New Beginnings: 10 Books For Spring

A woman reading a book, leaning against a tree on a sunny day.

Spring invites a reset, longer days, clearer light, and stories that remind us how to begin again. The season’s best new book releases reflect that spirit of renewal: journeys of reinvention, rediscovery, and quiet transformation.

From sweeping historical epics and luminous literary fiction to intimate domestic dramas and even a cosmic whodunit, these books for spring explore how we change, and what we carry with us when we do.

1.Land (Maggie O’Farrell)

From the author of Hamnet and The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, Land is a sweeping historical novel out June 2, 2026. Set in mid-19th-century Ireland, it follows a father and son as they work to map the country after the devastation of the Great Hunger. Through its exploration of history, family and survival, this epic tale recasts past trauma as a powerful story of resilience and hope, ideal for spring’s spirit of renewal.

2. My Year in Paris with Gertrude Stein: A Fiction (Deborah Levy)

Deborah Levy’s dazzling new novel follows a writer who travels to Paris to explore the legacy of Gertrude Stein, avant-garde poet, art collector, and self-proclaimed genius. As she befriends two women who challenge her ideas about love, art, and freedom, their late-night conversations become a witty, cosmopolitan reflection on creativity and self-reinvention. Intelligent, stylish, and full of spring vitality, it’s a book about how we put ourselves, and our lives, together anew. Expected April 2026.

3. Hooked (Asako Yuzuki, trans. Polly Barton)

From the author of Butter comes a sharp, unsettling story of friendship and obsession. Eriko’s perfectly ordered life begins to unravel when she becomes fixated on Shōko, a housewife whose messy, unfiltered blog feels like freedom.

As admiration turns to possession, Hooked exposes the fine line between connection and control. Expected in March 2026, this novel is beautifully translated by Polly Barton and offers a darkly delicious exploration of food, loneliness, and womanhood in modern Japan, a perfect pick for readers craving something both stylish and disquieting.

4. Strangers in the Villa (Robyn Harding)

From the bestselling author of The Drowning Woman comes a taut psychological thriller set on Spain’s sun-drenched Costa Brava. Sydney and Curtis retreat to a secluded hilltop villa to rebuild their marriage after an affair, until a stranded Australian couple arrives, bringing charm, chaos, and danger.

As hospitality curdles into menace, secrets rise to the surface, and not everyone will leave alive. Set for release in March 2026, the atmospheric and compulsively readable Strangers in the Villa is an ideal spring thriller: lush, escapist, and quietly chilling.

A woman reading a book in a chair outside in the sun with a mug.

5. The Things We Never Say (Elizabeth Strout)

In her new novel, Elizabeth Strout introduces Artie Dam, a history teacher, husband, and neighbour whose calm exterior conceals a lifetime of quiet loneliness. When a long-hidden secret comes to light, Artie is forced to confront what he truly knows about the people closest to him and himself. Written with Strout’s trademark empathy and precision, The Things We Never Say is a luminous meditation on love, loss, and the courage it takes to start again. Expected May 2026.

6. Look What You Made Me Do (John Lanchester)

John Lanchester’s first novel in eight years is a razor-sharp black comedy about truth, storytelling, and revenge, set for release in March 2026. When Kate begins to see unnervingly familiar details from her own marriage mirrored in a hit TV drama called Cheating, she suspects the young screenwriter behind it knows more than she should.

Witty, unsettling, and brilliantly observed, Look What You Made Me Do pits two women, and two generations, against each other in a battle over who gets to tell whose story.

7. Son of Nobody (Yann Martel)

In Son of Nobody, Yann Martel intertwines myth, scholarship, and family in a moving story about the echoes between ancient and modern lives. When Canadian classicist Harlow Donne uncovers a lost account of the Trojan War in Oxford’s Bodleian Library, his discovery, The Psoad, begins to mirror his own fractured relationships.

Through this luminous, time-spanning narrative, set for release in April 2026, Martel explores ambition, love, and the enduring human need to make meaning from the past. A rich, elegiac novel about how stories shape who we are.

A woman smiling at someone in a bookshop.

8. The Palm House (Gwendoline Riley)

Gwendoline Riley’s quietly brilliant The Palm House captures the ache of ordinary life, work, friendship, family, and the awkward business of finding where we fit. When Laura’s longtime friend Edmund quits his job at a small magazine and begins to drift, both are forced to take stock of who they’ve become. With Riley’s signature wit and precision, the novel (due for release in April 2026) reflects on ageing, connection, and acceptance in a world that feels increasingly hard to belong to.

9. The News from Dublin (Colm Tóibín)

Rather than a single narrative, The News from Dublin is a collection of short stories spanning continents and eras. Tóibín’s elegant prose gives voice to characters living far from home, exploring longing, identity, change, and connection. These luminous tales remind us that even the smallest moments contain the seeds of renewal. Expected for release in March 2026.

10. Nobody’s Baby (Olivia Waite)

In the second Dorothy Gentleman mystery, set for release in March 2026, Olivia Waite brings cosy charm to the stars. When a baby is mysteriously left on her nephew’s doorstep aboard the luxurious interstellar liner HMS Fairweather, ship detective Dorothy Gentleman is drawn into a case that defies logic and regulation.

Fertility was meant to be impossible mid-voyage, yet here the evidence lies, swaddled and crying. Equal parts sci-fi romp and classic whodunit, Nobody’s Baby is witty, tender, and full of heart, a joyful reminder that spring beginnings can happen anywhere.

Spring into a fresh chapter

Spring invites us to cultivate growth in gardens, routines, and the stories we hold close. Whether you’re drawn to historical epics, introspective literary fiction, or character-driven mysteries, these books for spring embody the season’s optimism and possibility.

Curate your perfect seasonal stack: pair a historical journey with a contemporary reflection, or alternate introspective novels with lighter, plot-driven reads. When you’re ready for your next new beginning, we’re here with reviews, recommendations and seasonal guides to keep your reading life in bloom.

Explore more titles across historical fiction, psychological thrillers, and contemporary romance, and let your spring journey begin with a great book in hand.