Showing posts with label may 2026 releases. Show all posts
Showing posts with label may 2026 releases. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 29, 2026

Can't-Wait Wednesday: The Girl with a Thousand Faces by Sunyi Dean & Seek Immediate Shelter by Vincent Yu


Can't-Wait is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings that spotlights exciting upcoming releases that we can't wait to be released! 

The Girl with a Thousand Faces by Sunyi Dean
Publication: May 5th, 2026
Tor Books
Hardcover. 320 pages.
Pre-order: Bookshop.org | Amazon
From Goodreads:
"From the USA Today bestselling author of The Book Eaters comes The Girl with a Thousand Faces, a stunning Gothic tale set in a historical Hong Kong that meshes ancient myths and local legends into a haunting story of ghosts, grief, and women who will not forgive.

When Mercy Chan washes up on the shores of Hong Kong with no family, no money, and no memories, the only refuge she finds is the infamous, ghost-infested slum of Kowloon Walled City. Since then, she has rebuilt her life, working for the local triad as a ghost talker and dealing with the angry and bitter spirits who haunt the district. The filthy gutters and cramped alleyways of Kowloon have become her home.

But the past Mercy can’t remember isn't done with her. An unusually powerful ghost has infested Kowloon’s waterways, drowning innocents and threatening the district. It claims to know Mercy―and secrets from her past that are best left forgotten.

As Mercy is drawn into a deadly cat-and-mouse game with this malignant spirit, she begins to realize that the monster she fights within these walls may well be one of her own making.

'The Girl With a Thousand Faces confirms Sunyi Dean as one of the most interesting voices in genre fiction.'―Gareth Brown, USA Today bestselling author of The Book of Doors"
Seek Immediate Shelter by Vincent Yu
Publication: May 5th, 2026
Scribner
Hardcover. 304 pages.
Pre-order: Bookshop.org | Amazon
From Goodreads:
"A BREATHTAKING DEBUT novel about survival, hope, and second chances in an Asian American community in Massachusetts, when a false missile throws the residents' lives into chaos.

"Propulsive and poetic...A MASTERFUL debut." ―Jenny Tinghui Zhang
“A PROFOUND work about connection.” ―Brian Castleberry
"Compelling and CINEMATIC." ―Abraham Chang

On an otherwise unremarkable morning, the residents of a small town in Massachusetts all receive the same alert: BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.

Confronted with the options of fight or flight, planning or panicking, the people of Beckitt are stripped to their basest instincts and revealed as their truest selves. Russ squeezes his family into the bathtub, leaving his own survival in question; Nina sends an unforgivable text to her daughter; Milly confesses her unrequited love; and David hits the gas, speeding away from his wife and child.

Then the second message comes in: FALSE ALARM. PLEASE DISREGARD. ALL CLEAR. First comes relief, then comes the reckoning, as each person is forced to face the unforeseen aftermath of decisions they thought might be their last.

Vincent Yu’s searing debut follows this eclectic cast of characters over a period of many years, suggesting that the conflicts the missile exacerbated were simmering under the surface long before, and proving the ripple effects of the false alarm will be felt for years to come.

An urgent, fiercely heartfelt exploration of relationships in all forms, Seek Immediate Shelter explores the balance between love and loyalty, betrayal and forgiveness. What choices would you make if you thought your life were on the line? And if you survive, can you ever redeem yourself?"


Tuesday, April 28, 2026

Anticipated May 2026 Releases

   

May is just around the corner, which means a whole new month of new books! As always, I've gathered some of the month's most anticipated releases for you to peruse, so be sure to let me know which May releases you're most looking forward to (even if it's not on this list!)! I've got a few May ARCs I'm working through already and things are looking good, so I can't wait to hopefully dive into some more. Happy reading, everyone!

