A buzzy debut with some Booker-heavy blurbs, including from the first Booker prize winner to serve as chair of the award, Djamel White’s All Them Dogs (Riverhead Books 2026) has been on my radar for a bit. It’s one of two releases that I anticipated would end up on my predictions list and hoped toContinue reading “ALL THEM DOGS – Djamel White”
Tag Archives: Fiction
THE NIGHT WE MET- Abby Jimenez
As you’ll recall, while I don’t typically read genre/formula fiction, I’ll pick one up now and again as a bit of a palate cleanser. If I’m going romance, Abby Jimenez will typically fit the bill. The writing is sharp, the dialogue is typically great, hilarity often ensues, and there’s going to be a dog. Oh,Continue reading “THE NIGHT WE MET- Abby Jimenez”
GHALEN: A ROMANCE IN BLACK – Walter Mosley
The first half of Walter Mosley’s Ghalen: A Romance in Black (Amistad 2026) is achingly tender. The love story between Ghalen’s mismatched parents is just beautiful; Robert is neurodivergent with a slower, different view of life, and Jamilah, a brilliant med student, falls head over heels with how he sees her. They meet at aContinue reading “GHALEN: A ROMANCE IN BLACK – Walter Mosley”
THE YOUNG WILL REMEMBER – Eve J. Chung
“I am in such despair that everything looks like a noose. But then I remember that I cannot leave, or you will have no home to return to. And so I stay.” Eve J. Chung’s The Young Will Remember (Berkley 2026) is a captivating historical fiction novel that takes a deep dive into the humanityContinue reading “THE YOUNG WILL REMEMBER – Eve J. Chung”
RETURNS AND EXCHANGES – Kayla Rae Whitaker
Kayla Rae Whitaker’s Returns and Exchanges (Random House 2026) is likely going to wind up in my top five reads of the year – most definitely in the top ten. Spanning 1979-2015, the novel follows one Kentucky family – a rags to riches to reckoning story of resilience and risking it all to be seen,Continue reading “RETURNS AND EXCHANGES – Kayla Rae Whitaker”
AFTERNOON HOURS OF A HERMIT – Patrick Cottrell
Patrick Cottrell’s Afternoon Hours of a Hermit ( ECCO 2026) comes with some pretty hefty blurbs – Bryan Washington, Katie Kitamura and Rita Bullwinkle to hit the Booker and NBA names – and I can see why; the novel has that “je ne sais quoi” that makes it smell “Bookery.” It’s a noir detective novel,Continue reading “AFTERNOON HOURS OF A HERMIT – Patrick Cottrell”
PORCUPINES – Fran Fabriczki
“And after all, every story is a manipulation in one way or another.” Fran Fabriczki’s debut novel, Porcupines ( Summit Books 2026), shows a lot of promise but ultimately falls just short of the mark because it under-delivers in each timeline, bringing us to a rather unsatisfying conclusion. I love the idea – but IContinue reading “PORCUPINES – Fran Fabriczki”
SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER – Vincent Yu
Seek Immediate Shelter by Vincent Yu ( Flatiron 2026) was a bit of a disappointment. The novel is a series of interconnected short stories about residents of a small Asian-American community in Massachusetts following a false ballistic missile alert. There is one section that takes place months after the alert and piggy-backs on an earlierContinue reading “SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER – Vincent Yu”
THE BOOK OF GOOSE – Yiyun Li
“If my geese ever dream, they alone know that the world will never be allowed even a glimpse of those dreams, and they alone know the world has no right to judge them. I live like my geese.” Despite this being my “library” year, I am getting to some of the books on my physicalContinue reading “THE BOOK OF GOOSE – Yiyun Li”
CANON – Paige Lewis
“They only bite what they don’t understand, which means, in this dream, Yara is biting everything.” Paige Lewis’s Canon (Viking 2026) is one whackadoodle of a book. This “nonbinary epic” will have you rolling. The bard of this tale and the distinctive voice of the storyteller throughout the novel is fantastic. The chapter headings areContinue reading “CANON – Paige Lewis”
A Girl Named Tommi 