March 2026 Anticipated Book Releases

20 new books on my reading radar, plus my Weekly What

Another month of fresh book releases is on the horizon! Here are the 20 books releasing in March on my reading radar.

March 3

• Wait For Me by Amy Jo Burns. From the author of Mercury and Shiner comes a novel about the bond between two female folk singers, the love stories that haunt them, and the music that brings them together to burn bright.

• Lake Effect by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney. From the New York Times bestselling author of The Nest and Good Company comes a wry and tender portrait of two families forever changed by one lovestruck decision that will reverberate for decades.

• Medium Rare by A. Natasha Joukovsky. A modern tragicomedy transforms the myth of Icarus into a blazing romp through bureaucracy, B-list fame, and college basketball.

• Turn Off the Light by Jacquie Walters. Two women living centuries apart are bound by the same dark secret in this haunting novel that upends everything you think you know about ghost stories.

• Where the Girls Were by Kate Schatz. In this electrifying historical novel about coming of age in tumultuous 1960s San Francisco, a pregnant teenager reckons with womanhood and agency after being sent to a home for unwed mothers.

• No Matter What by Cara Bastone. After a traumatic accident threatens the foundations of their happy marriage, a couple tries to rebuild and find their way back to each other—and themselves—in this tender, slow-burn romance.

• A Far-flung Life by M.L. Stedman. From the author of the acclaimed bestseller The Light Between Oceans comes a breathtaking and epic novel set in the vast outback of Australia—about tragedy, family secrets, and the enduring power of love.

March 10

• Nonesuch by Francis Spufford. A spellbinding tale about an ambitious young woman who must thwart an occult plot by time-traveling fascists during the chaos of the London Blitz.

• This Story Might Save Your Life by Tiffany Crum. Best friends Benny and Joy like to say they’ve been saving each other’s lives since the moment they met. Until the day Joy disappears and Benny is suspected of murder.

• Whidbey by T Kira Madden. A portrait of three women connected through one man in the aftermath of his murder—a stunning literary achievement and the explosive and highly anticipated debut novel from a beloved award-winning memoirist.

• Westward Women by Alice Martin. For fans of Emma Cline and Emily St. John Mandel, Westward Women is a hypnotic and hopeful debut—part fever dream, part dystopian road trip that claws its way towards a jaw-dropping finale.

• Judy Blume: A Life by Mark Oppenheimer. The highly anticipated biography of one of the world’s most treasured literary voices, showcasing a life as triumphant and inspiring as the stories she crafted.

March 17

• The Fountain by Casey Scieszka. A propulsive and deeply moving novel about eternity and mortality that asks what it would mean to live forever.

• Paradiso 17 by Hannah Lillith Assadi. The intimate, sweeping tale of one man’s restless search for home the world over, as the pendulum of fate swings between loss and life, grief and euphoria, regret and hope.

• A Woman’s Work: Reclaiming the Radical History of Mothering by Elinor Cleghorn. A powerful and groundbreaking new narrative history of motherhood and mothering.

March 31

• Ruins by Lily Brooks-Dalton. From critically acclaimed, bestselling author of The Light Pirate comes a powerful, deeply resonant novel about an ambitious archaeologist in pursuit of a rare artifact from an ancient civilization that would not only change her life but potentially society at large.

• Mothers and Other Strangers by Corey Ann Haydu. Two estranged childhood best friends reunite as expectant mothers, after a mysterious falling-out between their own mothers keeps them apart for years​. Perfect for readers of Claire Lombardo and J. Courtney Sullivan.

• Nothing Tastes as Good by Luke Dumas. A spine-tingling new thriller about a weight loss treatment with potentially murderous side effects.

• A Good Person by Kirsten King. An electric binge-of-a-debut about a millennial antihero who seeks revenge on her ex-situationship with a hex, only for him to actually, literally die.

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Tell me:

• Which March releases are on your radar?

• What are you planning to read in March? (Front or backlist!)
  
  

  
  

  
  

Reading

• Bel Canto by Ann Patchett. Patchett is a favorite author of mine. That status was really cemented in 2020 when I read Commonwealth (2016). It was my third Patchett novel, typically the point at which I’m willing to recognize a favorite. I’m slowly working my way through her body of work, which at this time consists of 9 novels (a 10th is publishing in June!) and 5 non-fiction works—I’ve read around half.
  
  Next up on my list was Bel Canto, a title I’ve waited way too long to read for a variety of reasons. I was determined to get to it early this year when by a bit of serendipity my in-person book club was resurrected. This club consists of a small group of friends with families of a similar age. Our club has ebbed and flowed depending on family, life, and career demands in various iterations for close to 15 years. I was actually introduced to Ann Patchett through this book club as The Patron Saint of Liars was one of our early selections. I’ve long wanted to suggest Bel Canto as a book club selection as it seems the kind of book best read in a group for discussion. Lucky me, the stars aligned making this possible!
  
  Bel Canto is Ann Patchett’s breakout novel—her 4th, published in 2001. It won the the Orange Prize (now called the Women’s Prize) and PEN/Faulkner award, is among The New York Times' list of the 100 Best Books of the 21st Century, and has been adapted as both a film and an opera (unique!) Inspired by real events, Bel Canto is about a group of politically prestigious people from all over the world gathered for a birthday party in an unnamed South American country where a famous opera singer is to perform who are taken hostage by a young and idealistic terrorist group. Unexpectedly cut off from the outside world for months, music is their common language.
  
  While I can’t say Bel Canto is my favorite Ann Patchett (Commonwealth may hold that spot if forced to choose) I am glad to have read it and I do think it was a good book to read in community.

