Podcast: The Books We're Excited About in Early 2026

A new year means new books are on the way! So many new books. On this week’s episode, host Gilbert Cruz talks with fellow Book Review editors Joumana Khatib and MJ Franklin about the upcoming fiction and nonfiction titles they’re most anticipating between now and April. Here are the books discussed in this week’s episode: “Vigil,” by George Saunders “Where the Serpent Lives,” by Daniyal Mueenuddin “Fear and Fury: The Reagan Eighties, the Bernie Goetz Shootings and the Rebirth of White Rage,” by Heather Ann Thompson “Five Bullets,” by Elliot Williams “Lost Lambs,” by Madeline Cash ”Half His Age,” by Jennette McCurdy “A World Appears: A Journey Into Consciousness,” by Michael Pollan “On Morrison,” by Namwali Serpell “Language as Liberation: Reflections on the American Canon,” by Toni Morrison “Clutch,” by Emily Nemens “Murder Bimbo,” by Rebecca Novack “Kin,” by Tayari Jones “Cave Mountain: A Disappearance and a Reckoning in the Ozarks,” by Benjamin Hale “Lake Effect,” by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney “Now I Surrender,” by Alvaro Enrigue “The Keeper,” by Tana French Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.