Unabridged: Most Anticipated Books of 2026 with Sara Hildreth and Cree Myles
It's time for a Stacks Unabridged favorite: Our Most Anticipated Books of 2026...at least the first half anyway. I'm once again joined by two of my favorite book people, Cree Myles (All Ways Black) and Sara Hildreth (Fiction Matters), to gush about the books we can't wait to dive into in the first half of the year, sharing our top picks month by month. Plus, we do a little post-mortem on 2025 and set some semi-realistic reading goals for 2026. Get your TBR lists ready—you’ll have a lot of new additions.
TRANSCRIPT
Traci Thomas 0:00
Hey everybody, it's me. Traci Thomas, host of the stacks, and this is another episode of the stacks unabridged, our exclusive Patreon and sub stack monthly bonus episode today is one of everyone's favorite annual traditions. I am joined by Cree miles and Sarah Hildreth, two of my absolute favorite readers to share our most anticipated books of 2026, from the start of the year through June. Okay, that's enough. Now it is time for the most anticipated books of 2026 with Sarah Hildreth and Cree miles. You
all right, everybody, I have completely lost control of my own podcast because all of you listening at home, Patreon and sub stack subscribers, you won't get off my back about when is this episode coming? I want to remind you, I make the show okay. This my podcast, and the episode is on time where it's always supposed to be the second to last Friday of January. We are doing our most anticipated books of 2026 part one, featuring good friends of the pod, Cree miles and Sarah Hildreth. Ladies, welcome back. So excited. I'm so excited. My people are just, they're so they're so bossy to me. I'm like, listen, I invented bossy. You don't tell me what episodes you want. I tell you what episodes I want to give you, and I want to give you this episode. It's the best thing we do every year, and it's one of the first things we do. And then it's just really, truly downhill, until June, when you guys come back and
Sara Hildreth 1:50
we reset. Lies, yeah, that's not true.
Traci Thomas 1:53
People who don't know, I'm gonna give you the quick rundown. Cree is the curator of penguin. Random House is always black. She's an online book person. She got her own shit. Now she does rap music. I don't know if you've ever heard of rap music. Rapper. You've always been a rapper, but now you're doing the rap music analysis aggressively on the social so maybe you know Cree from the rap maybe you know Cree from the books, maybe you know Cree from both maybe you know creep from her, her organizer days, pre all of this, back when she was black. Emily Dickinson,
Cree Myles 2:27
that, yes, I love that was a very comprehensive introduction. You guys. I'm the personality hire on this episode, for sure. But really looking forward to Sarah Traci.
Traci Thomas 2:40
I thought I was the personality higher.
Cree Myles 2:44
No, I realized, as I was putting this list together, I was like, I don't Am I pressed about these 2026, releases. I'm trying to read some backlist so I have a few for each month, but mostly I'm gonna get inspiration from you guys.
Traci Thomas 2:56
Okay, great. And then my other guest is Sarah Hildreth. She is the reader behind fiction matters, which is her Instagram and her sub stack. She is by far the smartest person in this group, for sure, hands down. It's like not even close. She's a former English teacher, current English teacher, to the internet and, well, I'm gonna let you guys talk about what you're both working on now. But, and, well, you, I guess. Do you consider the new podcast endeavor, Sarah, to be part of fiction matters? Or do you consider that its own separate thing?
Sara Hildreth 3:29
I consider it to be part of fiction matters. Okay, in large part, it's called books that matter. Yes, it's called books that matter. And I'm, I'm not doing it on any sort of regular schedule, okay, which is why I'm not considering its own podcast endeavor. Like, it's not weekly, it's barely even bi weekly. It's like when I feel like talking to an author that I
Traci Thomas 3:51
like, which is not often, you know, I usually, you know, unfortunately, got pigeon sold myself into talking authors, but I don't always like that. Yep, dude. Okay, before we get to 2026 let's quickly, quickly, try to quickly. What did we make of 2025 as a year in books, any things that we thought were great, any things that we thought were we hope, do not carry over into 2026 what's the takeaway?
Sara Hildreth 4:22
I mean, I think folks have already said this. You talked about this on your best books of the year, Episode, Traci, but 2025 felt like an anomaly, where the pendulum swing and swing, swing. I don't
Traci Thomas 4:36
know English sounds like inappropriate.
Cree Myles 4:39
All language is made up. There we go.
Sara Hildreth 4:43
The pendulum has shifted to the other side, where in 2024 we had so much consensus around what the best books were, and then in 2025 it felt like we had no consensus. I think both years are anomalies, and so I'm wondering if we'll reach some sort of equal. Brahm in 2026 but I think that was, like the big talking point of 2025 that there wasn't a book that was, like, critically beloved, up for prize list and read by you know, your aunt, who you saw at Thanksgiving, like that. There just wasn't a lot of crossover there. I think there were still some really good books. But I think that just made for a little bit of an unsettling year in reading.
Traci Thomas 5:29
I agree with that. I feel like, because I was always like, searching for the book in 2025 I think I read a lot of things and wasn't, like, totally 100% wowed by them. I was like, Oh, that wasn't good. But if they had shown up in a different year when I was sort of like, more, like, I was like, okay, James is the Book of the Year. I can just read these other things and enjoy myself, I think I might have liked things more and like, maybe, in retrospect, I'm like, that book actually was pretty good, though I still stand with I think that 2025 was sort of a dead of a year.
Cree Myles 5:59
But, I mean, I like we were talking about Rob Franklin before you went live. I loved that debut. I loved black minor figures
Sara Hildreth 6:08
by Brandon. Yes, me too. It was one of my
Cree Myles 6:11
favorites of the year. Yeah. And then, I mean, really, my favorite book of the year was that I read, was Lyndon Hills by Gloria Naylor. So I don't know, I saw a book talk where it was like, stop with the trends, just find an obscure ass book that you can fall in love with and tell everybody about. So that's what I am. You guys put down. James, okay, go find something that we've never heard of.
Traci Thomas 6:36
Wow, a challenge. I do want to say I went back and listened to the beginning of last year's episode, and Sarah, I and Sarah, I do sort of blame you, and a little bit I blame myself for 2025 because what you said you wanted,
Sara Hildreth 6:52
oh, in 2025 I cursed us. I remember did
Traci Thomas 6:55
you said you didn't want consensus. You wanted more parody. You wanted to discover my Book of the Year. Love that? Well, I love it in theory, until it meant last year was the most chaotic year, where every book that was on every list, I was like, I've never heard of this book. That was what was crazy to me at the end of last year, when all the lists came out, and I was like, I read 70 books that came out in 2025 and, like, it was, like, 100 best books the year, and I, and I would, like, I read seven of those. Like, I'm just, how are, how what happened? Like, it was, like, sort of a mind fuck of the year. Yeah, there were so many books. And I was like, not, I've never heard of this. Like, how is this the best book of the year? But it's only showing up on this, like, one list, and then, like, it was just so anyway, so sorry your fault.
Sara Hildreth 7:45
Well, yeah, that's what I mean by it was unsettling. Like I ended up, when I'm looking at the books that I read, I feel like I read some really good books, but I agree that, especially as all of the lists were coming out, I was like, do I have taste anywhere or like, do I have awareness of even what is publishing? Because I felt so surprised by a lot of the lists. But I do. I do think I still would prefer that to oh yes, my number one book is everybody else's number one book, right? So, but I'm hoping that's what I'm hoping for, a little bit more equilibrium this year where I don't feel blindsided by the list, yeah, but that there's still room for, I don't know more personal discovery in the book.
Traci Thomas 8:43
Yeah, I like a year where there's some darlings and then there's also some randos. Basically said that's what I want. Yeah, do you did you guys watch the Golden Globes? Do you guys care about movies? So I live in LA. It's like, something you have to do. But I haven't seen a lot of the movies this year. And what I loved about the Golden Globes this year is it was, like every category, there was like, someone nominated from sinners and someone nominated for one battle after another, but in almost like all the categories, those people never won. And that's sort of what I want, is like, I want the National Book Award list to have like, five books by just like amazing old standard. Like, everybody agrees like this, tayari Jones has got to be on the list. But that, like, the person who wins is like, you know, the Rose Byrne of whatever. No shade to Rose Byrne. But it's like nobody thought Rose Byrne was gonna, like, win an award. And I should say nobody. I just mean me, because I didn't even know she was in a movie this year. And again, I've not seen very many movies this year. So this is really a me thing, but you know what I'm saying. Do you think you will change your approach to reading in 2026 based off of your experience in 2025 Sarah Cree, I know your approach is backlist.
