Books hitting stores in the next week, author interviews and original essays from bestselling writer
VIEW ONLINE | FORWARD TO A FRIEND
U.S. Book Show 2026
PW Picks Header Graphic
Story Image
Telling a Story

Walter Mosley has been at it since 1990, beginning with his Easy Rawlins detective series, and he’s written many other types of novels, including science fiction, thrillers, and westerns. Next week marks the release of Mosley’s first love story, Ghalen: A Romance in Black, and he spoke with PW about his latest experiment in genre. We also hear from Ukrainian writer Andrey Kurkov about his return to fiction with The Lost Soldiers and Julia Langbein about her novel Dear Monica Lewinsky, in which the former presidential intern appears as a saint to counsel women in the wake of #MeToo. Elsewhere, novelist Jessica Handler shares a reading list of books about second-wave feminism and rock ’n’ roll that inspired her novel The World to See.

—David Varno

May 22, 2026
Story Image Starred Reviews Releasing Next Week
Check out all the books to receive starred PW reviews that are hitting shelves next week.
Story Image Walter Mosley’s Real Love
For his latest novel—and first foray into the romance genre—the acclaimed author examines race, violence, and personal freedom. more
Story Image Andrey Kurkov Dispatches Kyiv
After years spent covering the Russia-Ukraine war as a journalist and commentator, the author offers a new installment in his surrealist historical crime series. more

Find your publishing dream job.
Story Image 7 Books That Inspired Jessica Handler’s Novel of Second-Wave Feminism and Rock and Roll
The author's latest novel, The World to See, chronicles a young woman’s unexpected friendship with her female rock ’n’ roll hero. more
Story Image ‘The Dangerous Traps of Storytelling’: PW Talks with Julia Langbein
In her sophomore novel, Dear Monica Lewinsky, the author and comedian explores martyrdom, #MeToo, and how to reclaim one's personal narrative. more
Story Image Slut Era: PW Talks with Ryan O’Connell
The star and writer of the Netflix series Special talks about his essay collection, Inspiration Porn, and navigating Hollywood as a gay man with cerebral palsy. more

Sponsored
Story Image

Sinner. Saint. One Story Worth Dying For.

After a near-death experience shatters the life she built to please everyone, journalist Sin Sackey moves home to DC for a fresh start. But a new lead pulls her back into the story that nearly killed her—and into the arms of a mysterious lawyer who could be her future, or the trap that ends her. A steamy, suspenseful friends-to-lovers romance.


Editor's Picks
Story Image
A Kiss of Crimson Ash

By Anuja Varghese (Orbit)

Inspired by medieval India, the lush, atmospheric worldbuilding of Anuja Varghese's trilogy-launching romantasy feels vast, complex, and lived in. Add in juicy political intrigue and genuinely hot romance and this hits all the right notes. —Phoebe Cramer, SFF, horror, and romance reviews editor
Story Image
Waiting on a Friend

By Natalie Adler (Hogarth)

Named after a Rolling Stones song that features so perfectly in Julian Schnabel’s film Basquiat, this novel more than succeeds at breathing new life into New York City’s downtown art scene of the early 1980. Despite being about ghosts—the friends of the narrator who died from AIDS—it teems with life. It’s also got its own spectacular soundtrack. —David Varno, literary fiction reviews editor
Story Image
Pink Monsters

Claus Daniel Herrmann, trans. from the German by Thomas Mauer (Oni)

This poignant graphic novel debut features a queer teen struggling under the shadow of his father’s mental illness, when a cultish healer fond of crystals and rooting out anything she deems “unholy” intrudes on the family and outs him. Its soft grey pencils and pink spot colors lend a gentle feel to the simply told narrative that belies the complexity of the emotional landscape it beautifully traverses. —Meg Lemke, comics and graphic novels reviews editor

Sign up to the Children's Bookshelf Newsletter for FREE
Top 10 Bestsellers
1
A Parade of Horribles
Matt Dinniman, Author
2
Theo of Golden
Allen Levi, Author
3
Jujutsu Kaisen, Vol. 30
Gege Akutami, Author
4
Oh, the Places You'll Go!
Dr Seuss, Author
5
Caro Claire Burke, Author
6
Andy Weir, Author
7
Broken Dove
Dani Francis, Author
8
Shelby Van Pelt, Author
9
The Fourth Option
Jack Carr, Author, M P Woodward, Author
10
Carley Fortune, Author
Download a printable PDF of this bestsellers list.

For more PW bestsellers lists, click here.