Inside a Publisher Rep Meeting
My TBR is doomed.
Lit Window is a series written from the floor of Godmothers. It traces the light that literature casts through the books, gatherings, and conversations that leave their mark.
There’s a particular charge in listening to someone—who lives inside hundreds of books—name the ones they think matter. Within one week, two Penguin Random House reps carved out time to meet with us. I joined one of those meetings on a weekday morning over pastries, coffee, and tea. Our crew of booksellers gathered by the fireplace and jotted down notes on notable upcoming titles.
Penguin publishes approximately 15,000 print titles a year. This list we heard was curated—more conversational than commercial. Big books were mentioned (Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid, which we recently hosted a party for in-store under the bistro lights), but the focus leaned niche: stories that reward attention over speed.
Afterward, I found myself thinking about a screenshot my friend had sent me:
“... an article about tsundoku—which is a Japanese concept that describes the act of buying books and letting them pile up, unread (‘Crucially, it doesn’t carry a pejorative connotation, being more akin to bookworm than irredeemable slob,’ the author noted, much to my relief).”
Collecting stories is its own kind of ritual.
A few titles from that morning stayed with me. Some I added to my TBR. Others made me think of a friend. A few I just liked knowing existed.
We won’t read every book. But sometimes, circling a title, adding it to our shelf, or even just hearing it spoken out loud is enough to feel a little more connected to the world (and to each other).
Alright, alright, here’s the list:
Fiction
Among Friends by Hal Ebbott — Preorder
A literary debut that spirals from familiar to unsettling. Longtime friends gather for a country house weekend that slowly fractures under the weight of betrayal, power, and denial. Elegant and emotionally loaded, it’s the kind of proper mess I tend to read.
Bug Hollow by Michelle Huneven — Read it
Three decades of family aftermath, triggered by the sudden loss of a golden child. Huneven writes with precision and quiet force, capturing the ache of trying to move on when no one really has. A slow burn in all the best ways.
The Names by Florence Knapp — Read it
One name, three timelines. This inventive novel explores what happens when a mother defies her controlling husband and chooses a different future for her newborn son. Emotionally layered and surprisingly readable for something so structurally bold.
The Listeners by Maggie Stiefvater — Read it
The rep compared it to A Gentleman in Moscow, which immediately caught my attention. A woman runs a luxury hotel housing detained Axis diplomats, while an FBI agent listens through the walls. Slightly surreal, deeply atmospheric, and quietly charged.
Crux by Gabriel Tallent — Preorder
Two teens chase freedom and friendship across the Mojave, using climbing as both metaphor and escape. Tender and full of low-grade danger, Tallent is so good at capturing the unspoken in relationships (especially the ones that feel doomed from the start).
Nonfiction
Murderland by Caroline Fraser — Read it
Serial killers, environmental collapse, and the haunted landscape of the Pacific Northwest. Fraser connects industrial poisoning to a generation of men who turned violent, weaving personal history with true crime in a way that’s smart, unsettling, and hard to shake.
All the Way to the River by Elizabeth Gilbert — Preorder
A departure from Eat, Pray, Love and Big Magic, this memoir is unguarded and deeply human. Gilbert traces the rise and unraveling of a love that nearly consumed her—tender, devastating, and honest in ways that might surprise you.
A Marriage at Sea by Sophie Elmhirst — Preorder
A British couple sets off to sail the world in the ’70s until a whale sinks their boat in the middle of the Pacific. What follows is part survival story, part reckoning with the self and with each other. Strange and absorbing, from a publisher (Riverhead) the rep says rarely misses.
Thank you🙏🏻