Women's Fiction & Biography Book Releases
Fall is all about bold choices, rewarding emotional journeys and strong female leads taking center stage. If you identify with our Leading Lady Reader Type, this hand-picked roundup of new releases offers compelling stories of family ties, career ambitions, resilience, friendship and love, as well as a top-rated biographies and memoirs exploring the lives of powerful women like Whitney Houston and Gloria Steinem.
Dive into the season's best women’s fiction new release books, packed with unforgettable female protagonists navigating life’s biggest twists, turns and challenges. If you enjoy acclaimed female authors like Kristin Hannah, Jodi Picoult, R. F. Kuang, Emily Lordi, Kristan Higgins and Liane Moriarty, this book list offers plenty of exciting new titles to add to your TBR.
New Women's Fiction & Memoirs November 2026
Daddy Issues: A Memoir
by Sofia Franklyn
An unflinching memoir from Sofia Franklyn, cocreator of the hit podcast Call Her Daddy, offering an explosive story of power, friendship, reclamation, and surviving yourself.
Long before the internet was watching, Sofia Franklyn learned to disappear. Dysfunction was normal and escape was instinct. New York City offered reinvention, and there she met Alex Cooper. They moved quickly: roommates, best friends, business partners.
Call Her Daddy became a phenomenon overnight, evolving into a cultural force and transforming its hosts into avatars of a moment and then into targets. But at the height of the show's early success, their relationship imploded.
In hindsight, the warning signs were everywhere. Secrets, omissions, things left unsaid. Millions watched as Sofia went from one half of a beloved duo to the villain in the internet's messiest breakup. She found herself at rock bottom again, not by the familiar hands of men, but by the unexpected betrayal of another woman. What followed was a private collapse that forced a reckoning, leading Sofia to interrogate her ambition and the cost of being understood as a headline.
After years of silence, Sofia tells her side for the first time. Daddy Issues is not a story of revenge. It's a testimony and a raw, darkly funny portrait of girlhood, friendship, sexuality, agency, and healing. At its core, it is a story of reclamation and the long, brutal work of surviving yourself.
Birth of the Witch: A Coven of Three Trilogy Book 1
by Nora Roberts
In this immersive, enchanting first novel in a new epic trilogy, #1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts introduces the magical world of Neve McShane, a young witch tasked with stopping a growing darkness, and the coven she has been connected to across lifetimes.
1695: Her life was taken.
2013: Her fire reawakens.
A New Legend Is Born.
Niamh McShane was born a witch and died a witch in the same moment, at the tender age of thirteen. A victim of the madness that spread from Salem Town to her home on Piety Island, in her last hours she found comfort from the weavers imprisoned alongside her, who saw within her light and power and gave her some of their own.
More than three hundred years later, on the same island, Neve McShane wakes with excitement on her thirteenth birthday and unwraps gifts from her aunts: sneakers, an iPhone, and a stunning antique pendant. Then she receives something else: a revelation that will change her life.
Astonished, Neve learns that her aunts' abilities go beyond simple kitchen magic and the potions they sell in their shop. Their tales of past lives aren't just whimsical fantasies. They are witches, and so is she. Their lives-past and present-are bound together by that pivotal day centuries ago. Now Neve has been tasked with stopping a growing darkness. To prepare for the dangerous enemy that awaits, Neve hones her skills and searches for clues to aid her in her quest. And at night, she dreams of a young man from Ireland whose eyes met with hers for a fateful moment, centuries ago.
Is It Too Late to Make a Run for It?
by Judi Dench - Brendan O'Hea
Judi Dench and Brendan O'Hea chat about her life on the stage, on the screen, and, above all, behind the scenes ...
In Is It Too Late to Make a Run for It? Judi Dench and Brendan O'Hea take us on a heartfelt and hilarious tour of her extraordinary life and career. From growing up in York and being miffed at not getting the part of Mary in the school Nativity play, to playing before sold-out houses on Broadway and in London's West End, she's done it all. She walked the red carpets of Hollywood, turned James Bond's M into the most astute, unflinching Head of MI6 anyone could ever have imagined, and won an Oscar, a Tony, Golden Globes, Oliviers, and BAFTAs along the way.
