Read Between the Spines

February 2026 Most Anticipated New Book Releases

Contemporary & Literary Fiction | Historical Fiction | Romance | Thrillers & Mysteries | Horror & Gothic Fiction | Fantasy, Science Fiction, & Magical Realism | Short Stories & Essays | Biography & Memoir | Nonfiction

Contemporary & Literary Fiction

Autobiography of Cotton

Cristina Rivera Garza

Cristina Rivera Garza recounts her grandparents’ journey from mining towns to those same cotton fields as it intersects with Revueltas’s life in a vivid and evocative history of cotton cultivation along the Mexico-US border. An intimate fictionalization, Autobiography of Cotton reveals a rich social history of agricultural colonization, labor activism, environmental degradation, and cross-border migration.

Publication date: February 3

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Every Happiness

Reena Shah

A dazzling debut that explores the ties that bind two women across decades and continents despite rivalry, class difference, and the conflicting needs of family and self.

Publication date: February 3

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Every Exit Brings You Home

Naeem Murr

A profound, bittersweet portrait of a Gazan immigrant’s heroic efforts to heal his community and birth love from tragedy. A gorgeous blend of gentle comedy and poignant tragedy, of blasted hopes and one man’s indomitable dedication to the well-being of others, this is a book to love and never forget.

Publication date: February 3

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Good People

Patmeena Sabit

Zorah Sharaf could do no wrong. Zorah Sharaf brought shame upon her family. What’s the truth? Depends on who you ask. Told through a kaleidoscope of perspectives, it is a riveting, provocative, and haunting story of family—sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers, and the communities that claim us as family in difficult times.

Publication date: February 3

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Mass Mothering

Sarah Bruni

A haunting, indelible novel of collective grief, resistance, and the radical, life-affirming virtue of testimony. Poignant and profoundly humane, Mass Mothering is told through layered voices, written fragments, and recorded testimonies. It is a luminous story of the mutuality of grief, the aftershocks of violence in a globalized era, and the world-bending force of a mother’s love.

Publication date: February 3

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Bad Asians

Lillian Li

From the acclaimed author of Number One Chinese Restaurant comes an affecting novel about an unforgettable group of friends trying to make their way in the world without losing themselves, or one another.

Publication date: February 17

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This Is Not About Us

Allegra Goodman

Was this just a brief skirmish, or the beginning of a thirty-year feud? In the Rubinstein family, it could go either way. A kaleidoscopic portrait of a modern American family—steadfast, complicated, begrudging, and loving—from the bestselling author of Isola.

Publication date: February 10

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Murder Bimbo

Rebecca Novack

The exhilaratingly twisty story of a sex worker turned political assassin on the run, Murder Bimbo is anunputdownable and wholly fresh take on truth, murder, and optics in our national moment.

Publication date: February 10

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Eradication: A Fable

Jonathan Miles

From acclaimed author Jonathan Miles (“a writer so virtuosic that readers will feel themselves becoming better, more observant people from reading him”—Los Angeles Times) comes a blackly comic literary gem in which a broken man confronts a broken world on an uninhabited Pacific island.

Publication date: February 10

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Laws of Love & Logic

Debra Curtis

A woman finds herself torn between her first love and her devoted husband in this extraordinary debut novel that asks the question: Can one heart hold two great loves? Laws of Love and Logic explores love’s enduring power and the human spirit’s capacity for forgiveness and redemption.

Publication date: February 17

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Evil Genius

Claire Oshetsky

An exuberant, brutally hilarious novel about a young woman’s insatiable quest to carve her own path—even if she needs to step over a few dead bodies along the way.

Publication date: February 17

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So Old, So Young

Grant Ginder

A generation-defining novel that is part love story, part tragic comedy. Five parties over the course of twenty years bring six college friends together, exploring the ways we run from and cling to our friends in love, life, and death.

Publication date: February 17

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Kin

Tayari Jones

A magnificent new novel from the bestselling, award-winning author of An American Marriage—Tayari Jones has written an unforgettable novel that sparkles with wit and intelligence and deep feeling about two lifelong friends whose worlds converge after many years apart in the face of a devastating tragedy.

Publication date: February 24

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The Reservation

Rebecca Kauffman

For fans of The Bear, Elizabeth Strout, and Jennifer Egan, The Reservation explores the loves and labors of an ensemble of more than a dozen restaurant workers as they strive to get a perfect meal to the table.

Publication date: February 24

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Historical Fiction

Keeper of Lost Children

Sadeqa Johnson

In this new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The House of Eve, one American woman’s vision in post WWII Germany will tie together three people in an unexpected way.

Publication date: February 10

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The Shape of Dreams

April Reynolds

A trio of women bond in friendship as a neighborhood tries to seek justice from a system that has forgotten them.

Publication date: February 3

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The Johnson Four

Christina Hammonds Reed

A 1960s teen pop group determined to conquer the music world must contend with the cost of fame—and a ghost with a grisly past—in this riveting family story from the New York Times bestselling author of The Black Kids.

Publication date: February 3

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Cleopatra

Saara El-Arifi

Cleopatra tells her own story in this evocative and sensuous historical epic from the bestselling and award-winning author of Faebound and The Final Strife.

Publication date: February 24

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Romance

How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates

Shailee Thompson

A humorous, swoony, and downright terrifying slasher rom-com in which a cinephile gets caught in the middle of a murder spree at a speed-dating event and must use her encyclopedic knowledge of the romance and horror genres to make it as a real-life Final Girl.

Publication date: February 3

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The Lies that Summon the Night

Tessonja Odette

Lies, beauty, and seduction mingle in the first book of an enthralling romantasy series where making art is considered a sin, and the shadows born from it aren’t the only danger to the creators—from the bestselling author of Curse of the Wolf King.

Publication date: February 3

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One & Only

Maurene Goo

In Five Years meets a millennial The Joy Luck Club in the adult debut from the author of YA Reese Pick Throwback— a funny and fresh love story of a woman thrown a curveball by fate, and the family secret that will make her question everything.

Publication date: February 3

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This Book Made Me Think of You

Libby Page

A woman receives an unexpected gift from the man she loved and lost—a year of books, one for every month—launching a reading-inspired journey to live, dream, and love again in this glimmering and heart-stopping novel.

Publication date: February 3

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Royal Spin

Omid Scobie & Robin Benway

The much-anticipated novel from preeminent journalist and royal biographer Omid Scobie and National Book Award-winner Robin Benway, two bestselling and beloved authors who are drawing from their real world expertise, an irresistibly entertaining story about a young American woman who takes a job at Buckingham Palace—where she finds herself tangled in a royal mess she might not be able to spin her way out of.

Publication date: February 10

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Crown of War & Shadow

J.R. Ward

An outcast burdened with a curse. A mercenary out for himself. A kingdom that must be saved. The doyenne of paranormal romance launches her Kingdoms of the Compass series, sending a reluctant chosen one and a brooding mercenary on a perilous quest across a demon-ravaged land.

Publication date: February 17

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The Halifax Hellions

Alexandra Vasti

From USA Today bestselling author Alexandra Vasti comes The Halifax Hellions: a pair of sexy, hilarious romps in which the most scandalous ladies in London finally meet their match.

Publication date: February 17

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And Now, Back to You

B.K. Borison

Two competing meteorologists are forced to find common ground in this opposites attract, When Harry Met Sally inspired romance, from #1 New York Times bestselling author B.K. Borison.

Publication date: February 24

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Thrillers & Mysteries

Dirty Metal

Allison Lamothe

An electrifying new voice in crime fiction: Allison LaMothe’s debut is a gritty, fast-paced mystery about a reporter running down two huge stories at once.

Publication date: February 3

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It’s Not Her

Mary Kubica

Two families at a secluded lake resort are at the center of a chilling crime in this twisty thriller from the bestselling author of Local Woman Missing.

Publication date: February 3

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Salvation

C. William Langfeld

Set against the Rocky Mountains, this emotionally charged Western noir explores themes of fathers and sons, men and masculinity, and religion and spirituality through the lens of an unimaginable act—one best friend murdering the other.

Publication date: February 3

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The Exes

Leodora Darlington

Who hasn’t wanted to murder an ex—figuratively, at least? In this explosive debut thriller, a woman’s seemingly perfect romantic life is on the verge of collapse as she uncovers a hidden history surfacing dark secrets that have deadly consequences.

Publication date: February 3

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Warning Signs

Tracy Sierra

The heart-stopping second novel from the author of Nightwatching, in which a father-son ski weekend becomes a desperate fight for survival.

Publication date: February 10

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I’m Not the Only Murderer in My Retirement Home

Fergus Craig

After a decades-long stint in prison, former serial killer Carol is looking to kick back and relax in her new retirement home…until a fellow resident drops dead and Carol has to prove she actually didn’t do it this time….

Publication date: February 17

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A Sociopath’s Guide to a Successful Marriage

M.K. Oliver

A whip-smart and darkly funny crime novel—perfect for fans of My Sister, the Serial Killer and The Maid—that follows a wife and mother with a deadly secret that she must suppress if she wants to maintain her picture-perfect façade.

Publication date: February 17

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Her Last Breath

Taylor Adams

From the critically acclaimed author of No Exit and The Last Word comes a story of two friends who embark on an ill-fated caving expedition—and the dark truth of what happens deep underground.

