Sunday, October 25, 2026

The latest must-read debut fiction

 
Readworthy by BookBub
This Month’s Best New Debut Fiction
 
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Book cover for The Three Graces of Pearl Street by Elizabeth Wellington Rollins
‘This comforting family tale is full of heart and humor’ (Booklist starred review)
WHY IT’S READWORTHY:
  • A “stunning” USA Today bestseller that “will surprise and inspire you at every turn” (Adriana Trigiani)
  • In New York City, long-hidden secrets rise to the surface as three generations of Valentini women find themselves living under one roof
  • “With as many layers as Graziella’s lasagna, this is a story that will satisfy readers for a long time” (Library Journal starred review)
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Media mentions for The Three Graces of Pearl Street by Elizabeth Wellington Rollins MEDIA MENTIONS: Book of the Month, People, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Booklist, Literary Hub
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Book cover for The Oxford Guide to Scandal & Lies by Kate Westbury
After World War II, two Oxford students are recruited as secret agents for the Crown
WHY IT’S READWORTHY:
  • A “cracking good” read (Kirkus Reviews) set in 1950s England
  • Undergraduates Gin and Sidney must unite for a common goal: find the dangerous informant hiding at their university
  • “Ginevra and Sidney are some of the most likable characters I’ve met in a long time” (Kristen Perrin, author of the Castle Knoll Files series)
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Media mentions for The Oxford Guide to Scandal & Lies by Kate Westbury MEDIA MENTIONS: Smart Bitches Trashy Books, Indie Next List, Library Reads, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, Library Journal, Booklist, BookPage
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Book cover for Another Name for Red by Amber Blaeser-Wardzala
This highly anticipated debut was named one of People’s Best New Books
WHY IT’S READWORTHY:
  • When an Anishinaabe woman goes missing and the local police prove useless, her sister risks everything to pick up the investigation
  • “A beautiful and harrowing page-turner” (Anna North, New York Times bestselling author of Outlawed)
  • National Book Award finalist Brandon Hobson raves, “You will not be able to put this book down”
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Media mentions for Another Name for Red by Amber Blaeser-Wardzala MEDIA MENTIONS: People, Parade, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews
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Book cover for In the Woods They Wait by Carrie Lee South
An unsettling novel for fans of Stephen King
WHY IT’S READWORTHY:
  • Fifteen years after her brother vanished during a family vacation, Audrey is a search and rescue ranger in the very same woods — and she’s hiding a secret
  • History repeats itself in this “lush” and “vivid” tale (Booklist)
  • “The further I got into this book, the more lights in my house I had to turn on” (USA Today bestselling author Rob Hart)
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Media mentions for In the Woods They Wait by Carrie Lee South MEDIA MENTIONS: People, Esquire, Publishers Weekly, Booklist
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Book cover for Wildwood by Ashley Woo
A house hides dark secrets in this ‘atmospheric, witchy read’ (Stacy Willingham)
WHY IT’S READWORTHY:
  • A “mesmerizing and haunting debut” (Sarah Pearse) from a “talented new voice in gothic suspense” (Andrea Bartz)
  • After Elinor inherits a mysterious estate in rural Vermont, strange dreams pull her into her family’s haunted past
  • “Woo does a remarkably effective job building an escalating sense of dread” (Publishers Weekly)
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Media mentions for Wildwood by Ashley Woo MEDIA MENTIONS: Parade, Publishers Weekly, Booklist, Literary Hub
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Book cover for Fallow by Sarah Anderson
‘The Handmaid’s Tale meets Severance’ (Bustle)
WHY IT’S READWORTHY:
  • “Unputdownable… Everyone will be talking about [it]” (Olivia Colman)
  • In this darkly funny, provocative novel, a woman signs up to become the world’s first corporate surrogate…
  • Garnering praise from literary superstars like Kiley Reid, Rumaan Alam, and Lauren Groff, who calls this “a spectacular debut” from “a dazzling new talent”
