Lisa Lee's debut novel AMERICAN HAN is enjoying a fantastic launch. In a starred review, Kirkus says, "Lee's self-aware, relentlessly honest narrator feels absolutely real, and her story cuts deep." Joumana Khatib at The New York Times Book Review has this positively glowing praise: "I am Tom Cruise-on-Oprah's-couch crazy about 'American Han,' . . . one of the best things I've read in ages. . .I realize that describing a novel as having a soulful yet screwball sensibility sounds close to incase, but it's the truth; 'American Han' has a fierce emotional intelligence that also feels hard-won." Meanwhile, BookPage writes, "Lisa Lee's debut [is] a powerfully complex, moving take on one family's answer." The novel is a Most Anticipated Book for Spring 2026 by Harpers Bazaar, who calls it a "compelling character study of a deeply flawed family." It was also chosen by Goodreads Editors for their March Book Picks and was featured on The New York Times Books' Instagram in a post where it was a "Lightning Round" recommendation. In addition, Ron Charles gives a thoughtful and positive review on his Substack ("What looks initially like another story of immigrant striving turns out to be something more unsettling — a family struggling with pain that only one of them can articulate") and Kate Tuttle mentions the novel in the Boston Globe ([American Han] thrums with intelligence and heart as [Lee] chronicles the unruly lives of a Korean American family grasping for an American dream that keeps making them crazy"). Lee was also interviewed on "Writing the Unconscious and Unconventional" for Electric Lit's 2026 winter craft interview series and for Writer’s Digest on writing and publishing her novel. LitHub has included it on their list of “20 new books out today!”, as well as Debutiful, for their “19 Debut Books to Discover from March 2026.” AMERICAN HAN was published by Alongquin on March 31, 2026.

Fred Brathwaite – aka Fab 5 Freddy – sat down with Vogue’s Corey Seymour to discuss EVERYBODY’s FLY and hip-hop culture. Seymour calls the memoir “a fascinating and page-turning chronicle of a righteous life lived at a grand scale.” Brathwaite also began his book tour this week. Viking published the book on March 10, 2026.

Melissa Faliveno’s debut novel HEMLOCK—billed as a butch BLACK SWAN—enjoyed a beautiful launch this month, with most-anticipated nods from Autostraddle, Debutiful, Lit Hub, the Maris Review, and others. Faliveno also gave in-depth interviews with The Rumpus, Tone Madison, Lit Hub, and more. Debutiful praised HEMLOCK as “not just a book of the year contender, but a book of the decade contender.” Faliveno is now on a cross-country book tour. Little, Brown published HEMLOCK on January 20, 2026.

JOAN CRAWFORD: A WOMAN’S FACE by New York Times Bestselling author Scott Eyman published this week to critical acclaim. Bruce Bawer of The American Spectator raves: "[An] elegant, intelligent, comprehensively researched, and thoroughly absorbing new biography...Kudos to Scott Eyman for writing a smart and sensitive account that captures Joan Crawford in all her humanity." Meanwhile, David Luhrssen of Shepherd writes: "Deft writing, archival research, critical thinking and cineaste’s eye for telling details." Lastly, Salon included the book in its roundup of “10 fall biographies you won’t want to miss,” with writer Andi Zeisler noting: “Scott Eyman’s new biography pulls together the layers of invention and reinvention that transformed malnourished Texas tomboy Lucille LeSueur into screen legend Joan Crawford with so much immediacy and Hollywood-insider detail that reading it feels like a cinematic experience in itself…It renders studio politics, contract-negotiation minutiae, costuming conflicts and production-code headaches with thrilling immediacy, note-perfect dialogue and the perfect amount of attitude.” Simon and Schuster published the hardcover on November 18, 2025.

Arabelle Sicardi’s essay collection THE HOUSE OF BEAUTY launched this week to great acclaim. Sicardi sat down for a Q&A with Ms. Magazine, discussing how “beauty is a labor issue,” and was a guest on the Trust Me podcast. Excerpts from the collection appeared in Allure and Business of Fashion. Sicardi has now embarked on a multi-city book tour that includes stops at Books are Magic in Brooklyn and “perfume swaps” in New York and LA. Norton published THE HOUSE OF BEAUTY on October 14, 2025.

