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It’s shaping up to be a great year for books. Fantastic, even. There are so many new releases coming out this year from beloved authors (including some we haven’t seen writing from in a while) and buzzy debut novelists.¹ Was there something about 2026 that felt right to everyone? It’s like all the big authors got together and said, “Right. 2026 is THE YEAR.”
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To help us avoid the overwhelm, I pulled 30-ish new release titles I’m most excited for from January through the beginning of August.² I’ll plan share my fall/winter releases list in a future letter. (Which is also looking very exciting, e.g., a new Meg Mason and Emily St. John Mandel.)
Today’s post is paywalled as it takes an ungodly amount of time to cull, compile, link out, write, and produce these lists. I hope you consider upgrading to paid—I’m hosting a 20% off special that ends on Monday:
If you can’t swing a sub right now, please send me a note, and I’ll comp you: alisha@downtimenewsletter.com.
Also beyond the paywall: My five reading intentions for the year…and one thing I’m definitely not doing.
Fiction
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Lost Lambs: A Novel by Madeline Cash (1/13) — I nearly passed on this one until I saw a) the incredible, unhinged cover, and b) the blurb from Leslie Jamison. A debut novel about a family that’s falling apart, featuring three daughters, an open marriage, a conspiracy theory, and a billionaire shipping magnate? Sounds wild, and I’m in. [This one’s out now and has already been getting buzzy reviews across major publications.]
Little One by Olivia Muenter (2/3) — I can’t wait to dive into this new novel from friend-of-the-letter Olivia Muenter of Such A Bad Influence. The book centers on a mysterious wellness cult in Florida and a woman who longs to escape her past. [Exciting note: I’ll be in conversation with Olivia at East City Bookshop in D.C. on 2/4. Tix are sold out, but you can join in virtually for free here!]
Clutch by Emily Nemens (2/3) — The blurb made this seem like a “peak millennial” book, which is like catnip for me: a group of four girlfriends’ lives diverge after college, seeing them through “COVID and childbirth and midcareer challenges.” There’s IVF, caregiving for aging parents, marriage struggles - it’s a lot of different elements and themes, but I’m excited to see how it might all come together for these characters.
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This is Not About Us by Allegra Goodman (2/10) — You might recognize this author’s name from her previous work of historical fiction, Isola, which was a popular Downtime book club pick last year. While Isola is historical fiction, this one’s a contemporary family drama. I love that she’s got range.
Bad Asians: A Novel by Lillian Li (2/17) — First of all, the title! Second of all, Lillian Li wrote and published the much-loved Number One Chinese Restaurant back in 2018, so I was happy to see her name pop up again this year. I like the sound of the book’s meta structure: a Harvard Law School dropout makes a docu about her group of Chinese American friends who are languishing at home on the heels of the Great Recession of 2008 — and the video gets leaked to a little platform that just launched called YouTube.
Brawler by Lauren Groff (2/24) — Groff is an auto-buy author for me (Matrix is one of my all-time faves), and I’m looking forward to this new short story collection, which of course has received glowing reviews already.