Looking Ahead into 2026

by Nate Carroll

There’s no rest for a bookseller! As one year of amazing reading ends it’s time to look ahead to the next and already 2026 looks to be an exciting one for books. There’s some heavy hitters already announced for the start of the year- starting with Vigil in early February , George Saunders’ first novel since his sensational Man Booker winning Lincoln in the Bardo. I’m particularly excited about Glyph from my all time favourite author Ali Smith, the second in her dystopian duology. Expect a story equal parts playful and profound. An author who seems to need no rest at all is Elizabeth Strout, whose next book The Things We Never Say publishes in May. March is a treat for those who like their fiction to get under their skin and unsettle; we have Lauren Groff’s latest collection Brawler and Asako Yuzuki’s (of Butter fame) second novel Hooked. Two great novelists, Sebastian Barry and Colson Whitehead, enter third novels into loosely expanding universes, with The Newer World and Cool Machine, while Booker winner Yann Martel returns at the end of March with the ambitious Son of Nobody. Booker shortlisted author, John Lanchester’s Look What You Made Me Do is out in March. Deborah Levy’s My Year in Paris with Gertrude Stein: A Fiction, looks especially intriguing. Levy is one of our great novelists and her writing on art is equally as good- this new novel, which looks to combine the two, promises to be Levy at her lofty best. Perhaps the two biggest literary releases of the year will come a little later, with Maggie O'Farrell's Land and Ann Patchett's Whistler both publishing in June.

On the New Zealand front, two of our very best writers are publishing new books early in the year. After her landmark memoir The Mirror Book, Charlotte Grimshaw returns to fiction with The Black Monk in March. Elizabeth Knox publishes her first memoir in April with Night, Ma, reflections on a three year period marked by a series of calamities to the people closest to her. Knox is such a creative and sensitive writer - an invitation into her head is not to be missed. Similarly, I’m intrigued by Kate Camp's Leather & Chains: My 1986 Diary, wherein one of our best poets responds to her fourteen year old self's diary. We’re also very excited for debut novels by two longtime members of our wider Time Out community, with Elisabeth Easther’s Seed and Karen Holdom’s The End and the Beginning.

A memoir which I’m lucky enough to have already read is Ghost Stories by Booker longlisted writer Siri Hustvedt, centered on the death of her husband, Paul Auster. Her writing on love, absence and grief is remarkable and so too are the small sections of Auster’s final writing- letters to their 1 year old grandson, written after he knew his cancer was terminal. Not an easy read but one with tremendous power. One of the most anticipated books of the year is Gisele Pelicot’s A Hymn To Life: Shame has to Change Sides, the first biography from one of our most courageous modern figures. The other major early year release is Patrick Radden Keefe, author of Say Nothing and Empire of Pain, new book London Falling. He’s the modern master of non-fiction writing and this new book sounds typical to type- an investigation into the death of a young man which spawns a host of new questions for each single answer.

Two debut novels we’re keeping a close eye on at Time Out are The Bodybuilders by Albertine Clarke and Whidbey by T Kira Madden. I’ve read an early review copy of Whidbey and immediately picked it as a book which could make some noise. In it, a woman meets a stranger and tells him about the man who abused her as a child, and the stranger offers to kill the man and then disappear. From there a constantly shifting narrative unspools, that reads like a cross between A Little Life and a Patricia Highsmith novel. The Bodybuilders is a speculative fiction novel that frays at the border between the body and the mind. All I needed to see was the early review ‘If Phillip K Dick had written the Bell Jar’ to be instantly curious.

I’d be remiss not to mention some excellent global fiction being published in English this year. The On the Calculation of Volume series which has so gripped the literary scene (and our local Time Out one) continues, with its 4th and 5th entries set to come in 2026. The great Mexican novelist Alvaro Enrigue publishes Now I Surrender in the second half of the year and Time Out favourite Elisa Dusapin has a new book The Old Fire out in March. One of my favourite writers around, Vigdis Hjorth, also has a new translation of her book Repetition, wherein a seemingly innocuous memory inspires a dark realisation.

All these and many more great books to come in 2026 - including Jennette McCurdy (late January), Colm Toibin (April) and Min Jin Lee (September).

95bFM's Loose Reads: Helm by Sarah Hall

Nate visited the bFM studio for our first review of 2026.

A monumental novel, twenty years in the making, Helm traces humanities connection with a Cumbrian wind of that same name, Ranging from the modern day to Celtic England, it shows how humans have always been shaped by nature, and the irreversible loss we risk by upsetting a long held balance.