Sara Hildreth 9:55
Yeah. Yes, I think so. I mean, also just. My year is already feeling chaotic, like we're moving we've got other stuff going on. So I think I am approaching my reading year differently, in part as a response to 2025 and as part as like pre emptive to the chaos of 2026 I think I'm going to plan my reading a little better. I just I'm I've never really been a planner when it comes to what I read. It's been pretty chaotic, and that's worked for me. But I think I am going to, like, three or five books at a time, just put down what I'm going to read and just read them and like, not. Question, is there something I really want to read more than this? No, just read what I have down, yeah, DNF it if it's not working, and just work my way through a list.
Traci Thomas 10:48
And you use like a post it note to do that. Or is there like, some sort of like,
Cree Myles 10:54
yeah, I smell like a copyright I
Sara Hildreth 10:56
do like a post it note as as I have written down somewhere.
Traci Thomas 11:03
Circle back to that in the show. But
Sara Hildreth 11:07
I've actually been using my notes app more this this year, so I might, maybe that's like a response to the move, just like my stuff is everywhere, but my phone, yes, forever, you know? Yeah, yeah. I think I'm gonna be more planned, and both in terms of backlist and front friend list, like new books, I really, I There are a lot of new books I'm interested in. So that's, I think, where I'm gonna have to be very good about planning. Because I do feel like I get to the end of the end of the year sometimes, and think I didn't read the books I really wanted to read. Like, what happened?
Traci Thomas 11:44
Yeah, sure. Yeah, yeah, totally. Okay. Reading goals. Cree, do you have any reading goals for yourself in 2026
Cree Myles 11:53
I'm tracking hours instead of books this year because I'm really trying to be intentional about my time. I feel, and I'm just like, I don't know. I'm just evaluating my relationship with, like, the concept of efficiency and productivity. And I really just want to get back to like, why I wanted to be in this space in the first place. So, just a lot of hours, you know?
Traci Thomas 12:19
And what does that look like? What does a lot of hours look like to you?
Cree Myles 12:24
Um, well, I'm, I'm also, it's so funny, Sarah, that you said your notes apping. I'm, like, very intentionally having an analog year, because it keeps me and my brain just works better with a spread of 80 markers and a bullet journal. And so I it's just the graph. So I'm just trying to get to the top of the graph. I don't even know what the number up there is. I forgot, but that's what like for every month. So, like, this month so far, I think I've read like, 20 hours or something. So it's like, like, that's what I'm tracking. And to read just deeper, because I mean the things that I really the books that I really love, I think require that type of space so and like last year, when I'm like, pushing to get through something, or I'm trying to keep up or whatever, I miss things that I think I could really fall in love with. So I don't know, just trying to reevaluate my relationship with technology, more analog time tracking.
Traci Thomas 13:27
Love, love, love. Sarah,
Sara Hildreth 13:29
I love the time tracking. I might steal that. I I haven't set any goals yet. Like I said, I'm moving at the end of January, and I feel like my new year is going to start then, and then I might for some goals. But I am doing this. Could be
Traci Thomas 13:44
on the Chinese or the lunar new year China, yes.
Cree Myles 13:47
And honestly, because Black History Month, the year really starts in February, that's correct.
Traci Thomas 13:51
So you've got till February 1, okay, yeah, I do think Lunar New Year this year is like January 30 or something. So your federal lineup,
Sara Hildreth 14:00
All right, great. I am doing this year long Reading project because it's the 250th anniversary of the founding of these United States.
Traci Thomas 14:12
I love that. Cree, I love your face. Cree, you literally looked like you had no idea where she was going with that, like you hadn't heard
Cree Myles 14:20
I was, like, she was talking about Jade Austin. She's late. No, that was last year. Jane has been old, okay, 251 Yeah. Okay, sorry, yeah.
Sara Hildreth 14:33
So I'm doing this, like, I'm calling it this American Lit. I'm reading a bunch of American literature on my sub stack. Well, I'm reading it that. I'm writing about it on my sub stack, encouraging others to read things with me. And I I'm really excited. I've taught American Lit, but it's really not my my thing. I'm much more of like a Brit Lit kind of girl, a traitor I know.
Traci Thomas 14:59
And. So I made a tough year for you big L. You guys took a big L.
Sara Hildreth 15:06
So I think doing this kind of intentional examination will be interesting, and it's like, I want it both to be like, I want to find great books or reread things that I, you know, didn't engage with very much previously, but more I'm like, I'm looking at these books and these writings as like, how did we get here? What were the stories we started telling about ourselves hundreds of years ago that are still informing the way we think about the world as Americans today? And that's going to mean I think reading things that I don't like and that are problematic, but to see like these shaped us. They're still, it's still in the water, and so I'm, I'm excited about that. That's, you know, there's, it's, I guess it's not a goal, because I don't have like, I want to read this number of American texts or anything, but I have been doing all year. Yes, Cree is, is Peyton Place on this list? Not yet. Should it be okay?
Cree Myles 16:10
I just back in the day I read it was because my I wrote a short story about my grandparents meeting, and so I read the top novels from that year, just to see, like, what was shaping the year that they met, 1954 or something, and Peyton Place was, like the best seller. So that was, like the most popular book of the year. And then the last hurrah, also, like the librarian had to go up in, like the secret place to bring that one down. It was super fragile. But, um, I love me some Peyton Place. Okay, I feel like all the, all the housewives read that in the 50s. Awesome to see how it shaped everything.
Sara Hildreth 16:45
Yeah, I am really excited to read, like, the popular books, like, what were people actually reading? As well, as, you know, some of the canonical stuff, like, what are the things that we've continued to uphold as important? And then, of course, try to, like, find things and bring things in that should be more front and center. So it's going to be a lot of reading. I'm also going to read that book, America, America. Oh yeah, the great grant, yeah. I want to read it like throughout the year, kind of as I am moving chronologically through the literature I'm reading. Like, keep up with the time period in that book. So interesting. Yeah, period. It's gonna be fun or, well, not. I don't know it's gonna be good for me. I can't
Traci Thomas 17:36
wait to follow along. I also can't wait to be like, can you read this for your project, please? Yeah, well, from the audience, and the answer is, you need to read it. Because I asked, yeah, I want to solicit,
Sara Hildreth 17:48
solicit books that I should read. And I also want to, like, invite people to share what they think are some, like, quintessentially American texts, like other readers, and then build a list at that, you know, at the end of like, all of the books that were shared so or Sure, yeah. So I will also be asking you all for your input.
Cree Myles 18:11
I'm submitting my request for Lyndon Hills right now.
Traci Thomas 18:16
I already submitted my request. Gone With the Wind, yes,
Sara Hildreth 18:19
and I read it last year you did? Yeah, thank God.
Traci Thomas 18:23
Should read that this year and tell Cree and everyone listening, is it amazing? Yes or no, yes, it is amazing. Unfortunately, for racism, that book is a bug and banger
Sara Hildreth 18:33
well, and I'm feeling it's actually a great example of, like, what I'm looking for in this project, like, it's a great read. It is so good, and the problems in it are still problems we have to hate, like, so reading it and looking for those is actually really valuable.
Traci Thomas 18:49
And it was popular and critically acclaimed, and we it's like it literally is, I mean, not to start this debate in January, but it is the great American novel, unfortunately, for everyone, people loved it. It holds up. It tells a very specific story about America that is worthy of discussion because it is still so deeply relevant, and it was critically acclaimed, like it did. It hit all the things.
Sara Hildreth 19:14
Yeah, it's definitely involved in this like project of like American myth making that a lot of American literature does. Effectively. It does
Traci Thomas 19:24
it so well that people don't even know, don't even recognize, like that. So many things that we're dealing with today came from Margaret Mitchell, like that. There were things that, like did not exist until Margaret Mitchell wrote about it in her book. And now it's like, Oh, everybody believed that in the 1800s It's like no, that came in the 1920s when Margaret Mitchell wrote the book, or 1929 is that when it was written?
