Vulture highlights top new books for March 2026

Vulture has released its monthly recommendations for new fiction and nonfiction books arriving in March 2026. The list features memoirs, novels, and stories exploring family secrets, personal histories, and societal shifts. Selections include works by Liza Minnelli, Wayne Koestenbaum, and Tana French.

Every month, Vulture editors Emma Alpern and Jasmine Vojdani curate picks of new releases to encourage readers to explore fresh titles. For March 2026, their selections span genres and include both established and emerging voices.

Among the nonfiction highlights is 'Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!' by Liza Minnelli, co-written with Michael Feinstein. The memoir recounts Minnelli's childhood, her roles in films such as Cabaret, and her experiences with substance-use disorder. It includes anecdotes like her simultaneous engagements to Desi Arnaz Jr. and Peter Sellers while married to singer-songwriter Peter Allen, her first of four husbands. Minnelli writes, “I got it from Mama,” referring to her inheritance of challenges from her mother.

Tom Junod's debut memoir, 'In the Days of My Youth I Was Told What It Means to Be a Man,' releases on March 10. It offers a detailed portrait of Junod's father, Lou Junod, described as a womanizing charmster who influenced his son's views on manhood.

Fiction picks include Vigdis Hjorth's 'Repetition,' translated by Charlotte Barslund, out on March 3. The Norwegian author's slim novel follows a writer reflecting on her teenage years and a concealed family secret that stifles her autonomy.

Hannah Lilith Assadi's 'Paradiso 17,' set for March 17, draws from her late Palestinian father's life and was longlisted for the 2026 Women’s Prize in Fiction. It traces protagonist Sufien's journey from pre-Nakba displacement in Safed to refugee camps, Italy, New York City—where he marries a Jewish woman—and Arizona. Assadi portrays Sufien's evolving mercurial nature with affection.

Mieko Kawakami's 'Sisters in Yellow,' also March 17, follows Hana as she escapes hardship by opening a bar called Lemon with Kimiko, only to encounter an underlying criminal world. The story, from the author of 'Breasts and Eggs,' examines teenagers seeking control on society's edges.

Wayne Koestenbaum's 'My Lover, the Rabbi' employs numbered vignettes to explore a speaker's mixed devotion and revulsion toward a lover, blending erudite prose with themes of culture, sex, and confession.

Andrew Martin's 'Down Time,' the third in his series after 'Early Work' and 'Cool for America,' depicts 30-something writers and teachers navigating drinking issues and relationships amid 2019's COVID onset.

Finally, Tana French's 'The Keeper' on March 31 concludes the Cal Hooper trilogy in Ireland's Ardnakelty. The plot involves a young woman's death sparking community divisions, rumors, and accusations, with French's signature atmospheric descriptions of local life.

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