Hall has always been a magnificent prose writer and she finds perhaps her greatest achievement here in the personified voice of Helm (the wind). Playful, aloof, alien and constantly changing.

Listen to the full review below with Milly:

95bFM's Loose Reads: The Silver Book by Olivia Laing

Nate reviewed Olivia Laing's The Silver Book, a new Time Out staff favourite. A beguiling story set in the world of 1970’s Italian cinema, it examines the thin line between art and reality - as well as the destructive power that hides in our societal systems. The perfect book for that arty friend that you never know how to buy for!

Listen to the full review below with Milly & Rosetta.

95bFM's Loose Reads: The City Changes Its Face by Eimear McBride

Nate went into BFM to talk about Eimear McBride’s new novel, The City Changes Its Face. Weird, wonderful and full of emotional heft- a perfect portrait of a faltering romantic relationship.

Listen to the full review below with Milly & Rosetta.

95bFM's Loose Reads: Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy

Nate visits 95bFM for his first ever radio review! Today, he brings in the brand new release, Mother Mary Comes to Me by Booker Prize winning author, Arundhati Roy.

A memoir exploring mother/daughter dynamics, Indian politics and what is likely to be a foundation for the storyline of The God of Small Things, this book will be one of Nate’s favourite reads of the year.

Listen to the full review below with Milly & Rosetta.

Book Review: Twist by Colum McCann

By Nate

On opening Twist the new novel by Colum McCann (author of Time Out favourite Apeirogon) I didn’t quite know what to expect; all I knew was that the plot seemed to be centred on the repairing of an underwater internet cable. To say the least, that is not a subject one often reads about. It was a pleasant surprise, then, to find in Twist a deeply introspective novel on human connection- how it forms and fails.

Twist is a deeply internal novel, the events solely being viewed through the eyes of Fennel, a failing middle-aged writer who is asked to write a magazine article on the boats that repair the world's underwater cable network. Fennel flies out to South Africa to board one of these boats and report on the work that goes on to keep the world connected. It appears an easy job, a simple and crowd pleasing article with an obvious narrative. However, on meeting Conway, the enigmatic and mysterious ship captain, a far more alluring story begins to form. In truth, the novel is more interesting off the boat, which McCann recognises. While the underwater cables maintain the framework of the novel, it is Fennel’s relationship with Conway and the strange currents that swirl around him that are the true focus. As a character he is always something of a cipher; appearing both friendly and distant, steady and uncontrolled, cynical and introspective. I find that these types of characters can appear frustrating in fiction, that their role as an object of fascination can make them feel thin, and the eventual payoff not worthy of the attention given to it. McCann avoids this pitfall, partly through Fennels function as an unreliable narrator; it is never clear, even to himself, how much of his view of Conway is internal projection and how much is earnt.

This is a difficult review to write, as so much of Twist relies on uncertainty- we are meant to unveil the curtain of Conway's life as Fennel does. However, at heart Twist is a novel about the relationships that connect us; how valuable and vulnerable they truly are.

Nate's Releases to Watch in 2025

As hard as it is to believe, 2025 is now well and truly upon us and the time has come to move from writing best books of the year lists to most exciting upcoming books of the year ahead. Thankfully, while everyone else was trying to get as much rest as could be squeezed in over Christmas/New Year, the book/publishing world never truly stops and we’ve already got some great titles releasing soon, as well as exciting authors slated to release new books this year that are well worth keeping an eye on. 

The big release for February is the new Han Kang ‘We Do Not Part’. I’m only about 100 pages in but I can already tell it’ll be an early favourite of the year. The central plot is deceptively simple- a woman struggling through a snowstorm to check on a friend's budgie- but there’s an ever present menace lingering in these pages and I can’t wait to see it unfold.

Another Nobel winner also has a new book out in Feb, with Annie Ernaux’s ‘The Use of Photography’, finally reaching New Zealand. In it, the great French essayist examines her relationship with former partner Marc Marie, using images he took of their time together. Ernaux is both brilliant and experimental and I can’t wait to see how she explores the interactions between the two mediums.

Less well known but no less brilliant is Gerald Murnane, whose book on writing ‘Barley Patch’ is being re-released by one of my favourite small presses that same month. No one else I’ve read can write quite like he can; his novels push the boundary of what fiction means and can do. I would hazard a guess that a Nobel prize isn’t too far away from him either. Finally, we have a memoir by Geraldine Brooks, author of ‘People of the Brook’ and ‘Horse’, focusing on the loss of her husband.

