Know What's Happening in Books
Know What's Happening in Books
Álvaro Enrigue’s “Now I Surrender” revives the Apache‑Mexican‑American frontier
Álvaro Enrigue’s 2026 novel Now I Surrender, translated by Natasha Wimmer, returns to the late‑19th‑century Apache‑Mexican‑American frontier. The narrative follows Geronimo’s early life in Mexico amid tangled wars among Apaches, Mexican forces and U.S. troops, blending documented events with imaginative flourishes.
Hana Carolina’s novella *The Inescapable March* traps warrior‑mage Arran and flamboyant actor Hyacinx in a magical time‑loop that forces them to relive a siege and their own deaths repeatedly. The story’s non‑linear structure—chapters that jump between “The End” and “The Beginning”—creates a queer temporality where linear cause and effect dissolve. Through sharp, humorous dialogue, the narrative explores Arran’s resistance to love and his necromantic duties, while a fortune‑teller Vadoma highlights the existential horror of endless repetition. Ultimately, the work uses fantasy as a lens to interrogate trauma, desire, and the possibility of breaking cyclical patterns.
Freida McFadden’s 2021 novel *Want to Know a Secret?* delivers a fast‑paced psychological thriller set in a pressure‑cooker suburb. The story follows YouTube baker April Masterson as anonymous messages expose family, financial, and past secrets, driving a series of twists...
David Stuart’s new book, *The Four Heavens*, leverages decades of Maya hieroglyph decipherment to present a comprehensive political history of the civilization from 1000 BCE to the Spanish conquest. The work maps the rise, peak, and repeated abandonment of major urban...
The piece spotlights this season’s most compelling debut novels, ranging from spectral hauntings to a fallen aristocracy and a tragic ping‑pong prodigy. It underscores how each author brings a fresh voice that has already earned critical praise. The selections blend...
"Once a King, Now a Prince" is Ira Blacker's raw autobiography that chronicles a traumatic Brooklyn childhood, his rise as a pivotal music‑industry executive in the 1960s‑70s, and later entrepreneurial ventures. Blacker details signing acts like Rod Stewart, Deep Purple,...
Award‑winning Australian author Eva Hornung releases her first novel since 2017, *The Minstrels*. The sweeping narrative follows Gem, a farmer navigating climate‑driven dystopia, Indigenous language revival, and urban‑rural conflict. Hornung blends literary fiction with speculative elements to explore identity remaking...
One thing I did during rewrites of my upcoming novel (the 8th book in my Polyamorous Passions series) was to review the novel through the lens of a reader: I jotted down all the thoughts that came to mind *in the...
R.L. Meza’s narrative claims to be the first human ghost on Mars, describing a post‑mortem consciousness that traverses the void between Earth and the Red Planet. The ghost recounts the launch, the silent Martian surface, a crew lander crash, and...
Sarah Bruni contributed to Largehearted Boy’s Book Notes series by sharing a curated music playlist that accompanies her novel Mass Mothering. The novel, praised by Kirkus for its fragmented, prismatic take on motherhood amid political turmoil, weaves together stories set...
In this episode of Book Club, actor Alan Cumming guides listeners through Alasdair Gray’s seminal novel Lanark, exploring its split narrative of a gritty Glasgow reality and a surreal dystopian realm. Cumming reflects on the book’s anarchic structure, its vivid language,...
ArabLit Quarterly announced its Spring 2026 double issue, titled “SYRIA: Fall of Eternity,” guest‑edited by Ghada Alatrash and Fadi Azzam. The anthology assembles poems, prose, and visual art that chronicle Syria’s half‑century of turmoil and the ongoing quest for freedom....
Rebecca Philipson’s debut thriller, How to Get Away with Murder, launches with a chilling serial‑killer narrator and a flawed yet determined Detective Inspector Samantha Hansen. The novel’s dual‑timeline structure interweaves the killer’s self‑help manual with a gritty London homicide investigation,...
If you squint some publishers do a version of this when they send 3-4 of their writers to Comic Con or another major trade event (I've done this with Del Rey) and they're signing at the booth at different times...
I realized just now that I'm so old I remember when books would have a section called "you would also like" and/or have order forms you could rip out. The market was different back then and certain books (like SFF)...
