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'."
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."
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."
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."
