Travel through pages this spring. These 2026 new releases explore global settings and rich cultural histories. Memoirs and immersive fiction lead the way. Each book expands your view of the world. No passport required. Not sure if you're a World Traveler, take our Reader Quiz for more personalized book recommendations curated by librarians and our in-house editorial team.
New History & Travel Books May 2026:
American Patriarch: The Life of George Washington
by H. W. Brands
From historian and Pulitzer Prize finalist H. W. Brands comes an inspiring portrait of George Washington that examines his unrivaled leadership in the birth of America.
“With this masterly volume, Brands has further solidified his standing as one of our nation's greatest historians. American Patriarch is by turns brilliant and bold. ” -- Justin Vaughn, founder and director of the Presidential Greatness Project
From his early military career and role among the Virginia gentry, to his leadership during the American Revolution and reluctant return to public service as the first president of the United States, American Patriarch brings to life the man who was called on time and again by his peers to lead.
With a dazzling cast of characters--from the French and Indians on the Ohio frontier; to the Marquis de Lafayette, Benedict Arnold, and Baron von Steuben on the revolutionary battlefield; to Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton locked in conflict during his presidency--American Patriarch casts Washington as the icon of American virtue who wrested America free from British control, gave credibility to the Constitution, and crafted the norms that would steady America as a nation for generations to follow.
Arriving in time for the 250th anniversary of American independence, this is a masterful portrait of Washington as the unrivaled leader of his times.
Big Fan: Two Friends, 82,490 Miles, and the Wild, Wonderful Sports We Love
by Michael Schur - Joe Posnanski - Tom Hanks
New York Times bestselling authors Mike Schur and Joe Posnanski travel the world in a hilarious and heartwarming celebration of fans and the things they love: baseball, basketball, chess, darts, football, futbol, Indigenous North American stickball, pickleball, WWE, Taylor Swift, Star Wars, and more.
Two great friends. Lots of frequent flyer miles. And a bottomless appetite for experiencing sports. That's what BIG FAN is all about.
Bestselling authors and podcast hosts Joe Posnanski and Mike Schur love games--almost any game!--and they bring readers to the front row (and sometimes even right onto the field). Whether ringside at WrestleMania in Las Vegas, singing along with the maniacs at the World Darts Championships in London, or just watching eight straight hours of football at a Buffalo Wild Wings in Dallas, they bring us to the very heart of what it means to love something so much it hurts.
Through crushing defeats and glorious wins, whether cheering penalty kicks with 65,000 fans in Liverpool or beholding a chess master castling in dead silence, BIG FAN is about why we love what we love and how fandom connects us in a time when so much else pulls us apart.
The Land and Its People: Essays
by David Sedaris
In this new collection, David Sedaris reflects on what it means to be a foreigner, a brother, a lifelong friend, in essays that are "among the best of his career" -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"A welcome return to form for the much-awarded and much-loved humorist ... Sedaris remains a national treasure." -- Kirkus (starred review)
In The Land and Its People, Sedaris investigates what it means to be a traveler, a brother, a lifelong friend. Trying on the role of caretaker after his boyfriend Hugh's hip-replacement surgery, he both succeeds and fails. He covers ground with his friend Dawn and challenges her to eat a truck tire. A ambivalent Duolingo bot becomes his unlikely confidante as he attempts to describe his family in a foreign language. Ever adding to his list of "Countries I Have Been To," he rides a horse named Tequila in Guatemala, buys a bespoke priest's cassock in Vatican City, and goes on safari in Kenya without taking a single photo.
Time takes its toll: scrolling through his address book, he counts those he couldn't bear to outlive, and realizes how many are already gone. He is bitten by a dog and insulted by a wee train passenger. A woman on the street late at night either sexually harasses him or doesn't. It's easy to agree with the lady waving a sign that reads, "Enough Is Enough." And yet, life holds much to delight in: the massive testicles of a ram, a trip abroad with his sisters, a really excellent reptile video, a pair of well-made cotton underpants.