When Thomas Mann’s works entered the public domain at the start of 2024, publishers quickly moved to release new editions. Oxford University Press issued fresh translations of Buddenbrooks, The Magic Mountain and Doctor Faustus, while Norton announced a competing Magic Mountain...
J.M. Stoneback’s new novel *Treacherous God* (Haven University #2) follows a manipulative protagonist who forces a marriage of control over Lilac, using psychological terror to bind her. The story blends dark romance with horror, examining coercive control, identity erosion, and...
My mom told me never to post my age on the internet, but I’m having a 24% off sale starting tomorrow and goes until the 7th! All of my services qualify, I specialize in developmental and line editing and rapid...
A few worrying reading stats: -57% of Americans read 0 books a year -Reading for pleasure has fallen by 40% -Proportion of people who never read a book in a given year has 3x’d -Average American spends 5.4 hours a day on their phones...
The Poured Over podcast released a new episode featuring author Cameron Sullivan discussing his novel The Red Winter. The conversation explores the novel’s blend of French history, the Beast of Gévaudan myth, and a dark, supernatural love story. Co‑host Jenna...
Will Dean’s new novel *Adrift* transports readers to a cramped narrowboat in Cairo, Illinois, in 1994, where the Jenkins family endures economic hardship and psychological abuse. The patriarch Drew enforces a strict silence rule while pursuing his writing, creating a...
Emily Nemens appears on the Otherppl with Brad Listi podcast to read an excerpt from her sophomore novel, Clutch. The episode is part of Story Time, a series showcasing authors reading their work, and highlights Nemens’s literary pedigree, including her New...
Tayari Jones returns after a seven‑year hiatus with *Kin*, a dual‑narrated novel set in 1950s‑60s Louisiana that follows childhood friends Vernice and Annie as their lives diverge into Black elite circles and gritty Memphis bars. The book uses alternating chapters...
The essay contrasts Virginia Woolf’s individual‑centric narrative model with a distinctly African approach that treats the novel as a thinking world. It argues that African fiction distributes agency across ecosystems, ancestors, and material forces rather than anchoring meaning in a...
Here is what The Rumpus will be up to at AWP this year https://therumpus.net/2026/02/27/the-rumpus-at-awp-2026/ and we are having a party. Hope to see you there.
Two new Victorian‑themed novels are drawing attention for centering women’s experiences within the era’s literary canon. Annie Elliot’s debut, *Mr & Mrs Charles Dickens: Her Story*, retells the marriage of Charles and Catherine Dickens from Kate’s perspective, using a present‑tense framing device that...
Professor Patrick D. Anderson’s new book, *Anticolonialism, Ontology, and Semiotics: A Cinematic Exploration* (2026), builds an anticolonial framework for political philosophy by analyzing Hollywood movies through the lens of Africana thought. Drawing on Fanon, Cleaver, and Wynter, the work re‑introduces...
Speed-reading is a scam: Scientists studied professional speed-readers and found that the faster you read, the less you understand or remember. “There’s just a maximum limit for how quickly humans can absorb information.”
I wrote my very first book last year, and now that the release date is approaching, I’m excited for sure, but also…nervous. 😬 Is anyone even going to read it? Will people find it valuable? Or did I just waste a ton...
The Art of Manliness roundup highlights four distinct topics: Karl Marlantes’ novel *Matterhorn* delivers a raw, first‑hand Vietnam experience; Billy Wilder’s 1944 film *Double Indemnity* is praised for its razor‑sharp dialogue and noir tension; the Jetboil Stash cooking system promises...
Stop scrolling up and down on social media. Start scrolling left and right on an ebook.
Vanessa Fogg’s new collection, The House of Illusionists and Other Stories, compiles a decade’s worth of her speculative fiction, previously featured in venues such as Lightspeed and Podcastle. The stories are united by a preoccupation with tragic endings, collapsing societies,...
Mary Morland in the Time of Dinosaur Discovery, released by Beach Lane Books on Feb. 24 2026, is a children’s biography that chronicles the life of Mary Morland, a 19th‑century fossil hunter who partnered with William Buckland to introduce Megalosaurus. Written by...
Leo’s Lobo, a new picture book by Melissa Cristina Márquez and Maria Gabriela Gama, follows a boy who adopts a magical alebrije and discovers the hard work of pet care. Published by Penguin Workshop on Feb. 10, 2026, the hardcover retails for...