Under a Carnivore Sky

Treat Them as Buffalo by Blair Palmer Yoxall || May 5th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Accumulation by Aimee Pokwatka || May 5th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Franchise by Thomas Elrod || May 12th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Mortedant's Peril by RJ Barker || May 21st -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Bone Door by Frances White || May 12th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Girl with a Thousand Faces by Sunyi Dean || May 5th -- Amazon Bookshop.org

Make Me Better by Sarah Gailey || May 12th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Last Contract of Isako by Fonda Lee || May 5th -- Amazon Bookshop.org

Homebound by Portia Elan || May 5th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Library After Dark by Ande Pliego || May 5th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

A Parade of Horribles by Matt Dinniman || May 12th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

John of John by Douglas Stuart || May 5th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Coyoteland by Vanessa Hua || May 12th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Cove by Claire Rose || May 5th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Abyss by Nicholas Binge || May 12th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Seek Immediate Shelter by Vincent Yu || May 5th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Canon by Paige Lewis || May 19th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Hunger by Choi Jin-Young || May 12th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Pillagers' Guide to Arctic Pianos by Kendra Langford || May 12th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

I Hear a New World by Alan Moore || May 26th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

One Leg on Earth by 'Pemi Aguda || May 5th -- Amazon Bookshop.org

Under a Carnivore Sky by Brianna Jett || May 12th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Dorians by Nick Cutter || May 19th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Song of the Saltings by Rachael King || May 19th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Babylon, South Dakota by Tom Lin || May 26th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Rainshadow Orphans by Naomi Ishiguro || May 26th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

All Hail Chaos by Sarah Rees Brennan || May 12th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

House of Margins by Tlooto Tsamaase || May 26th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Artifacts by Natalie Lemle || May 19th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Teddy Bears Never Die by Cho Yeeun || May 26th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Dead Weight by Hildur Knutsdottir || May 26th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Summer Boy by Philippe Besson || May 26th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

That Which Feeds Us by Keala Kendall || May 5th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Good Eye by Jess Gibson || May 12th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Mercy Hill by Hannah Thurman || May 5th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

A Kiss of Crimson Ash by Anuja Varghese || May 26th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

What are your anticipated May releases?

Wednesday, April 22, 2026

Can't-Wait Wednesday: Abyss by Nicholas Binge, The Pillagers' Guide to Arctic Pianos, Make Me Better by Sarah Gailey


Can't-Wait is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings that spotlights exciting upcoming releases that we can't wait to be released! 

Abyss by Nicholas Binge
Publication: May 12th, 2026
Tor Nightfire
Hardcover. 160 pages.
Pre-order: Bookshop.org | Amazon
From Goodreads:
"Severance meets Lovecraft in this surreal tale of corporate horror and existential dread.

Joe always had potential, but he doesn't expect much, and he hopes that his new job as an admin assistant won't expect much of him. But when he enters the offices of Ponos―a company he's never heard of and knows nothing about―he discovers that potential is exactly what they want from him.

A feverish dive into the inhumanity of both late-stage capitalism and the crippling anxieties of modern life, Abyss adds a new level of meaning to 'wage slave'.
"
The Pillagers' Guide to Arctic Pianos by Kendra Langford Shaw
Publication: May 12th, 2026
Pantheon
Hardcover. 304 pages.
Pre-order: Bookshop.org | Amazon
From Goodreads:
"For readers of Karen Russell, Maggie Shipstead, and Eowyn Ivey, an exuberant, highly imaginative epic about a family that settles, against all odds, in the far reaches of the Arctic and the unexpected industry that keeps them afloat for generations.

In the far reaches of the Territory of the Arctic, the Spahr family lives on a fjord accessible only by kayak and float plane, in a landscape rapidly changing as glaciers melt and sea levels rise. Their home is Jubilation House, aptly they are a family of free spirit and full-hearted love, descendants of the homesteaders who came to this place in a reckless scheme to civilize the Glacial Front. They live off the grid in a converted fisherman's shack, selling pickled octopus and sea crops, barely scraping by. With every day, their livelihood seems ever more precarious.

Then one of their few neighbors dredges up a centuries-old piano, a vestige from the original homesteading expedition, when every family was required to haul a six-hundred-pound instrument as a sign of mannerly society—almost none made it to their final destination. Now, this intricately carved beauty has emerged, perfectly preserved from the frigid Arctic waters, and the antique treasure becomes a priceless collectors’ item. A new economic boom seizes the territory—piano hunting—and the Spahrs throw themselves into the quest with full-throated aplomb. But the costs of their possible salvation soon begin to mount.

