The Brightness by Chad Harbach

 

 

Chad Harbach returns to fictitious Westish College, first visited in his debut novel, The Art of Fielding. While the two books contain overlapping characters, the focus of The Brightness is not on the male relationships we loved in The Art of Fielding, but on women.

While the writing was splendid, only the strength of the words and my memory of how loving the first novel kept me reading. Centered on three primary women, Pella, Irma and Judy were so complex and well-drawn that they each deserved our full attention. But we are introduced to these women as a unit, and I just didn’t buy it. They were too different for me to believe in their authenticity, their great literary salon-type connection, and as it turns out, neither did they. By the end of the book, the bosom buddies sabotage one another, in ways that felt frankly, more male than female.

This novel nearly 700 pages, and maybe that’s why it lost me. The author tries so hard to cover popular culture, feminist issues, academic, sports, Bro culture and even an over-the-top wedding that I just felt we’d drifted into fantasy land. Adding “cute” metafiction aspects (Using his own book as the book of one of the main characters?) felt like the author was trying hard to remind me that he’d done this before.  It actually made me go back and read Harbach’s biography to see if he’d actually inserted himself in the book along with his bestseller.

In short, the writing kept me reading; the story left me annoyed.

The Brightness will be released October 27,2026, by Little Brown and Company. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced review copy.

 

 

Pining for You by Stef Ferrari

   

Pining for You by Stef Ferrari

Bennie is a high school senior who believes in magic, especially Christmas magic. When she stumbles into a lovely girl while working at the local Christmas tree farm, she is convinced that the sparkles she feels are those of true love. Magical true love. With the assistance of her three best friends, she sets off on a quest to find the stranger, and perhaps her own purpose for the future. The four of them encounter enough obstacles to fit any romance lover’s expectation.

This queer holiday romance will be released September 8, 2026, by Simon and Schuster Children’s publishing. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy.

Counting Down to You by Emily Stone

We can "count" on Emily Stone to provide a twist on the usual Christmas romance tropes.  Counting Down to You is traditional fake relationship story, but it’s also the story of friendship that is too important to lose, even when it is gone

Ali and Robyn have been best friends forever. Each year, they create a special Advent type calendar for each other, with both serious and whimsical challenges for the year. The idea is to complete them by Christmas, but at before the year is up.

 

Then Robyn dies and Ali is faced with a future without herAs she works through the last calendar she will ever have from Robyn, she finds herselfIt’s a lovely and heartwarming novel and frankly, a great idea for a gift

Counting Down to You will be published on October 6, 2026, by Ballantine/Bell. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy.

Unsayable by Michael Cunningham

   

Part memoir, part love letter to language and part advice, Unsayable is a gift from beloved author and professor, Michael Cunningham. The book reads as if we are being told a fascinating story, with life advice, while respecting the magic and process of writing. I especially related to his description of the demons all writers face. Particularly the acknowledgment that as we write stories, the world around us goes on, and that terrible things are happening to people. Writer’s guilt is real, and it is encouraging that someone who’s contributed so brilliantly to the realm of literature feels is too.

Unsayable was released July 21, 2026, by Random House. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy.

A Study in Sparkling by Jodi McAlister

   

I was intrigued with this book from the beginning. Fiona is such a likable character, and when her less than likable husband Matt informs her that he has another family across the country, and that his “wife” was expecting, and that he was leaving her and their three children, we can only hope that she finds a way to land on her feet.

Then we meet Satoshi, the younger owner of her favorite wine bar. Satoshi is amazing, and he is astonished to realize he is in love with Fiona. But he knows he has to be careful, and Fiona needs him to be her friend.

Then, if it couldn’t be better, we realize that Jonah, who we fell for in An Academic Affair is Fiona’s beloved brother, and his new wife, Sadie, is her best friend. They characters are wonderful, the romance excruciatingly careful and it makes for a wonderful story.

A Study in Sparkling will be released September 15, 2026, by Atria books. Thanks for this delightful read to NetGalley and the publisher, who sent me a review copy.

June Baby, by Shannon Garvey

   

Born the only child to a to a working-class family, Ruth is suddenly sent from her home by a father grieving his wife’s—her mother’s---horrible and long-awaited death from Cancer. Ruth has no direction—school is out and her mother is gone. They had been very close and now Ruth is alone on Block Island, a place her mother loved, but where Ruth has never been. She’s to stay with a woman her mother had known when she was seventeen, coincidentally Ruth’s age when she died.

Though she is grieving and afraid, Ruth goes to Dianna, a successful photographic artist, and serves as her intern. Dianna gives her a home, purpose and encourages Ruth’s own creativity. Even better, Dianna’s nephew Charlie comes to stay, and Ruth and Charlie become best friends.

