Releases I'm Ready For, Fall 2026

This fall promises the publication of so many exciting new books! These are the ones I'm most looking forward to, from authors I've enjoyed reading:

→ TAIPEI STORY by R.F. Kuang (Sept 8): Kuang writes in multiple genres: I've read the alternate-history-with-magic BABEL, the publishing-world-thriller YELLOWFACE, and the grad-students-visiting-hell KATABASIS. This next book seems firmly planted in reality, focusing on a college student at a summer language program who grapples with her family history and identity.

→ EXIT PARTY by Emily St. John Mandel (Sept 15): I've read all of Mandel's novels, and I love seeing how certain concepts and even characters recur throughout her work. I'm anticipating more of those echoes in what sounds like a fresh and yet very Mandelian story: EXIT PARTY involves a near future American civil war, multiple possible realities, crime, and art.

→ PLY by Hernan Diaz (Sept 29): My introduction to Diaz's work was TRUST, a fascinating reading experience through nested narrative layers. I'm intrigued that his next novel is science fiction set in a far future dystopia, described as "Dickensian odyssey, family drama, and scientific thriller."

→ A WALL IS ALSO A ROAD by Annalee Newitz (Oct 6): I'm a fan of Newitz's science fiction novels, which vary widely but are all inventive and thought-provoking. I am beyond curious to read their latest, about a graduate student who is also a slime mold and visits Earth to do fieldwork in ancient Pompeii.

→ THE OCCIDENTAL BOOK OF THE DEAD by T. Geronimo Johnson (Oct 6): WELCOME TO BRAGGSVILLE was the sharp and darkly funny story of college students who plan a mock lynching as a form of protest, a poorly conceived scheme that goes terribly wrong. I've been eager to see another book from Johnson, and this is going to be a big one: 672 pages about a Black cop, a violent confrontation with a white teenager, and the disputed facts of the highly publicized case.

→ LIFE OUT OF ORDER by Audrey Niffenegger (Oct 6): I have a lot of fondness for THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE, which came out back in 2003. The first surprising news of a sequel was announced in 2013, so I was surprised all over again to learn it's finally arriving this fall. While I'm trepidatious, I will definitely be satisfying my curiosity about the life of Alba, the time-traveling daughter of the original couple.

→ OFF THE RESERVATION by Stephen Graham Jones (Oct 13): This is another unexpected (though less surprising) sequel, to the incredible and grisly THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS. This story focuses on different characters, five years after the events of the first book. I'm ready for more disturbing horror, more great dialogue, and more reckoning with the past.

Good Stuff Out There:

→ At Literary Hub, Madelyn Johnson explores how the role of book cover design has changed in the age of social media: "A cover no longer simply needs to communicate genre or tone. It must also construct an identity that a reader of that book can inhabit. If book covers once translated text for their readers, they now operate in reverse: translating readers for their audiences. In this context, the old adage has been inverted from don't judge a book by its cover to judge a reader by the covers on their books.

July Reading Recap

I'm doing so much summer reading!

→ THE LANGUAGE OF LIARS by S.L. Huang: Ro has trained as a Linguist, and he's determined to prove himself by becoming the first in generations to make a jump. The empathic sense of his species, when combined with a deep understanding of languages, allows the rare individual to jump across the galaxy into the body of a Star Eater. That species, so alien in body and mind to Ro's, lives in the vacuum of space and has the unique ability to find and mine the meridian element. Meridian is crucial for every world in the conglomerate, but the Star Eaters and their skills are poorly understood, so the possibility of jumping provides a secret advantage for Ro's small moon against the galaxy's larger powers. Once, the Star Eaters were cruelly exploited, but now they are full members of the conglomerate who participate willingly in meridian mining. Or at least, that's the claim. Ro discovers that this idea, along with so much else he's been taught, may be lies.

This story introduces so many fascinating concepts and explores them all well in a surprisingly small number of pages (about 160). I was immediately drawn in by the focus on linguistics, and thrilled by the continuing language innovations in the story and how important a role these play in the plot. I was also delighted by the alienness of this story without humans, featuring characters who are physically nothing like humans. Huang's skillful writing made me feel immersed in the unfamiliar bodies and worlds. But it was still easy to connect with Ro as a character, because Huang wisely gives him recognizable personality traits and flaws. This is a wildly creative and clever novella, and I recommend it to science fiction fans, especially those interested in language.

→ FOUNDLING FATHERS by Meg Elison: Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams are teenage brothers growing increasingly curious about the world beyond their secluded island. They've been taught about the new nation of America and every scientific innovation of the 18th century, but they've never been permitted to see more of the world. Then one fateful day, the brothers find a mysterious device that shows far more of the world than they're prepared for, including the revelation that the year is 2026. While they make plans to confront their mother with this information, the Antediluvian Society meets to discuss when to introduce their family of clones to modern America and get the country back on the right track.

This entertaining novella establishes its tone immediately with an opening line about Benjamin Franklin discovering internet porn. From there, it's a wild and bawdy ride that speeds right along. Well-handled POV shifts offer the perspectives of the naive clones as well as the informed adults, with appropriate diction for each. I expected the story to play out over a longer period of time than it does, but what's here fun to read, and Elison clearly had fun developing the absurd premise of a new American experiment gone wrong.

→ SANDWICH by Catherine Newman: For twenty years, Rocky and her family have been renting the same house on Cape Cod for a week every summer. Her kids are now young adults living away from home, so spending this time together brings Rocky a special joy. It also brings on memories of every past vacation, all the laughter and tantrums and fights with her husband and love, and the painful memories of long-ago pregnancy loss. As the family visits their favorite spots on the Cape, Rocky deals with her memories, with menopause symptoms, with her children's adult drama, and with the health of her elderly parents.

I enjoyed the balance of breezy summer read and thoughtful family story in this novel. The humor worked for me, and I laughed often at the family conversations and Rocky's commentary. It was great to see writing about menopause that's both frank and funny. The dynamics between the characters, especially the conflicts, felt realistic and sometimes familiar. There's not much to the plot, and it took a little time for me to adjust my expectations to the slice-of-life style, but I was content to hang out with Rocky's family, and I may continue on to the sequel, WRECK.