Eugene Lim is the winner of the 2025 John Dos Passos Prize, the oldest literary award given by a Virginia college or university, which honors “a talented American writer who experiments with form, explores a range of voices and merits further recognition.” Dr. David Magill, chair of the Department of English and Modern Languages at Longwood, said: “Eugene Lim’s work is completely unique in its formal innovations and its elegant yet accessible prose…Lim manages to pack so much into every page, taking us on a wild journey of adventure with each sentence. He is breathtakingly original and a writer not to be missed.” Coffee House Press published Lim’s most recent novel, SEARCH HISTORY, on October 5, 2021. His next novel, SPACE BAR, will be published by Doubleday in 2027.

New York Times bestselling author Rachel Khong’s long-awaited short story collection, MY DEAR YOU, is already earning great press, appearing on most-anticipated lists from TIME, Lit Hub, Book Riot, TODAY.com, and more. TIME’s praise reads in part: “[Khong] confidently kneads and molds the short-story form, stretching it like taffy.” Knopf will publish MY DEAR YOU on April 7, 2026.

Emeline Atwood’s hotly anticipated debut novel, A REAL ANIMAL, is earning extraordinary press more than six months before its publication. The novel appears on coveted most-anticipated lists from TIME and Vogue to Lit Hub and Debutiful, with Hamilton Cain writing for TIME: “[A REAL ANIMAL] stirs with edgy sex, anger, and transcendence.” Writing for Debutiful, Adam Vitcavage said: “Atwood’s book is simply one of the best books I’ve read since I started covering books.” Atwood is also a Publishers Weekly Writer to Watch and recently received gorgeous blurbs from Stephanie Wambugu, Bret Anthony Johnston, Joy Williams, and more. Catapult publishes A REAL ANIMAL on July 7, 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.

AWAKE IN THE FLOATING CITY, the debut novel by Susanna Kwan, has won the Asian Pacific American Librarians Association’s award for Asian American Adult Fiction. Pantheon published AWAKE IN THE FLOATING CITY on May 13, 2025.

In a review for BookTrib, Linda Hitchcock praises JOAN CRAWFORD: A WOMAN’S FACE as “a comprehensive and engrossing biography of this enduring legend who lit up the silver screen for five decades,” adding: “Eyman has made a lifelong study of movie history and specializes in the legendary era of studio controlled and manipulated Hollywood…Written with care and respect for the woman and the artist and grounded in thorough research, Scott Eyman has restored Joan Crawford to her rightful place in the dazzling sun of Hollywood and produced a must read for any movie lover or film historian.” The book was also featured on Washington Post’s “look back at some worthy books from 2025.” Simon and Schuster published the hardcover on November 18, 2025.

PADMA'S ALL AMERICAN received a glowing review from Joseph Erbentraut for Taste of Home: “With her new cookbook, PADMA'S ALL AMERICAN, Padma has translated her own journey across seven years of filming the show into 300-plus pages of recipes and stories that help inspire home cooks to bring that spirit of curiosity and generosity into our own kitchens. The result is a sprawling, yet approachable collection of recipes that will find even the most hesitant of home cooks reaching for their aprons to recreate these dishes. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself dog-earring a dozen or more recipes on your first page-through...PADMA'S ALL AMERICAN is a cookbook I enthusiastically recommend for most home cooks. It is a cookbook that rewards your curiosity with recipes that strike a balance between ambitious and approachable, unexpected and recognizable.” The book was also named one of Amazon's Best Cookbooks of 2025. Knopf published PADMA’S ALL AMERICAN on November 4, 2025.

PADMA’S ALL AMERICAN received recognition from The Washington Post on their list of favorite cookbooks for this year. They write: “Fans will appreciate the peek behind the scenes, while cooks will be tempted by recipes such as vegetable pakoras, ‘biracial’ latkes, tuna laab, quick hotteok and banana lumpia.” Knopf published PADMA’S ALL AMERICAN on November 4, 2025.

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.

THE STRENGTH OF THE FEW by James Islington debuted on The New York Times Bestsellers list for the week of November 30, 2025, appearing at #1 on the Hardcover Fiction list and #2 on the Combined Print & E-Book Fiction list. Saga Press published the book on November 11, 2025.