Cree Myles 19:46
I think so. Yeah, the movies maybe 1930 something. I think is 31
Traci Thomas 19:51
the movie's 39 I think because the movie is the same year as Wizard of Oz, speaking of American myth making, okay, I now it's my turn. Tell you about my goals. And last year I had, like, really wanted to read living legends and classic books. And I did it okay. I didn't really hit my goal, but, like, I did read some living legends. I did read some classics. And this year I feel deeply compelled to just be a 2026, bitch. I am gonna go. I'm trying to do as much of the books from this year that are exciting to me as early as possible. I'm trying to be ahead of everything. I want to really read this year as an online book person. I will be reading back, listening, save our brand. Yeah, I just, I just want to know, I feel like last year I let the conversation get way away from me, in a way, like, I just like, I was always playing catch up last year. And then I also feel like I'm compelled to do that this year, because there's so many big names writing books that I'm actually, genuinely excited to read a lot of these in a way that last year I just like, I mean, like, Susan Choi had a book last year, and I like trust exercise where, like, flashlight wasn't gonna happen for me no matter what. This year, there's also so many nonfiction books that I am, like, incredibly excited about. So I am, like, I've already read into 1220, 26 books so far. And like, I'm just, I'm just like, gonna be doing this. I will be reading backlist for the book club. I will be reading backlist for the Mega challenge. But my goal is to read at least 50% of what I read this year, to be 2026 books before they're published. Wow. So we'll see. I don't know if I'll hit them before they're published part, but I mean, I'm hoping that by the end of the year, it's like 80% 2026 books. I just want to, like go off and see what happens. Because I've never really committed. I've always sort of, I mean, I love backlist, so I've always sort of played around with backlist. I think for when I do my nonfiction reading guide, I'll have to read a little more backlist, like in that time period. But for the most part, I'm just going to try to be like a little slut to 2026, I love it, so I'll keep you guys posted. And I gotta say, it's a good year for this for me, like I was looking at my spreadsheet. There is so much nonfiction this year, like I am hyped about Yes, yes.
Cree Myles 22:18
Cree as the personality hire. I was wondering how this is the third year, and I don't get you all's lists. Can I have, can I have? Can I see the list?
Traci Thomas 22:31
Well, I mean, I put everything we talked about in the show notes, but I you, can you want access to my spreadsheet? You mean,
Speaker 1 22:36
yes, and Sarah's Okay, okay, I'll share it with you. I'm not sharing it
Traci Thomas 22:39
with everybody listening because, no, i This is for me. Oh, yeah, of course. But people listening, I do have a list on my bookshop that's called Team pre order, and it's every book that has not come out yet that is on my personal spreadsheet so you can see them, but the spreadsheet changes, and there's sometimes notes in there to my assistant, so I'm not going to share that with everybody. They're not the notes aren't mean to her. The notes are mean to the books. Don't worry, honest. Oh, okay, Sarah, you talked about your class. Cree, before we get started, will you talk about your Patreon project that you're doing?
Cree Myles 23:15
Oh, it's so fun. Shout out to the society I launched. I relaunched my Patreon at the end of last year. It's called the trap Poets Society, a little nod to the Dead Poets Society and my general love of hip hop. Specifically, I was born in 89 so my heyday was the early 2000s and Atlanta raised me, so it's a year long curriculum. It's built off we've it's on board pillars, building out your personal political framework, building out a digital community, community rooted in mutual aid, becoming well read and sharpening our critical analysis of music and literature. People come into the Patreon. They are instantly sorted into a house. There are challenges weekly for points, people have to log their hours like a reading log. You get a prize at the end of the quarter, whichever house has the most hours read the most participation. So we're having fun so far.
Traci Thomas 24:16
How do you decide the houses? The houses
Cree Myles 24:19
are built off of hip hop and literary lineage. So there's a house for storytellers, and their emblem is Slick Rick. He was the OG storyteller, and then the architects are Rakim. He was the original, like obsessive hip hop with syntax creators. This Missy Elliot could have been Busta Rhymes, but we needed a woman, and the visionaries were Flavor Flav. It's Public Enemy. So those are, that's the but then, like I put Percival in storyteller, I put like Lucille Clifton and. The architects, like, so there's a there's a whole lineage of that. You're not strong.
Traci Thomas 25:05
You're not sorting people based on their own. Like, if I join, do I go into, which one I want to go into? Or do you tell me?
Cree Myles 25:13
You tell me you have to take an inquiry placement, and that tells you which house you go into? Okay, Yes, precisely.
Traci Thomas 25:20
So the houses aren't evenly divided. Like, there could be 25 people in one house and, like, 300 people
Cree Myles 25:25
in another. The architects are fighting for their lives. If any of you are listening, I see you. I'm trying to make it more equitable. But like, just like in True Colors, there's not a lot of blues, there's just not a lot of architects, you know, got it. So, yeah, it's been
Traci Thomas 25:38
fun. Can you diagnose Sarah and I, which would we
Cree Myles 25:41
be in? Oh, my God, no, but I'll send you guys the I'll send you the
Traci Thomas 25:44
placement. No, I would like you to diagnose me publicly.
Cree Myles 25:47
Now, diagnose you. Okay, let's see, I was a creator. So based on that information, I'm gonna say you're an architect, Sarah. Oh, just because your attention, your ability to like, pull out themes really quickly, your attention to the structure of something is very Yeah, it's very strong.
Traci Thomas 26:12
And what are the options? Creator, architect, storyteller, teller, visionary. Oh, well, I know what I am, but go ahead, you're a storyteller, yeah? For sure. Yeah, you're definitely a storyteller. I'm certainly not an architect or a visionary. I could be a creator, yeah, but I think I'm a storyteller, yeah?
Cree Myles 26:32
Personal, yes, you and personal. We've got a story to tell, a
Traci Thomas 26:37
Slick Rick. Is that who you said?
Cree Myles 26:39
Slick Rick? Yeah, he's OG because, like, you know, the narrative form of his original rap is so, just like, he doesn't really care about sentences that much, but he's telling us this story about what happens if you choose a life of crime.
Traci Thomas 26:51
Yes, and it's gonna be great, a
Cree Myles 26:55
little story, yeah. So it's been really fun. I love that is so
Sara Hildreth 26:59
cool. Okay,
Traci Thomas 27:01
enough. Preamble now to the main event. Anyways, we're gonna go through the year January to June. Talk about, but, oh, wait, sorry, before we do that, are there any 2026, books you've already read that you're like, these are very good, not just I've read them, but like things you're like, Yeah, I fucks with these
Cree Myles 27:25
great I only read Jeanette McCurdy so far. I think she did set a new president for celebrities. I know I said that in our chat, but like, listen, celebs, you can't just keep writing half baked shit, and people are gonna pick it up because you're famous. Jeanette, actually, she took us on a ride. So shout out to her. It's fun. It's slim. I'm giving it to people. I think some people in my life should definitely go to sex and love anonymous. I found out that was a thing via the book.
Sara Hildreth 27:54
So, yeah, yeah. Do you think I would like this one?
Traci Thomas 27:58
I think so. Do it on audio. You'll like it on audio? Okay, yes, yes, your audio. I don't think you'll like it on the page, because it's written in the it's like, very voicey. It's written by like, a 17 year old girl who's like a quote, unquote, like, good writer. So, like, some of the pros, are pretty cringey, because it's like a teenager writing. And I think if I was reading it with my eyes, I would have been like, I not with these sentences, but Jeanette McCurdy narrates it. Okay, and so it's kind of fun. And she really, like, brings her acting to it, like her voice for her mom. So good. So she like, really makes it work. Okay. I will be recommending this to many people in my life who are like, don't want super dark, but don't want just like fluff,
Sara Hildreth 28:44
okay, right? I'm Yes, as somebody who taught teenage girls who definitely had crushes on their male teachers. You know, my sometimes I just can't go there because I'm like, I saw this. I saw this. I saw the men loving it, even though they were never going to cross a line like it, you know, like the ego and Yeah, and so sometimes I can't go there, but I am curious.
Traci Thomas 29:13
Good news is it's literally like a four hour audio book. In my review, I think the last sentence was, as soon as I was ready for this book to be over, it did end like, I was like, Okay, I did it. Sarah, any 2020 Sixers? You like,
Sara Hildreth 29:26
yeah, I've read a few that I really liked, the old fire by Alyssa Sure. Dou sapam. She's She's French. I don't know somebody. Her name is on the audiobook was pronounced beautifully and I butchered it. But this was also a very short audio book, and it's about two sisters, one of whom is mute, and we don't really know if she's like, selectively, like choosing to be or if there's something medically like, they just never really figured that out, even though she stopped talking when she was really young, and she's just. As this author, I've read almost all of her books. They're all short. She manages to fit so much into so few pages. They're all like, tense and atmospheric and a little bit weird. And I think this is maybe one of her best, because she constrains the characters even more, like they're really only the two sisters that you're really following. It was really, really good. I really liked lost lambs. It's everywhere. Very funny, dysfunctional family story. And then medium rare by Natasha jakovski, it comes out in March, which is appropriate, because it's about March Madness. It is about a like, mid level, boring conservative lobbyist who lives in Arlington, who might have filled out a perfect March Madness bracket, and he starts to get a little taste of celebrity because of of that. And it's very, I mean, it's very erudite, like this writer, she is very smart, and she makes you work a little bit, but it's also hilarious. And the way she wrote about basketball, I was so invested, like, I loved reading about these games, like I was on the edge of my seat about the bracket and who was going to win. And I think that takes a lot of skill. She also weaves politics in, and I think a very kind of juicy, but, like, but observant way. So it was great.