The Pillagers' Guide to Arctic Pianos travels through generations, backward to the Spahrs’ homesteader origins and forward to their descendants, eccentrics and optimists all. In a voice as buoyant and vibrant as the characters themselves, Kendra Langford Shaw gives us an unforgettable and inventive ode to the abiding love of family and pull of home, even as the home we love becomes ever more challenging to inhabit."
Make Me Better by Sarah Gailey
Publication: May 12th, 2026
Tor Books
Hardcover. 432 pages.
Pre-order: Bookshop.org | Amazon
From Goodreads:
"You were pure once. You can be made pure again.

Celia is so tired of being alone. All she wants is to have a family―to belong to someone. That's why she's going to Kindred Cove for the annual Salt Festival held by the secluded community that lives there. They promise that healing is possible. They promise that transformation is inevitable. There is no grief at Kindred Cove, because there is no suffering. Nothing is ever lost.

Celia knows that, at that mysterious island surrounded by that impossible, ever-growing reef -- she will find herself. She’s ready to be healed.

She’s ready to be transformed.

She's ready to believe."

Wednesday, April 15, 2026

Can't-Wait Wednesday: The Dorians by Nick Cutter, Under a Carnivore Sky by Brianna Jett, & The Library After Dark by Ande Pliego


Can't-Wait is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings that spotlights exciting upcoming releases that we can't wait to be released! 

The Dorians by Nick Cutter
Publication: May 19th, 2026
Gallery Books
Hardcover. 400 pages.
Pre-order: Bookshop.org | Amazon
From Goodreads:
"On a remote island in the Canadian wilderness, five elderly volunteers from different walks of life are given a tantalizing offer: to stall their biological clocks or even reverse them, restoring their lost youth. The chance to put death on pause—forever, perhaps. The remarkable secret lies in the high-tech harnessing of an ancient and extraordinary biological agent…one with no conscience, yet possessed with a single-minded purpose that has helped it persist for eons: the will to survive. The dark heart of unbridled human ambition finds its apex in an unholy experiment that now tests the limits of both creator and subject, eclipsing all bounds of morality and sanity…."

This sounds like it could get pretty weird, and knowing Nick Cutter... it will be. 

Under a Carnivore Sky by Brianna Jett
Publication: May 12th, 2026
Page Street YA
Hardcover. 304 pages.
Pre-order: Bookshop.org | Amazon
From Goodreads:
"I’m the only one left hunting the monster, the only one left with a chance of saving us all.

Raised in a town surrounded by a labyrinthian, man-eating swamp, Lili craves nothing more than to track down the monster lurking in its depths and kill it.

The monster’s curse claims the flesh and bone of every adult in town, stealing them away, piece by piece. For generations, people have tried to kill it or escape the town altogether, but every path out of town leads them right back in.

Caleb, a bookish boy with dreams of freedom, is hungry to escape. He thinks that with Lili’s help and knowledge of the swamp, he can make a map to freedom. And Lili hopes that with a better sense of its territory, she might finally find and kill the monster.

Together, they chart the swamp’s shifting terrain. Sharing in the danger and the beauty of the landscape sparks a friendship between them―and then something more. However, what they discover disrupts everything Lili thought she knew about the town, her father, the monster―even herself. The truth at the root of the curse could devour them all. And Lili must decide if risking her life to be the town’s savior is worth sacrificing her own chance of escape."

I know I don't really read YA anymore, but I'm a little bit of a sucker for a premise like this, so.. I'd definitely check it out!

The Library After Dark by Ande Pliego
Publication: May 5th, 2026
Bantam
Hardcover. 368 pages.
Pre-order: Bookshop.org | Amazon
From Goodreads:
"'Irresistible—bright and sharp and rife with danger, like a shard of mirror.'—A. J. Finn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window

Not all fairytales were meant for children.

Aria Stokes is finally feeling settled—she lives in a tiny New York apartment, works as a bookseller at a local shop, and has even taken a leap of faith in love by indulging her attraction to bookstore regular Jasper. And he seems to already know her so well.

As a Valentine’s Day surprise, Jasper gets the two of them tickets to an exclusive, after-dark tour of the Daedalus Library—the grandiose establishment famed for its immersive genre-based reading rooms and, more notoriously, its rumored hauntings. While Aria normally loves all things ghastly, this place holds more dark secrets than she’d prefer Jasper to know. Like that the last time she was here, she left a body behind.

