The Book Review — 23 Books We Are Looking Forward to This Spring

Host: Gilbert Cruz
Guests: Joumana Khatib, Ada Limón
Date: April 3, 2026

Overview

This episode is a lively and wide-ranging celebration of the most anticipated books coming in spring 2026. Host Gilbert Cruz and NYT Book Review editor Joumana Khatib share their personal picks, highlighting a mix of fiction and nonfiction releases—from experimental novels to searing memoirs and timely histories. The tone is conversational, self-aware, and filled with playful asides. Later, former U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón joins to discuss her new book on the power of poetry and to offer stirring live readings in honor of National Poetry Month.

Spring Book Picks: April & May Releases

The Season’s Vibe

• Joumana’s Take: "This particular spring is kind of weird for books...I’m gonna talk about more nonfiction than I typically do, which you know, it’s good. I’m growing." (01:53)
• Gilbert: “That’s what spring is for.” (02:00)
• The list features a notable blend of fiction and nonfiction, from short meditations to sprawling, plot-driven sagas.

Key Picks & Deep Dives

1. Transcription by Ben Lerner (April 7)

• Summary: An experimental, slim novel following a middle-aged writer interviewing his mentor, leading to existential self-reflection. Less plot, more “miasma of writing.”
• Joumana: "He’s very brainy and intellectual...a sort of miasma of writing than a book that’s motivated by plot." (02:03)
• Gilbert: “It is such a short book. It’s so slim you could barely notice it...Actually slim but mighty. It really does pack a punch.” (04:22, 04:33)

2. Ghost Town by Tom Perrotta (April 28)

• Summary: A New Jersey writer recalls the summer he became a teenager, tinged by grief and dabbling in the supernatural (Ouija board) but rooted in emotional realism.
• Gilbert: “He’s generally really good at writing about situations that are part comedic, part realist...It’s sort of like, you know, Stand By Me.” (06:46)
• Notable Moment: A funny tangent about childhood bans on Ouija boards. (06:02–07:00)

3. From Life Itself: A Story of Erdoğan’s Turkey by Suzy Hansen (April 28)

• Summary: Deep reportage on Turkey’s transformation under Erdoğan, told through a single Istanbul neighborhood. Personal, street-level view of global politics.
• Joumana: “She does make a lot of comparisons about his grabs of power...Her book is so grounded in people and life that it actually makes what could other be a very abstract cultural or political analysis feel very real and very relatable.” (07:38–09:33)
• Emotional Moment: “I don’t know why I’m feeling so proud of our profession right now.” (09:36)

4. This Land Is Yous: A Road Trip Through US History by Beverly Gage (April 7)

• Summary: A celebratory, critical journey through significant American sites to explore history in the lead-up to the country’s 250th birthday.
• Gilbert: “There’s a lot of books about American history coming out...but I'm really into this one. I feel like I’m firmly in my middle-aged dad mode.” (10:40–11:40)
• Joumana: “As American as it gets...Disneyland.” (11:21)

5. Prophecy: Prediction, Power and the Fight for the Future, From Ancient Oracles to AI by Carissa Véliz (April 21)

• Summary: Examines parallels between ancient prophecy and modern algorithmic prediction, questioning how much we surrender to systems meant to predict our future.
• Joumana: “She makes the point that the world we live in now...is really not all that different from, you know, like ancient Greece and the priestesses at Delphi making predictions and prophecies.” (12:09)
• Gilbert: “You know, I'm both fascinated and, and befuddled by your interest in astrology and all things related.” (12:57)
• Joumana: “AI is really no different than these old Greek ladies.” (13:10–13:56)

6. The Witch by Marie NDiaye (Trans. Jordan Stump, April 7)

• Summary: A 1996 French novel, just translated, about a suburban mother with mild magical powers and her more gifted daughters; at heart about family, motherhood, and self-worth.
• Gilbert: “It has all these sort of, like, real human concerns with a little soupçon of magic.” (15:34)
• Joumana: “No one could have predicted the total role reversal that we are playing...I’m just happy to hear you talk about the witchier side of life.” (15:40)

7. London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe (April 7)

• Summary: Expands a riveting New Yorker true crime feature about a young man’s death in London into an exploration of family, grief, the underworld, and London’s Russian oligarch scene.
• Gilbert: “It starts as this true crime story, and then it really just expands out in every couple chapters...It’s just really good. And luckily for all of us, we're gonna have Patrick Radden Keefe on the Book Review podcast next week.” (18:49–20:11)
• Joumana: “He's like another must read for me.” (18:45)

8. The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett (May 5)

• Summary: Stockett, author of The Help, returns with a lush, plot-driven novel about orphans and working-class families in 1930s Mississippi, intersecting hardship and resilience.
• Joumana: “I texted a colleague...‘do I like plot now?’ Like there's so much that happens in this book that I was like, oh my god…now I think I might like things happening in books.” (22:42)
• Gilbert: “So this is a sprawling, messy, plot-driven...” (23:02)

9. Midnight Train by Matt Haig (May 26)

• Summary: Set in the "midnight universe" of his bestseller The Midnight Library, this novel features an old man reliving his life on a posthumous train ride.
• Gilbert: “It’s sort of like a sequel. Not sequel to a giant book...I predict that there's some people who are gonna find this a little too sugar sweet, but given how popular the Midnight Library was, I can see this on the bestseller list all through the summer.” (23:19–24:50)

10. Dog Days by Emily LaBarge (May 19)

• Summary: Memoir by an arts critic reckoning with trauma after she and her family were held hostage, exploring how we narrate and process harrowing personal history.
• Joumana: “One of the things that I really appreciated about this book, it’s not maudlin...It really, like, entirely sidesteps the sort of, like, trauma economy we see in a lot of cultural material right now.” (25:04)
• Recommendation: “Just a book that really should not be skipped, if you ask me.” (25:04)