Cree Myles 31:42
Okay, I just that cover is, it's
Traci Thomas 31:45
very Sarah coded and Cree coded,
Sara Hildreth 31:47
yeah, I didn't say this part. It's also like a retelling of the Icarus myth, but it's really just like, you know, guy who flies too close to the sun. So it's not like a direct, very Sarah coded, yeah, I kind of buried that part. Cree, I want to, I want to know what you think of it, though. I just
Cree Myles 32:04
say, instantly, I'm instantly reading this, and it's from a small
Sara Hildreth 32:07
press, which I also love.
Traci Thomas 32:09
Wait, why is it showing up on penguin?
Cree Myles 32:11
Random House? It's on, yeah, it's
Sara Hildreth 32:12
distributed by them, but it's Melville House. Oh, cool, yeah.
Traci Thomas 32:18
All right. My I only have two books so far that I'm like so far bangers. One is a slightly less banger, but I loved it. Strangers by Belle burden. This is this divorce memoir that is white, rich people problems, okay, in covid, her husband, they're they've left New York City to go, it's a memoir, real life. They've left New York City to go to their home on Martha's Vineyard, and she gets a phone call from an unknown number, and it's a man, and he's like, my husband, your husband's having an affair with my wife. And then she, like, goes to the husband, and he's like, it's true, it's over. And then Belle calls back the mistress's husband, and he's like, I can't talk right now. She's tried to kill herself. She doesn't succeed. It's a cry for help, whatever. But then Belle's husband's like, actually, the next day, I'm leaving you, I'm going to the apartment. I'm going to stay there. You can stay here with the kids. I don't want this life anymore. Whatever you find out all about Belle burdens family. She's like, related to the Vanderbilts, like her mother was, like, a style icon, and it's like, so she hits on, like, the heart of this, like, fall this relationship falling apart. But because they're so like, unlike a world that I've ever seen. It was sort of an enjoyable, sad story, as opposed to like, if she had been like, I couldn't pay the bills. I like, I don't I can't be here, like, I feel you. So it's sort of like white mess, but with heart. And so I really liked it. I this was another book. I just listened to the audio because I had it at the end of last year. And I was like, let me just see like, I keep seeing it everywhere. And I was like, inventing chores to do because I was so invested in, like, this story. If it sounds a little bit familiar, there was a modern love piece that she wrote about this which it was like, I didn't recognize my husband or something. So that's that. But then the one so far, that's like, already my book of the year so far, though I think it will be beat, is fear and Fury by Heather Ann Thompson, the Bernard gets story the subway shooting in 1984 this is already a thing I've been obsessed with for a few years, but Heather, Ann Thompson is, you know, the patron saint of the stacks, and it's really good. My only issue is it's five. It's six parts, parts one through five move through like a traditional play arc. You have, like your intro, you know, rising action, falling action, denouement, but then Part Six is like how it connects to now. And she didn't need it. What she needed to do was a tight Epilog. She did. Not need to do a whole 60 pages on like Trump and them. It just was like, Oh, I see this. To me, feels like her editor was like, You should connect it to now. And she was like, Oh, I could do that. But I don't think she needed it. It's like, I loved it. I think it's great. It's not probably going to be like the best thing I read this year, but it is certainly fantastic. And if you don't know this story, hold on to your rage, ladies and gents, because you're gonna want to murder so many people. Everyone gets a murder from me in this book, except for the four boys who were attemptedly Murdered. But not so. Yeah. And there's another book about the same topic that comes out on January 20. Heather's book comes out on January 27 called five bullets. It's written by the CNN guy who's also like a former attorney or prosecutor or something. And I started it, and I hate it. It is very Bernie gets friendly. It is very weird. And after having read Heather's book, there's things that happen in the book that are like, contextual, like quotes given to the press that she gives context to and that he presents as fact without any of the like mitigating factors. So now I'm like, Oh, this guy's my new enemy, because he's, like, being too birdie friendly. So I'm gonna finish his book, but I am 30% in, and I'm now rage reading it, because I'm like, I really hate him now,
Sara Hildreth 36:30
for sure. So it's great to start the new year with a new enemy. Yeah, oh yeah, good for you.
Traci Thomas 36:35
Like, no matter what happens, I've done it. You know, last year, I think I got into February when I read abundance, and I was like, great, I have a book I hate this year. I can carry on freely. Perfect, perfect. Okay, who's got January books?
Cree Myles 36:49
I'm gonna go first, because I only have one book, great until the last gun is silent. I did a lot of nonfiction because the world is ending. And I think people need to get, oh, this
Traci Thomas 37:05
is a guy who wrote about the World War Two soldiers.
Cree Myles 37:10
Yeah, so the untold story of the black patriots, from soldiers in combat to peace protesters who ended the Vietnam War. Also, I'm reading something else, actually right now about that comes out this month, about a black queer man who went to Harvard who was trapped during World War Two. Come back to me. That's my book.
Traci Thomas 37:32
This is the untold story of the black patriots, from soldiers in combat to peace protesters who ended the Vietnam War and defended the soul of American democracy from a preeminent civil rights historian and the award winning author of half American this sounds good. This wasn't on my list. Yeah. Okay, Sarah, what do you have in January?
Sara Hildreth 37:48
All right, I'll, I'll share two. My first one is also nonfiction. It is, I know, I know, but I don't know if, I don't know if it will pique your interest. It is called Tom Paine's war, the words that rallied a nation and the founder for our time.
Traci Thomas 38:07
You know that didn't pique my I don't know why you said that. I don't know, Traci, this
Sara Hildreth 38:11
isn't going to be a book about rhetoric. Okay, so Tom, Tom Paine, Thomas Paine, I don't know why Jack Kelly feels like you should call him Tom. That feels a little weird to me, honestly. I mean, they're not friends, but Thomas Paine is my favorite founding father. He wrote those booklets common sense, and he really had the rhetorical moves that convinced us colonists or wasn't the US. Then he was actually the first person to use the phrase the United States of America, but he was the person who, like, rallied the colonists around this idea of independence by giving them a framework and a language to think about what that would look like and what that would mean. And without that, like, I don't think, I think things would have gone totally differently. So this is a book that's kind of its biography, which I'm less interested in, although he, he does have an interesting life that, but it's also the rhetorical analysis of his pamphlets, which I'm really interested in, and I'm interested to in the, like, second part of this, the founder for our time. It might get a little too like, if we all just kind of, you know, like, cool, they're mad, yeah, but I'm very curious about it. And would I have brought it if I'm not doing this American literature project? Probably not, but I am, and so it's definitely on my list. I like that. My other January book is a book called poor by an author named Caleb Femi. He is a black British writer. I loved his book that came out last year called the wickedest, which was about a house party and. Basically he uses poetry Notes app screenshots, like quote, unquote, found documents texts to create this, like, immersive experience where you feel like you are at this house party in the book. And I believe poor actually came out in the UK before the wickedest, but the wickedest did like well enough that they bought the rights to poor. So it's also mostly poetry, but, but I think what he does is, like, bring in his own photographs, his, you know, his own, like, text exchanges, things like that, to really create a sense of of place. So this one is about he combines poetry, original photography to explore the trials, tribulations, dreams and joys of young black boys in 21st Century Peckham, which I suppose is the neighborhood he grew up in in London. So yeah, I'm I'm curious. And these are the books that you can read in like one hour, which, yeah, I
Cree Myles 41:06
love. I'm super into that. Yeah.