Kim Willis’ NO FAIR MAIDENS was announced in The Bookseller this week, who reported the 11-way auction that preceded the sale. NO FAIR MAIDENS “recounts [Willis’] journey through the oldest mythologies of Great Britain, bringing magical heroines to the fore who restore our strength, wonder and connection to the place we call home.” Interviewed for the article, Willis said: “NO FAIR MAIDENS isn’t just a rejection of the false stories that suppress female power. It’s a rallying cry to all women, across the ages, who dare to live differently; offering us a mandala of wild heroines born of this soil, who together can guide our path and reawaken the spirit of the land. The fact we don’t know our own mythology tells us that some crime has occurred here. It’s time we shared that wisdom once again.” Doubleday UK will publish the book in 2026.

David McCullough’s posthumous collection, HISTORY MATTERS, is drawing wide acclaim ahead of its publication next week. Publishers Weekly praises it as “an enjoyable and warmhearted valedictory hymn to the American spirit,” while the Associated Press calls it “an enjoyable complement to McCullough’s canon” and a reminder of why he was “one of the greatest historians of our time.” The Boston Globe writes: “In his previous books, McCullough is delivering a classroom lecture… In this collection, he is at your dinner table, talking over a plate of asparagus and passing the butter.” National Review emphasizes McCullough’s belief that “knowledge of history was foundational for citizenship and patriotism,” and the Washington Examiner deems it “a delightful primer” for those anticipating America’s 250th anniversary. LitHub featured the book among its “Most Anticipated of 2025,” while Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan commended its “seriousness and simplicity” that “make for beauty.” Lastly, a warm review from Kirkus reads: “McCullough made a fine career of storytelling his way through past events and the great men (and occasional woman) of long-ago American history. In that regard, to say nothing of his eschewing modern technology in favor of the typewriter (‘I love the way the bell rings every time I swing the carriage lever’), he might be thought of as belonging to a past age himself. In this set of occasional pieces, including various speeches and genial essays on what to read and how to write, he strikes a strong tone as an old-fashioned moralist…At his best here, McCullough uses history as a way to orient thinking about the present, and with luck to good ends: ‘I am a short-range pessimist and a long-range optimist. I sincerely believe that we may be on the way to a very different and far better time.’ A pleasure for fans of old-school historical narratives.” HISTORY MATTERS will be published by Simon & Schuster on September 16, 2025.

Leigh Radford’s debut novel ONE YELLOW EYE recently published to glowing reviews. Chicago Review of Books included it on their list of “12 Must Read Books of July 2025,” writing: “Leigh Radford has crafted a book that offers both chills and heartbreaking moments.” Daily Mail also recommends the novel for summer: “Setting this zombie story apart is its deep dive into the mysteries of the human heart. Gripping, grisly and wonderfully written.” ONE YELLOW EYE was published by Gallery Books on July 15, 2025.

Ling Ling Huang’s new novel, IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, is receiving lots of praise ahead of its highly anticipated release. BookPage has given it a starred review, calling it “a frightening, enlightening powerhouse of a book.” In a review for Shelf Awareness, editor Elizabeth DeNoma writes: “IMMACULATE CONCEPTION is a dazzlingly ambitious feat of storytelling…Huang's style is as captivating and distinctive as the story itself, with incisive prose that is alternately evocative, funny, and caustic…a simmering rumination on covetousness, resilience, and atonement…[It] is a virtuosic work beaming the spectrum of human emotions through a prism of indifferent technology.” The book also received a nod on Shelf Awareness’ “Reading with…” feature with Kevin Nguyen, who calls it a “ twistily structured send-up of the art world.” Goodreads recommends the book to viewers of SEVERANCE on its “What to Read Based on Your Pop Culture Obsessions” round up. Elle and Reader’s Digest featured the book on their must-read lists for 2025. Lastly, the novel is a May Book Club Pick for both Aardvark Book Club and The Good Housekeeping Book Club. IMMACULATE CONCEPTION will be published by Dutton on May 13, 2025.

Ahead of publication, Ling Ling Huang’s IMMACULATE CONCEPTION is receiving high praise. Booklist has given it a starred review, where Cari Dubiel writes: “Huang’s sophomore outing is just as brilliant and unsettling as NATURAL BEAUTY…[She] is a master of mixing the speculative with the contemporary, harnessing near-future possibilities to show us just how far humanity will go to achieve the impossible while ignoring very real consequences.” The novel was featured on best new books of spring round ups by Bustle and Harper’s Bazaar. The Portland Tribune also covered the upcoming release in a digital article. IMMACULATE CONCEPTION will be published by Dutton on May 13, 2025.