Publication date: February 17

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How to Get Away with Murder

Rebecca Philipson

This fresh debut thriller finds a Scotland Yard detective trying to find the author of a self-help book that promises quite literally to teach readers how to get away with murder, which seems to have inspired London’s newest murderer.

Publication date: February 24

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Horror & Gothic Fiction

Heap Earth Upon It

Chloe Michelle Howarth

In this follow up to the award winning Sunburn, a claustrophobic tale of obsession, family, and identity…Chloe Michelle Howarth offers a new take on sapphic obsession, for fans of All Our Wives Under the Sea, Mrs. S, Biography of X, and Organ Meats.

Publication date: February 3

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Greedy

Callie Kazumi

Perfect for fans of Parasite and The Menu—enticing as a starter, meaty as a main dish, and full of satisfying just-desserts—Greedy is a suspenseful poison-pen note to classism and an ode to Japanese cuisine, a horror-tinged thriller unsuitable for vegetarians but full of shocking delights for every reader.

Publication date: February 3

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Weavingshaw

Heba Al-Wasity

In this debut gothic fantasy, a young woman who can see the dead strikes a deal with the magnetic and dangerous Saint of Silence, a purveyor of dark secrets, to save her brother’s life—the first book of a trilogy.

Publication date: February 24

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Fantasy, Science Fiction, & Magical Realism

Songbird of the Sorrows

Braidee Otto

An outcast princess turned spy embarks on a mission to infiltrate a rival kingdom, but the secrets she uncovers force her to decide whether to follow orders or defy them.

Publication date: February 3

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Operation Bounce House

Matt Dinniman

A man must fight for his planet against impossible odds when gamers from Earth attempt to remotely annihilate it in this epic, fast-paced novel from the New York Times bestselling author of the smash-hit Dungeon Crawler Carl.

Publication date: February 10

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The Astral Library

Kate Quinn

From New York Times bestselling author Kate Quinn comes a gorgeously written fantastical adventure which poses the question: Have you ever wished you could live inside a book? Welcome to the Astral Library, where books are not just objects, but doors to new worlds, new lives, and new futures.

Publication date: February 17

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Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter

Heather Fawcett

A woman who runs a cat rescue in 1920s Montréal turns to a grouchy but charming magician to help save her shelter in this heartwarming cozy fantasy from the New York Times bestselling author of the Emily Wilde series.

Publication date: February 17

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The Fox Hunt

Caitlin Breeze

Dive into the dark underbelly of England’s most ancient university, where behind closed doors a circle of privileged students enter into a dark pagan ritual—one that holds tantalizing power and comes at a terrible price.

Publication date: February 24

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The Red Winter

Cameron Sullivan

A devastating love story. A bewitching twist on history. A blood-drenched hunt for purpose, power, and redemption.

Publication date: February 24

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Short Stories & Essays

How to Disappear & Why: Essays

Kyle Minor

Considering a wide scope of cultural, historical, spiritual, and philosophical figures and ideas, Minor assembles a collection of essays centered on the concept of disappearance. 

Publication date: February 24

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Brawler: Stories

Lauren Groff

A stunning, fierce collection from a master of the short story and one of the most important writers of our time. Precise, surprising, and provocative, anchored by profound insight into human nature, Brawler reveals the repeated, sometimes heartbreaking turning points between love and fear, compassion and violence, reason and instinct, altruism and what it takes to survive.

Publication date: February 24

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Memoirs & Biographies

Freedom Lost, Freedom Won: A Personal History of America

Eugene Robinson

Pulitzer Prize–winning former Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson tells our nation’s torturous racial history through his own family’s story, starting with his great-grandfather’s freedom from slavery and threading his way to his own narrative and reaching today’s Black Lives Matter movement, asking whether this time will be different.

Publication date: February 3

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The Company of Owls

Polly Atkin

An observant, lyrical memoir exploring what owls can teach us about nature, chronic illness, and ourselves—so long as we are quiet enough to listen. 

Publication date: February 3

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Hannibal Lecter: A Life

Brian Raftery

Drawing from exclusive interviews and previously unseen archival materials, this one-of-its-kind biography of Hannibal Lecter documents the cannibal’s journey from terrifying villain to unexpectedly adored antihero.

Publication date: February 10

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Lazarus: The Second Coming of David Bowie

Alexander Larman

The compelling story of the second half of Bowie’s life, exploring the untold story of these latter years when Bowie moved from commercial failure to his final masterpiece.

