Release date: January 13, 2026

Vanessa Riley has written a number of big historical fiction books in recent years, including Island Queen and Sister Mother Warrior, but I’ve never been so excited about the premise for one of her books as I am for this one. Probably because it’s about lady pirates. Okay, definitely because it’s about lady pirates. It sounds like everything fans of Black Sails, Our Flag Means Death, and seafaring historical fiction ever could’ve wanted.

Release date: May 26, 2026

June Hur is hands down my favorite YA historical fiction author (and also just generally one of my favorite authors of historical fiction). Pride and Prejudice is one of my all-time favorite books. So, you know when I found out Hur was tackling a Pride and Prejudice-inspired historical romance set in Joseon-era Korea, featuring government censorship and illicit book transcription, I couldn’t contain my glee. Let’s just say it lived up to every single one of my expectations.

Release date: January 27, 2026

I first heard of this book directly from Williams at a writing conference. The Emmy Award-winning producer and podcast host told me the first line, and I was hooked. The Dupree women only give birth to daughters, but that’s not the only mysterious thing about them. In 1995, 14-year-old Tati goes down a rabbit hole trying to find out who her father is, but just uncovers more secrets and questions. Like, why did her grandmother Gladys leave Land’s End, Alabama in ’53, and what happened to Jubi when she tried to pass for white in 1917? At the beginning of it all is the story of one enslaved ancestor who paid the ultimate price for freedom. —Erica Ezeifedi

Release date: May 5, 2026

Sunyi Dean’s debut novel, The Book Eaters, was a bloody good time and one of my favorite books of 2022, so I was wicked excited to learn she has a new book coming in 2026! It’s a historical dark fantasy set in Hong Kong about a woman named Mercy Chan. Mercy arrived in Kowloon years earlier with no memory of who she is and has since made a life as a ghost talker for the triad. But then a murderous spirit starts drowning people, and catches Mercy’s attention. The spirit claims to know her and her unremembered past. And if Mercy can’t remember where she came from and how she ended up in Kowloon, it may drag her down into the depths for good. — Liberty Hardy

Release date: Jul 14, 2026

Silvia Moreno-Garcia could write a guide on knitting sweaters for earthworms, and I’d be out here cheering, “Yesss, clothe the tiny invertebrates!” She has, of course, crafted an irresistible plot in a noir tale of desire, greed, and seduction. In 1940s Mexico, a handsome grifter charms women into giving him their money through letters. Intent on securing a bigger, more reliable bag when the letter scheme runs its course, he sets his sights on the owner of a boardinghouse in a small town in Veracruz. There are two holes in this plan: his intended victim’s niece clocks him right away and wants in on the scheme as a means to escape this small town, and his victim is not the gullible mark he thinks she is… —Vanessa Diaz