Sometimes life is hard and books can be a vehicle to sort out what’s happening in your heart. Or, they can be pure escapism. This has been an extremely hard moment in my life, but these are the stories that have kept me grounded as my brain and my heart connect. Humans are resilient beasts. Many thanks to these authors for sharing their work with us, as we all continue to breathe into the next moment in our lives.
Under Story, Chloe Benjamin. G.P. Putnam’s Sons. September 1, 2026
Absolutely incredible. I hesitate to say too much beyond that because the best experience might be to allow Benjamin to take you on a journey. The back half of the book takes an unusual, refreshing, and extremely hard left turn. It’s a true literary, science fiction love story. Loved this.
Full review on GoodReads.
Beginning Middle End, Valeria Luiselli. Knopf. July 28, 2026
The surface story centers on a mother and daughter on a trip to return a family relic that was taken generations prior from an archeological dig in their ancestral home of Sicily. But just under that story, Luiselli pulls the reader through a layered reflection of history, time, family, and survival with such precision it’s just astounding.
Full review on Goodreads.
Famesick, Lena Dunham. HarperCollins. April 14, 2026
Dunham is controversial, and I haven’t followed her beyond being a fan of “Girls” when it aired. This memoir focuses on her time making the show, coming into celebrity, while grappling with chronic illness. As a fellow medically complicated human, I wanted to read about her experience. I’m glad I did.
The Winds of Maracaibo, Maria Elena Moran. Knopf. July 28, 2026
An incredible, lyrically told story about family, hope, despair, and all the ways the world and the people we love can break our hearts and mend them back together. Told within the context of the harsh political realities in Venezuela, the story follows a family separated by the collapse of the political ideals in a struggle to reunite and survive. Full review on Goodreads.
Dangerous, Dirty, Violent, and Young; Zayd Ayers Dohrn. W. W. Norton & Company. May 18, 2026
Part memoir, part deep dive into the radical movements of the ’60s and ’70s, this book is both about what was happening in the country that drove so many people to adopt these radical politics as well as the toll it took on the parents and children of the people involved. Highly recommend, even though I have complicated feelings about it all.
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