Throughout these essays--at once acerbic and tender, playful and profound--Sedaris shows how much there is to marvel at when you keep your head up and your eyes open, observing with warmth and curiosity our fascinating human species and the lands we inhabit.
The Last of the Old Breed: An Oral History of the Final Marines from World War II
by Scott Davis
An oral history of the brutal Pacific Theater in WWII, told by many of the last living U.S. Marine veterans.
During World War II, over 16 million Americans served in the Armed Forces. Today, less than 1 percent are still alive. The Last of the Old Breed is an unprecedented oral history of the final living United States Marines from World War II, featuring over 130 veterans, ranging in age from 90 to 103. Told in harrowing detail, the witnesses reveal the brutal reality of combat against a fanatical enemy and the heavy toll it took on their post-war lives.
From retirement facilities, veteran's hospitals, and modest homes across the country, the last witnesses opened up about the war like never before, determined to leave an honest account for future generations. For many of the veterans, this was the first - and final - time telling their stories.
The Last of the Old Breed is a rare, unvarnished look at the Pacific War, in the words of those who were there. These are the stories that could not be told - until now.
Vengeance: The Last Stands of Custer, Crazy Horse, and Sitting Bull
by Tom Clavin
A dramatic new look at Custer's Last Stand in time for the 150th anniversary of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, by the #1 New York Times bestselling coauthor of The Heart of Everything That Is.
On June 25-27, 1876, the Battle of the Little Bighorn, commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand, was fought between combined forces of the Lakota Sioux, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes and the 7th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army. Along the Little Bighorn River in Montana Territory, the battle resulted in the devastating defeat of U.S. forces and was the most significant action of the Great Sioux War of 1876.
This dramatic look at the Little Bighorn battle includes not only the Native American point of view-with two dynamic Native figures, Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, on prominent display-but also the impact it had on the Plains Indians. It turned out to be their last stand too because a vengeful nation quashed any remaining resistance, with a conclusive massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890, almost simultaneous with the murder of Sitting Bull.
In addition, Custer's character by June 1876 is at the heart of this world-famous disaster. For all his celebrated bravery, especially at Gettysburg 13 years earlier, Custer became a devout media hound, desperate to gain fame. Even, some say, his own demise was a misguided attempt at grabbing national headlines: He envisioned a massacre - just not his own. As both the camera and the tabloid came of age, George Armstrong Custer became America's first bona fide celebrity.
Vengeance is a thrilling read, filled with action, legendary characters, and poignance for the impact this had on Native Americans and the shape of the American West.
April New Book Releases:
Kutchinsky's Egg: A Family's Story of Obsession, Love, and Loss
by Serena Kutchinsky
A riveting, heart-stopping family memoir that blends art, obsession, and love as the author searches for the spectacular jeweled egg that consumed her father's dreams--and spelled her family's downfall.
When she was eleven years old, Serena Kutchinsky's life changed forever. Her father Paul, who owned the high-end jewelry company the House of Kutchinsky, set out to create the world's largest jeweled egg--one to rival Fabergé's masterpieces. He succeeded, but at a ruinous price.
The Argyle Library Egg was astonishing: two feet tall, made of solid gold, and dripping with pink diamonds. But when Paul was unable to secure a buyer, the House of Kutchinsky collapsed, his marriage fell apart, and he sank into a spiral of drink and drugs. Within ten years he was dead. As for the egg, it was seized by business partners and disappeared without a trace.
Over time, the mystery of the egg began to eat away at Serena. Why did her father risk everything for the pursuit of this audacious dream? And where in the world was his extravagant, ill-fated creation, which had been lost for decades and was estimated to now be worth more than £30 million. Desperate for answers, she set out in search of the egg--and an elusive understanding of her late father. The journey begins in the slums of London's East End where her great-great-grandparents arrived as Jewish immigrants from Russia--and ends in the most unexpected of places.
