Who needs a little love in their life?
From thrilling noirs and captivating literary mysteries to new releases from some of our most exciting authors working today, February is shaping up to be a match made in heaven for readers.
This Valentine’s Day, treat yourself to your next book (or two, three, or four…) from our list of 12 Must-Read Books of February 2026!
Mass Mothering
By Sarah Bruni
Henry Holt and Co.
If you’re looking for a hauntingly beautiful read this February, look no further than Sarah Bruni’s Mass Mothering. The novel follows A., an amateur translator living in a late-capitalist metropolis who works to uncover the mysteries of a book called Field Notes, which documents the stories of a community of mothers who assemble to mourn their missing sons. Mass Mothering achieves a rare feat: it’s both a mysterious novel with nondescript settings and characters that tracks perfectly with our modern day and the long history of state-sanctioned violence around the world. This was the first 2026 novel I read this year, and it will likely be one of the books I’m still thinking about come December.
Salvation
By C. William Langsfeld
Counterpoint
This pulse-pounding Western noir centers on the aftermath of a grisly murder in which Tom Horak kills his best friend, Rust Hawkins. The shock of the tragedy ripples through the small rural Colorado town, leaving the local pastor to care for the murdered man’s son as the marshal tries to uncover what truly happened. Like all great crime thrillers, Salvation offers plenty of atmosphere, style, and suspense. But the real magic of C. William Langsfeld’s debut is the depth he brings to the story, because beneath the crime sits a layered exploration of fatherhood, faith, and the possibility for redemption.
A Good Animal
By Sara Maurer
St. Martin’s Press
In this stunning debut, a young man living in Sault Ste. Marie falls in love with a new girl in town, and their turbulent and passionate relationship helps him discover what it truly means to love your home and the natural world in all its beauty and pain. Alternating between tenderness and the violence that comes with tending to a farm, A Good Animal is an emotional tour de force that you won’t soon forget. This is a powerhouse of a first novel from Sara Maurer.
Every Exit Brings You Home
By Naeem Murr
W.W. Norton & Company
Set during the financial crisis in Chicago, Every Exit Brings You Home follows Jack, a flight attendant, HOA president of his crumbling condo, and survivor of the violence of 1980s Gaza. Caught between his desires and obligations, Jack finds himself lost and unable to present his true self to the world—even to his loving and sickly wife. Naeem Murr’s latest is a true feat of characterization and setting, as he brings to life the zaniness, frustrations, and sadness of all of the condo residents and Jack himself. Prepare to laugh and cry, and then prepare to do it all again.
The Bronze Arms
By Richie Hofmann
Knopf
Chicago poet Richie Hofmann returns with The Bronze Arms, an elegant collection that explores the fragility of the body and soul. The collection’s heart lies with the poet’s memory of nearly drowning in a swimming pool in Crete. From there, he weaves myth and history into a compelling tapestry of desire, violence, and destruction. The Bronze Arms aches with haunting lyricism.
The Reservation
By Rebecca Kauffman
Counterpoint
On the morning of the most important booking in its history, a beloved fine dining restaurant erupts into chaos with the discovery that twenty-two rib eye steaks have been stolen and a rush of bad online reviews have flooded the internet. Rebecca Kauffman does an incredible job in bringing this restaurant and all its employees to life on the page, and the result is a madcap mystery that makes The Bear seem calm and collected. This utterly delightful novel is a full feast for readers.
Brawler
By Lauren Groff
Riverhead Books
A new book from Lauren Groff is always an event, so be sure to mark your calendars for her latest release. Ranging from the 1950s to the present day and spanning age, class, and regions, the nine stories in Brawler all explore the battles that rage within ourselves. Groff never settles for simplicity; her stories are complex, dynamic, and often fraught. But throughout this collection is a familiar thread: strong women who persevere despite their odds.
Kin
By Tayari Jones
Knopf
Kin follows Vernice and Annie, two motherless daughters and best friends, who set off on two diverging paths. Vernice attends Spelman College, where she joins a sisterhood of powerfully connected Black women and discovers a world of affluence and inequality. Annie sets off on a journey in an attempt to fill the void left by her mother. Tayari Jones is an immensely talented writer, and her latest is yet another testament to this fact. Kin is both sweeping and intimate—a tender story of love and responsibility to ourselves and our community.
It’s Important I Remember
By Cortney Lamar Charleston
Curbstone Books
Following up one of our favorite recent works of poetry, Doppelgangbanger, Cortney Lamar Charleston returns with a new collection that interrogates the long tradition of American racism and facism, as well as Black persistence in the face of both. It’s Important I Remember is poetry for our precarious moment, as Charleston has crafted an unmistakably resonant testament to the power and necessity of resistance.
Clutch
By Emily Nemens
Tin House
As undergrads, Gregg, Reba, Hillary, Bella, and Carson formed a rare bond that would last even as they all moved across the country. Following COVID, childbirth, and a variety of midcareer challenges, they meet in Palm Springs for a reunion. Together, they must help one another through their professional ambitions and personal struggles. Emily Nemens’s Clutch explores what happens when youthful ambitions hit a mid-life wall, and how the bonds of friendship can help us carry on despite our challenges. This novel is funny, tender, and undeniably entertaining.
The Trouble With Loving Poets and Other Essays on Failure
By Elizabeth Zaleski
Belt Publishing
In this intimate and clear-eyed collection of essays, Elizabeth Zaleski honors her life growing up in rural northeast Ohio and the lessons she learned along the way. From exploring the greater meaning in roadkill to convincing her dad that psychedelic mushrooms will not save his marriage, The Trouble With Loving Poets and Other Essays on Failure is full of the intricacies and eccentricities of life—often funny, at times somber, and always moving.
Long Take
By Akira Kurosawa
Translated by Anne McKnight
University of Minnesota Press
Perfect for any serious (or aspiring) film lover, Long Take compiles the writing and interviews of one of the most important directors in the history of the craft, Akira Kurosawa. This comprehensive portrait offers new insight into a director who famously didn’t like writing about himself, and provides deeper insight into his craft, life, and worldview. Full of industry lore, inside jokes, and delightful stories about the creation of some of his most influential films, Long Take is an absolute delight to read.