Traci Thomas 41:09
So, like I said, I've read a lot of January books already, and I'm not gonna talk about the ones that I didn't love, but there's one more on my TBR that I'm really excited about, which is P fucking R, but it's f k n, p space, f k n, r. It's by Vanessa Diaz and Petra Rivera Rideau, and it is about bad bunny Benito and the politics of Puerto Rico. And it's coming out right before the Super Bowl where bad bunny is set to perform. It's from an Academic Press. It's their academics. It's Duke University Press, but it's all about bad bunny and the politics of Puerto Rico. And I'm really excited about that. I'm curious about it. And also I hope they just talk a little like, I hope there's some pictures, you know, I don't know why I would want that, but like, I hope they're there, yeah, and then I'm gonna come off January, because I got a lot more and for other months, so I'm not gonna waste my time great other things that I'm so excited about, February, I'm gonna start. I'm gonna start with February. So February, we start to dive into what I am calling just like Traci season. Okay, February through April is just giving How could I decide we have a book coming out on we have three books coming out on February 3 that are all catnip. One is called injustice town. It's by Rick tolske. It's about a wrongfully convicted person and the town. And also to be noted, both Rick tulsky's wife and daughter are part of the stacks pack. And this year for the holidays, the wife, Kim, who we love, got her parents into the stacks pack. So we have three generations of tulskies in the sax pack. Though, I actually don't know if her parents are tolskes, because, anyways, more importantly, but I'm really excited about this book. I didn't know of Rick tolske, but I found out about him because of his family. Turns out this guy's won a Pulitzer Prize. He shares it with Buzz busyer, who is the writer of Friday Night Lights. They're best friends. So anyways, I'm really excited to read this book because it has a stacks packed connection. But also it is narrative nonfiction about a wrongfully convicted person and like a fucked up town. The next one that comes out on the third is called Bonfire of the Murdochs, which is all about Rupert Murdoch's family succession, which is the basis of the TV show succession. Except for, apparently, it's even fucking crazier and it's real life. And I have been sort of in this New York City 1980s kick since last year. I've read a bunch of books, including the Bernie Goetz book so and Rupert Murdoch, and the New York Post in the 80s is like such an important piece of Heather and Thompson's book, and also just the general 1980s in New York. So I'm excited about that. And then my third one for that particular day is called End of Days by Chris Jennings, and that is about Ruby Ridge, which many of you know. I love, Waco. And Ruby Ridge was sort of the inciting incident that, that, and then Waco, and then that's what led to Timothy McVeigh. Those two events are what so sort of like in my white male rage era is, I guess what I'm saying. So those are my first three February books, and then the and then on the backside, I have black ladies. I've got mixed marriage project by Dorothy Roberts. It's her memoir about growing up in the 1960s with like, a black and white parent, which was, like, basically unheard of at the time. I've got on on Morrison by nawali serpel, which is her basically taking her Harvard class and breaking down essay by essay each Morrison book. I started that this weekend. I had to pause because I was at the park with my kids, and I needed a pencil. All, I needed a focus. I needed silence. It's good kin, yes, it's good and then kin by Tari Jones, which I also started, I'm two chapters in, and I'm loving it. And that comes out now on February 24 so I've got white boys in the front, black women
Cree Myles 45:17
bringing it home. I don't like the black women in the back. I'm not gonna lie.
Traci Thomas 45:21
They're not in the back. They're bringing it home. The white men are the lead off hitters, and then the black women are hitting the grand slams.
Cree Myles 45:26
They're bringing it home. It was a relay. The black woman would be the anchor. Yes, that's right, the most important, Okay, gotcha.
Traci Thomas 45:32
Yes, it's it's the white men. They gotta go first, because they cannot. You either. Gotta go best, and the black women are going to go best. The men are going to go first. Okay, it's a mixed marriage project.
Cree Myles 45:47
Sarah, you go, you go, okay.
Sara Hildreth 45:48
I mean, I think other than you mentioned, two of mine too, on Morris and kin, of course, I have one called the renovation by Keenan or Han, which is about a woman who starts a bathroom renovation.
Traci Thomas 46:06
Oh, and then it's like a prison. It's a prison.
Sara Hildreth 46:10
Is this a novel? It's a novel. I'm there. Let me pull it up. I mean, that's all I want to know going in. That's all I need to know going in. It sounds fantastic. I mean, it obviously could be terrible. It sounds awful to me. I hope you guys like, I feel like I'm already sensing the metaphors here, and I'm, I'm into it written by a dude, so that'll be interesting. Yeah, it's only 250 pages. I like that. It comes out February 10, and it's from FSG, so I think they do weird books well, so yeah, I'm, is it Jackson, do you know? I don't know. I don't know. I've got to ask them. Yeah, I think I'll, I'll browse my list. But that's the only one I put in our outline for February, other than the two you mentioned. Oh, that brawler by Lauren Groff comes out in February 24 it's her new short story collection. I really like her novels, but Florida, her collection of short stories is one of my favorites of her books. So I am hopeful, although I think this is mostly previously published short stories and that I don't know. I mean, often I think authors rework them a little bit, move them into an interesting but still, I'm less excited because of that, but I will obviously still read it.
Cree Myles 47:33
My offering to the plate is non violent by Reverend James Lawson, Jr. This is about, yeah, the Civil Rights is like, that's kind of the only nonfiction I really do. So I genuinely might actually read this. And then I also have the real ones by Maya Rupert, because the premise was interesting to me. I think it's about microaggressions. Hold on how to disrupt the hidden ways racism makes us less authentic. And I do think there might be, like, some examples around how you have to show up online, which, of course, would pertain to my life immensely. I also had kin on my list. So, yeah,
Traci Thomas 48:24
kins good. So far, like, I'm like, sitting here talking to you guys, being like, I can't wait to be done with my work today so I can read some before I pick up my kids.
Cree Myles 48:30
Yeah, I have to read it, so I wait. That's good to know.
Traci Thomas 48:35
Okay, March, Cree.
Cree Myles 48:38
March, let the poets
Traci Thomas 48:39
govern. Same on my list. Of course,
Cree Myles 48:42
come on, strange girls. It's a debut. I'm into it. I was really into the cover. I think it's this is the one about friendship. Let me see, a decade has panned since Ava spoke to Alaya. During the years of silence, Ava's life has remained at a standstill while I got the one thing they both wanted more than anything, a book deal forced back together at a mutual friend's bachelorette in London, Ava returns to allies doorstep, desperate to unpack the truth of their shared history and what they meant to each other.
Sara Hildreth 49:13
Sarah, all right, my my main one is now I surrender by Alvaro Enrique, really. Traci. Really the most important thing for me is that he is the ex husband of Valerie lucelli, oh yes, who wrote Lost Children archive? And if you remember Lost Children archive, if you read it, I don't, okay. Well, it's about a married couple who's moving from or driving from New York to Arizona, because the husband has become obsessed with the Apaches and wants to do a project on them. And his wife is like, I don't want to live in Arizona. Well, this is the book about the Apaches. So the her ex husband,
Traci Thomas 49:58
we call these interconnected logs. Stories.
Sara Hildreth 50:02
So this, I believe, is the book he was working on, like, while they were getting divorced, okay, and it came out in Spanish, I think closer to the time that lost children archive came out. Now it's gotten a an English translation, but it is about, it's, it's historical fiction, and it is being described as a book that radically recasts the story of how the West was, quote, won. So about, like, you know, the wars and revolution at the Mexico and US border, which also sounds like akin to my project, but mostly this just sounds like a good story. I'm interested in the back story. I'm hopeful there's, like, a little bit of, like, a meta fictional element travel, yeah, I'm just, I'm I'm interested. And then my other one is underwater by Tara Manang. I went to college with a woman named Tara Manon, and I'm like, Is this her? I don't think it is also Riverhead, yes, also Riverhead a great cover, and it is about, it's like, it's a book about a really tight knit female friendship, especially like after one girl loses her her mother, this one, I've just, like seen buzz about and from people that I I, you know, trust or, you know, I'm curious about, so that one's out. March 17. Now I surrender is out. March 3. Yeah.
Traci Thomas 51:38
Okay, so I have let the poets govern on my list too. We love kimono. I have a book called El Paso BY JASMINE Ulloa. I don't know how you say her last name. It's U, L, L, O, A, and it's about the city of El Paso, and like, what it means and what it says about, like immigration. But I think my understanding is that it's, it's the kind of book that I like where it's like, she embeds with four people, and then they tell the larger story of the place. Another book that I'm really excited about is days of love and rage by anon Goble, which is about six Syrians. And it's telling, again, the bigger story of, like, the Syrian revolution that started in the smaller city. And it's about these people and, like, how it spins out, but it's being kind of compared to, like, Catherine. Like, Catherine boo. So it's going to be like an investigative journalism he wrote a piece about this, I want to say in the New Yorker, that was really good. And so I'm curious to see this, like, much bigger. It's a big book. It's a big boy. And then my last one is an extremely me pick, which is metropolitans by am Gettle Gibble, it's about the New York Mets and how that team is like the city, and what it says about New York. And I love baseball, and I love New York, and I love because I talk about New York, and this is gonna be a theme of my year. Since I read Gods of New York last year, I'm just, I'm all about, I'm just doing deep New York. Oh, and one more dream facades by Jack balderama Morley. And this is about architecture in reality TV, and what it signals and signifies, and what it says and like, how the conservative esthetic is like so popular in the ways that, like, in these places that reality TV are set, whether it's like the bachelor mansion or like real housewives and the Kardashians and like, I'm just really curious. I don't know a lot about architecture, but it just sounds so fascinating, because when we watch these shows, you are looking at these places over and over, and it is signaling something to us. So I'm really curious. I might not be smart enough for this.
