Salvage Mission
George Saunders was best known for his award-winning short fiction before writing the 2017 novel Lincoln in the Bardo, which nabbed the Booker Prize. His second novel, Vigil, takes the #2 spot on our hardcover fiction list. Per our starred review, “A ghost attempts to guide an unrepentant oil executive toward redemption and the afterlife in the staggering latest from Saunders.” As the plot progresses, “the novel barrels into gleefully absurd territory while posing weighty questions about salvation and justice and whether they’re even feasible.”
The Fire That Time
Burn Down Master’s House by journalist and radio host Clay Cane is #6 on our hardcover fiction list. The book was inspired by true stories of enslaved people who fought back against chattel slavery in the United States, as Cane explained in a prepub interview with PW: “My family was enslaved in Goochland, Va., so when I came across these hidden histories in my first year of college, it all felt incredibly connected.” The novel depicts the horrific violence enslaved people endured and also the networks and families they created, which helped them survive and rise up. “That was really important to me,” Cane said. “To make it as raw, as sad, but also as joyful and victorious. To show the humanity that gets erased.”
And They're Off
The release of Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro’s memoir, Where We Keep the Light, could be seen as marking the unofficial start of the 2028 presidential race. It’s #9 on our hardcover nonfiction list. Shapiro hasn’t confirmed that he’s vying for the Democratic nomination, but his book’s timing and themes—his upbringing, his political trajectory, his faith—put it squarely in the tradition of getting-to-know-you volumes that can serve as politicians’ trial balloons. Hot on its heels, at least in terms of pub date: California governor Gavin Newsom’s Young Man in a Hurry, due out February 24, with more to come.
Cover Story
Paisley Hope’s self-published books include 2024’s Wolf.e, which kicked off her Soldiers of Bedlam dark romance series, about the Hounds of Hell motorcycle club and the women who can’t resist them. A Sourcebooks Casablanca edition pubbed the following year, and the imprint has just released a previously unpublished follow-up, Dove, which flies onto our trade paperback list at #9. The pulp-tastic covers are by Loni Carr, the illustrator and graphic designer behind the Whiskey Ginger brand, located in Bozeman, Mont. Her studio’s art and branding work takes inspiration from vintage Hollywood pinups and tattoo art and often uses retro typography.
