Paperback Release Date - 9/29/2026

A Most Anticipated Book of 2026 by PEN America, Lit Hub, BookPage, and Ms. Magazine

The wife of a popular and powerful megachurch pastor upends her charmed “rags-to-Rolex” life when her secret past comes roaring into the spotlight—in this "funny and juicy and sexy and delicious peek behind the pulpit" (Samantha Irby) from the acclaimed and beloved author of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies.

From the moment Scharisse Freeman ditched her humble roots and married a megachurch pastor fifteen years her senior, she’s been labeled too brash and too “of the world” by church folks who grudgingly accepted her into their fold, and too holy by her estranged childhood bestie Petra. Schar doesn’t have many allies, but that hasn’t stopped her from building an enviable business empire spanning books to clothing to branded products, and living the comfortable life her husband's power affords her.

On the eve of her 40th birthday, Schar gets the final bit of validation she’s always dreamt of: a coveted invitation to participate in the First Lady USA pageant. This is her chance to be accepted by the other pastors’ wives—First Ladies—who are “like Jesus’ disciples if they had been a group of mean girls.” Finally, blissfully, the ice between Schar and the other First Ladies begins to thaw.

But as the pageant nears, a sensational scandal breaks with Schar at its center, and her carefully curated life implodes. Schar faces down shame and terrible secrets from her childhood and is reminded that in the eyes of the church, optics can matter more than the truth.

Unflinchingly funny, frank, and packed with surprising turns, The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman exults in the luscious, messy pleasure of finally feeling free.

"Deesha Philyaw has already established herself as one of the greatest short story writers, but in The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman she cements herself as the most soulfully entertaining writer of her era." - Kiese Laymon, author of Heavy and Long Division

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Babel and Yellowface comes an all-new, fully illustrated, hardcover Deluxe Collector’s Edition of R. F. Kuang’s The Burning God, with a full-wrap illustrated jacket and black-and-white interior art by JungShan Chang throughout, plus embossed case, designed endpapers, and stenciled edges!

Considered one of Time Magazine’s 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time, the third book in the beloved Poppy War Trilogy concludes Rin’s story in explosive, surprising fashion as she battles not just the Dragon Republic and Hesparians, but the gods themselves.

This edition also includes the short story "The Drowning Faith"!

After saving her nation of Nikan from foreign invaders and battling the evil Empress Su Daji in a brutal civil war, Fang Runin was betrayed by allies and left for dead.

Despite her losses, Rin hasn’t given up on those for whom she has sacrificed so much—the people of the southern provinces and especially Tikany, the village that is her home. Returning to her roots, Rin meets difficult challenges—and unexpected opportunities. While her new allies in the Southern Coalition leadership are sly and untrustworthy, Rin quickly realizes that the real power in Nikan lies with the millions of common people who thirst for vengeance and revere her as a goddess of salvation.

Backed by the masses and her Southern Army, Rin will use every weapon to defeat the Dragon Republic, the colonizing Hesperians, and all who threaten the shamanic arts and their practitioners. As her power and influence grows, though, will she be strong enough to resist the Phoenix’s intoxicating voice urging her to burn the world and everything in it?

A transformative guide featuring unique practices to harness creativity as a tool for healing, justice, and liberation from visionary artist, activist, and New York Times bestselling author Patrisse Cullors.

How do we imagine our way toward a better world? From the clothes we wear to the architecture that surrounds us, aesthetics—the way we perceive and create meaning through beauty and art—can be a powerful tool for healing, justice, and liberation.

Structured around themes like memory, care, ritual, embodiment, and imagination, We Make the World helps us reimagine our creative practices as acts of care and resistance. Through case studies spotlighting artists like Lauren Halsey and Ana Mendieta, hands-on exercises, and practical examples, it empowers readers to use creativity to challenge oppressive systems, nurture connection, and build sustainable futures. Each chapter features:

* A spotlight on one artist’s vision and methods,
* analysis of how their work shaped the world, and
* a creative prompt you can try alone or with your community to apply this artistic practice yourself.

Whether you’re an artist seeking new ways to express yourself, an activist craving creative tools to connect with your community, or someone yearning to experience firsthand how beauty creates justice, We Make the World is a portal to the world as we dream it.

Cover photo shot by Altadena-based artist Kenturah Davis.

*Paperback (Limited Edition) Release Date - 9/1/2026*

Ninth House meetsLegendborn in this thrilling dark academia novel following a new student fueled by questions about her prestigious university and the haunting answers she uncovers as her heart pulls her in two different, dangerous directions.

“Dark academia fans, get ready for your newest obsession.”―Nisha J. Tuli, USA Today bestselling author of Trial of the Sun Queen

Westfield University was supposed to be Sianna Adu’s dream school. But just when she’s on the cusp of attending the elite academic institution hidden in Virginia’s swampland, an unexpected tragedy changes everything. In one day, Sianna loses her family and gains an extraordinary power―the ability to see lifelines and witness other people’s pasts and futures.

With all she’s lost, Sianna puts her college dreams on pause and spends her days navigating dead-end jobs and a not-so-secret crush on her coworker. But when Kasem Saint James, the undeniably handsome heir to Westfield, approaches her with a strange request, the future Sianna has long deferred becomes a dangerous new reality. Worried that her powers are now tied to Kasem, she has no choice. Fate has called her to Westfield.

At an academy where secret societies abound, connections are everything, and an ominous history―stretching back centuries―determines the future, Sianna and Kasem must piece together the past to undo a curse that binds them to each other.

With a swoony romance and jaw-dropping twists, this layered dark academia novel introduces a university where nothing is quite as it seems.

Bring good vibes into 2026 with daily inspiration and affirmations from the #1 Sunday Times best-selling author and self-love writer, Vex King.

Infuse your home or workspace with motivation, positivity, and healing with this stunning page-a-day calendar. Offering bitesize advice, prompts, and actionable wisdom on topics including manifestation, gratitude, self-acceptance, and setting boundaries, you’ll feel inspired to cultivate better habits, welcome opportunities, release what no longer serves you, and live the life you deserve.

Build on your progress day by day and reconnect with your true self as this effortless daily ritual brings you closer to healing, self-love, and transformation.

Come here. For the first time ever, social media’s “man in the mirror” Jordan Howlett invites you beyond the screen and into a life shaped by food.

Even before he achieved social media stardom as president of the Fast Food Secrets Club, food played an important role in Jordan’s life. As a child, he spent days experimenting in the kitchen with his grandmother, poring over cookbooks and trying to get her recipe for pineapple upside-down cake just right. As a college student striving to be a professional baseball player, food was fuel for building the strength he needed to excel at a time when he wasn’t even sure where his next meal would come from. As a young adult with multiple restaurant jobs, preparing food for others was a way to make ends meet.

When his TikTok videos about working in the fast-food industry began to go viral, food became a catalyst for launching Jordan’s successful media career. Whether he’s recreating a dish he loves, revealing a secret fast-food recipe, or traveling across the world to try something delicious, Jordan’s videos reflect what he has learned throughout his life: food has the power to build community and connect people.

Featuring 40 stories and 40 recipes, this cookbook-memoir shares the side of Jordan that only those closest to him know and love. He reflects on his childhood, his successes and failures, what it’s really like having a career in social media, and how sometimes Plan B can turn out better than Plan A. With family favorites like Quick Sweet Grits with Salted Butter and Cinnamon Sugar, Jordan’s go-to comfort foods like Bacon & Clam Chowder with Old Bay Saltines, and fast-food recreations like the Crunchwrap Supreme, Come Here and Cook is a delicious peek into Jordan’s famous notebook of secret recipes as well as the food that has shaped his life.

Begun by Donald Barthelme and Phillip Lopate, Gulf Coast is the nationally-distributed journal housed within the University of Houston's English Department, home to one of the US's top ranked creative writing programs. The journal spent its nascent years (1982-1985) as Domestic Crude, a name that nodded to the major industry of the Houston area. It was a 64-page (magazine-formatted) student-run publication, with editorial advising coming from Mr. Lopate, who also contributed work to the first issues.

In 1986, the name Gulf Coast premiered. It stuck. After some experimenting, the journal found its dimensions and, eventually, its audience. The journal has since moved beyond the student body of the University of Houston and into the larger world. Our readership of the print journal currently exceeds 3,000, with more and more coming to our ever-expanding website. The print journal comes out each April and October.

Gulf Coast is still student-run. We seek to promote and publish quality literature in our local and national communities while simultaneously teaching excellence in literary publishing to graduate and undergraduate students. While we are committed to providing a balanced combination of literary approaches and voices, all of the editorial positions are two-year terms, thus ensuring a regular turnover in the specific personality and style of the journal.

In addition, Gulf Coast differs from many other literary journals in its commitment to exploring visual art and critical art writing. The journal has always featured portfolios by two artists, along with short introductions from critics familiar with their work. Since October 2013, Gulf Coast commits sixteen pages to full-color visual art features and twenty-four pages to critical art writing in each issue. This expansion was made possible by Gulf Coast's merger with Texas art journal Art Lies, a publication with a respected history of putting artists, curators, scholars, and critics in dialogue with their colleagues around the world.

The journal has enhanced its community presence thanks to the Gulf Coast Reading Series, a monthly gathering at Lawndale Art Center in the Museum District neighborhood of Houston, as well as with its annual Spring Issue Release Party. These events continue to bring esteemed writers, editors, publishers and, of course, readers to the Houston area.

Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, generously funded by grants from the Brown Foundation, Inc.; theThe Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts; Inprint, Inc.; Houston Endowment, Inc.; the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance; theTexas Commission on the Arts; the University of Houston English Department; and the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as through the support of individual contributions.

A hemispheric history of how free and fugitive antebellum African Americans sought freedom in Latin America 

"A groundbreaking account of African American freedom struggles." ―Alice Baumgartner, author of South to Freedom

Fifty years before the United States went to war over the issue, Chile abolished slavery. Colombia followed in 1821, and Mexico soon after. Black Americans took note. As plantation slavery terrorized their communities, Latin America emerged as the place they could be free.

Many have written about the Underground Railroad and northward migration to Canada, but for thousands of African Americans, freedom lay to the south. Abolitionists from Boston to San Antonio celebrated anti-slavery efforts in Latin America.  Freed and fugitive slaves began to see the region as a viable place to migrate, a land where they could find stability, safety, and opportunity. Some went on their own initiative. Others were motivated by organized political movements, like a Lincoln-backed colony in Panama and hotly debated proposals for mass emigration to Central America. 

Drawing on travelogues, runaway slave ads, and hundreds of other archival sources across the Americas, Yesenia Barragan rewrites conventional histories of slavery in the antebellum era to prove that emancipation was a hemispheric effort. Eloquent and cutting-edge, In Latin America You Could Be Free is a powerful account of how African Americans pursued freedom in the darkest of circumstances.