Sara Hildreth 53:43
That sounds really interesting. Visual, yeah, that is interesting. April, April, I'll go first.
Traci Thomas 53:52
Okay, London, falling. Patrick rod and Keith, oh, my God, I had to say it. I did it. Okay. I feel better. I've been holding that in all day. Rod and Keith has a new book. I originally was like, I'm gonna read it the moment I get it, but now I'm holding back, because I'm like, I need something to look forward to, so I'm gonna try to get to February before I read it. He wrote a piece about it, but it's basically about this kid who died. And then he, like, was just like a regular kid, and then it turns out he was like, hanging out with, like, Russian oligarchs. So I'm really I don't know, I don't know that I even care about this story, but I want to see what he does, because I'm sure that I will by the time I get to it. And then the edge of space time, by Chanda prescod Weinstein. I am not a science person, but I think Chanda is brilliant, so I'm excited to see what she's written here. And then there's this book that I I'm gonna read because I'm reading 2026, books this year. But this is exactly the kind of book that I would not read in a normal year. But I am so curious, which is, have you guys heard of yester year?
Sara Hildreth 54:55
That's on my list. That's what I was going to talk about. I know. Think it sounds. Wild. It could be
Traci Thomas 55:01
terribly a modern day Trad wife gets sent back in time to real Trad wife days. I think it's gonna be so popular. I think it's gonna be a book that like everybody. I think it's gonna be like a kind of book that'll be like a good reads awards book totally. But and normally I would just skip, like, atmosphere. I just skipped last year, but I feel like it's in that same world. And since I'm reading 2026, books, I feel like I'm gonna carve out some time for this Trad wife non
Sara Hildreth 55:29
for yesteryear. Yeah, I received this book with, like, an epic PR package. So, oh, you did, yeah. So they're clearly, like, pushing this book. And also, she is a sub stack person. She hosts that podcast, diabolical lies, and which is, I, honestly, I've never listened to it, but I follow along. And she and her co host are, they're really cool. They like, they talk about, like, they give a third of their sub stack income every year to like organizations that their community recommends. And they like, they just seem kind of cool. So I'm, I'm very curious about about that one, and I, you know, I've watched some ballerina farm content, and I would enjoy picturing Hannah sent back in in time. You know, what would that be like?
Traci Thomas 56:31
Yeah, so this is, I'm curious about this one. And then the other one I have is this novel called Honey, by Imani Thompson, and it's about, I think it's like a revenge novel about a woman who starts killing men who, like, piss her off, basically. And then my last one, and this is probably Sarah coded, it's, this is sort of where our two really hyper specific interests in nerdy shit come together. It's called, if this be magic, the unlikely art of Shakespeare in translation. Yeah. Daniel Hahn, is this on your list? Yeah, I'm excited. I don't know. I don't know that I'm gonna care enough about it. I do love Shakespeare, but I really love, like, the sociology behind it, and less about the specific language. But I do love the language, so I don't know. I'm excited. It's long, though it's 416, pages, so we'll see. Yeah, dude, it's very specific. Cree, what do you have? What else do you have in April?
Cree Myles 57:26
Um, I think that you said something about Russian oligarchs, which is perfect, because Rasputin, the downfall of the Romanovs, is on my list. I fucking love Rasputin.
Traci Thomas 57:39
I love a diagram of what is like on who like, I'm like, that would never be on my list. And it's like, oh, Sarah's got that one too. It's like, you
Sara Hildreth 57:47
should do a diagram is so fascinating. These fascinating,
Traci Thomas 57:54
the baddest you guys know I can't do anything Russia. I know Russia is a hard no for me.
Sara Hildreth 58:00
I You didn't go through a Roman era your childhood.
Cree Myles 58:05
Like, are you kidding? I did that in my 20s. I was literally, what are you talking about? I was so obsessed with the dude.
Sara Hildreth 58:13
And do you think Anastasia lived? No, maybe this book will tell you
Cree Myles 58:18
I do. Also I think we need some Russian revolutionary energy in this country right now. Um, also, monster in the archives my year with Stephen King. You know, I he's my problematic fave. I am fascinated by every single way that He exists on this planet. So everybody uses the N word, right? And every way he's the N word, every way he uses snow, the fact that he was a teacher, it's all very bizarre to me. But also, I think it's a coded like full life lived. Stephen doesn't give a fuck. And then lastly, this was given you remember, Yinka, Where is your husband when that came out 35 years ago? Leave your mess at home. By Tolani akinola, is this a debut? Um, I don't know, but this one looks good, and it looks like a, like a, almost high brow break, like, um, Hey, um, what is it called? Hay market fiction.
Traci Thomas 59:19
I'm talking about, hey, mark the No, publish.
Cree Myles 59:22
No, that, no, they're great. It's like, it's like, the same genre as, like, Harlem Rhapsody. So, like, you learn something like historical
Traci Thomas 59:31
fiction, but, like, No,
Sara Hildreth 59:34
I think of that as, like, Book Club fiction. Up market. Up market.
Cree Myles 59:38
Oh, there it is. Thank you. Yeah, it's giving up market, which, you know, sometimes you always need a little bit of that.
Traci Thomas 59:45
Yeah, I think we're all feeling like April, we're gonna do that, because I'm doing yesteryear. You're doing whatever you just said, and not a lot of words.
Cree Myles 59:52
Yeah, wait, leave
Traci Thomas 59:54
your best at home. That's enough words.
Cree Myles 59:56
That's what that leave. Yeah, it's a long Yeah.
Traci Thomas 59:59
It feels long. Yeah, Sarah, did you do your April or did we say all your
Sara Hildreth 1:00:02
April's for you? No, I mean, you guys did some of my most anticipated Aprils. But I will throw a few others out. These are not brain break ones, but questions 27 and 28 Sheeta, this sounds really, really good. Also supposed to be structurally inventive, but based around like, sorry, based around like, the the questions that Japanese Americans were asked basically to, like, commit that they would, that they surrender their loyalty to the Emperor and commit that they would serve in the American military, all that bullshit so but in a like history meets fiction kind of way, sounds interesting. I don't really have to explain this one. It's Love and Death in the American novel. It is literary criticism. It goes my project. And then the witch by Marina day, yes, oh, sure. Love Marina day. She is so she does not care if people do not understand her books. She is just doing what she does best. I love her work. I feel like I'm not smart enough for it, but I don't care, because the vibes and she still gives like they're really plotty, like you're still invested in the story. Yeah, they're always, there's always kind of a mystery you're trying to get to the bottom of. But she, she says that she so she's she's near sighted, but she refuses to wear glasses because she likes the world to look hazy to her, and that is like what her fiction feels like. But this is a book about French witches, which I'm all in.
Cree Myles 1:01:57
Sarah, you just influenced the fuck out of me. Oh, have
Sara Hildreth 1:02:00
you read Marina day? No, but,
Cree Myles 1:02:03
oh, alone is worth it.
Sara Hildreth 1:02:05
Okay? Well, yes, get the witch for sure. I'm sure it's gonna be excellent. And then Vengeance is Mine is, like, my favorite of hers that I've heard that's already out.
Traci Thomas 1:02:18
Yeah, that's perfect. Like, Oh, this is
Sara Hildreth 1:02:21
gonna be too weird for me. No, I think Vengeance is mine. Is almost like a legal thriller.
Traci Thomas 1:02:26
Okay, okay, okay, yeah. I almost did it for book club last year, but then I chickened out.
Sara Hildreth 1:02:30
We did it for Book Club and and even the people who did not like the book said it was one of their favorite book clubs, because you are like, you don't know really what's going on. Oh, that's fine. You know enough what's going on that you want to keep reading like she doesn't lose you, but then there's a ton to discuss afterwards.
