than the first book. (And if you still haven’t read the first book, then what is wrong with you?)

Absolutely charmed by such classics as: giant killer crab with a knife! So much scarier than just, say, giant, briny, razor-sharp snapping crab claws... Just got to hope you don't drop the knife at a critical moment, because it feels it'd be a right pain to try and pick up again with those.

I'm helping in another branch of Waterstones today so I'm enjoying seeing what they've got that I haven't Particularly enjoying Paperbacks from Hell by Grady Hendrix, a gloriously entertaining tour of horror novels from the 70s-80s! 💙📚🪐 #horrorsky #BookshopLife

One for your TBR piles, nature horror fans: @gretchenmcneil.bsky.social's They Fear Not Men in the Woods is a creepy, twisty and atmospheric feminist tale centred around mysterious disappearances, tree protection, and something eerie & hungry in the forest... Beautiful edition too! #Horrorsky 💙📚🪐

The sequel to Dani Francis' breakout dystopian #romantasy bestseller Silver Elite is now out 🐺💫 We have just a few signed copies of Broken Dove in stock, plus matching bookmarks and very shiny wolf pin badges for the first customers! 💙📚🪐 #NewBooks

Today on the website, for those who’ve read Children of Strife - bonus content. A whole extra chapter that didn’t quite make it into the finished book, essentially a self-contained short story. adriantchaikovsky.com

All Hail Chaos is the much anticipated sequel to @sarahreesbrennan.bsky.social's Long Live Evil, following Rae - a reader who's been transported to her favourite fictional fantasy world and is playing the villainess. But now the dangerous (but irresistible) Emperor has turned up... 💙📚🪐 #Romantasy

This week sees the release of Seek the Traitor's Son by @veronicarothbooks.com, a sweeping high-stakes dystopian tale of war and devastating love, as two space-faring rivals from opposite sides are thrust into the centre of a powerful prophecy... which could spell victory for their people. 💙📚🪐 #SFF

The Republic of Memory by @mahmudelsayed.bsky.social has just been released! An epic Arabfuturist tale set on a generation ship 400 years into its interstellar voyage. Exploring power, politics, revolution, language-based segregation, with twists that'll keep you guessing! 💙📚🪐 #NewBooks

A huge congratulations is in order for @marthawells.com on hitting the @nytimes.com, @usatoday.com, AND Indie bestseller lists with #PlatformDecay !🎉 Congrats, Martha, for this well-deserved recognition! And a big thank you to the readers who made this possible!✨

To celebrate, we have some goodies to give away when you come to collect your copy of A Parade of Horribles: matching bookmarks, a special poster, and a pixel skull pin badge! #SFF #DCC #NewBooks

Happy publication day to the latest in @mattdinniman.bsky.social's Dungeon Crawler Carl series: A Parade of Horribles! Another wild and unpredictable adventure through the dungeon for our unlikely heroes: if you haven't joined the crawl yet, today is a great day to start! 💙📚🪐 #SFF #DCC #NewBooks

This is your periodic reminder that word of mouth moves more books than any formal advertising! I invite you to rec something you've recently enjoyed -- preference for the stuff that's *not* already extremely well-known and talked about everywhere.

“THE POET EMPRESS is a brilliant debut and a novel of great power and force, and Shen Tao is certainly a writer to watch.” @hawkwing_lb reviews fantasy debut from Shen Tao

Hello Evening Crowd a ghost story with a difference for you today! I loved it!

Catching up with all these great #SFF and #horror paperbacks that came out at the end of April: what's on your TBR list? Titles and authors in the alt txt... 💙📚🪐

👀 #Booksky #SFF

The sequel to Dani Francis' breakout dystopian #romantasy bestseller Silver Elite is now out 🐺💫 We have just a few signed copies of Broken Dove in stock, plus matching bookmarks and very shiny wolf pin badges for the first customers! 💙📚🪐 #NewBooks

If you'd like to see the first few pages of Salvation's Child, Polygon has you covered.

Picked up Prophet not knowing anything other than that it was sci-fi anomalously co-authored by @hjm.bsky.social whose nature-writing I've long been a fan of. To my delight it also happened to be packed with the kind of queer yearning that often necessitated smacking the book against a pillow.

New Review - a historical ghost story that is fantastic fantasy I strong recommend The Girl With A Thousand Faces by @sunyidean.com out now! Huge thanks to @torbooks.bsky.social www.runalongtheshelves.net/blog/2026/5/...

I wasn’t going to post for #WorldMEDay as it often feels like screaming into the void, but i decided i’d talk about my experience with ME and the inspiration for my debut novel, Awakened, which was published in June last year

I have bought so so so many books on the basis of Bluesky.