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Media mentions for Fallow by Sarah Anderson MEDIA MENTIONS: Book of the Month, Time Magazine, The New York Times/The New York Times Book Review, The Atlantic, People, The Wall Street Journal, Harper's Bazaar, Bustle, The Boston Globe, Reactor, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, Booklist, Literary Hub
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Book cover for The Rally by Carla Vass
Jennifer Weiner recommends this ‘delicious escape’ set in glamorous European locales
WHY IT’S READWORTHY:
  • According to Chris Bohjalian, The Rally is “the sort of scrumptious novel you’ll devour like Belgian chocolate, French bread, and Italian wine”
  • Ousted from the dating app she helped build, Charlie joins her best friend on an extravagant road trip across Europe — where she embraces her newfound freedom and reckons with the secrets of her past
  • “A joyride start to finish. I didn’t want it to end!” (Emily Everett, author of Reese’s Book Club pick All That Life Can Afford)
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Media mentions for The Rally by Carla Vass MEDIA MENTIONS: People, Publishers Weekly, Booklist, Literary Hub
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Book cover for Observer by Nicholas Russell
A woman is drawn deeper into the desert as she investigates her estranged mother’s disappearance
WHY IT’S READWORTHY:
  • An atmospheric and darkly comic novel
  • Danzy Senna, author of Colored Television, calls it “deeply unsettling, urgent, dark, and wry”
  • “H. P. Lovecraft understands the weirdness of New England, Jeff VanderMeer understands the weirdness of Florida… But nobody understands the parched and spiny weirdness of Nevada like Nicholas Russell does” (Shirley Jackson Award–winning author Brian Evenson)
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Media mentions for Observer by Nicholas Russell MEDIA MENTIONS: NPR, Reactor
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Book cover for Our Cut of Salt by Deena Helm
‘The must-read of the year’ (New York Times bestselling author Trang Thanh Tran)
WHY IT’S READWORTHY:
  • Publishers Weekly calls this instant USA Today bestseller “beautifully crafted”
  • Three generations of Palestinian women gather in their ancestral home to grapple with their futures in this “one-of-a-kind haunted house” novel (New York Times bestselling author Paul Tremblay)
  • “Lyrical and terrifying… Will leave you aching in its wake” (Bram Stoker Award–winning author Monika Kim)
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Media mentions for Our Cut of Salt by Deena Helm MEDIA MENTIONS: The Guardian, Reactor, Publishers Weekly
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Book cover for The Betrayal of Cora Wexford by Bethany Joy Lenz
Chilling psychological suspense in Jack the Ripper’s London
WHY IT’S READWORTHY:
  • “Fans of historical fiction will thrill to this dark tale” (Publishers Weekly)
  • An American expat is commissioned to paint a series of portraits of dead women — and then a killer reenacts her work…
  • The debut novel from the author of the New York Times bestselling memoir Dinner for Vampires
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Media mentions for The Betrayal of Cora Wexford by Bethany Joy Lenz MEDIA MENTIONS: Entertainment Weekly, USA Today, Bustle, Good Housekeeping, Parade, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews
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Book cover for The Chinese Lady by Bo Wang
‘Wang’s fresh voice offers a glimpse into a forgotten woman of history’ (Library Journal)
WHY IT’S READWORTHY:
  • In 1834, Afong Moy is put on display as part of a cruel live exhibit of the first known Chinese woman in the United States
  • Follow Afong’s journey from New York to San Francisco as she fights to define her own story in this “exceptional” and “exquisitely written” novel (Jennifer Chiaverini) based on true events
  • “Poignant and luminous… I will be recommending this phenomenal debut to everyone” (Marjan Kamali, author of The Lion Women of Tehran)
Learn more...
Media mentions for The Chinese Lady by Bo Wang MEDIA MENTIONS: The New York Times/The New York Times Book Review, Bustle, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Booklist, Literary Hub
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