Yet despite the accolades, she has been accompanied by doubt. From the movie producer who said she had "everything wrong" with her face, to the theatre director who advised her against doing sitcom. Is it any wonder she leaves a bag by the rehearsal room door in case she has to make a run for it?
But stepping out of her comfort zone has been Judi's guiding principle and in Is It Too Late to Make a Run for It?, she reveals all to Brendan - her friend and writing partner. She tells stories of pranks (both onstage and off), dissects her greatest screen roles, shares tales of her joyful marriage to actor Michael Williams, and talks about her passion for nature and animals.
As told to Brendan O'Hea, this is Judi Dench's story - funny, honest, intimate, enlightening, surprising, moving, and deeply inspiring. Over ninety years in the making, Is It Too Late to Make a Run for It? is the story of the world's most beloved actor.
Jane Austen's the Watsons
by Claudia Gray - Jane Austen
From New York Times bestselling author and creator of the beloved Mr. Darcy & Miss Tilney mystery series comes a continuation of Jane Austen's famous unfinished novel
The unsung heroine of Jane Austen's unfinished novel The Watsons is a privileged girl living with her wealthy aunt and uncle absent any meaningful contact with her birth family. Then her life abruptly gets turned upside down: Her uncle dies, and her aunt remarries unwisely, which means she must return to Wiltshire and rejoin the greater Watson clan. There, she becomes an object of desire for the most eligible bachelor in the county, the proud Lord Osborne . . . but her own fascination alights upon Mr. Howard, the local clergyman. In the hundred pages Austen wrote before abandoning the novel, she asks: Can the youngest Watson sister afford to neglect the fortunes of her struggling family to truly follow her heart?
But Austen never completed this book--and therefore, her devoted fans have never discovered the answer, leaving the heroine's fate undefined and open to speculation. Until now, as bestselling author Claudia Gray expands this story into a vivid tale of love, sorrow, social class, honor, and, as in any Austen novel, the ways these all become intertwined for a young woman in Regency-era England. Transforming The Watsons from an unpolished draft into a riveting ensemble novel filled with romance, humor, and social commentary, Gray recaptures the spirit of Austen's most enigmatic story.
Solo and Together: Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, an Enigmatic Life and Marriage
by James R. Hansen
From the New York Times bestselling author, a fascinating exploration of one of the most famous marriages of the 20th century
In Solo and Together, Hansen uncovers the intricate tapestries of two of the 20th century's most iconic personalities, revealing insights that change what we thought we knew about America's pioneering aviator and his accomplished writer-wife.
Through groundbreaking archival research and intimate interviews with family members, Hansen navigates the triumphs and tragedies that defined the Lindberghs' shared journey--from Charles's historic transatlantic flight to their family's darkest chapter: the infamous kidnapping and murder of their first child. The narrative delves into Charles's divisive isolationist stances during the years leading up to World War II and shares revelations of Charles's secret life, including his relationships with three European women and the seven children he fathered. Alongside this, Hansen casts light on Anne Morrow Lindbergh's own private struggles and secret desires, offering a fresh perspective on her literary achievements and personal sacrifices.
Hansen delivers a deeply human portrait of the Lindberghs, one that challenges assumptions while respecting the indelible mark they left on history. A must-read for anyone captivated by the lives of those who dare to soar beyond boundaries, Solo and Together promises to enthrall and educate, providing a definitive account of love, ambition, betrayal, and resilience.
Split Second: Thirty-Two Switcheroo
by Janet Evanovich
Stephanie Plum's life is never boring, not even for a split second, in the adrenaline-fueled new novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Janet Evanovich.
In a now-or-never moment, Stephanie Plum made the decision of a lifetime. But some lifetimes are shorter than others and Stephanie will be lucky if she makes it to the end of the week.
Over the years, Trenton's best-known bounty hunter has acquired a long list of enemies. It's an occupational hazard as a bond enforcement agent. The problem is that she now has a mysterious enemy whose name isn't on any list. Disturbing packages, threatening notes, and near misses are keeping Stephanie in the dark and her anonymous tormentor, who wants her dead, in the shadows.
Bond jumper Greb Tusi also wouldn't mind getting rid of Stephanie. He's wanted for going on a three-hour rampage--one that he swears "wasn't his fault"--that included mugging an old lady and stealing a hearse.
And if adjusting to being newly married isn't enough to take a few years off Stephanie's life, working for her ex-fiancé and mentor, Ranger, might do the trick. Ranger has taken a security job for a powerful political figure, and Stephanie is in charge of babysitting one of the figure's family members.
The clock is ticking for Stephanie to find bail-jumper Greb Tusi and the invisible stalker who is sending her increasingly menacing messages. If she lets her guard down for even a split second, her time will be up.
Vocal Break: On Women, Music, and Power
by Lauren Elkin
From the acclaimed author of Flâneuse and Art Monsters, a fierce, insistent, ecstatic investigation of the female voice, its power and vulnerabilities, and the ways women sing and speak their way through the world.
For millennia, women's raised voices have been called unruly, uncivilized, dangerous. Singing women were cast as sirens: mythical creatures who lured sailors to their death.
A vocal break is where the voice shifts from lower to higher registers--from one thing to another. What can be made in this space of transition? Lauren Elkin draws on her own experiences as a young soprano in the 1990s as well as showcasing a full-throated, full range of other singers, including Édith Piaf, Maria Callas, Cyndi Lauper, Kathleen Hanna, Tori Amos, PJ Harvey, Beyoncé, FKA twigs, and Billie Eilish. Looking closely at the way power and identity shape our voices, she immerses readers in an eclectic soundscape, from musicals and pop music to folk, punk, and opera.
As she seamlessly blends cultural history, criticism, memoir, and feminist manifesto, Elkin lays out how women have used their voices to defy convention, genre, capitalism, racism, sexism, and the forces that attempt to keep them quiet. What makes women's singing so powerful--to the point at which others feel the need to control or manipulate it? Vocal Break is Elkin's insistent, joyous call: Girls to the front, NOW!
The Cursed Diamond
by Anna Rasche
In New York City a century apart, two women's fates are bound by the dark legacy of the Midnight Diamond
2010. Jennie is working as a runner in the Diamond District when a friend's sudden death leaves her with a cryptic note: "Not Safe." Her search for answers leads her to an antique jewelry box, a clue to a century-old mystery and the legend of the Midnight Diamond--a rare blue gem rumored to bring ruin to all who possess it. As Jennie is pulled deeper into a world of secrets and danger, she realizes she is not just chasing a lost treasure; she is uncovering a story that was meant to stay buried.
1910. On an ocean liner bound for New York, heiress Marcella Porter returns home after being disgraced by scandal in London. Her path collides with a charismatic nobleman and the magnificent Midnight Diamond, which she unknowingly smuggles into the city. Mesmerized by its brilliance, Marcella feels an irresistible pull toward the diamond, and when the glittering façade of her charmed life begins to crack, Marcella must decide whether the Midnight Diamond is her salvation--or her doom.
Can Jennie break the centuries-old curse before it brings more ruin? Inspired by history's most captivating gemstone, The Cursed Diamond is a thrilling mystery about fate, obsession, and the deadly costs of ambition.
New Women's Fiction & Memoirs October 2026
Bad Words
by Rioghnach Robinson
"A book that could only ever have been written by Ríoghnach Robinson, whose clear, clever voice and incisive social commentary elevate the book's irresistible will-they-won't-they romance to a once-in-a-lifetime read about truth, art, vulnerability, and all the sticky places they intersect. BAD WORDS LEFT ME BUZZING." - EMILY HENRY, #1 New York Times bestselling author
A sharp and deeply felt debut about the connections that both inspire and undo us.
Parker Navarro's debut novel was meant to define his career - until critic Selina Chan's blistering review made it the flop of the decade. Four years later, his new book is his shot at redemption; for Selina, reviewing him again is a professional risk she can't refuse. When her second takedown ignites a viral feud, both their fortunes shift overnight. But as the literary world feeds on their public sparring, a quieter dialogue begins - one that challenges everything they thought they knew about success, sincerity, and each other.
Both incisive and tender, Bad Words lays bare the costs of creation - the pull between ambition and integrity, the vulnerability of being seen, and the unexpected closeness that can grow in the space between critique and care.
"A genre-redefining romance that sets a thrilling new standard ... Easily one of my favourites of the year, if not the decade." - Carley Fortune, #1 New York Times bestselling author
"Full of blistering barbs, incisive takedowns and searing gazes, Bad Words is smart and propulsive." - Mary H.K. Choi, New York Times bestselling author
Ethel Kennedy: The Extraordinary Life and Bold Legacy
by Kerry Kennedy
"What an incredible life of triumph and tragedy, faith, and love." -- Anderson Cooper, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Vanderbilt
"A daughter's tender homage to a consequential woman." -- Kirkus Reviews
A vivid, intimate biography of American icon Ethel Kennedy by her daughter Kerry Kennedy, told through her firsthand memories and exclusive access to Ethel's personal papers
When her husband Robert F. Kennedy was killed in 1968, Ethel Skakel Kennedy--then pregnant with their eleventh child--drew national attention for her grace, dignity, and resolute commitment to furthering his work in human rights, even in her grief. But as her daughter Kerry witnessed, Ethel was so much more than a dutiful wife and keeper of Robert's legacy of service. She was courageous, curious, compassionate, boisterous, and witty, always guided by faith and an instinct for speaking truth to power.
Kerry delves into her own memories, her family's recollections, and her mother's private papers, describing:
- Ethel's family's journey from a working-class Chicago background to life in tony Greenwich, Connecticut
- Ethel's fairytale romance with Kerry's father RFK--a courtship that inspired a Taylor Swift song half a century later
- How the bold, athletic Ethel quickly became "more Kennedy than the Kennedys"
- The years on the famed family properties in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, and the Hickory Hill estate in Virginia, where Kerry and her ten siblings grew up amidst presidents and politicians, Olympians and Hollywood stars, and a rambunctious menagerie of pet animals
- Moments of pain and loss--RFK's death just five years after that of his brother; and the tragic deaths of two of Kerry's siblings
- Ethel's unflagging commitment to global human rights causes that carried on through the decades
Ethel Kennedy inspires us to reject cynicism and to live bigger and bolder. The book includes 24 pages of color photographs.
Fair Ones: A Double Novel
by Lydia Millet
Lydia Millet's dialogue-driven, fast-moving double novel Fair Ones follows two Brooklyn women in their forties reeling from the sudden and baffling death of their friend Claire. Fair, Mara's account, opens in the wake of initial shock as she and Jen come to grips with the enigma of Claire's killing. Ones, told from Jen's point of view, picks up a year later as she and Mara wrestle with new relationships and old secrets.
In this vibrant, funny-sad fiction of companionship and solitude, Millet dazzles with dry wit and sharp prose. The narrators' inner and outer conversations, and their ongoing entanglement with the memory of Claire, explore the ways we create and define ourselves through others. Fair Ones is a love song to the intricate annoyances of families both chosen and unchosen--and to the banality, bombast, and humble beauties of midlife friendships.
For My Sister Nicole: Love Shouldn't Hurt--What to Know about Domestic Violence
by Denise Brown
From Denise Brown--older sister of Nicole Brown Simpson--comes a vital, trauma-informed book that illuminates intimate partner violence and the systems that enable it.
About one in three women in the US experience domestic violence, and many incidents are never reported. Drawing on decades of work with domestic violence shelters and the aftermath of her sister's death, Denise blends memoir and biography with passages from Nicole's journals, centering the voices and lived experiences of survivors.
Denise teaches practical, evidence-based ways to recognize warning signs--because abusers often hide behind charm, wealth, or charisma--and explains how friends, family, and communities can respond safely and effectively. Compassionate and urgent, For My Sister Nicole is both a necessary survivor narrative and a call to action, helping readers to better understand what happened to Nicole and learn how to recognize and support other people in danger.
Freedom's Daughters: How a Generation of Black Women Resisted Oppression Through Literacy and Education
by Celeste Headlee
A stirring contribution to America's historical narrative."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
From bestselling author Celeste Headlee, an urgent and eye-opening story of the women who risked everything to ensure a generation of Black Americans had the right to read.
In the waning days of the antebellum South, millions of African Americans were suddenly released from enslavement. But they soon realized that "freedom" was not free; they were subject to hundreds of laws aimed at preventing them from voting and, in many cases, learning. Were it not for the work of an exceptional group of women--activists, educators, mothers, organizers--the foundations for Black education might never have been laid.
