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Public Access Afterworld is a sprawling modern epic, perfect for internet weirdos and TV lovers. This novel is the perfect center between Schoenbrun’s other works, I Saw the TV Glow and We’re All Going to the World’s Fair. Even though it’s 600 pages, I flew through this book. I’m recommending it to everyone I know.

Public Access Afterworld by Jane Schoenbrun, (List Price: $33, Hogarth, 9780593978382, October 2026)

Reviewed by Em, Bookmiser in Marietta, GA

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Schoenbrun’s first novel infinitely expands the world we’ve glimpsed through their films: We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, I Saw the TV Glow, and most recently Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma. Public Access Afterworld is an epic for the digital age; an absolute tome of speculative fiction with a wandering timeline (Oppenheimer makes an appearance), a cast of unreliable narrators, a trans final girl/Chosen One, and a sense of humor against all odds. Buckle up, losers! We’re going to the TV dimension.

Public Access Afterworld by Jane Schoenbrun, (List Price: $33, Hogarth, 9780593978382, October 2026)

Reviewed by Ryan, Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, NC

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Set in a future that feels quite plausible, or in an alternative reality, Ply feels both close and very real to me. Diaz has a way with words that makes you see everything plainly in front of you. The prose is beautiful and lulls you throughout the book, like our protagonist at the beginning of this story. I think this book shows humanity at its core: the beauty and the destructive power of ourselves, the unavoidability of freedom alongside the need for structure. Absolutely gorgeous! It shook my soul the way only true art can.

Ply by Hernan Diaz, (List Price: $32, Riverhead Books, 9780593719541, September 2026)

Reviewed by Erika, Righton Books in St Simons Island, GA

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I’ll always hang out where poetry and memoir meet. Beth Ann Fennelly twists the memoir genre upside down and inside out, weaving stories and memories into a satisfying whole.

The Irish Goodbye by Beth Ann Fennelly, (List Price: $22.99, W. W. Norton & Company, 9781324117407, 2026-02-24)

Reviewed by Liz, E. Shaver, booksellers in Savannah, Georgia

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This is a beautiful, intimate collection deeply rooted in place. The poet illustrates the complicated relationship many queer people have with the South, and uses form to show how contradictions can exist alongside each other. It’s about grief and memories and love and change, and about finding language to talk about all of them.

Small Talk by Acie Clark, (List Price: $16.95, Hub City Press, 9798885740814, September 2026)

Reviewed by Becca, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, NC

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Paul Bochner fell completely in love with an injured, abandoned fawn that approached him at his home in Weschester County, New York. She was quite alone and he assumed her mother had run her off because of her injured foot. Thus began this love story with this caring, gentle man who began to nurture this fawn with apples and adoring words of comfort. He named her Penelope and set morning alarms to feed her, and she began to visit twice a day for companionship and pampering. The author felt that he and Penelope had common ground as the author had abandonment issues from neglect in his youth. Paul Bochner had been close to animals his whole life and had loved dogs and even raised a lamb from birth. Penelope began to thrive with his attention and pampering and take food from his hand as he offered. Paul would also protect her from any attacking deer and show his favoritism to her in front of any other deer. He encouraged her to enter his sunroom and feed if ever he couldn’t be there. Penelope had a foal he named Carol and both came to him for cooked chestnuts and fruits. The following year she gave birth to twins he named Iris and Cyrus. This charming tale is complete with pictures of this beautiful deer and the man with whom she clearly had a deep relationship. Readers will not be able to put the book down until the very last page of this memorable total love story.

Penelope by Paul Bochner, (List Price: $30, Crown, 9798217399413, October 2026)

Reviewed by Nancy, Bookmiser in Marietta, GA

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What a giggle! This silly little picture book is the perfect spooky season gift to get your kiddos moving, playing, and working off some post-Halloween candy energy! Beautifully illustrated in an updated midcentury style, these are bound to be the cutest ghosts (and bats…I’m obsessed with the bats) you’ll see all autumn. Consider me charmed!

Giggling Ghosts! by Fiz Osborne, (List Price: $12.99, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 9781665990875, July 2026)

Reviewed by Jenny, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, NC

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A wonderful book about community and celebration of a beloved holiday – Halloween – sharing new experiences.

The Great Pumpkin Pancake Party by Celeste Pewter, (List Price: $18.99, Henry Holt and Co. (BYR), 9781250375995, July 2026)

Reviewed by Judith, Octavia Books in New Orleans, LA

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Love this sweet book! The illustrations are magical and the story itself is full of imagination, play and is confidence building!

Have You Ever Seen a Ghost? by Daniel Kwan, (List Price: $19.99, Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 9781665956925, August 2026)

Reviewed by Suzanne, Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC