Last year, as a result of an overwhelming schedule, I was unable to read as much as I would have liked to. Most of what I read was in service of teaching or criticism—necessary and rigorous, but not always expansive. There were two new novels that caught my attention and I was able to squirrel away some time to read them from cover to cover — Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and The Tiny Things are Heavier by Esther Ifesinachi Okonkwo. 

This year, I want reading for leisure to be my central aim. Thus, I compiled a (growing) list of new titles coming out in 2026 that I would love to read, and hopefully discuss with others. In choosing these titles, I knew I wanted to create a list with the intention of lifting my spirits and exploring varying cultures—especially outside of the US.  I wanted books that examine authorship, womanhood, and moral authority as lived experiences—especially where intellect, class, and power collide. Many of these books are preoccupied with writers, thinkers, observers, and women in close proximity to power; people whose inner lives are often richer than their public authority. A few of these caught my interest because they look at language as labor. I’m also excited to dive into more short story collections, as you will see. I believe that these are stories that reward attention, patience, and close reading, and I’m really eager to look at work that asks how one might live with integrity, wit, and care.

Below is my list. Hopefully, there are a few titles here that you all might also want to dig into: 

JANUARY 

The Infamous Gilberts, Angela Tomaski (Novel)

Vigil: A Novel, George Saunders  (Novel)

FEBRUARY

Brawler, Lauren Groff (Short Stories)

The Copywriter, Daniel Poppick (Novel)

MARCH

Python’s Kiss, Louise Erdrich  (Short Stories)

The News from Dublin, Colm Toibin  (Short Stories)

 The Adjunct, Maria Adelmann (Novel)

APRIL

The Ending Writes Itself, Evelyn Clarke (Novel)

The Witch, Marie NDiaye, tr. Jordan Stump (Novel)

Small Town Girls: A Writer’s Memoir, Jayne Anne Phillips (Memoir in essays)

MAY

John of John, Douglas Stuart (Novel)

Smallie, Eden McKenzie-Goddard (Novel)

JUNE

The Typing Lady: And Other Fictions, Ruth Ozeki (Short Stories)

My Year in Paris with Gertrude Stein: A Fiction, Deborah Levy (Novel)

Villa Coco, Andrew Sean Greer (Novel)

The Frenzy, Joyce Carol Oates  (Short Stories)

A Pair of Aces, Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray (Novel)

JULY

It Will Come Back to You: The Collected Stories, Sigrid Nunez (Short Stories)

SEPTEMBER

The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman, Deesha Philyaw (Novel)