11. The Land and Its People by David Sedaris (May 26)

• Summary: The latest essay collection about aging, friendship, family, and love, filled with Sedaris’s trademark wit and pathos.
• Gilbert: "There’s an essay in here, of course, about his boyfriend, Hugh...He writes about friendship as you age, loss as you age...this is just gonna feel right for a big portion of his audience." (27:28)

Lightning Round (28:26–32:59)

• On the Calculation of Volume Book Four by Solvay Balla (existential, plot-heavy novel; Book Five out in November)
• Fame Sick by Lena Dunham (memoir)
• The Sane One by Anna Kunkel (memoir by the co-creator of Pen15, about her 7-11 manager dad)
• On Witness and Respire by Jesmyn Ward (essay collection)
• John of John by Douglas Stuart (new novel from the Booker Prize–winner)
• The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout (New England novel, Olive Kitteridge author)
• Yesteryear by Caro Clare Burke (tradwife influencer wakes up in 1805)
• Arsedio by Arsenio Hall (memoir, joked as “predicted” by The Simpsons)
• Five Weeks in the Country by Francine Prose (historical novel on Dickens & Hans Christian Andersen)
• The Ending Writes Itself by “Evelyn Clark” (thriller by V. E. Schwab and Cat Clarke)
• Go Gentle by Maria Semple (novel by author of Where'd You Go, Bernadette?)
• True Crime by Patricia Cornwell (memoir by the mystery writer)

Poetry and the Case for Feeling: Ada Limón Interview (35:22–50:17)

The Importance of Poetry

• Context: Ada Limón discusses her new book, Against Breaking: On the Power of Poetry, adapted from her closing speech as U.S. Poet Laureate.
• Ada: “Would it be an exaggeration to say that poetry saves lives? Maybe, maybe not...for so many people around the world, it serves as a much-needed lifeline.” (35:37)
• On Poetry’s Perception: “Every study I see says that we are reading less as a nation and poetry readership is down. But my experience in the wild...is that people are reading poetry and writing poetry everywhere.” (38:46)
• On Adult Emotional Range: “Perhaps we feel as if as adults, we aren't allowed to access all of our emotions, that that kind of vulnerability or rawness...we’re not supposed to delve into that.” (41:14)
• On Art and Vulnerability: “There are times when I don’t want to read a poem because I know that it will make me weep...But also remember that sometimes that breaking open...that’s really important. We don’t heal and we don’t continue if we don’t grieve.” (43:28)

Notable Quotes

“Sometimes that breaking open and that feeling and that grieving or that openness to wonder or joy, that's really important. And we don't heal and we don't continue if we don't grieve.”
— Ada Limón (44:00)

“Poetry is a lot like that [stranger’s kindness] interaction where sometimes it just gives you permission to take a deep breath. And you'd be surprised at how many of us are walking around holding our breath.”
— Ada Limón (45:12)

Live Poetry Readings (46:03–49:41)

• Instructions on Not Giving Up
  A poem on resilience and renewal inspired by observing a tree.

“A return to the strange idea of continuous living despite the mess of us, the hurt, the empty. Fine, then, I'll take it. The tree seems to say, a new slick leaf unfurling like a fist to an open palm. I'll take it all.” (46:22)

• Literary Theory
  A playful meditation on language and meaning.

“Some days my life is held together by definitions. Some days I read the word swallow and all my feathers show.” (48:09–49:41)

• Audience Reaction:
  Gilbert: “Ada, I’m very uncomfortable with the feelings I’m feeling right now.”
  Ada: “You’re just gonna have to take it all. You’re just gonna have to feel it, my friend.” (47:48–47:58)

Notable, Memorable Moments & Banter

• The ongoing, humorous reversal of host-and-guest stereotypes: Gilbert gets “witchy,” Joumana goes “nonfiction.”
• Candid, warm exchanges about nostalgia, childhood superstitions, and the allure (and anxiety) of Ouija boards.
  • Gilbert: “There was nothing in my household that was more banned than a Ouija board.” (06:14)
• The playful “lightning round” capped with jokes about flipping bottle caps and the surprising proliferation of memoirs and “tradwife” books.
• Ada Limón’s heart-soothing presence and live readings move both hosts and listeners, highlighting poetry’s emotional impact.

Timestamps of Key Segments

| Segment | Timestamps | |-----------------------------------|--------------------| | Spring books intro | 00:37–02:00 | | Transcription by Ben Lerner | 02:03–04:53 | | Ghost Town by Tom Perrotta | 04:53–07:38 | | From Life Itself by S. Hansen | 07:38–09:56 | | This Land Is Yous by B. Gage | 09:56–11:49 | | Prophecy by Carissa Véliz | 11:49–14:24 | | The Witch by Marie NDiaye | 14:24–16:08 | | London Falling by P. Radden Keefe | 17:51–20:12 | | The Calamity Club by K. Stockett | 20:19–23:19 | | Midnight Train by Matt Haig | 23:19–25:04 | | Dog Days by Emily LaBarge | 25:04–27:28 | | The Land and Its People, Sedaris | 27:28–28:27 | | Lightning round | 28:27–32:59 | | Ada Limón interview | 35:22–50:17 | | Ada’s first poem | 46:03–47:48 | | Ada’s second poem | 48:06–49:41 |

Final Thoughts

By the end of the episode, listeners will have a robust TBR for the season, a renewed appreciation for poetry, and a sense of connection to both the hosts and broader literary community. Ada Limón’s interview, in particular, serves as an emotional highlight—demonstrating why poetry, stories, and deep feeling matter now more than ever.

For the full book list and additional literary coverage, visit NYTimes.com.