But it is ten years later, and now Dianna has died. Ruth knows two things—she wants to stay on Block Island forever, and she’s in love with Charlie.

Grief is an overwhelming emotion in this book, and while it wants to be a meaningful summer read, it leaves the reader dreading every decision Ruth makes. The setting is wonderful—hard not to love the vacation atmosphere, and most of the characters are fun if a bit stereotypical. Ruth’s on again off again boy toy, Louis may be the steadiest of all the characters. Charlie’s new fiancée Natalie also seems a bit one dimensional. But they serve to lighten a book that seems to be wearing a shroud with little hope for recovery.

Garvey writes well, and I will look for something a little more hopeful in her future books. June Baby was published May 12, 2026, by Random House. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy.

Encounters with Unexpected Animals by Bret Anthony Johnston

   

Bret Anthony Johnston encounters many strange animals in his thirteen story collection, Encounters with Unexpected Animals, but the one we gain empathy and insight to is the human one.  Set in primarily impoverished south Texas, the characters in this collection try to make connections—parents to children, children to parents, teenagers to each other.   

  My favorite was Half of What Atlee Rouse Knows About Horses, where Johnston creates not only a beautifully sad story, but takes the reader along to the joy of wild horses, and the way we all survive.  It’s a wonderful collection by a talented writer.  Encounters with Unexpected Animals was published on February 24, 2026, by Random House. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy.

Beginning Middle End by Veria Luiselli

This is a lovely book about a novelist mother and her adolescent daughter living and traveling in Sicily. They have left an ex-husband and stepson/brother behind for a summer sojourn based at the Catania home of a well-to-do friend. The daughter is increasingly curious about the country, her ancestors and the customs of the people.  Together they explore the country, the dockyards and markets and spend time with classical literature, primarily Greek mythology.  It transitions into a road novel and meanders both the mother’s mind and recollections and the country.

   

The novel is quiet, with beautiful language and big ideas. It weaves in history, art and philosophy with special attention to migration, particularly their ancestors who left Europe for Latin America and returned.  It is not a story for plot driven readers, who may find it too slow. In trying to unfold this story in terms of the way one reads a novel, Luiselli creates a story that applies across the ages-- the story of starting over.  It will be released by Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor on July 28, 2026.

 

The Burning Side by Sarah Damoff

This is a well-paced novel that deals with the joys and heartbreaks of life. April and Leo meet at school, where they both care deeply about their students, especially the ones with challenges that mirror the ones each of them dealt with as students. April struggled with dyslexia and Leo was an immigrant boy abandoned by his own parents. Their love is the first conflagration of the novel, and the basis for so many others.

 

Notwithstanding, parenthood, especially of their second child, overwhelms them. April feels lost and unseen by her husband, and Leo feels abandoned, again. Especially when he walks in on his wife and her boss in unmistakable compromise.

Then their house burns to the ground.

The conflict between them ground this multi-point-of-view novel, rotating between the two of them and Aprils almost-too-good-to-be-true mother. April’s family has given Leo the family he never had, and their mutual love and respect makes the conflict between April and Leo even harder. Add a recent diagnosis of April’s father’s quickly advancing Alzheimer’s, and a reappearance of Leo’s family and the novel becomes a can’t put down read.

The Burning Side was released on May 19, 2026, by Simon and Shuster. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy.

When You Loved Me by Beatriz Williams

Lucy Cooper has returned to Winthrop Island after a twelve year absence and a changed life. She has lived with her mother, who loves having children and marries serially (four times!) in Paris, where she has been educated, married and had a child. Then she loses both her husband in Paris and her estranged father on Winthrop Island. As his only child, she returns to settle the estate and possibly collect an inheritance.

What she finds is a mess: her father’s obsession with rumored pirate treasure on their land has left the grand home in shambles, covered with documents, research materials and maps. And a fair amount of dust, and a large amount of debt.

At the same time, Ben Ressler’s glorious career as an NFL player ends after an unfortunate fatal accident on the field, and he’s come to reside in the neighbor’s carriage house and lay low. The neighbor, Laura Peabody, was Lucy’s best friend, twelve years ago. Lucy’s involvement with Ben, and Laura’s Biggest Crush. So, they’ve lost touch, too.

Lucy’s dad has died under mysterious circumstances, and the pirate obsession is inherited by the precocious and utterly charming Elise, her 9-year-old daughter. The story unfolds from the point of view of Laura, Ben and an 18^th century diary of one of Laura’s ancestors. Yes, there is a pirate. Yes, there was treasure. And there are still people who would do anything to find it.

 

When You Loved Me is both a mystery and a lovely romance. Each character is sculpted by a master of the art, and I hated when the book ended. It is published by Ballantine Books and will be released on June 23, 2026. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced reader copy.