• Lost Lambs by Madeline Cash. I’ve seen a good bit of buzz for this debut novel and now having read it I can say it’s well deserved! A satirical family saga that manages to be witty and irreverent while incorporating big timely topics like loneliness, personal meaning, and the dissolution of family, alongside elements ripped from current headlines like shadowy billionaire cabals, human trafficking, online conspiracies, and terrorists. While this all might make the book sound heavy or overly dark it’s far from it! Cash smartly packages these topics into an incredibly readable and wildly entertaining absurdist narrative—I loved it!

Listening

• An Academic Affair by Jodi McAlister. We can’t let Valentine’s Day pass by without a romance read, right?! This is a delightfully bookish, smart, and charming contemporary romance about two rival English professors who agree to fake a romantic relationship in order to secure jobs in the arduous world of academia.

• Just in time for America’s Semiquincentennial (I just added the term to my dictionary so autocorrect won’t bother me for the rest of the year) Sara Hildreth of FictionMatters Substack has launched This American Lit, “a yearlong reading project devoted to examining the texts and narratives that continue to shape, define, and challenge the idea of America.” Reading + history + American identity—say less! Every other month Sara is guiding our reading through U.S. history with a thoughtfully crafted, choose-your-own-adventure style syllabus, beginning with Unit 1: Foundations, First Contacts, and a City Upon a Hill (Beginnings - 1750ish). Here’s what I’ve been reading for Unit 1:

  • These Truths: A History of the United States by Jill Lepore, Chapters 1 and 2. Sara suggested a few different comprehensive history texts to read alongside each unit and I selected These Truths as I recently read and appreciated Lepore’s We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution.

  • The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell. A surprisingly humorous and insightful look at the history and legacy of 17th-centural Puritans in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The audiobook is engagingly narrated by Vowell and features an ensemble cast of notable actors including Peter Dinklage, Bill Hader, Catherine Keener, Dermot Mulroney, John Oliver, and John Slattery.

  • The Crucible by Arthur Miller. While The Crucible seems a frequent flyer on high school curricula, I had never read/seen it so this seemed like a great opportunity to do so. Written in 1953, The Crucible is a fictionalized story inspired by real events of the Salem witch trials which serves as an allegory for McCarthyism. I listened to, and would recommend, the 2006 production from L.A. Theatre Works/BBC radio featuring a full cast of notable performers.

• The Briar Club by Kate Quinn. My first Kate Quinn! I picked this up on a personal recommendation and it very unexpectedly complimented my reading of The Crucible. In The Briar Club a group of disparate women find community living in a D.C. boarding house during the McCarthy era. While the story is driven by its characters the plot swirls around a murder mystery and does a good job of incorporating the political and cultural paranoia created by McCarthyism. I found this an engaging read set against an interesting, often overlooked, but relevant historical backdrop. I hybrid read this and the audio kept me company while cleaning out my closet—perhaps my actual least favorite activity of all time.

Watching

• Oh, Hi! (Netflix). I really liked this! It deftly hugs the line between dark comedy and horror with a weird, smart dash of romance.

• Eternity (Apple TV). Just fine.

• Platonic, Season 1 (Apple TV). This is like an elevated sitcom in a great way—I like it. We just started season 2.

• Heated Rivalry (HBO Max). Last week I confessed I just wasn’t that into Heated Rivalry after watching 4 episodes. I was planning to DNF, at the time thinking the season was 8 episodes; I discovered it is actually 6. I could finish 2 hours of programming in a single sitting so I decided to go for it. Those final 2 episodes definitely had more depth and development than the first half of the series, something I really craved. Looking back, I think this series is best enjoyed as a whole and seems intentionally designed to binge in as few sittings as possible.

Eating & Drinking

• Slow Cooker Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwiches with Ranch Potato Wedges made for an easy, crowd-pleasing Monday night meal that stretched into Tuesday leftovers. We found the chicken a touch sweet as written. I’ll make this again, but will try halving the amount of sugar called for. I suspect this will allow for more spicy with a just a little sweet, which we would prefer. I also halved the salt.

• One Pan Chicken Sausage and Orzo was also a new to us recipe that I will be making again. It comes together quickly and easily, offering a surprising amount of flavor with just a handful of main ingredients. I served it with roasted asparagus.

• Upon request I made a batch of Breakfast Sandwiches for the week

• And French Toast Casserole for the weekend as I had some bread, eggs, and milk just waiting to be made into something delicious.

Links + Loves

• The 2026 Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction longlist has been announced (Women’s Prize Trust)

• We’re getting a new Barbara Kingsolver in October! (AP)

• Pour one out for mass market paperbacks: So Long to Cheap Books You Could Fit in Your Pocket (NYT)

• How books perform on dating apps takes a look at the role of books in the dating economy. (The Guardian)

• ‘There’s only one bed’, ‘fake dating’ and ‘opposites attract’: how tropes took over romance. (The Guardian)

• Fiona Davis to Pen First-Ever American Girl Novel for Adults (People) Samantha is getting a sequel.

• This piece on serious leisure speaks to me and my reading practice. (The Conversation)

• Are “Review-Driven” Books Still Feasible? Kathleen Schmidt of Publishing Confidential explores the current book review landscape as it relates to marketing.

• Amy Sherman-Palladino To Helm Adaptation Of Jennifer Weiner Bestseller ‘The Griffin Sisters’ Greatest Hits’ (Deadline) This sounds promising!

  
  
  What are you reading, listening to, eating, watching, liking, and/or linking this week? Let’s chat!
  
  

  
  

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