Penguin’s International Writers series has finally brought Shahrnush Parsipur’s 1989 novella *Women Without Men* to UK shelves, expanding the reach of a modern Iranian classic. The work intertwines magical realism with feminist critique, following five women in 1953 Tehran as...
Luke Barley’s new book *Ancient* chronicles the intertwined history of Britain’s woodlands and its people, tracing forest development from post‑glacial birch to the oak‑dominated landscapes that powered medieval society. He explains the legal definition of ancient semi‑natural woodland—trees existing before...
Kate Alice Marshall’s new psychological thriller, The Girls Before, intertwines dual timelines of a search‑and‑rescue expert haunted by a missing friend and a nameless woman trapped in a bunker. The novel’s precise prose and alternating “Above/Below” structure amplify atmospheric dread...
Thomas G. Fournier’s 2025 book *God and Science* bridges the long‑standing divide between faith and empirical inquiry. Drawing on his 25‑year intelligence‑analysis career, Fournier systematically aligns biblical creation narratives with modern cosmology, geology, and fine‑tuning arguments. He critiques both evolutionary...
Ron Pullins, author of the satirical novel Dollartorium, contributed to Largehearted Boy’s “Book Notes” series by releasing a curated music playlist that mirrors his book’s themes. The 14‑track list spans country blues, 1970s protest songs, and contemporary pop, each chosen to...
Book length is a lot more important for traditional publishers because too long & it might be too expensive to print, but distributors/stores also don't like super skinny books that much. But someone whose main market is ebooks, as is...
Joy Harjo and Tracy K. Smith, former U.S. Poet Laureates, held a vibrant conversation at Symphony Space in New York celebrating their new books, *Girl Warrior* and *Fear Less*. The dialogue framed poetry as a technology for navigating grief, mystery,...
Scary Mommy’s February 2026 feature unveils its Readers' Choice finalists for the Best Book Subscription Box. The shortlist spotlights 15 services—including Aardvark Book Club, Banned Books Box, The Strand’s Book HookUp, and Book of the Month—spanning genre‑specific, niche, and first‑edition...
Oliver Johnson, a former Waterstones bookseller and Hodder & Stoughton commissioning editor, has debuted as a crime novelist with the thriller *Caller Unknown*. The novel follows amnesiac protagonist Ed Constance, whose childhood hostage trauma is re‑triggered by a mysterious phone...
Be forewarned, if you write fiction involving animal characters, especially for adult readers, people will likely refer to your story as “quirky.” Book coach Erin Radniecki advises on when animal POVs can benefit your story: https://janefriedman.com/embrace-quirky-5-benefits-of-using-animal-point-of-view-characters/
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The new scholarly work uncovers how Laurence Sterne’s 18th‑century novels resurfaced in Soviet Russia despite Stalinist censorship, becoming a covert touchstone for intellectuals seeking artistic freedom. By examining letters, diaries, translation drafts, and editorial correspondence, the authors trace Sterne’s reception...
Want to read more books? Here's a fun challenge for you. I'm calling it "Screen Time to Read Time": 1) Open your screen time app to see your daily average screen time 2) Read a book for that same length of time If you...
The new picture book *Just in Case: Saving Seeds in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault* by Megan Clendenan and illustrator Brittany Cicchese celebrates the vault’s 18th anniversary. It explains how the Arctic facility stores nearly one million seed samples as a safety...
The newly surfaced "Handbook to Spirit‑Hunting" compiles Yoruba mythological entities into a practical field guide for aspiring spirit hunters. It categorises spirits as dark, nature, or transcendental, offering detailed descriptions, behavioral cues, and specific tactics for capture or avoidance. The...
Susan Palwick discusses her speculative story where AI legal personhood emerges after a human population collapse, drawing on pandemic‑era tech dependence and AI‑generated art. She explains the alien surgical enhancements, like a tentacle, as AI’s literal misreading of human comfort....
Anna Quindlen discusses her new novel *More Than Enough* on the *Poured Over* podcast, describing it as a tender exploration of self‑discovery later in life. The conversation, hosted by Brenda Allison, weaves in topics such as friendship, motherhood, chosen family,...