Traci Thomas 1:02:50
Highly recommend period. Okay, Sarah, we're gonna stay with you do May,
Sara Hildreth 1:02:54
May one leg on Earth by pemi aguda is on my list. I don't actually know what day in May that comes out, and I don't know anything about it, but I loved ghost roots, her short story collection, yeah, it is a little bit like folklore, magical realism. But I and I think she's sticking with with that. For for this one, I think it is about like a Yeah, the lonely daughter of a distant mother, like, had a lot of daughter, mother daughter, big mother daughter. Yeah, yeah. The cover is gorgeous. I don't know all of that. It makes me happy. And then for May, I also have canon by Paige Lewis, who's the spouse of kave Akbar, which I did not know until I was researching this. It was compared, it's compared to martyr in the blurb. That's awkward, which I also was awkward, yeah. But it sounds like it's like a kind of magical realism adventure sort of thing. Two unlikely heroes embark on quests to win God's favor in this outrageously entertaining, profoundly heartfelt novel. Yeah, I don't know. I'm, I'm, I'm excited about this one, so that's
Traci Thomas 1:04:19
definitely on my list. Yeah, go ahead. Cree,
Cree Myles 1:04:22
okay, I'm making sure I don't lose canon. Okay, I have.
Sara Hildreth 1:04:27
I feel like we're building crazy anticipated. You guys
Cree Myles 1:04:30
should just be listening here for the vibes.
Traci Thomas 1:04:32
She's like, I don't want to join your Patreon, so I'll just participate, and then I can get the recommendation.
Cree Myles 1:04:37
Third, fourth wall. Like, together, okay, um, Walter Mosley's got a book coming out in May called Galen for the culture. So Galen a romance in black. I don't know i It's fine. Also a Harlem wedding. I am. I'm actually reading that right now. It's a it's a romance. It's coming up by William. Morals, but it's about WEB DuBois daughter getting married to county Cullen. Yeah, which I think WEB DuBois is one of my least favorite historical figures. So I love always seeing other people talk shit about him, oh, and Frida Slattery as herself. I just really liked that cover. And I always, I always have to do an Irish author at least once a year for the culture. Yeah, yeah.
Traci Thomas 1:05:29
Okay, so I had canon too. I have this so in addition to mothers and daughters, the other theme of this year, I think, based on the fact that everybody's reading Count of Monte Cristo, this year for real is revenge. Ooh, I think this is gonna be the year of revenge. And I have a book called nerve damage by anakira Stinson, which is about a woman who is being stalked by her ex boyfriend who decides, fuck that guy, I gotta stalk his little bitch ass. And so she turns around and stalks the ex boyfriend. That's all I know when I saw that, yes, he was stalking her. And then she decides, yep, to be gonna stalk the stalkers surveillance. Yes, yes. That's what the Black Panthers call it. Okay, so I'm in period. I didn't know it any further. I That's all I saw. And I said, Sign me up. So there's that. There's a book called deconstructing the Kardashians by MJ Corey. MJ. Corey, right, has been writing about, or talking about the Kardashians on Tiktok for years, and it's spelled deconstructing the K. It's a K in constructing, I don't know, I just, I want to be deconstructing them at all times. So that is that Tia Williams has a new book out called the Miss connection. And it's a woman on an airplane, like going to Europe, meets a hot guy, like her seat mate is hot. And then I think it's like trying to find him as she gallivants through Europe. And then Jasmine has a new collection called on witness and respair coming out. And I think it's mostly previously published things, but I think there's a few new things. And give it a shake.
Sara Hildreth 1:07:17
Yes on my list, too. Very, very much. Looking forward to that
Traci Thomas 1:07:21
June Cree, take us home.
Unknown Speaker 1:07:25
I have anything nailed it.
Traci Thomas 1:07:29
Not act to come back at all. Sarah, please. Okay.
Sara Hildreth 1:07:33
June is my big author month, so I actually I have hunger and thirst. By Claire Fuller, she's a big author to me, but I actually, I looked and that's been moved to May. So that's on my my may list. But the typing lady by Ruth Ozeki. I love Ruth Ozeki. She's one of my all time favorites. This is her short story collection. Okay, I never wrote any short fiction from her, but I am very much excited. And then land by Maggie O'Farrell. And did
Traci Thomas 1:08:05
you read Hamnet? Did you love it? Is that a book you love?
Sara Hildreth 1:08:08
I do love it. Yeah, it's not my favorite Maggie O'Farrell, and I kind of so I actually prefer her, like pre her older books from before she got really invested in this historical fiction bent, but I did really love Hamnet. This is historical fiction. It's 1860s Ireland. But I feel like it might be kind of merging her two interests, because it's, it seems to be more about like Hamnet and then the marriage portrait were about like, famous historical figures. This is going to be more like, I don't know, like normal people, even though it's historical fiction, but they are like plot. They're they're surveying the land. They're like creating, I think, a map of of Ireland. It's a father and son story. So I She's one of those authors like you just tell me there's a new Maggie O'Farrell, and I read it. Yeah, absolutely same with Ruth Ozeki. Oh, and then this was my weird one Earth seven by Deb Olin Unsworth. So way back in 2020 when I was reading for the Aspen lit prize, one of the books that was submitted for that prize that I put on my list of the best books that I do not think was long listed for the prize was Deb Olin unsworth's book called barn eight, which is about two women who are staging a heist at A chicken factory. I mean, at like, you know that, like all of these chickens who are inhumanely being kept to produce eggs, and they they do a heist, and it's like, one's like a teenage girl, and the other is like an environmental activist, and it is so funny and so good and so Earth seven. Yeah, which, like, the titles are so similar, I'm wondering if they're connected. But this is, like, climate fiction, yeah, this is like, Earth is gone. We are we are elsewhere. It is sci fi, and it's, I don't I plot wise. I'm really not sure what's what happens. I think it is again, like, kind of two unlikely friends, like on a mission, which I love, yeah, but it's Yeah, some people have given up, gone off to Mars. Earth is severely depopulated, and these two holdouts are constructing a vast molecular collection in hopes that a future person may be alive to make a new earth. I don't know sounds weird, I love it. I trust her. She knows how to write a short book. This is 240 pages. I love it when authors who write weird books are like, I know you can only hang with me for this long. Yeah, yeah. The cover is great. All those things so Earth seven, I love this.
Traci Thomas 1:11:05
I have a personal connection to this June book, deeply personal. My godfather, dusty Baker has finally writing his memoir. It's called Crossroads. It comes out on June 2. I'm so excited. I will let you guys know what kind of person Desi Baker is. I text him and I said, bakes, you got a book coming? He texts me back. He said, How did you know? He said, You know this I do for work. He said, Oh yeah, that's right. I said, you know you can come on the podcast anytime you want. He said, I don't really do podcast. So if you're wondering if Jesse Baker's coming on the show, I don't know. He said he would do it for me, but he literally was like, I don't really do podcasts because there's nothing in it for me. People just take my words and spin them. And I was like, that's fair. You're a real celebrity. So we'll see. I hope he'll do it. But it's just hilarious that I said, I was like, Oh my God, you have a book coming out. And he was like, Who told you? Do you work for the feds? I do always my first so that is my probably most anticipated book of the year. In addition to being a beloved person in my life, he's also was in baseball from the age of 18, I think is when he first went into baseball and, like, professionally, and he retired as a manager two years ago, but he still works in a front office, so like any baseball story of the last 60 years, basically, not quite a little bit less he knows. And he was like, he's just, it's like, you love baseball. I just can't imagine it's not gonna be great, though. I don't fucking know, because who knows who is writing it with it, I don't know, but I'm excited. I'm gonna love it that, let me put it that way, speaking of books I'm gonna love and people that I love. Mary H K Choi has an adult book, pool house, Mother Daughter, grief story set in Los Angeles, catnip. And then there's this book, this non fiction book coming out called the Yahoo boys by Carlos baragon, and it's about Nigerian scammers. Ooh, you know the like, Nigerian prince scam? And like, it's about Lagos. And like, how that this, like, particular neighborhood, I think, became a place where, like, all these scammers are and like, what the story is with these people who are doing these scams. And like, a little bit, he's like, shining light on on this whole thing. Because I think it's like, become such a joke. And I think the reason he got into the story is that his mother got scammed or something. So I don't know. I tried not to read too much once I saw what it was about, because I was like, I just want to read this and be surprised. Yeah. And then there's like, a micro history about trash called Trash by Simone parley Poupon. He's a very nice thank you. He's French Canadian, and he's a garbage man, and he was a garbage man, and then he went and became like a sociologist and all these other things, and then went back to being a garbage man. And so he's writing about trash and being a garbage man. So it's like part memoir, maybe like memoir plus. So, you know, I love that kind of shit. And then there's a book called checkmate by Ben Mezrich about a very large chess
Sara Hildreth 1:14:08
scandal. A chess scandal. I don't know
Traci Thomas 1:14:11
anything about chess, but I love a scandal. Oh, and then there's a book called asset class coming out, the asset class, that asset class about private equity. So gotta read it. That's it. I think we all did June, except for Cree opted out, weird choice, but go off and then for the back half of the year. We'll do that later, but I do want to say it looks insane. Yes, we get, we're getting Emily St, John Mandel, Disha Coulson, yeah. Min Jin Lee, I think maybe we're getting Kia say. It feels like, basically, you know, social. I don't know, but I think it feels like he's putting us on that direction. I think there's a possibility we get this Clint Smith book at the end of this year. Timing wise, there's a possibility we get those Hanif poems at the end of this year.
