8 Most Anticipated Nonfiction and Memoir Books of Summer 2026

As the days grow longer and the air turns warmer, summer often brings a sense of adventure and discovery—especially for book lovers! If you’re eager to dive into new worlds, gain fresh perspectives, or simply escape the heat with a good read, then you’re in for a treat. The summer of 2026 is on the horizon, and it promises to be packed with some truly remarkable nonfiction and memoir releases that are sure to inspire and provoke thought. From gripping personal narratives that delve into life’s complexities to insightful explorations of our society and culture, this summer’s lineup has something for everyone. Join us as we explore the 8 most anticipated nonfiction and memoir books set to hit the shelves this season!

True Crime: A Memoir

Patricia Cornwell

In this achingly honest memoir, Cornwell excavates her own life, detailing her traumatic childhood being raised by neglectful parents, her father abandoning the young family on Christmas day, her mother being institutionalized twice, an abusive foster family, and developing a parental relationship with evangelist Billy Graham’s wife Ruth. Cornwell depicts a harrowing hospitalization and near-death car accident. She unflinchingly shares overcoming obstacles that later gave her the ambition to become an award-winning police reporter. From there it was research in a medical examiner’s office that would turn into a full-time job. She would become a forensic expert and worldwide publishing.

Release Date: May 5, 2026

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Your OCD Will Hate This Book

Nathan Peterson

Obsessive-compulsive disorder is one of the most common, and debilitating, mental disorders. Though popular media tends to focus on the condition’s zany quirks, OCD manifests in a wide variety of ways, many of which are hidden from view and utterly destructive. Left unchecked, this disease wreaks havoc on lives.

But there is an effective treatment. Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) involves exposure to OCD triggers in a safe environment for increasingly long durations.

Release Date: July 7, 2026

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On Witness and Respair

Jesmyn Ward

From the two-time National Book Award winner and New York Times bestselling author Jesmyn Ward, this collection of essays documents more than a decade of work in the life of a singular writer often lauded as “the heir apparent to Toni Morrison” (LitHub). Beginning with her upbringing in a multigenerational household in rural Mississippi, the cradle of both her youth and her gift for storytelling, Ward brings her keen wisdom and hauntingly lyrical prose to a range of topics, following in her grandmother Dorothy’s footsteps when she promises always to “Tell it straight. Tell it all.” True to her word, in these pages Ward contemplates the writers and novels of her youth.

Release Date: May 19, 2026

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Mother Tongue

Sara Nović

Sara Nović’s early years were steeped in music, Bible study, and a strong desire to fit in. But when she failed her school’s mandated hearing test, her worldview was thrown into chaos. Desperate not to be marked as different, she told no one, staying in the hearing world for as long as she could by brute force.

Eventually unable to ignore the fact that she was deaf, Nović sought out other deaf people and was welcomed into a tight knit community rooted in the beauty and joy of American Sign Language. Nović realized that rather than maintaining the facade of her old life or trying to straddle.

Release Date: May 5, 2026

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Big Fan

Mike Schur and Joe Posnanski

Two great friends. Lots of frequent flyer miles. And a bottomless appetite for experiencing sports. That’s what BIG FAN is all about. Bestselling authors and podcast hosts Joe Posnanski and Mike Schur love games—almost any game!—and they bring readers to the front row (and sometimes even right onto the field). Whether ringside at WrestleMania in Las Vegas, singing along with the maniacs at the World Darts Championships in London, or just watching eight straight hours of football at a Buffalo Wild Wings in Dallas, they bring us to the very heart of what it means to love something so much it hurts. Through crushing defeats and glorious wins.

Release Date: May 19, 2026

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The Hormone Loop

Dr. Gillian Goddard

From our mood to our metabolism, hormones are running the show behind nearly every bodily function. They tell our hearts how quickly to beat, our gut how to process the food we eat, our bones to release calcium, and our muscles to grow new fibers. Yet, most of us don’t fully understand how our bodies and its systems work—and more importantly, what to do when they don’t.

Enter renowned endocrinologist Dr. Gillian Goddard, who knows firsthand how urgently women need clear, accessible information about their hormonal health. Drawing from years of clinical experience.

Release Date: June 2, 2026

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Freedom: Essays

Zinzi Clemmons

Weaving personal reflections with piercing insight and expansive vision across nine brilliant essays, Zinzi Clemmons explores the complexities of the elusive concept of freedom. As the daughter of a South African mother and a Trinidadian America father, she recounts growing up in the largely white, affluent town of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania—and her frequent travels to Johannesburg, where the lofty promise of freedom was all around her. Coming of age amidst the euphoria of South Africa’s first all-race elections, she grapples with the legacy of Nelson Mandela and the shattered hope in the wake of the Obama era.

Release Date: June 9, 2026

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Catch the Devil

Pamela Colloff

For more than three decades, Paul Skalnik roamed the Gulf Coast lying about who he was. He passed himself off as a fighter pilot, a high-rolling oilman, a criminal defense attorney, an undercover agent, and a terminal cancer patient. In these guises he married nine women—some at the same time.

When Skalnik got caught, as he invariably did, he would run a different con. Locked up with other men awaiting trial, he claimed they confessed their crimes to him. Then he peddled those stories to prosecutors. In Pinellas County, Florida, he became a frequent witness for the state.

Release Date: July 14, 2026

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