With Freedom's Daughters, Headlee set out to write into the record book the untold stories of these remarkable women. As a journalist who spent her career in public media, Headlee has long championed unheard voices and sought to tell the stories of those whose contributions have gone unacknowledged. But this project was fueled by an even deeper connection: Carrie Still Shepperson--one of the most important figures in this fight--is Headlee's great grandmother and one of the biggest influences in her life.
Now, after a decade of research spanning personal diaries to public records, Freedom's Daughters paints a vivid portrait of figures intentionally erased from history, recognizing the work of a generation of Black women who believed freedom was inextricably linked with learning and free expression, and who worked tirelessly to secure access to literacy and education for a generation of children born into freedom.
By turns shocking, inspiring, and deeply moving, Freedom's Daughters is Headlee's impeccably researched journey to better understand her family history and herself, and a timely examination of the influence and power of unfettered access to schools, libraries, and higher education.
Partita
by Barbara Kingsolver
From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Demon Copperhead, a story of a brief, passionate, life-changing love affair, wrapped up in what might be the greatest romance of all: our eternal human longing for art and beauty.
Livia Cable has made her peace with her marriage and modest livelihood in the farm country where she grew up, until a shocking phone call from an old lover shakes her to the core. Decades earlier, this man knew her as Livia Bohusz, a music conservatory student estranged from her home and family, uncertain of anything except her passion for music and promise as an extraordinary pianist. His request, now, to see her again stirs up ghosts she's kept at bay for a lifetime.
Shifting between past and present, Livia's decision to meet or reject the reunion means confronting step by step, in memories framed as musical dances, the experiences of childhood loss, abandonment, self-immolating passion, and perilous attachment to a man who broke her belief in love and ruptured the course of her life.
With razor-sharp acuity and deep affection, Pulitzer Prize winner Barbara Kingsolver's unforgettable new novel reflects on class barriers, the risks of ambition, and the timeless, life-changing power of art.
Queen of Lombard Street
by Lisa Kleypas
From New York Times bestselling author Lisa Kleypas--a sweeping, richly layered Victorian novel about a trailblazing female economist who's determined to build Britain's first women's bank, but she must fight both financial corruption and a system intent on destroying the newly found family she's created.
In Victorian England, no woman--not even a brilliant economist like Reina Martin--is allowed to open her own bank account. Men will take care of everything, women are told. But Reina knows better. As the illegitimate daughter of a Spanish immigrant mother, she's haunted by the memory of living with unpaid grocer's bills and no coal for the hearth.
So together with her mentor, the powerful banker William Farlow, Reina will build the first all-women's bank, where women can manage their own financial security.
At home, Reina's domestic staff of recently paroled prisoners are building new lives and becoming a found family. But soon Reina is shocked to discover that her enigmatic butler, John Pembroke, is an undercover police detective. He's been assigned to investigate Farlow, who's suspected of financial crime on a scale so massive, it could destabilize the British economy. Pembroke needs Reina's expertise for a high-stakes nighttime heist to obtain incriminating evidence.
Now Reina faces the agonizing choice of betraying her mentor or turning her back on thousands of working-class families who stand to lose everything. Either way, her dream of the women's bank may be over.
But courage and sacrifice aren't limited to the battlefield--they also occur at the kitchen table, where women who believe in compassion and community are working to remake the future. And when the stakes are highest, Reina knows to trust her heart as well as her intellect.
Based on real-life trailblazers such as Mary Paley Marshall, Britain's first female economist, and financial titan Hetty Green, Queen of Lombard Street brings to light the hidden history of extraordinary women whose achievements should be celebrated. How can we know who we are, if we don't know who we were?
Royal Witch
by Philippa Gregory
Royal Witch: the gripping new novel from the international bestselling author. Ambition. Sorcery. Treason. How far will one woman dare to go?
1420. Eleanor Cobham arrives at the court of Henry V. Pretty but not highborn, she hopes for nothing more than to marry well.
It is a golden age for England, its royal family's dynasty stretching across Europe. But chaos waits in the shadows. Betrayals and shifts of power change the flourishing world Eleanor has stepped into.
Working in the household of a Countess who commands her own army, Eleanor begins to see for the first time what a woman is capable of...what men's promises are truly worth.
As the safe, comfortable future she'd envisioned begins to shift, Eleanor changes with it. Now she must use her wits to survive - and to rise. Her newfound ambition will to carry her further than any woman before has dared. But if she is to rule England itself, she will need to turn to darker arts.
The East Wing: Power, Intrigue, and the Untold Story of America's First Ladies
by Azadeh Moaveni
"Masterful." --Kate Brower Anderson, New York Times bestselling author of The Residence
An in-depth examination of women and power in Washington through the lens of the complex relationship between First Ladies and their staffs by Pulitzer finalist Azadeh Moaveni.
It could be said that every First Lady runs a court--a hub of political power within the White House, a place where enterprising aides vie for influence and patronage, a theatre of intrigue and counsel where great heights are uniquely possible, but so too is ruin. And the First Lady's aides are at the center of it all.
Behind the scenes throughout history, East Wing staffers have boldly advanced civil rights legislation, defused tension with America's enemies, brought more women into government, and backed abortion rights. Their relationships and problems, their management and cultivation of the media landscape and the Georgetown social scene, are at the heart of the forces that have shaped the institution of the East Wing.
In The East Wing, academic and journalist Azadeh Moaveni blends original reporting, including extensive interviews with key players from past East Wings, with expert research and analysis to take readers deep inside the fascinating and high stakes world of the First Lady's office like never before.
Spanning the most defining decades of the twentieth century, from the New Deal era, to the myth-making Kennedys, to the turbulent, MAGA-influenced 2020s, The East Wing is the captivating true story of the First Lady's staffers and their role in the executive branch of governance, as well as the evolution of female leadership in our country.
New Women's Book Releases September 2026
The Bookshop Woman: My Year Transforming Lives--One Book at a Time
by Nanako Hanada - Cat Anderson
This international bestseller is the true story of a devoted book lover who finds connection in the vast sea of Tokyo by recommending to strangers the book that will change their lives.
"I'm the manager of a very unusual bookshop. I have over ten thousand books in my vast memory bank, and I'll recommend the perfect one for you."
Nanako Hanada is a passionate book lover who manages the Village Vanguard, an iconically eccentric bookstore in Tokyo. But her story takes a turn with the breakdown of her marriage. Spending her nights alone in Tokyo's four-hour capsules, she's finding herself rather isolated. That's until Nanako finds the meet-up site Perfect Strangers.
Perfect Strangers isn't a dating site--it's where people meet for thirty-minute bursts to find friendship or romance, build a network, or just share ideas. She sets up her profile promising to recommend people “the book that will change their life.”
In the ensuing year, Nanako meets hundreds of people, a ragtag range of strangers who happen to believe in the power of a great book. Soon she discovers that she can connect with just about anyone, and bustling Tokyo begins to feel like a welcoming--if a bit quirky--small town.
Written with comforting humor and populated by a delightful cast of Tokyo-ites, The Bookshop Woman is a soul-stirring book about a bookseller's self-discovery. Here she shares what every bookseller knows: Books can be joyful paths toward meaningful connections.
The Chinese Lady
by Bo Wang
As rich in detail and emotion as Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club and Lisa See's Lady Tan's Circle of Women, but with an exciting structure that reinvents the genre, Bo Wang's gorgeous and immersive debut historical novel immortalizes the life of the first Chinese woman to be brought to the United States in the 1800s.
Little Sparrow, Julia, Afong Moy, Madame Moy, The Chinese Lady, were her many names ... but her true name has been lost to time.
In 1834 Afong Moy was brought to New York by two merchants as a live exhibit. Rising to fame as the first Chinese female in the United States, she became an oddity among curios as Americans marveled at the opportunity to observe her astonishing little feet, broken and bound to resemble lotuses.
As the story moves from 1820s Canton to P.T. Barnum's American Museum, to Gold Rush San Francisco, three women introduce us to her many names. Her mother calls her Little Sparrow and sells her to a captain who sails her to New York.
The captain's wife names her Julia and "graciously" treats her as her own. And when she is shunted off to P.T Barnum, her fellow human exhibitions call her China. Eventually arriving in San Francisco's Chinatown, she will at long last claim her name and her own story.
