📚 Leave the TBR list at home

📚 Leave the TBR list at home April 28, 2026View Online | Join All Access | Listen 🧳 Now that spring break is behind us, it’s the perfect time to start planning your summer adventures. If literary tourism is on the agenda, don’t miss Conde Nast Traveler‘s highlight reel of the best independent bookstores in America. Our best advice: leave the TBR list at home, and ask a bookseller about the titles they’re most excited about right now. Never fails. Spread the word. Share this email with friends. THE HEADLINEThe New York Times‘s best books of the year so far With a third of the year—and one of publishing’s three seasons—behind us, the New York Times has named the best books of 2026 so far. There’s a little something for everybody among the selections. Kin by Tayari Jones, which we named The It Book of February, leads the list of 13 titles with high praise from reviewer Radhika Jones: “When reading ‘Kin,’ I wanted nothing more than to keep reading it.” With more than 60,000 copies sold since its release on February 24, Kin is the rare novel that is as popular with readers as it is with critics. Romance fans will be delighted to see Cat Sebastian, whose historical romances have been widely celebrated, make an appearance with her first contemporary story. Star Shipped is a queer rivals-to-lovers about costars on a sci-fi TV show, and it sounds like a great time. Tradwife thriller Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke is ev-er-y-where right now, from the GMA Book Club to the top tier of the bestseller list. Anne Hathaway is set to star in the adaptation from Amazon MGM Studios. Nonfiction fans, there’s plenty for you on the Gray Lady’s list as well. Book Riot house fave Patrick Radden Keefe notches a spot for his latest, London Falling, and we’re delighted to see Namwali Serpell get her flowers for the excellent On Morrison. 📚 Check out the whole list. NEW RELEASESEverybody wants to rule the world<img decoding="async" alt="boring asian female, middlemen, ghost town" src="https://s2982.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/new-releases-april-28.jpg.optimal.jpg" style="width:100%;max-width:670px;display:block;margin:0;padding:0" width="670"> You can almost hear Heidi Klum asking, “Are you in…or out?” within the pages of this week’s featured new releases. 👎 A young woman’s world crumbles when Harvard Law School rejects her for not being interesting enough in Canwen Xu’s Boring Asian Female. 🕵️‍♀️ Literary historian Laura B. McGrath delivers a data-filled examination of the evolution of modern American publishing and literary agents’ impacts on the industry ✍️ An aging writer finally tells the story of the teenage experience that shaped his life in Tom Perrotta’s new novel, Ghost Town. Also hitting shelves this week: a standalone novel from T.J. Klune about a gay couple who head out on a road trip as a black hole threatens to end the world; historical fiction about Katherine Hepburn from Priya Parmar; and a cookbook to help you DIY famous dishes. 📤 Get ahead of the game with our (free) Book Radar newsletter, tracking exciting book deals and must-read forthcoming titles. TOGETHER WITH POETRY MAGAZINE<img decoding="async" alt="Promotional image for Poetry Magazine" src="https://s2982.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Book-Riot-970x550-1-3.jpg.optimal.jpg" style="width:100%;max-width:670px;display:block;margin:0;padding:0" width="670"> Practice makes poetry.​ This April, new subscribers to Poetry receive a free limited edition notebook designed for…

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