March is always a great month for new releases and this year is no exception. Perhaps the biggest literary release of the year  'Dream Count’ by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, her first book in a decade, lands early in the month. ‘Americanah’ and ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’ are two of those books that I’ve always told myself I should read and have just never quite gotten to, so I’m particularly excited to finally read an Adichie. ‘Twist’ by Colum McCann is also released that month, which might win the award for best book with least inviting premise. While it bills itself as a book about repairing undersea internet cables and even goes as far as to have a massive cable on the front cover, it’s surprisingly a very compelling read. McCann is best known for his novel ‘Apeirogon’, which focused on the bond between two Israeli and Palestinian fathers. In ‘Twist’ he continues to focus on the connection between people, but in this case the way in which those bonds can fracture and the consequences of that. It's already an early 2025 staff favourite! Keep an eye out for ‘Flesh’ by David Szalazy and ‘The Antidote’ by Karen Russell, two wonderful writers releasing new books in March.

There are a number of amazing authors releasing books later in the year. Ocean Vuong is releasing his first novel since ‘On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous’ with ‘The Emperor of Gladness’- described as a friendship between a suicidal teen and a elderly women with dementia. I’m sure it will be as poetic and heart-wrenching as his previous works.

My bet for saddest book of the year is Yiyan Li’s memoir on grief, written after her sons suicide in early 2024. ‘Where Reasons End’, her last novel, a conversation between a mother and her dead son, was inspired by the death of her first son in 2017 and was achingly beautiful. I expect her memoir will be emotional, unflinchingly honest and beautifully written.

On a less heavy note R F Kuang, after the runaway success of ‘Yellowface’ and ‘Babel’, returns with another book of dark magical academia. ‘Katabasis’ has been described as a cross between Piranesi and Dante's Inferno, which personally, sounds extremely fun. It is out in August.

Ali Smith is also slated to release the companion novel to ‘Gliff’, aptly titled ‘Glyph’, in 2025. ‘Gliff’ was my favourite book of last year and I would not be surprised at all if ‘Glyph’ was my favourite of this one. Ben Okri and Catherine Lacey also have new books out later in the year, both of which sound typically experimental and interesting.

Two titles, one fiction and one non-fiction, are clear standouts in the New Zealand book sector. ‘The Book of Guilt’ by Catherine Chidgey is published late May and Chidgey is an author who never seems to miss. This one is a dystopia set in a government home in 1970s England and early reviews say it is exactly as good as it sounds. For non-fiction, Jacinda Ardern’s autobiography ‘A Different Kind of Power’ releases in June. While I usually steer clear of politicians' biographies as, with a few notable exceptions, I find they often write a sentence on their mistakes and a chapter for every minor win, but I think this one could definitely be a good read. Whatever you think about Jacinda, she undoubtedly led New Zealand through a tumultuous time in its history with great grace and eloquence. Also watch out for Duncan Sarkies ‘Star Gazers’ which aims to bring Alpacas into fictional relevance and Tina Makeriti’s ‘The Compulsion In Us’, her first nonfiction release, centred on the wahine that have inspired her.

2025 is also looking like it’ll be a great year for weird books. Two of the greats release new books this year, with Sayaka Murata following up ‘Earthlings’ and ‘Convenience Store Women’ with ‘Vanishing World’ a dystopian novel where all children are born via artificial insemination. At the end of the year we can all look forward to the prequel/sequel to Mona Awad’s ‘Bunny’ with ‘We Love You Bunny’. Expect both of these to be disturbing, imaginative with sections that leave you reeling. ‘Blob’ by Maggie Su, which arrives in store soon, also looks like an incredibly fun book. In it, a woman defies conventions and falls in love with a sentient blob. Reviewers are tipping it to be one of the most exciting debuts of the year, maximising the potential of its concept to deliver an excellent satire on desire and modern relationships. Another debut, tipped for an April NZ release, that couldn’t help but catch my attention is ‘Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert’ by Bob the Drag Queen. While I don’t know what to expect from a book about a time travelling Harriet Tubman recording an album, it’ll certainly be unique. 

I think it speaks to the year ahead that when writing this column there was a list much longer than this one of books that I just couldn’t fit in. It looks like a great year of reading and bookselling ahead!