Echoing the intimacy of The Hare with Amber Eyes, Kutchinsky's Egg is a spellbinding historical mystery that explores the glittering yet shadowy world of high-end jewelry, the rise and fall of a family empire, and the complex bond between a father and daughter.
Dogs, Boys, and Other Things I've Cried about: A Memoir
by Isabel Klee
From the social media superstar behind @SimonSits, Isabel Klee--known for her heartwarming tales of dog rescue--comes an utterly winning memoir about a twentysomething woman's search for true love in New York City and the dogs who helped her find it.
A Jersey girl by birth, Isabel Klee had always wanted to live in New York City. At age 20, she got her chance, ditching her college upstate and moving into a grungy basement apartment in Manhattan. Dog-obsessed since childhood, her first post-grad job was becoming an assistant to a dog photographer, and something clicked into place: a career focused on helping dogs was the new dream.
Isabel quickly found a passion for rehabilitating rescue dogs and helping them get adopted. At the same time, she was caught up in a whirlwind of friendships, parties, fickle boyfriends and grand romances, which she recounts in honest, tender, and sometimes devastating chapters about the search for love and belonging.
Isabel's first true love, though, was Simon, a fluffy puppy who'd been saved from the meat trade. As the highs and lows of her twenties hit Isabel in wave after wave, it was Simon who kept her grounded. Together, Isabel and Simon created a community of dog-lovers and a tight-knit group of friends pursuing their dreams.
In this honest and moving memoir, Isabel weaves together the stories of her foster dogs--and the challenges she helped them overcome--with tales of complicated relationships, hard decisions, and great loves in New York City, all leading to a happy ending not only for the rescue pups, but for Isabel herself.
Korean Messiah: Kim Il Sung and the Christian Roots of North Korea's Personality Cult
by Jonathan Cheng
A landmark history of North Korea, told through the rise of the Kim dynasty and its surprising ties to American Christianity--a spectacular, penetrating account of the Hermit Kingdom - A Foreign Policy Most Anticipated Book of 2026
"How do personality cults take hold? What happens when leaders mix politics and faith to demand immense sacrifices? Jonathan Cheng's magnificent tale poses questions about the world far beyond North Korea. This utterly eye-opening history deciphers a defining pattern of global politics in the 21st century." --Evan Osnos, National Book Award-winning author of Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China
For nearly eight decades, North Korea has marched defiantly to its own beat, shaking off its Soviet and Chinese sponsors to emerge as the world's most enigmatic nation--a nuclear-armed state ruled by a dictatorial dynasty. Underpinning the state is a personality cult more soaked in religiosity than those constructed by Stalin or Mao--one that traces its roots back to the Christian fervor of post-Civil War America.
Jonathan Cheng, the Wall Street Journal's China bureau chief and former Korea bureau chief, takes us deep inside Pyongyang, a city once so dominated by Christianity that it was known as the "Jerusalem of the East." Cheng introduces us to Samuel Moffett, a Presbyterian missionary from Madison, Indiana, who would venture into Pyongyang at the end of the nineteenth century and build a remarkable following--one that would include the Kim family that today presides over one of the world's harshest persecutors of the Christian faith.
At the center of this story is North Korea's founder, Kim Il Sung, son of two fervent Christians and progenitor of an ideology known as Kimilsungism, an exercise in idolatry that has elevated him, and his successor son and grandson, to Christlike status, from the humble manger where he was born to the subway seat on which the venerated leader once placed his posterior, cordoned off as if it were a religious relic.
Drawing on letters, diaries, and never-before-unearthed archival material that temper and often contradict the glorious historical record promoted by Kim Il Sung's legions of hagiographers, Korean Messiah tells the true story of a country shrouded in fictions.
