With so many great books being published every month, some literary titles worth exploring can get lost in the mix. Page One offers the first lines of a dozen recently released books, including The Future by Monica Ferrell and The People Can Fly: American Promise, Black Prodigies, and the Greatest Miracle of All Time by Joshua Bennett.
“You were breathing fire when I met you, I should have sensed the danger: a pale, shirtless sixteen-year-old in the middle of a frozen field inhaling slugs of kerosene and spewing jets of flame out into the night.” Lithium (New Directions, February 2026) by Malén Denis, translated from the Spanish by Laura Hatry and John Wronoski. Sixth book, first novel. Agent: Txell Torrent. Editor: Barbara Epler. Publicist: Maya Solovej.
“I do my finest listening in the dark.” Night Owl (Ecco Press, March 2026) by Aimee Nezhukumatathil. Seventh book, fifth poetry collection. Agent: Laura Blake Peterson. Editor: Sarah Murphy. Publicists: Vanessa DeJesús and Sarah Jean Grimm.
“The first time Opal heard the voice she stood ankle-deep in the Ohio River.” Everything Lost Returns (Flatiron Books, February 2026) by Sarah Domet. Third book, second novel. Agent: Michelle Brower. Editor: Caroline Bleeke. Publicists: Cathleen Kenney and Amelia Possanza.
“once i lived on pillars in a green house / boarded by lilacs that rocked voices into weeds.” This Is Not a Small Voice (Beacon Press, March 2026) by Sonia Sanchez. Twenty-fourth book, twentieth poetry collection. Agent: None. Editors: Helene Atwan and Amy Caldwell. Publicist: Perpetua Cannistraro.
“I’m woken up by the sound of screaming on the other side of the wall.” Leaving Home: A Memoir in Full Colour (Doubleday, February 2026) by Mark Haddon. Fifteenth book, first memoir. Agent: Clare Alexander. Editor: Bill Thomas. Publicist: Michael Goldsmith.
“M a microscripted ocean” Hide (Graywolf Press, March 2026) by Carolina Ebeid. Second book, poetry collection. Agent: None. Editors: Brittany Torres Rivera and Jeff Shotts. Publicist: Caelan Ernest Nardone.
“In the moment before the old man grabbed him, Jacob was thinking: history must include the dreamlife.” The Tavern at the End of History (Dzanc Books, February 2026) by Morris Collins. Second book, novel. Agent: None. Editor: Michelle Dotter. Publicists: Chelsea Gibbons and Heather Morris.
“Every day I wake up / And ask is it today? / The volcano?” The Future (Four Way Books, March 2026) by Monica Ferrell. Fourth book, third poetry collection. Agent: Amanda Urban. Editor: Ryan Murphy. Publicist: Cassie Mannes Murray.
“Until last summer, we had a dead frog in our freezer.” Frog: And Other Essays (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, February 2026) by Anne Fadiman. Fifth book, third essay collection. Agent: Lynn Nesbit. Editor: Jonathan Galassi. Publicist: Stephen Weil.
“We never named the ritual.” The People Can Fly: American Promise, Black Prodigies, and the Greatest Miracle of All Time (Little, Brown, February 2026) by Joshua Bennett. Sixth book, third hybrid nonfiction. Agents: David Kuhn and Nate Muscato. Editor: Bryn Clark. Publicist: Elizabeth Garriga.
“My first word was ‘mother,’ spoken out loud and with texture.” Kin (Knopf, February 2026) by Tayari Jones. Fifth book, novel. Agent: Jane Dystel. Editor: Jordan Pavlin. Publicist: Emily Reardon.
“A sheet of paper can also become a knife / even sharper” Ocean, as Much as Rain: Stories, Lyrical Prose, and Poems From Tibet (Duke University Press, February 2026) by Tsering Woeser, translated from the Chinese by Fiona Sze-Lorrain with Dechen Pemba. Twenty-fourth book, third hybrid collection. Agent: None. Editors: Miriam Angress, Gisela Fosado, Dechen Pemba, Jessica Ryan, and Fiona Sze-Lorrain. Publicist: Laura Sell.