Happy publication day to @annleckie.com's Radiant Star, a stunning standalone return to the world of the Imperial Radch 🚀 I've devoured every one of these books so far, so I can't wait to get stuck in to this one! 💙📚🪐 #NewBooks #SFF

It's here! The Girl With a Thousand Faces by @sunyidean.com is a hauntingly dark and beautifully written tale set in historical Hong Kong, where "ancient myths and local legends combine in a story of ghosts, grief and women who will not forgive"... 💙📚🪐 #NewBooks

The Raven Scholar (a whodunnit in a lush fantasy setting), has leapt into my list of favourite books. Really enjoyable in lots of ways, funny, sad, clever, exciting, and ultimately entertaining, its got it all.

My latest complete fantasy series! That's number four, if you're counting 😂

Sunyi Dean joins us to launch The Girl With A Thousand Faces, set in Hong Kong after WW2, a ghost-talker with no memory faces off with a vengeful spirit & its mysterious connection to her past 👻 www.waterstones.com/events/an-ev...

Dangerous new gods, monsters, and a love triangle: the epic conclusion to @sennydreadful.bsky.social's new duology, The Dreamless, is out now! 💙📚🪐 #NewBooks #Romantasy

London folk, this looks great!

Everyone* is reading THE MANY. What are you waiting for? It's pink and purple. *There may be some exceptions but I just asked Juliette and Jean-René are definitely reading right now.

I meant every woooooooord; everyone read @kateheartfield.com's new book!

People are raving about Blood Bound, Ellis Hunter's #romantasy debut which has just hit the shelves! Once in a generation the witch and dragon rider heirs must compete for the future of their kingdoms... Fast paced, romance, twists, fantastic female friendship, plus dragons! 💙📚🪐 #NewBooks

Telling the story of one of Shakespeare's characters as he and poet Dante encounter a crack between our world and Faerie, and find friendship, myth, and reason to fight... Mercutio by @kateheartfield.com is beautifully imagined, sharp, enchanting and unsettling. Out now! 💙📚🪐 #NewBooks

The Bone Door is here! I've been looking forward to this one ever since it was announced: an unsettling labyrinth and a dark, brutal, and twisty fantasy tale that will pull you through all the emotions...

Back at the bookshop after an eventful week off! Looking forward to seeing which shiny new books arrived while I've been away. 💙📚

Something always goes wrong when you move home. Maybe the washer doesn't work. Maybe the sink in the bathroom drips. Maybe your solitary cottage turns out to be a semi-detached, complete with an unseen neighbour ready to intimately share your isolation. HOME SICK @solarisbooks.bsky.social

*starts lining up a good selection of escapist SFF about normal people making good decisions and standing up for others in the face of ballooning fear and division* You know, just in case I need cheering up later today... Suggestions for such comfort reads welcome of course. 💙📚🪐

After you've been to vote today, why not reward yourself for taking part in democracy by buying a nice new book? You can then mentally escape reality and politics for a while, (which we probably all need around about now...) #UKElections #LocalElections #Vote 💙📚

Amal being her usual inspiring self:

New Review - I absolutely loved this thoughtful, unusual and timely space opera - Slow Gods by Claire North was a beautiful read I strongly recommend! www.runalongtheshelves.net/blog/2026/5/...

There's a Waterstones online author event with Rachel Schneider and Emmy Rosam on 15th June celebrating & discussing LIGHT WIELDER, the hugely anticipated follow-up to last year's viral sensation Metal Slinger! Details here: www.waterstones.com/events/onlin... 💙📚🪐 #Romantasy #NewBooks

Ooohh so we ALSO get a new Becky Chambers' novel this year?!?! 🎉 ✨🌌 Absolutely amazing! 💖📚 #booksky

I really enjoyed this murder mystery set during a contest to replace the emperor, so I'm very excited to have Antonia Hodgson's The Raven Scholar as our new #SFF Book of the Month for May! Read for a fun twisty plot that doesn't let up, memorable characters you'll love, magic and RAVENS. 💙📚🪐

I really enjoyed this murder mystery set during a contest to replace the emperor, so I'm very excited to have Antonia Hodgson's The Raven Scholar as our new #SFF Book of the Month for May! Read for a fun twisty plot that doesn't let up, memorable characters you'll love, magic and RAVENS. 💙📚🪐

Thanks to @hodderscape.bsky.social we have *SIGNED* copies of Callie Hart's books in stock, and some gorgeous signed art too for the first few lucky customers! Quicksilver and Brimstone are the first two books in an action packed enemies-to-lovers fae #Romantasy that's taken Booktok by storm 💙📚🪐

As an occasional bookbinder I thought, for a sleepy fraction of a second first thing this morning when this image popped up on my feed, that Waterstones were advertising bargain bookbinding supplies 😅 What a dream!

"Some bargains are sealed with blood. Others with fire. The deadliest are sealed with a kiss… A gifted #bookbinder and a cursed immortal are bound together by a deadly bargain in KISS OF THE BLACK FLAME, Helen Scheuerer's epic new #romantasy trilogy", out in September! 💙📚🪐 #Preorder

Japanese Gothic is a new dark supernatural tale by Kylie Lee Baker following a troubled young man in 2025, and a rebellious female samurai in 1877, who find both each other and some terrifying secrets in an ancient house they share... Signed editions in stock! 💙📚🪐 #Horrorsky