Welcome to Off the Record’s Bookish News Report — your weekly roundup of book news, publishing updates, and book-to-screen adaptation announcements across all genres.
Consider this your go-to source for staying in the know on what’s happening across the book world
🎙️FOR THE RECORD
Finding out 13 Going on 30 is getting a reboot the year I’m turning 30 is… kismet.
I understand there are going to be mixed feelings about this one. But THE Emily Bader and THE Logan Lerman, with Jennifer Garner herself attached as executive producer? As a millennial, I could not have dreamed this cast up better myself.
As I'm sitting here writing this, I'm genuinely looking forward to the evening I have planned: rewatching this movie through the eyes of a soon-to-be 30-year-old. And honestly? The version of me from even a year ago would be surprised by that sentence. Turning 30 felt daunting then. It doesn't anymore. Some of the themes will certainly give me pause (adulting is relentless, we all know it), but mostly I just feel proud. Of where I am. Of who I'm becoming.
What I didn't expect was to find myself in the middle of the worst reading slump of my life at exactly this moment. And I think I've finally diagnosed it: I'm caught between the gravitational pull of every single 2026 book release — which is genuinely overwhelming in the best way — and a deep, aching nostalgia for the books I never got to (or anxiety because I now feel behind, who’s to say).
Truth be told, I scrapped this intro about 20 different times because as reading slumps go, it’s actually the whole creative side of my brain that has decided to shut down.
And because we never end on a sad note here, I’m going to leave you to the news with a few of my slump busters (which I will be taking for a spin this week because this has become tragic). I know a few of my friends are also in the trenches right now too, so curious to see what’s your go-to!
Now onto the news! Let’s take a look at the week of March 23, 2026.
🖼 COVER REVEALS
New covers to look out for — sorted by release date:
Rumors & Whiskey (Whiskey Women #1) by Victoria Wilder — June 16, 2026
Daggermouth (The Heart duology #1) by H.M. Wolfe — July 28, 2026
Drawn Together (Marfil #1) by Mercedes Ron — Aug. 4, 2026
The Fall Affair by Vi Keeland — Aug. 18, 2026
Big Little Truths (Big Little Lies #2) by Liane Moriarty — Aug. 25, 2026
Blightfall by Brandon Sanderson & Janci Patterson — Sept. 1, 2026
Midnight Curfew by Penelope Douglas — Sept. 1, 2026
Our Strange Duet by Erin A. Craig — Sept. 1, 2026
Meet Cute Magic (Heartwood Hollow #1) by Morgan Elizabeth — Sept. 8, 2026
Kneel Before Me (Spit or Swallow #0) by Lindsay Straube — Sept. 29, 2026
Once, Again, Always by Amanda Gayle — Oct. 6, 2026
Make Me Hate You by Kandi Steiner — Oct. 6, 2026
On the Cursed Day of Christmas (Zodiac Academy #10) by Susanne Valenti & Caroline Peckham — Oct. 13, 2026
A Conspiracy of Charming Monsters: Illustrated Tales from Elfhame (The Folk of the Air) by Holly Black — Nov. 3, 2026
Too Cold for Comfort by Nisha J. Tuli — Nov. 10, 2026
Just in Time by Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka — Dec. 8, 2026
Vale of Dreams (Fey Academy for Spies #2) by C.N. Crawford & Alex Rivers — Dec. 15, 2026
📖 BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS
Upcoming releases, deals, and series updates:
Brooke Fast announced the title for To Cage a Wild Bird’s sequel!