Publication date: February 3

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The Boundless Deep: Young Tennyson, Science, & the Crisis of Belief

Richard Holmes

In this dazzling new biography, Richard Holmes, critically acclaimed author of The Age of Wonder, discovers in Young Tennyson an astonishingly magnetic and mercurial personality, a secretly expressive and highly emotional man haunted by the great intellectual and scientific issues of his time.

Publication date: February 10

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The Mixed Marriage Project: A Memoir of Love, Race, & Family

Dorothy Roberts

From Dorothy Roberts, author of Killing the Black Body and a writer who “has brilliantly illuminated the Black experience in America for decades” (Bryan Stevenson), comes a spirited and riveting memoir of growing up in an interracial family in 1960s Chicago and a daughter’s journey to understand her parents’ marriage—and her own identity.

Publication date: February 10

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Nonviolent: A Memoir of Resistance, Agitation, & Love

James Lawson Jr. & Emily Yellin

The posthumous memoir of Rev. James Lawson Jr., peer of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., mentor to Congressman John Lewis and the Freedom Riders, and a principal architect of a nonviolent resistance movement that changed the world.

Publication date: February 17

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Traversal

Maria Popova

From the Marginalian creator and bestselling author Maria Popova, a bold exploration of what makes a meaningful life. Maria Popova illuminates our various instruments of reckoning with the bewilderment of being alive―our telescopes and our treatises, our postulates and our poems―through the intertwined lives, loves, and legacies of visionaries both celebrated and sidelined by history, people born into the margins of their time and place who lived to write the future

Publication date: February 17

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Defiance: A Memoir of Awakening, Rebellion, & Survival in Syria

Loubna Mrie

A stunning memoir of personal rebellion and political awakening from a young woman raised to be loyal to a brutal regime—and the unimaginable cost of choosing freedom.

Publication date: February 24

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The Irish Goodbye: Micro-Memoirs

Beth Ann Fennelly

A new, genre–defying volume that explores family, marriage, motherhood, place, and coming of age with singular wit and emotional clarity.

Publication date: February 24

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Nonfiction

The Cure for Everything: The Epic Struggle for Public Health and a Radical Vision for Human Thriving

Michelle A. Williams with Linda Marsa

The inspiring story of how we overcame a history of infectious disease, poisonous environments, and early death and unlocked an explosion in human potential—and a vision for the work ahead to optimize human flourishing in the twenty-first century.

Publication date: February 3

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Meat: How the Next Agricultural Revolution Will Transform Humanity’s Favorite Food―and Our Future

Bruce Friedrich

Good Food Institute founder and president Bruce Friedrich offers a hopeful and rigorously researched exploration of how science, policy, and industry can work together to satisfy the world’s soaring demand for meat, while building a healthier and more sustainable world.

Publication date: February 3

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The Laws of Thought: The Quest for a Mathematical Theory of the Mind

Tom Griffiths

From the coauthor of Algorithms to Live By, an exploration of the quest to use mathematics to describe the ways we think, from its origins three hundred years ago to the ideas behind modern AI systems and the ways in which they still differ from human minds

Publication date: February 10

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Time’s Second Arrow: Evolution, Order, & A New Law of Nature

Robert M. Hazen & Michael L. Wong

A distinguished geoscientist and rising-star astrobiologist offer a stunning new theory upending 150 years of established science―and an inspiring new vision of our universe.

Publication date: February 10

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Wild Grace: The Untamed Women of Modern Dance

Sara Veale

The untold tale of the extraordinary women who drove the modern dance movement, boldly confronting cultural narratives about sex and power.

Publication date: February 10

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The Blood Countess: Murder, Betrayal, & the Making of a Monster

Shelley Puhak

From the author of the national bestseller The Dark Queens, an incandescent work of true crime and feminist history about Elizabeth Bathory, the woman alleged to be the world’s most prolific female serial killer.

Publication date: February 17

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On Morrison

Namwali Serpell

An illuminating, electrifying exploration of the work of Toni Morrison by an award-winning novelist and Harvard professor.

Publication date: February 17

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The Science of Second Chances: A Revolution in Criminal Justice

Jennifer Doleac

Freakonomics for criminal justice, The Science of Second Chances presents a groundbreaking approach to criminal justice reform, revealing how small-scale interventions can reduce people’s chances of reoffending and break the incarceration cycle.

Publication date: February 24

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The Death of Trotsky: The True Story of the Plot to Kill Stalin’s Greatest Enemy

Josh Ireland

For fans of Ben Macintyre and Erik Larson, the gripping story of the assassination of Soviet revolutionary Leon Trotsky and the deadly game of cat and mouse that preceded it.

Publication date: February 24

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A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness

Michael Pollan

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of How to Change Your Mind, a panoptic exploration of consciousness—what it is, who has it, and why—and a meditation on the essence of our humanity.

Publication date: February 24

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