Self-Help from the Middle Ages: What the Seven Deadly Sins Can Teach Us about Living
by Peter Jones
In this charming journey into the past, a historian reveals medieval wisdom that can still guide us today
"One of the most compelling medieval history books I have ever read."
-Ian Mortimer, author of The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England
Peter Jones was teaching medieval history at a university in Siberia when his third icy winter there plunged him into a dark place. Luckily, he knew something few of us know-- that for all its reputation for darkness and superstition, the Middle Ages were the golden age of self-help. So he set out on a journey to explore the wisdom of medieval scholars, saints, and mystics, looking for an alternative path through the challenges of modern life.
Never in history, Jones marvels in Self-Help from the Middle Ages, has so much energy and talent gone into studying how the mind works as in the medieval centuries. Although today we think of the Seven Deadly Sins as a catalog of forbidden behavior, in the Middle Ages, at the height of their currency, they were a path to self-knowledge and self-forgiveness. Together, pride, envy, anger, sloth, greed, gluttony and lust were a psychological map that laid out seven basic patterns of thought, showing how our thinking can go astray and how we can find our way home.
In Self-Help from the Middle Ages, Jones explores each sin, searching the hellscapes of Hieronymous Bosch and Giotto, the intimate confessions of Dante and Margery Kempe, and the personal struggles of Francis of Assisi and Catherine of Siena. Along the way he discovers a treasure trove of lost truths about temptation, frustration, addiction, compulsion, burnout, rage, fear, anxiety, and grief that still pulse with life. With beautiful illustrations drawn from medieval art and literature, his book is a gift to all who love history and anyone who has ever sought wisdom from the past.
Ghosts of Sicily: The True Story of the Naval Intelligence Agents Who Courted the Mob to Fight Nazis in America and the Battlefields of Italy
by Mark Harmon - Leon Carroll
"Absorbing history of an unlikely alliance." - Kirkus Reviews
From the New York Times bestselling authors of Ghosts of Honolulu comes their most harrowing true story yet.
It's 1942, and New York City is at war. German U-boats are sinking ships just miles offshore, and Washington, DC, is convinced that waterfront spies are providing intelligence targeting the ships. To thwart the threat, the Office of Naval Intelligence reaches out to those with the most sway along the waterfronts of Brooklyn and Manhattan - the mob. The result will be a triumph for the ONI and one of the most successful and controversial operations in the long history of what we now know as NCIS.
The Navy's alliance with Charles "Lucky" Luciano and his organization will send New Yorker Tony Marsloe and his fellow ONI officers on an international odyssey that includes holding secret meetings with legendary criminals, hunting clandestine spy rings operating on U.S. soil, and conducting daring undercover missions behind the bloody frontlines of the invasion of Italy.
In addition to towering historic figures like Meyer Lansky and General George Patton, readers will encounter a kaleidoscope of agents and gangsters who not only shaped the war in Italy but the future of international crime itself.
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Those Who Are about to Die: A Day in the Life of a Roman Gladiator
by Harry Sidebottom
ONE OF THE ECONOMIST'S BEST BOOKS OF 2025 - See ancient Rome through the eyes of a gladiator--from the evening before the games at the Colosseum to the evening after
"A grippingly original way of making the alien world of the Roman Amphitheatre both accessible and comprehensible." --Tom Holland, co-host of The Rest is History
What did a gladiator feel when he stepped out onto the sand of the Colosseum, his life in the balance? What ran through the minds of the masses there to witness his likely execution? And how did this bloodthirsty ritual come to exist in the first place?
In Those Who Are About to Die, Harry Sidebottom pulls us into the arena, and into the homes and forums of ancient Rome, taking the reader on an eye-opening, twenty-four-hour tour through Roman life at the height of the gladiatorial games, from the first century BC to the second century AD.
We follow the gladiators through the schools (ludi) where they trained, watch in awe as the massive event unfolds--from the gambling at the pre-festival dinner, to the dawn rush to get a seat in the arena, to the resounding music, the elaborate stage sets, and, yes, the public executions that served as lunch-break entertainment--and we unlearn all the bogus movie tropes (gladiators did not have ripped bods; they were kept fleshy so they'd bleed more).
Broken down by time of day--Vesper, Prima Vigilia, Secunda Vigilia, up through the following sunset (Solis Occasus)--Those Who Are About to Die offers illuminating insights into every aspect of Roman life and thought: their social mores and hierarchies, their feelings about death and sex and violence, and the myths and dreams that fueled the spectacle of the Games.
march books:
North of Ordinary: How One Woman Left It All Behind for Wilderness and Wonder in Alaska's Frozen Frontier
by Sue Aikens - Michael Vlessides
When the wild strips everything away, what's left is who you are.
In the raw, untamed wilds of Alaska--where the wind howls, predators hunt, and the sun disappears for months--only a rare few figure out how to survive. Sue Aikens, the breakout star of National Geographic's long-running TV show Life Below Zero, is one of them. At her remote outpost 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle, she weathers more than just brutal winters and hungry bears. Sue battles isolation, injury, and the ghosts of a turbulent past, forging a life in a place most people wouldn't last a day.
Left to fend for herself as a child, Sue's fight to survive began long before she ever set foot in Alaska. In North of Ordinary, she tells the unforgettable story of abandonment, grit, and fierce independence--from navigating deadly storms and surviving a horrific bear attack to learning how to build a life, a home, and a sense of self where most would see only desolation. With her trademark wit, fearless honesty, and an indomitable spirit, Sue proves that the toughest terrain isn't always on the map. It's the one we conquer inside.
Unflinching and inspiring, North of Ordinary is a memoir of resilience, reinvention, and the extraordinary power of choosing your own way through the world.
Returning: A Search for Home Across Three Centuries
by Nicholas Lemann
Nicholas Lemann, a veteran New Yorker correspondent, grew up in New Orleans, the son of German Jews in a world of gilded privilege. Yet in contrast to his parents' generation, which always sought to downplay their religious background, Lemann was intrigued by his roots, thinking he wanted to be like Jack Burden, the ever-curious reporter in Robert Penn Warren's All the King's Men.
And like his fictional hero, who gets drawn into a web of Southern political intrigue, Lemann in Returning delves deeply into the family story--from their arrival in the 1830s as peddlers from Germany, to their becoming plantation owners and department store owners after the Civil War, to their emergence as aspirants in the aristocratic world of New Orleans, where they could never quite belong.
Seemingly more Our Crowd than Yentl in its depiction of a German-Jewish family where young scions matriculated at Harvard and liveried staff served "crustless duck sandwiches" at cocktail parties, Returning, with its parade of colorful family characters--from his grandfather's cousin, who participated in a campaign to prevent a Jewish state in the 1940s, to his father, a wealthy business lawyer in a Deep South seigneurial city, who took his kids to temple only on Thanksgiving, to his New Jersey-raised mother, who "went into a kind of cardiac arrest of the soul" upon meeting the family--defies easy categorization. Indeed, as the Lemanns climbed the ranks of New Orleans's high society, their struggles became part of a larger metaphorical story of the challenges faced by Jews, even wealthy ones, who are never able to fit in.
Keenly aware of these contradictions, Lemann began chafing both at the South's strict racial hierarchy and at his relatives' eagerness to be accepted in a subtle but distinctly antisemitic environment. Returning then follows the narrator as he rejects this cossetted, assimilated society, embraces religion, and chooses, along with his wife, to raise his children in a Jewish world.
Searchingly asking what it is about antisemitism that allows it to flourish after two thousand years, Lemann uses his own family saga as a springboard to address some of the most urgent questions of our time. Through its nuanced combination of biography and philosophy wrapped into a family history, Returning ultimately becomes one of the most memorable statements about Jewish life in the twenty-first century.
America's Founding Son: John Quincy Adams, from President to Political Maverick
by Bob Crawford
An accessible and entertaining biography of our nation's greatest public servant and original political maverick John Quincy Adams, from the bassist of the Grammy-nominated band the Avett Brothers.
During the tumultuous period between the era of the Founding Fathers and the disunion of the Civil War, John Quincy Adams was the man standing in the breach. After an unsuccessful presidential reelection campaign, he was left reckoning with his political legacy. But Adams would be dragged back into the fray in ways he never expected, pitting him against the slavocracy and Southern congressmen and solidifying him as a key ally to the antislavery cause.
America's Founding Son tells the tale of Adams's turbulent government career and his evolving views on slavery. Adams, along with lesser-known abolitionists Benjamin Lundy and Theodore Weld, found himself at the center of the coalition that leveled the first blow against slave power in the United States. The battles they fought would be foundational in the push for emancipation to follow. An entertaining deep dive into an under explored period in American history, America's Founding Son shows how John Quincy Adams and the grassroots activism of the 1830s and '40s shifted American politics forever.
My Jamaican Table: Vibrant Recipes from a Sun-Drenched Island
by Andre Fowles - Bruce Springsteen
In the first major Jamaican cookbook of its kind, Kingston-born chef Andre Fowles presents modern and classic recipes for the best of Jamaican food capturing the tastes and traditions of the island--featuring a foreword from Bruce Springsteen.
Jamaican cuisine is the result of a rich blend of cultural influences: Indigenous, African, Indian, Chinese, and European. Each dish tells a story of resilience and adaptation and reveals the culinary identity of Jamaica itself--dynamic, colorful, and always evolving. In this culinary journey through the heart and soul of Jamaica, celebrated Kingston-born chef Andre Fowles presents 100 iconic and innovative recipes infused with the spirit of a life where meals are shared, stories told, and bonds strengthened.
The recipes in MY JAMAICAN TABLE celebrate the bold flavors of iconic Jamaican dishes like Jerk Chicken, Pepper Shrimp, and Ackee and Saltfish alongside new spins like Oxtail and Gnocchi, a fish-and-chips-inspired Escovitch Fish Sandwich, and Rum Cake Tiramisu. With easy-to-follow instructions, accessible ingredients, full-color images, and stories, MY JAMAICAN TABLE brings a taste of Jamaican to home kitchens.
Who Needs Friends: An Unscientific Examination of Male Friendship Across America
by Andrew McCarthy
A moving and provocative exploration of male friendship and loneliness, from New York Times bestselling author, filmmaker, and actor Andrew McCarthy as he crisscrosses the country to reconnect with his friends.
"You don't really have any friends, do you, Dad?"
A seemingly innocuous, if direct, question from Andrew McCarthy's son left him reeling. McCarthy did have friends, but like so many other men, the necessities of modern adult life had forced his friendships to the background. At one point his friends had been instrumental in broadening his horizons, bolstering his courage, providing safe harbor. Now, McCarthy found himself questioning what had happened to those friendships, whether he needed them, what he valued, and what he had to offer. A simple question had become a moment that demanded a reckoning.
Who Needs Friends charts McCarthy's journey over nearly ten thousand miles behind the wheel, following him on often-unexpected travels through Appalachia, the Mississippi Delta, the Chihuahuan Desert, the Rocky Mountains with one driving purpose: to reconnect. Along the way he talks to countless men about their male friendships, from cowboys and blues musicians to preachers and rootless teens. What began as a simple desire to catch up with a few friends turned into a deep exploration of the challenges and rewards that men experience in forming bonds with each other.
In McCarthy's own words, "It turns out that guys have a difficult time with friendship." But that's not the way it needs to be.
Related: For more recommendations on what to read next, check out our guide for Mavericks if you enjoy current events and social science, or take a peek at our curated picks for Time Travelers if historical fiction inspired by real events is more your speed.