Combining archival research and brilliantly imaginative storytelling, Bo Wang masterfully fills in history's gaps to weave a powerful narrative of survival in the face of hardship, tragedy, and betrayal. Told through the eyes of those around her; mirroring her life as an object on display, until we finally see the world through her own eyes.
Holding Lightning: The Life, Loves, and Art of Whitney Houston
by Emily Lordi
"A top-notch biography of a generational talent." - Kirkus Reviews (starred)
A showstopping portrait of Whitney Houston as we've never seen her before--a woman in her full power, a musician who knew the impact of her gift, and a fulcrum of Black celebrity--in this first major biography of the artist who became an icon.
We remember Whitney Houston for her soaring voice on songs that defined a generation and kicked open the door to Black women in pop music. Her trademark stance was a picture of elegance and power: head thrown back, arms flung straight out. Then there was her sound. One producer recalled Whitney's otherworldly ability to hold notes, comparing it to "holding lightning in your hand, holding lightning in your throat." She tried to hold the lightning as she bathed us all in the glow.
But since her death in 2012, the woman known as "The Voice" has been reduced to just that. Whitney's critics have slotted her memory into a tired genre of famous doomed women whose success owed more to their labels and their producers than to any agency of their own. Yet a closer look reveals a serious artist and woman of conviction striving to be who she was. She said it best: "There would be no 'Whitney Houston' without Whitney Houston."
In Holding Lightning, leading cultural critic and professor Emily Lordi has gained unique access to Houston's innermost circle to show us the Whitney we've been unwilling to see--her fluid sexuality, her unapologetic love of her own talent, her insistence that she be the architect of her own career. And, crucially, Lordi positions Houston's pivotal life in the long history of Black celebrity. Before "rooting for everybody Black" became the norm, Whitney worked as a relentless advocate for Black female talent across the entertainment industry.
Now, finally, in Holding Lightning, we have the essential, up-close portrait of the icon we thought we knew.
The Me I Used to Be
by Kristan Higgins
At their 25th high school reunion, four former best friends discover that growing up is way messier than anticipated--and the past isn't nearly as finished as they thought.
Back in senior year, Audrey, Micah, Jasmine and Beck were the Core Four: the lucky one, the beautiful one, the smart one, the sporty one. They had color-coded dreams, inside jokes and a lifelong friendship they thought would last forever. But graduation night ended in a tragic accident, followed by the kind of silence that stretches for decades.
Now, they've returned for their reunion, each carrying a life that looks nothing like the glossy future they imagined. There are stalled careers, complicated marriages, outspoken adult children and secrets that never fit into holiday cards. For one of them, a diagnosis of early-onset dementia turns the weekend into a ticking clock.
Across one unforgettable weekend, the Core Four must decide if their past can still change their future together.
Paper Ghosts
by Sarah Addison Allen
Part ghost story, part love story and steeped in magical realism, Paper Ghosts will transport you to a place where old secrets echo through the years and love finds a way of bringing us home.
Every family has its secrets ...The Wester women live inside theirs.
For decades, the women of Wester House have unsettled and fascinated their small, timeless North Carolina town. Their home is full of whispers, old griefs, and uncanny knowing. But when Willamena Wester reaches out to the granddaughter she once pushed away, long-buried truths begin to stir.
1976: Restless young Willamena falls for a stranded musician who brings freedom and the promise of another life to her carefully controlled world. Their brief, incandescent love story promises to escape the pull of the Wester legacy until Willamena makes a fateful choice that changes her life forever.
Present day: Returning home is the last thing Bailey Wester wants. Yet as she reconnects with Willamena, the grandmother she feared, Bailey begins to understand the love, heartbreak, and impossible choices that shaped the women in her family and realizes the past may not have been trying to haunt them after all. A luminous novel filled with Sarah Addison Allen's stunning prose and signature blend of romance, Southern charm, and wonder, Paper Ghosts reminds us that in order to have the future we really want, sometimes we need to live with the past, and not let go of it.
Receipts from the Bookshop: A Bookseller's Year in an English Seaside Town
by Katie Clapham
"An utterly delightful peek into the real life of an English village bookshop, as told to us by the owner herself. A must-read for everyone who's ever felt most at home in a bookstore." - Julia Quin, New York Times bestselling author of Bridgerton
Based on the popular Substack that Julia Quinn calls "delightful" and India Knight describes as "absolute heaven," a quirky and gossipy insider glimpse at a year in the life of a family-owned bookstore in a seaside English town--as told by the store's owner.
One summer not long ago, bookseller Katie Clapham began chronicling life at the small independent bookstore she runs with her mother in the English seaside town of Lytham St Annes. Her cozy bookshop diaries detail the romance and frustration of running your own bookstore - from the loyal customers to the feisty passers-by, and the deliveries filled with tempting new stock to the never-ending aftermath of cardboard boxes. Katie faithfully records the change of seasons from sad January to exhausting December, punctuated with visits from inquisitive dogs, adorable children, and people just looking for a good place to get an omelet around here.
Tender, funny, and thoughtful, Receipts from the Bookshop is a love letter to everything we hold dear: small towns, family, book chat, hot cups of tea, and just the right snack at 11 AM. …
- A valentine for book lovers everywhere.
- Cozy armchair travel for anyone who loves England.
- Reminds readers why bookstores are our happy place.
- The perfect story of a small family business built on love and commitment.
- A warm, funny look at community in a small seaside town.
Taipei Story
by R. F. Kuang
From R.F. Kuang, the acclaimed #1 New York Times bestselling author of Katabasis and Yellowface, comes a wryly humorous and profoundly moving coming-of-age novel that grapples with grief, language, and culture shock--all set against the backdrop of an unforgettable summer in Taipei.
College freshman Lily Chen is off to spend the summer in Taipei at an intensive language program like so many Chinese American students before her, hoping to connect with the culture she inherited but never fully understood. But a promising start quickly unravels.
Her classes are grueling, her roommate is driving her insane, and a reckless trip to the hot springs with a guy she barely knows soon has her classmates viciously gossiping. She feels adrift, a foreigner in a country she thought would feel like home.
Then shocking news arrives: Lily's grandfather has passed away. The loss forces her to grapple with now-unanswerable questions about her family history. As Lily grieves, she's drawn into a journey of self-discovery--piecing together memories, stories, and silences over a series of hilarious and devastating attempts at connection.
Taipei Story asks: What if the diaspora fantasy of homecoming never comes true? What if learning a language can't bring you any closer to the people you're trying to reach? What if you search for your family's history, but your family doesn't want to share? What if you wait too long to ask the right questions? As Lily struggles for answers, her summer becomes a poignant search for understanding--of herself, her family, and the meaning of home.
An Unexpected Life: A Memoir
by Gloria Steinem
Gloria Steinem offers an inspiring and candid memoir of her early life and the journey that made her one of the world's most influential activists and storytellers.
"In revisiting the equal-rights movements Steinem helped build, she offers wisdom to new generations about what the next chapters of the fight for equality will demand."--Vanity Fair
"An Unexpected Life is a luminous act of remembrance and generosity."--Roxane Gay, New York Times bestselling author of Bad Feminist
Before she became a feminist leader, Gloria Steinem was a curious child: going on road trips with her itinerant father, caring for her mother, and devouring every book she could find. In An Unexpected Life, Steinem reflects on the unlikely experiences and pivotal moments--from a childhood rat bite that opened her eyes to the dangers of poverty to the 1970 Women's March honoring the right to vote--that shaped the visionary woman she would become.
She shares her years living in India, learning from the nonviolent movement there, and her travels around the world advocating for women's rights. Along the way, she honors the people who influenced her most, including trailblazers, writers, and thinkers who expanded her understanding of power, community, justice, and solidarity.
Moving between past and present, Steinem examines the progress and setbacks of six decades of activism. As she reflects on the movements she helped build and the victories won for women's and human rights, she also looks ahead, urging new generations to imagine bolder, more inclusive paths forward.
Intimate, funny, and rich with hard-earned wisdom, An Unexpected Life offers readers the rare opportunity to learn directly from one of feminism's most enduring voices as we continue the work of building a better future for all.
Related Book Recommendations
In case you missed it, make sure to check out our top women's fiction book recommendations for Leading Ladies from Spring and Summer 2026. You may also enjoy our top new releases for Modern Romantics and Bookworms.