6 of the Best New Book Releases Out September 22, 2026
Big Release Fall is officially underway!
This means we’re getting Empire, the final book in a stunning YA romantasy duology, by Sabaa Tahir. We’re also getting new John Green (his adult debut, actually) and Naomi Alderman, which I have more on below.
Before we get to that, though, there are a couple new cookbooks that I think are of the culture-shifting variety. By that I mean that they show us new ways to relate to food that disentangle us from the very commercial and capitalist ways we relate to it now. The first is by someone I’ve been following on social media for a while now. Alexis Nikole Nelson is known as the Black Forager, and she teaches how to find sustenance in your own backyard. Her book Happy Snacking, Don’t Die! teaches safety when foraging, and comes with a few handy recipes. Then there’s Gyetk by Rachel Greening and Spencer Greening. It shares 60 recipes from the Ts’msyen people, who are native to the Pacific Northwest Coast.
Once you’ve had your fill of foodie-reading, there are also a couple of witchy books to really get into the season with: Witch Daughter by Tanaz Bhathena (love and loss in ancient Persia), Witches of the Wheel by Lindsay Merbaum (a queer, metaphysical mystery), and Witchland by Marion Gibson (nonfiction on moral panic in 1640s Britain).
The rest of the best books out this week feature an intergenerational Taiwanese American family’s story, a queer, trans Hamlet retelling, and more.
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Mentioned in our Monthly Round-Up
Isn’t He Romantic? by Adib Khorram
At nearly 40, Arya has always been wary of love, but maybe it’s time to start looking for something beyond hookups. Things get complicated when Arya discovers his latest partner, Ben, is the committee chair of the charity ball his company is planning. To scare off an ex, Ben claims Arya is his boyfriend. Since they’re already spending time together, what will a little fake dating hurt? —Courtney Rodgers
More New Releases
The Strangers by Naomi Alderman
The author of powerhouse speculative books such as The Power and The Future returns with a novel of first contact. In The Strangers, a grieving novelist named Naomi Alderman discovers a never-before-seen animal on her trail camera. Scientists call it a mimmoth, and soon, they’re everywhere. Where did they come from, and why do they seem connected to Naomi? —Liberty Hardy
Hollywood, Ending by John Green
Not only is this mega-bestselling author John Green’s first novel in nine years, it’s also his first adult novel. In other words, it’s one of this year’s most highly anticipated novels, and it is oh, so timely. The dual points of view follow rising actors Kai Laramie and Juniper Castillo, who are both getting swept up in the fervor of being cast in the It biopic, Andy Warhol Never Gets Old. Through them, the biopic, and their burgeoning romance, we see a Hollywood romance unfold that contrasts real life with the celebrity culture that was born during Warhol’s life. —Erica Ezeifedi
Foreigners by E. L. Shen
I love an intergenerational story, and this one’s getting comparisons to Pachinko and to Last Night at the Telegraph Club.
The Chin family has a long history of keeping secrets. Starting in 1878, Duanfang sees his life as one of greatness. One of the things he does to protect his Manchu family is to hide his past as he grows and builds his own legacy.
Then in 1965, Zheng Yi makes the journey from Taiwan to New York City to attend college. It’s a world wildly different from the one she grew up in, and she worries that she’s taken on more than she can handle. But then she makes a decision that completely upends her life and her future.
Now, Dawn Chin understands that her family has high expectations of everyone and a practice of silence about their own legacy. But when Dawn has a class assignment to conduct an interview and speaks with her grandmother, generations of family secrets are suddenly exposed. —Kelly Jensen
Thoughts Be Bloody by Auden Patrick
In this queer, trans Hamlet retelling, Horatio Bithersea finds Carson Hamlett cradling the dead body of his father in the Elsinore university library. A year later, Horatio is barely holding it together, trying to keep his life-threatening magic in check. That’s when the ghost of Hamlett’s father curses Hamlett and Horatio until they avenge his death by bringing down Elsinore. Horatio is loyal to the school that has given him everything, including the freedom to live as a trans man, but if he doesn’t obey, he will lose control of his mind and soul. As Hamlett and Horatio work together to learn Elsinore’s secrets, Horatio realizes that Hamlett may be more more of a threat than his undead father. —Danika Ellis
Eden at Dawn, by Karim Kattan, translated by Jeffrey Zuckerman
This love story between two men in Palestine is part literary fiction, part romance, part fairy tale. Isaac and Gabriel meet on the streets of Jerusalem as a 50-day sandstorm blots out the sun. Their tentative romance is narrated by the sky itself, observing as they set out on a road trip, dodging check points to start a life in the West Bank as war rages around them. —Danika Ellis
Other Book Riot New Releases Resources:
- All the Books, our weekly new book releases podcast, where Liberty and a cast of co-hosts talk about the books out this week we’re most excited about.
- The New Books Newsletter, where we send you an email of the books out this week that are getting buzz.
- Finally, if you want the real inside scoop on new releases, you have to check out Book Riot’s New Release Index! That’s where I find 90% of new releases, and you can filter by genre, age category, and even LGBTQ new releases!
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