Ben Fountain is a born, bred and dead Carolina kid. (I’ll ignore the Duke years.) While he spent much of his legal career in Texas, he was born and raised in NC, educated at Carolina, and now lives in NC. And he’s written one helluva political satire in Rasputin Swims the Potomac (Flatiron 2026). I’mContinue reading “RASPUTIN SWIMS THE POTOMAC – Ben Fountain”
Tag Archives: Fiction
ALL THEM DOGS – Djamel White
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”
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”
