"Return of the King"

New from the University of Nebraska Press: Return of the King: The Rebirth of Muhammad Ali and the Rise of Atlanta by Thomas Aiello.

About the book, from the publisher:

Return of the King tells the story of Muhammad Ali’s return to the ring in 1970, after a more than three-year suspension for refusing his draft notice as a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War. With Ali’s career still in doubt, he found new support in shifting public opinion about the war and in Atlanta, a city still governed by white supremacy, but a white supremacy decidedly different from that of its neighbor cities in the Deep South.

Atlanta had been courting and landing professional sports teams in football, basketball, and baseball since the end of 1968. An influential state politician, Leroy Johnson, Georgia’s first Black state senator since Reconstruction, was determined to help Ali return after his exile. The state had no boxing commission to prevent Ali from fighting there, so Johnson made it his mission for Ali to make a comeback in Georgia. Ali’s opponent would be Jerry Quarry, the top heavyweight contender and, more important, a white man who had spoken out against Ali’s objection to the war.

In Return of the King, Thomas Aiello examines the history of Muhammad Ali, Leroy Johnson, and the city of Atlanta, while highlighting an important fight of Ali’s that changed the trajectory of his career. Although the fight between Ali and Quarry lasted only three rounds, those nine minutes changed boxing forever and were crucial to both the growth of Atlanta and the rebirth of Ali’s boxing career.

Visit Thomas Aiello's website.

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--Marshal Zeringue

"The Day After the Party"

Coming January 7 from Grand Central Publishing: The Day After the Party by Nicole Trope.

About the book, from the publisher:

The perfect birthday or the perfect nightmare?

Katelyn smiles at her husband and friends, gathered to celebrate her thirty-sixth birthday in their beautiful home decorated with fairy lights. But the next day Katelyn wakes up shaken and terrified in a hospital bed…

She doesn’t remember the sweet taste of birthday cake icing, or how angry her best friend was at midnight, or the terrible things her husband said. She doesn’t remember the party at all.

When she asks her husband what happened the night of the party he says ‘nothing’. But her blood runs cold at the way his voice lilts slightly. The way it always does when he is lying.

Did someone at the party harm her? What is her husband hiding? Or did Katelyn herself do something terrible?

Only one thing is certain. Nobody can be trusted. And if Katelyn’s memories of the party do come back, it will tear them all apart…

Follow Nicole Trope on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.

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--Marshal Zeringue

"Worthy of Justice"

New from Stanford University Press: Worthy of Justice: The Politics of Veterans Treatment Courts in Practice by Jamie Rowen.

About the book, from the publisher:

Over the past three decades, jurisdictions across the United States have developed alternatives to traditional criminal procedures and punishments for adults accused of crimes that are associated with substance use and mental health disorders. The Veterans Treatment Court (VTC) is one example of these problem-solving courts. VTCs benefit from the availability of extensive (and free) medical and social services through the Department of Veterans Affairs, as well as the social and political legitimacy that comes with serving veterans. Worthy of Justice takes this specific form of problem-solving court as lens for examining broader social inequalities in the criminal legal system. Jamie Rowen argues that the rationale for VTCs flows not from what veterans have done but from who they are. Their operations are fueled by the notion that their participants' criminal behavior is the result of military service rather than other personal choices made, thus making them uniquely worthy of public support. In this way, VTCs powerfully expose the contradictions inherent in the idea that criminals deserve punishment. Rowen draws on fieldwork at three such courts across the US. Ultimately, she illustrates how the politics of crime and the politics of welfare increasingly intersect and, together, construct classes of Americans who are either worthy, or not.

Visit Jamie Rowen's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Water Lies"

Coming January 1 from Thomas & Mercer: The Water Lies by Amy Meyerson.

About the book, from the publisher:

Internationally bestselling author Amy Meyerson takes readers on a harrowing journey where two mothers―one of a woman who drowned and the other of a toddler who might know what happened to her―are the only ones searching for the truth.

Heavily pregnant with her second child, Tessa Irons has enough on her mind without her toddler throwing tantrums at the local coffee shop. The boy is inconsolable, shouting “Gigi!” to a woman Tessa’s never seen before―and never will again. The next morning, the woman’s body is dredged up from the canal outside the Ironses’ posh Venice Beach home, and Tessa’s gut tells her it’s no coincidence.

Barb Geller refuses to believe that her daughter’s death was just some drunken accident. She heads to California for answers, where she crosses paths with Tessa. Together they hunt for the truth, certain they’ll find a connection between their children.

But the police don’t believe them. Tessa’s husband dismisses her worries as pregnancy jitters, and even though people are always watching along the canals, no one saw a thing. Tessa and Barb only have each other, their intuition, and the creeping sense of danger that grows with every shocking revelation.

Visit Amy Meyerson's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Monsters in the Archives"

Coming April 21 from Hogarth: Monsters in the Archives: My Year of Fear with Stephen King by Caroline Bicks.

About the book, from the publisher:

A fascinating, first-of-its-kind exploration of Stephen King and his most iconic early books, based on groundbreaking research and interviews with King—all conducted by the first scholar to be given extended access to his private archives

After Caroline Bicks was named the University of Maineʼs inaugural Stephen E. King Chair in Literature, she became the first scholar to be granted extended access by King to his private archives, a treasure trove of manuscripts that document the legendary writerʼs creative process—most of them never before studied or published. The year she spent exploring King’s early drafts and hand-written revisions was guided by one question millions of Kingʼs enthralled and terrified readers (including her) have asked themselves: What makes Stephen King’s writing stick in our heads and haunt us long after we’ve closed the book?

Bicks focuses on five of his most iconic early works—The Shining, Carrie, Pet Sematary, ʼSalemʼs Lot, and Night Shift—to reveal how he crafted his language, story lines, and characters to cast his enduring literary spells. While tracking King’s margin notes and editorial changes, she discovered scenes and alternative endings that never made it to print but that King is allowing her to publish now. The book also includes interviews Bicks had with King along the way that reveal new insights into his writing process and personal history.

Part literary master class, part biography, part memoir and investigation into our deepest anxieties, Monsters in the Archives—authorized by Stephen King himself—is unlike anything ever published about the master of horror. It chronicles what Bicks found when she set out to unearth how King crafted some of his scariest, most iconic moments. But it’s also a story about a grown-up English professor facing her childhood fears and getting to know the man whose monsters helped unleash them.

Visit Caroline Bicks's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Lies of Lena"

Coming January 6 from Forever: The Lies of Lena by Kylie Snow.

About the book, from the publisher:

In this spicy and dark romantasy setting BookTok ablaze, a young mage is captured by her mortal enemy bent on exacting revenge.

Lena Daelyra has survived by following two rules: never let anyone find out what she is and never wield her powers. After all, Mages are hunted for sport and have no laws to protect them. Staying alive means keeping to herself in the gritty outskirts of the kingdom of Otacia. Until the day a job gone awry lands Lena in ruthless hands, only to be saved by Quill Callon, a handsome swordsman from the wealthy Inner Ring. As Quill begins to train Lena to defend herself, her growing feelings for him serve as a cruel reminder that to reveal what she is would only be a death sentence.

Crown Prince Silas La’Rune has been a prisoner inside his own castle since he was five years old—after the murder of his younger sister. But the day he manages to escape the changes everything.

Tragedy rips Lena away from the man she has grown to love before she can confess her true identity. Yet, when their paths collide again years later, it’s clear that things will never be the same. And when Lena and other Mages are captured by the kingdom’s bloodthirsty heir bent on exacting punishment, the fate of Magekind will rest on her shoulders.

Full of forbidden love, passionate angst, and forced proximity, The Otacian Chronicles is a dark romantasy tale that will progressively get darker as the series continues. Please be mindful of the content warnings below and protect your mental health.

This book is a dark romantasy novel filled with romantic tension, sexy banter, and heartbreak. It also contains explicit sexual scenes, explicit language, violence, gore, torture, dismemberment, sexual assault, rape, loss, and grief.

Visit Kylie Snow's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Limits of Diversity"

New from NYU Press: The Limits of Diversity: How Secular and Evangelical Campuses Reproduce Inequality by Esther Chan.

About the book, from the publisher:

Shows that universities' diversity efforts may inadvertently reproduce inequality

Across universities and colleges, diversity is a purported value, often accompanied with commitments to equity and inclusion. But how do universities’ approaches to diversity affect their efforts to make equitable and inclusive environments?

The Limits of Diversity compares perspectives of diversity and inclusion among diversity student leaders, Asian Americans, and LGBTQ+ students at two college campuses, one secular and one evangelical. It argues that secular and religious universities reproduce inequality along multiple lines of social difference through the language and practices of diversity. Though their promotion of diversity may be well-intentioned, in practice their approaches reproduce social inequality. The volume offers empirical research on key flash points around diversity to illuminate how our current understandings of diversity are failing, and how we can improve and help universities to embrace more equitable approaches.