Sara Hildreth 1:15:21
Yeah. Chang Rae Lee, oh, yes, there's a chang Rae Lee and Valerie
Traci Thomas 1:15:25
lucelli, oh, oh, the Apaches. Maybe she wrote her own Apache book,
Sara Hildreth 1:15:32
Apache, Apache. I'm not, I
Traci Thomas 1:15:36
don't know. Yeah. So there's a lot coming later that feels very like award season fodder.
Cree Myles 1:15:47
Yeah, that's why I had to keep June clear to start
Traci Thomas 1:15:51
and okay, do you guys know who Kai bird is? Do you guys know American Prometheus, the book about Robert the Oppenheim, Robert Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb guy that they made, that they made, Oppenheimer the movie based off of, yes, yeah. Kai bird has a new book coming out, allegedly this year, called American scoundrel by about Roy Cohn, famous Trump, the lawyer. You guys know Trump's origin story this guy, Roy Cohn, he was secretly gay. He died of AIDS in the 1980s but he was the person who taught trump everything he knows. He's a real fucking mon STR he's a monster, and we're getting a Kai bird book about it. And I cannot fucking wait. I again, 1980s New York City, though, Roy Cohn is before he was like, prosecuting Ethel and, oh, Julian, Julian Rosenberg. I think he prosecuted them. That's how he, like, got on the scene. Okay, he's like, he's like, bad guy, McCarthyism. He's like, on the bad side. Yeah, we're getting a book about him, just
Sara Hildreth 1:17:07
gonna be this author's thing, like American Prometheus, American scoundrel. I don't
Cree Myles 1:17:11
know if Kai bird's written anything monster series.
Traci Thomas 1:17:13
Yeah, he is the Ryan Murphy of non fiction biographies, for sure, but I don't think it's American colon Prometheus. I think it's just American Prometheus. Like monster. Is monster colon Ed game, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. Anyways, is there anything else we want to say about anything 2026, any like crazy predictions you want to make about the year? Any thing I
Sara Hildreth 1:17:46
this is just an observation. I don't know if you all are seeing this in like your online communities, or I feel like all my people are only reading backlist, doing tons of, like, long, slow reads of classics that has really picked up
Traci Thomas 1:18:07
steam, I guess. Yeah, I've seen this. I'm seeing this,
Sara Hildreth 1:18:11
and I think this is great, except I'm like, I think maybe people are picking the wrong year to do that. That's how I feel. Like this is gonna be a I think 2026, new books are gonna be good.
Traci Thomas 1:18:25
So far I'm feeling good. Yeah, I said I'd read into 12. I lied. I've read into 13 now, and I'm feeling mostly good. I DNF two on purpose. But pretty much everything else, like is been serviceable to like, almost everything's been better than most of the things I read last year. Let me put it that way, okay, but I have noticed this trend, these long reads, these like, bigger, slower things, which I do think is great. But I also think once people start freaking out about things being good, you know, plans change.
Sara Hildreth 1:18:58
Yeah, maybe people are letting others vet books for them a little bit more. And Traci, they're gonna all be looking to you.
Traci Thomas 1:19:05
Well, get ready. You're not gonna like it. A lot of a lot of things to complain about. But I also think maybe it's a response to 2025 feeling like people were trying to keep up, and then feeling like let down by everything. Because, like, even book like you loved audition. Sarah and I thought audition was just fine. And I think it was, like, a really polarizing book, but because people were loving it, I think, like, after 2024 I just think, I think expectations have been really wonky since 2023 of like, what books are supposed to do and what people who talk about books are supposed to tell you about a book. And I think we should a good reminder to everyone listening is we can like books that you don't like actually, like, I could really like a book and you could hate it, and it doesn't mean that I'm a liar, or that I'm like, a homer for the publisher, or that I am like, an idiot. Well, it might mean that I'm an idiot. But, like, you know, that's how it used to be in these streets. Like, I would just like, Oh, I hate this, and crew be like, Oh, I love it. And then that would be it. It's not like, free. He or I are lying to you. We just disagree. Yeah.
Sara Hildreth 1:20:03
Well, I also think I to go back to, like, cree's first point and goal of just like, find something weird or obscure and read it and shout it from the rooftops. I don't want, I don't want everybody to then be like, turning to classics and backless in the same way that we've started treating new releases, like, you don't need somebody on sub stack to totally curate your classics reading list either, like, read what's calling to you, not just because that's the one somebody is, you know, leading a read along of and I'm saying this as somebody who's like, doing like a classics project on my sub stack, like, read the things that speak to you, speak to you, whether they're emerald.
Cree Myles 1:20:48
I am grateful, though, to like the point of me talking about Peyton Place, like, if that was a New York Times bestseller in the 50s, like, if that was the Colleen Hoover of the 50s. That is such a more. It's so much denser than Hoover. So it is good for like, if you're gonna read, I don't care if everybody read it in the count a monte cristo. So now you want to read it great, because I think your brain might be better for it. True. So thank you in advance.
Traci Thomas 1:21:16
True, I might read count a monte cristo this year. Guys, you know same. I'm a little it was on my list for last year, and I just didn't get around to it. Count on
Sara Hildreth 1:21:26
Yeah, did you talk about reading it together? Maybe, yeah,
Traci Thomas 1:21:29
okay, maybe we do that on the retreat. Oh, stay tuned for it's our personal retreat. You guys aren't invited. You guys aren't invited. I might read it. I want to, yeah, see,
Sara Hildreth 1:21:46
we'll see. I mean revenge.
Traci Thomas 1:21:48
I mean, right? Listen, as a person who deeply has loved revenge her whole life, the fact that one of my great passions in life is feels trendy this year is I finally I made it my ear
Cree Myles 1:21:59
feel the same. I'm literally like, I didn't know that was the theme this year, but I woke up on January 1, like, this is going to be a really good year for me. But evidently, that's because
Traci Thomas 1:22:10
I just, I'm getting that in the air. I think on both sides of the aisle, there is a feeling of, give me what you owe me, or I will be taking it. And I think this is my year. I don't know if you guys, do you guys know the musical Cabaret, yes
Cree Myles 1:22:32
girl, yeah. Money, money, money, yeah. A darker place.
Traci Thomas 1:22:35
You know what? The end of tomorrow belongs to me, and then the MC is like, tomorrow belongs to me, and it's like, so creepy. That's me say.
Cree Myles 1:22:45
I am not gonna lie. This is relatable,
Traci Thomas 1:22:49
even though he does become a Nazi, which I'm hoping to avoid, if possible. Yeah, I wouldn't do that. I'm gonna go revenge. No Nazi, if I can.
Cree Myles 1:22:59
Peter Pan ish, yeah. Wait. No, no, sorry. Robin Hood.
Traci Thomas 1:23:02
Robin Hood. Robin Hood. Robin Hood. Yeah, I don't want to go Batman. Batman is giving revenge towards a Nazi bent. He's very, he's very, it's giving police, yeah. And with that, ladies and gentlemen, we bring you to the end of this 2026, most anticipated. Tell us what you're excited about. I don't know where you're going to tell us, but do tell us. Sub SAC, Patreon, that's where we are, and we'll see you guys. We do this again in May or June. I think we do it again in May, is it? I thought it was June? Well, I think we start with June, but I think I can't remember, we'll be back in May or June. I don't know. I gotta check the records, and also, could just depend on my vibe if I want to do Mayor June. Thank you guys. Love you both and everybody else. We'll see you in the stacks.