But when the automatic-door entry malfunctions and Aria, Jasper, and the five other people in their tour group become trapped in the library, they are forced to venture through the storied rooms and hidden passageways of the Daedalus in search of escape . . . and Aria quite literally has nowhere to hide from the shadows of her past. Then the group learns there’s a murderer in their midst.

Now, as she tries to break out of the library’s intricate reading rooms, Aria has to decide who she can trust—and what secrets are best kept buried—if she wants to make it out alive."

I just got an ARC of this, so I'm excited to check it out--this sounds like a fun little mystery in the perfect setting! I'm always up for a locked room premise. 

Wednesday, April 1, 2026

Can't-Wait Wednesday: The Franchise by Thomas Elrod, Treat Them as Buffalo by Blair Palmer Yoxall, & One Leg On Earth by 'Pemi Aguda

    

 Can't-Wait is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings that spotlights exciting upcoming releases that we can't wait to be released


The Franchise by Thomas Elrod
Publication: May 12th, 2026
Tor Books
Hardcover. 368 pages.
Pre-order: Bookshop.org | Amazon

From Goodreads:
"Game of Thrones meets The Truman Show in this epic tale of a Hollywood-owned fantasy world where nothing is quite as it seems to the people who live and die at the studio’s whim.

A land filled with magic and dragons and wizards and warriors.

Thousands of people live and work within its borders, fearful of their enemies and loyal to their king.

The classic fantasy world of The Malicarn has been brought to life on the big screen in a series of phenomenally successful blockbuster movies, almost entirely populated by characters in total belief that their sham fantasy lives are real.

A fan-favorite actor finds himself doubting the studio's work, but this franchise has an almost unstoppable momentum, and bringing freedom to a population that already believes itself to be free won’t be as easy as he thinks.

All the world’s a stage.
Meet the players."



Treat Them as Buffalo by Blair Palmer Yoxall
Publication: May 5th, 2026
Algonquin Books
Paperback. 288 pages.
Pre-order: Bookshop.org | Amazon

From Goodreads:
"An electric debut that delivers a classic Western from an Indigenous perspective—as teenage boys being to disappear from one great plains Métis community, a young man attempts to uncover the evil force lurking out of sight

In 1880, Nikosis “Niko” Erikson spends his days playing buffalo hunter, even though it’s been many years since a member of his tribe has actually seen one of the once-ubiquitous animals. But when his beloved Cousin goes missing, things start to fall apart. With law enforcement failing—indeed refusing—to investigate the disappearance, the community members take matters into their own hands, rallying around the leadership of a sawn-off shotgun-slinging rancher named Kate McCannon.

The resultant women-led coalition of freedom fighters strikes back against the Mounted Police as they investigate the boys’ disappearance and take their futures into their own hands. But violence continues to haunt Niko, and boys continue to disappear. As he leaves his boyhood behind and draws closer to finding Cousin, Niko’s investigation points to a harrowing revelation about his own heritage, which heels closer to violence that any boy would wish to know.

Written with the pace and punch of
The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu and the inventiveness of The Only Good Indians, Treat Them as Buffalo delivers a gripping portrait of a young man coming of age before his time. Debut author Blair Palmer Yoxall bursts on the scene with the verve, cleverness, and heart of a much more seasoned writer."


One Leg On Earth by 'Pemi Aguda
Publication: May 5th, 2026
W.W. Norton & Company
Hardcover. 240 pages.
Pre-order: Bookshop.org | Amazon

From Goodreads:
"From the author of the National Book Award finalist Ghostroots, a debut novel that thrills with its eerie mix of folklore and history.

The lonely daughter of a distant mother, Yosoye arrives in Lagos ready to change her life. Weeks after she begins an internship at a fancy architectural firm, she discovers she is pregnant. Yosoye is joyful—a new life brings the hope of connection and companionship.

But an inexplicable force is haunting the pregnant women of Lagos. As construction speeds ahead on the firm’s glossy new development on land reclaimed from the ocean, stories of the uncanny deaths in the city’s open waters reach a fever pitch. Yosoye finds herself stalked by a presence she can neither ignore nor appease—without risking her unborn baby and her precarious hopes for the future.

In One Leg on Earth, ‘Pemi Aguda turns the question of who belongs in a city into an arresting exploration of what it means to be a mother in an unforgiving world, and a haunting vision of the dark side of progress.
"