As the world grows more and more deranged, I find myself seeking the most bizarre, oppressive, incomprehensible horror available. But there’s something strangely comforting about horror like Amparo Dávila’s. Stories that seem mostly normal, albeit odd, until something twists at the last moment and you’re left wondering. Seeing things in the corner of your vision, shadows on the walls, yawning eye sockets. Dávila’s writing makes the terrifying feel quiet, almost intimate.

Behind the Gate by Amparo Davila, (List Price: $16.95, New Directions, 9780811240581, October 2026)

Reviewed by Charlie, Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, VA

Buy from your local indie.
Get the audiobook

Happy Women in Translation Month! This long-awaited cult classic novel is finally available in English, thanks to the incredible Jonathan Woollen. Superstars is an intimate portrait of a life in the 90s Parisian techno subculture. In three words: French, lesbian, DJs.

Superstars by Ann Scott, (List Price: $22, Astra House, 9781662603471, April 2026)

Reviewed by Abigail, Parnassus Books in Nashville, TN

Buy from your local indie.

Richard Russo has written many memorable novels, and Under the Falls is again a study into the minds of characters as they exist with the people they know best. Tyler Sinclair, at 36, is a successful frontman for the band Stone Mountain, and he is returning to his hometown after leaving abruptly eighteen years earlier. The band is coming to Stone Mountain for a benefit for Doc, who is in a wheelchair because of an accident that Tyler may have caused. Tyler also sees his childhood best friend Curt, who is married to Tyler’s former lover Freddi. The concert is interrupted by jeering audience members, and the night ends with a tragic incident causing deaths. Many questions are raised… why did Curt leave Stone Mountain at age 18? What caused the deaths on the mountain after the concert? And what is happening with drug running under the nose of the Chief of Police? The secrets and betrayals will keep the pages turning as readers get a glimpse into life in this small town.

Under the Falls by Richard Russo, (List Price: $30, Knopf, 9780593805107, August 2026)

Reviewed by Nancy, Bookmiser in Marietta, GA

Buy from your local indie.
Get the audiobook

While reading How We Disappear, I saw a post that said, “You don’t need to wash your water bottle or your bed sheets or anything. Everything will eventually become clean because of a great big fire.” In a weird and funny way, it connects to one of the book’s main ideas: everything we make, use, and value will eventually disappear. The book blends technology, history, biology, photography, and archival science with personal reflections about the author’s late father. By “archiving” his father’s life through the objects left in his bedroom, the author explores how memories are preserved and how they are fragile pieces of (mis)information. It encouraged me to think about what people leave behind and whether our attempts to preserve ourselves actually work.

How We Disappear by Thomas S. Mullaney, (List Price: $26.99, W. W. Norton & Company, 9781324020783, June 2026)

Reviewed by Chloe, Epilogue: Books Chocolate Brews in Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Buy from your local indie.

The Lost Voices of Pompeii is time travel at its finest. Expertly researched and artfully written, Dr. Venner places you directly inside a living, breathing Pompeii. It’s intimately human yet wholeheartedly driven by fact. Honestly, the way I’ve been describing this book to my friends (none of whom were spared) isn’t nearly as eloquent…. “It’s like you’re an invisible hitchhiker, piggy-back riding around Pompeii in 79 CE.” Still, I stand by this evaluation. Knowing Dr. Venner’s particular expertise in ancient gardening, I expected her to include vibrantly detailed descriptions of the gardens and the city layout. However, I was not expecting the mouth-watering culinary moments. (I had to put this book down at one point, because I was stuck on a plane and growing far too hungry). In all seriousness, I am so thrilled to have picked up The Lost Voices of Pompeii. It is fun, informative, and an incredibly special read.

The Lost Voices of Pompeii by Dr. Jess Venner, (List Price: $30, William Morrow, 9780063460614, May 2026)

Reviewed by Caroline, Garden District Book Shop in New Orleans, Louisiana

Buy from your local indie.
Get the audiobook

I absolutely loved this memoir. Hackney digs into the real grit of her upbringing with a loving thoughtfulness no outsider could ever hope to capture. As someone with a similar background, I think this kind of honest reckoning is necessary for us to ever move forward.

All That’s Unseen by Emilee Hackney, (List Price: $32, Penguin Press, 9780593831403, July 2026)

Reviewed by Brooke, The Country Bookshop in Southern Pines, NC

Buy from your local indie.
Get the audiobook

Harmony is sure ghosts are real. When she travels with her musician dad, she always goes on ghost tours in each town. When they settle in Savannah for the summer, she’s sure she sees a ghost. Soon her new friends are helping her solve a mystery of the potential ghost, an unsolved murder, and a missing person. This is a great action-packed mystery.

Ghost in the Night by Tiffany D. Jackson, (List Price: $18.99, Scholastic Press, 9798225017477, August 2026)

Reviewed by Rae Ann, Parnassus Books in Nashville, TN

Buy from your local indie.
Get the audiobook

I LOVED this!! There were so many twists and turns that I absolutely wasn’t expecting. It was the perfect combination of These Violent Delights, Heartless Hunter, and Red Queen. I literally finished this book like five minutes ago, so I don’t have the words to describe exactly how I’m feeling, but just know there were multiple audible reactions from me while reading the last 30ish pages, and I need more people to read this immediately so I have someone to talk to about it.

To Drown a Witch by Lindsey Olsson, (List Price: $20.99, G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers, 9798217004799, July 2026)

Reviewed by Lola, E. Shaver, Booksellers in Savannah, Georgia

Buy from your local indie.

This book celebrates big ideas: community, school, team projects. But it also celebrates the unique qualities of the individual. Love it! And of course the illustrations are beautiful.

Story Rug by Sophie Blackall, (List Price: $18.99, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 9780316535380, July 2026)

Reviewed by Wilson, novel. in Memphis, Tennessee