6 of the Best New Book Releases Out February 24, 2026

From a best-selling, award-winning author, american marriage It tells the story of sisterhood, mothers, and daughters in the American South. Vernis and Anne are two motherless girls who grew up as best friends in Honeysuckle, Louisiana, but their lives follow very different trajectories. Vernice ends up at Spelman, where she enters the world of wealthy and well-connected black women. And then there’s Ann. The hole left by her mother’s absence drives her on an all-consuming journey that sets her on a path of love and hardship. Throughout, we see the various permutations and complexities of women and girls within the community.

You might love Lauren Groff’s novels Fate and Destiny. Furies Although he is famous for works such as “The Matrix,” this author is also famous for his short stories. brawler Florida is Groff’s first collection of short stories since his award-winning collection., These nine stories cover a wide range of settings, from the 1950s to the present, and (of course) from Florida to California. All stories explore human nature and “the constant battle between man’s angels of darkness and angels of light.” Like Groff’s other works, these stories are beautifully written and can be expected to be endlessly quotable. —Emily Martin

If you’ve gone through the Egyptology stage (or are still in it), you’ll enjoy this book that reimagines the story of a maligned woman (Circe, Kai Kei, Marinari) Or if you’ve read Stacey Schiff’s wonderful biography of the Queen of the Nile and wondered why this fascinating woman’s legacy has been reduced to seduction and womanizing (sexism, that’s sexism), you’ll probably be as excited about this book as I am. I’ve been waiting for someone to flesh out Cleopatra’s story through fiction, and Sahra El Arifi answered my reader’s prayers. —Vanessa Diaz

Inspired by real-life choreographer Katherine Dunham’s trip to Jamaica to explore Caribbean dance, where false gods live The film tells the story of a legendary 1930s choreographer and her Caribbean adventures, as well as the sisterhood of four women who come together to help each other in their time of greatest need. Because even as they fight their personal struggles, deadly hurricanes are bearing down on them directly. —Rachel Britten

Nobel Prize-winning author Mario Vargas Llosa’s final novel takes him back to his native Peru when writer Toño Azpilcueta hears the elusive guitarist Lalo Morfino play. This performance shows Tonyo that Peruvian music, especially the valse genre, is important to society. Now, if he could write a biography of Lalo, he would be able to capture and share the most important parts of Peruvian culture.