→ To Unleash a Darker Fate (Divided Fates #2) by Brooke Fast — Feb. 9, 2027
We are getting a new Zodiac Academy book! This time, we will return to Solaria for Christmas with an advent style book (a.k.a. 1 chapter a day) with characters from ZA and Dark Fae/Ruthless Boys
→ On the Cursed Day of Christmas by Susanne Valenti & Caroline Peckham — Oct. 13, 2026
The Incendiary (Selvaren #2) by L.J. Claren will be releasing a month early — Sept. 8, 2026
Dover Publications is expanding into romance with a new imprint, Midnight Rose! The adult romantasy imprint has already announced a few titles, such as:
This Brilliant Void (The Riftwalker Duet #1) by Rebecca F. Kenney — Aug. 16, 2026 → Reylo-coded Sci-Fi Romantasy
Bonnie’s Summer of Love, Swords and Other Long Hard Things by Olivia Riesling — Spring 2027 → Romantasy
A Ruin Among the Stars by Julie Graham — Fall 2027 → gender-swapped retelling of The Phantom of the Opera
Unknowable by M. G. Hauck — Spring 2027 → romantic fantasy inspired by The Wizard of Oz
Briar Boleyn announced a new Untitled Christmas Romantasy with Emberly Ash to be released later this year — TBC release date
📚 NEW RELEASES
New books releasing on Tuesday, March 31, 2026
👉 Get the 2026 Digital Book Release Calendar HERE so you can plan ahead!
New Releases
Cinder Vale (Sins of the Zodiac #3) by Caroline Peckham & Susanne Valenti — Dark Romantasy
Twisted Pawn (Society of Villains #2) by L.J. Shen — Dark Romance
A Good Person by Kirsten King — Thriller
Love Is an Algorithm by Laura Brooke Robson — Literary Fiction
Found Time by Caroline Goldstein — Romance
The Adjunct by Maria Adelmann — Literary Fiction
Ruins by Lily Brooks-Dalton — Literary Fiction
Game On (Into Darkness #3) by Navessa Allen — Dark Romance
What We Did to Survive by Megan Lally — Thriller
Incidentals by Sheila Yasmin Marikar — Thriller
Nothing Tastes as Good by Luke Dumas —Thriller
Scandalized by Lauren Billings (one half of Christina Lauren) — Romance
Audiobooks
Eldritch (The Eating Woods #2) by Keri Lake — Dark Fantasy
→ Duet narration with James Cassidy & Melissa Barr
New Editions & Traditionally Published Re-Releases
Legendborn (The Legendborn Cycle #1) by Tracey Deonn — Collector’s Edition
Rain of Shadows and Endings (Rain of Shadows and Endings #1) by Melissa K. Roehrich — Deluxe Limited Hardcover (trad)
Braving the Storm (Crimson Ridge #2) by Elliott Rose — trad deluxe
Wait with Me (Wait With Me #1) by Amy Daws — trad release
Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult — 10th Anniversary Deluxe Edition
🎀 SPECIAL EDITIONS & MERCH
(Your bank account hates to see me coming)
ACOTAR 6 & 7 by Sarah J. Maas — Target Exclusive w/ excl. gift (Oct. 27, 2026 & Jan. 12, 2027)
The Infernal Devices trilogy by Cassandra Clare — Fairyloot (early access on Apr. 29th)
Official Funko POP! collectibles from Navessa Allen’s Into the Darkness series — live on Mar. 31st
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir — Deluxe Hardcover (Dec. 1st)
The Serpent and the Wings of Night (Crowns of Nyaxia #1) by Carissa Broadbent — Deluxe Limited Edition (Nov. 3rd)
🎧 AUDIOBOOKS
New Audible Original The Summer Oath by Claire Friedman to be narrated by Maya Hawke, KJ Apa, and Gavin Casalegno — Apr. 30th
Souls in Ruin (The Soulbound #1) by Jacqueline White — Apr. 28th
→ Narrator reveal: Duet with Meg Sylvan, E.M. Wylde, and Corvin King
✍️ TOUR DATES & EVENTS
New tour announcements from authors and bookish events across the world:
Julia Whelan — My Oxford Year: The Immersion Tour
2026 Mystic Box Huntington Beach event with authors Leigh Rivers, Avina St. Graves, Sara Cate, Tate James, Meagan Brandy, and C.E. Ricci
TJ Klune — We Burned So Bright
Sydney J. Shields — An Arcane Study of Stars
Ashley Poston — The Someday Garden
🎬 ADAPTATIONS
Releases
Imperfect Women (by Araminta Hall) Season 1 Episode 3: Monster — Apple TV+ on Mar. 25th
The Last Thing He Told Me (by Laura Dave) Season 2 Episode 6: The Prosecutor — Apple TV+ on Mar. 27th
News & Updates
Prime Video set release date & shared first look images for Every Year After, the TV series adaptation of Every Summer After by Carley Fortune — Prime Video on June 10th (all 8-episodes will drop at once)
Kirsten Dunst has joined the cast of The Housemaid’s Secret, the sequel to The Housemaid, adapted from Freida McFadden’s books
Abubakr Ali, Quintessa Swindell, Jennifer Jason Leigh & Gaby Hoffmann have joined the cast of the A24 movie adaptation of Deep Cuts by Holly Brickley
The Favorites by Layne Fargo to be adapted into a movie at Netflix
Netflix announced that Bridgerton Season 5 will focus on Francesca and Michaela’s love story
Lola Tung shared in a recent interview that she hasn’t read the script yet for The Summer I Turned Pretty movie
Gwyneth Paltrow set to star in the movie adaptation of Strangers by Belle Burden — Netflix
Alison Oliver (Wuthering Heights, Saltburn) has replaced Daisy Edgar Jones as the lead of the movie adaptation of Bad Bridgets (by Elaine Farrell and Leanne McCormick)
Project Hail Mary could be getting a sequel based on its current box office success, which will all depend on author Andy Weir writing a second book of not
Amazon MGM has acquired the rights to adapt Romantic Hero by Kirsty Greenwood into a movie
Stephen Colbert will be writing the script for the next Lord of the Rings movie (tentatively titled The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past) based off the 8 chapters “Fogs on the Barrow-downs” in The Fellowship of the Ring
Trailer & release date for HBO’s new TV series adaptation of Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone — HBO Max on Christmas Day
Filming for the movie adaptation of Honeymoon With Harry is set to begin in Queensland this April — Amazon MGM Studios
Trailer for the TV series adaptation of The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende, starring Nicole Wallace (My Fault) — Prime Video on April 29th (first 3 episodes)
Passionflix has optioned My Summer in Seoul by Rachel Van Dyken
Fake Dates and Mooncakes by Sher Lee to be adapted into a TV series
This Ain’t Our First Rodeo by Liara Tamani to be adapted into a TV series — Hulu
Rebelle Media is relaunching as a romance-focused indie studio and will continue to operate under its first-look television deal with MGM Television, starting with:
The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren (movie)
The Heir Apparent by Rebecca Armitage (TV series)
💌 Weekly R.E.P.O.R.T.
This is the lifestyle portion of my newsletter, where I share what I’ve been Reading, Eating, Playing, Obsessing over, Recommending, and Treating myself to this week.
Reading
Coach by Devney Perry → 3.75⭐️ Sports Romance; Full review here
Weavingshaw by Heba Al-Wasity → 4.5⭐️ Gothic Fantasy Romance; Full review here
Eating
Playing
Obsessing
Over my reading slump, which is only making it worse… I see all the books I wanted to get to this months and haven’t and well, it’s making me anxiously paralyzed. Trying to just let it be, but I’d really like my groove back!
Recommending
Tried the Amika Flash gloss & it did wonders for my hair + been loving tightlining with the Makeup by Mario perfect brown pencil
Treating
📝 Final Thoughts
Alright everyone, that’s it for now! I hope you all had an amazing reading week and cannot wait to catch up with you next Sunday. Happy Reading! ✨
Disclaimer: Some links in this newsletter are affiliate links — including Amazon, ShopMy, and others. If you buy something through them, I may earn a small commission (and it helps me keep doing this every week 💕). Everything else is just me linking to things I genuinely love or think you might want to check out.