In a post-affirmative action world, scholars and activists are beset with the difficult task of re-imagining diversity and creating alternatives to diversity that can lead to social equity in college settings. Chan shows that approaches to diversity that do not center equity fall short. The student narratives presented in The Limits of Diversity challenge us to think about what diverse, equitable, and inclusive universities can look like.

Visit Esther Chan's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Sisterhood Above All"

Coming July 2026 from Saturday Books: Sisterhood Above All by Kathleen Barber with Amayah Shaienne.

About the book, from the publisher:

Any girl would kill to be a Gamma.

Being a Gamma at Southern State University means belonging to the most desirable, exclusive sisterhood there is. For Ava, it means even more―it’s the last connection she has to her beloved late mother, and she’ll do anything to wear the Gamma letters.

But the Gammas didn’t become the best house on campus by letting just anyone in, and every prospective pledge is expected to earn her spot. As president, Madison is the ultimate gatekeeper, and she has a special test for Ava.

Rival sorority Theta is nipping at the Gammas’ heels for the top spot on campus, and president Shay is proud they’ve gotten there by rising above the hyper-competitive gamesmanship that consumes other houses. She knows she’s made some enemies in her quest to change the Greek system from the inside, but she can’t imagine the depth of Madison’s resentment for her … or how far Ava will go to become a Gamma.

The sisterhood, the parties, the elite status―and the connection to her mother―are what Ava has always wanted, but she never guessed the cost of membership would be so high. Three women, two houses, one dead body: rush has never been this messy.

“Barber and Shaienne’s juicy, sexy, vicious collab is like America’s Next Top Model stitched with The Art of War. You’ll be equally riveted by the reality TV-level drama and the raw authenticity of the characters in this sure-to-go-viral sorority rush thriller.” ― Layne Fargo, bestselling author of The Favorites and They Never Learn

Visit Kathleen Barber's website.

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--Marshal Zeringue

"Between King Cotton and Queen Victoria"

New from the University of Georgia Press: Between King Cotton and Queen Victoria: How Pirates, Smugglers, and Scoundrels Almost Saved the Confederacy by Beau Cleland.

About the book, from the publisher:

Between King Cotton and Queen Victoria recenters our understanding of the Civil War by framing it as a hemispheric affair, deeply influenced by the actions of a network of private parties and minor officials in the Confederacy and British territory in and around North America. John Wilkes Booth likely would not have been in a position to assassinate Abraham Lincoln, for example, without the logistical support and assistance of the pro-Confederate network in Canada. That network, to which he was personally introduced in Montreal in the fall of 1864, was hosted and facilitated by willing colonials across the hemisphere. Many of its Confederate members arrived in British North America via a long-established transportation and communications network built around British colonies, especially Bermuda and the Bahamas, whose primary purpose was running the blockade. It is difficult to overstate how essential blockade running was for the rebellion’s survival, and it would have been impossible without the aid of sympathetic colonials. The operations of this informal, semiprivate network were of enormous consequence for the course of the war and its aftermath, and our understanding of the Civil War is incomplete without a deeper reckoning with the power and potential for chaos of these private networks imbued with the power of a state.

Visit Beau Cleland's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Hemlock"

Coming January 20 from Little, Brown and Company: Hemlock: A Novel by Melissa Faliveno.

About the novel, from the publisher:

A woman haunted by a dark inheritance returns to the woods where her mother vanished, in this queer Gothic novel.

Sam, finally sober and stable with a cat and a long-term boyfriend in Brooklyn, returns alone to Hemlock, her family’s deteriorating cabin deep in the Wisconsin Northwoods. But a quick, practical trip takes a turn for the worse when the rot and creak of the forest starts to creep in around the edges of Sam’s mind. It starts, as it always does, with a beer.

As Sam dips back into the murky waters of dependency, the inexplicable begins to arrive at her door and her body takes on a strange new shape. As the borders of reality begin to blur, she senses she is battling something sinister—whether nested in the woods or within herself.

Hemlock is a carnal coming-of-addiction, a dark sparkler about rapture, desire, transformation, and transcendence in many forms. What lives at the heart of fear—animal, monster, or man? How can we reject our own inheritance, the psychic storm that’s been coming for generations, and rebuild a new home for ourselves? In the tradition of Han Kang’s The Vegetarian, Hemlock is a butch Black Swan and a novel of singular style, with all the edginess of a survival story and a simmering menace that glints from the very periphery of the page.

Visit Melissa Faliveno's website.

--Marshal Zeringue