2026 BOOK BUZZ 🐝 Book News, 6 Fig Deals, Adaptations, & More

Added: 2026-05-05

[00:00:00]What's up y'all? It's Jesse on YouTube and we are here today to film another book buzz video yet to film another episode in my book buzz series. This is an ongoing series on my channel where I talk about fun bookish news, just good shit, positive vibes, only books that are being released, some author news and things that authors are celebrating all about books that are coming out, things I'm geeked for that are bookish, etc. Movie adaptations, all of that. So, I'm going to leave the playlist down below if you want to check out other videos that I have done in this series. But I'm really excited about today's video because it is trans day of visibility.

[00:00:33]I owe y'all a book buzz video. Y'all have been rocking with my content so hard, so fiercely, and ferociously. If you are one of those people who have been watching my videos, supporting my Instagram, supporting my bookstore, joined the Patreon, if you've done any of those things, a combination or just one of them, thank you so much. This is where my center is. This is where I'm thriving, where I'm happy. So, thank you so much to everybody who's been supportive of me. Releasing on September 29th, 2026 is an anthology from Andila Cardinal called Something Followed Us Home. Described as a groundbreaking anthology where each story re-imagines immigration, colonization, faith, and folklore as the fears we inherit and carry across borders and generations.

[00:01:12]M. It will be available in both English and Spanish. I know that's right. And it's got stories from Augustina Bastoica, who I love. She gave us Tenders the Flesh. That shit was so fucking good. I read that for my Patreon book club and we were it was that is one of those few books that really gagged me. Book was so disturbing. I loved it.

[00:01:31]Isaiah, Zora Cordova, Mariana Enriquez.

[00:01:34]Wow. There's a lot of incredible Latina authors on this list, y'all. I can't wait. Daniel Jose is on there. I'm not ready. So, there's a book called Cleat Cute.

[00:01:47]>> This is so fucking funny.

[00:01:48]>> It's called Cleat Cute and it's by Mel Wilsner. This is officially getting a TV series adaptation. Never heard of this book in my life. And I'm going to assume that because it's getting a TV adaptation that there's been some buzz for it. Right. Obviously, this is a queer sports romance.

[00:02:04]>> We love >> We absolutely love >> queer sports romance just will always have a little have a place in my heart and I'm I'm pretty excited to see a nice TV show. This is a former WNBA star Sue Bird and former women's US soccer captain Megan Rapino have teamed up with Jeff Watchtow these names. Future Shack Entertainment to adapt this enemies to lovers romcom novel into a scripted series. Y'all love enemies to lovers.

[00:02:31]That is a trope that is just beloved.

[00:02:34]It's just not a a hook for me. I'm kind of indifferent. I can't wait to watch this series. And let me know in the comments down below if you think I should read this book as well. If y'all follow me on Instagram, you know that I'm respectfully obsessed with Learen Williams. He's the author of Blood at the Root. Black men and black boys are underceelebrated in the book community.

[00:02:50]Books that celebrate and center black boys. Don't get enough hype. Don't get enough support. Look who came to say hello. Learen Williams, that very same author, has produced his own play. Now, his play is called Cocoa Queens. Set in the vibrant, evershifting world of the 1970s, Cocoa Queens invites you into a bustling neighborhood salon where four black women build a sisterhood rooted in love, resilience, and truth.

[00:03:15]>> It's Mr. Steel Girl.

[00:03:18]>> Bold, intimate, unapologetically powerful. Gosh, why? I don't want to make out. I don't want to make out. Yo, I just Not you. You always got to be the star.

[00:03:29]She always got to be the star. boosting that man. And then we have our incredible Sonito Reyes who has announced another book. Sonito is >> not me vibrating like a molecule >> author that y'all should be supporting.

[00:03:41]So we had a cover drop for this book that they released and it's called to our untamed core. This cover is mad madfly. Yo, it comes out September 22nd of 2026. It happens centuries after the concistadors claimed aas for their own.

[00:03:58]Demo spends his life obeying the holy orders decree, undergoing their sacraments to tame his supposedly violent nature. Already I'm sat.

[00:04:06]>> I'm seated.

[00:04:07]>> I'm heated and I'm seated. The only rule he breaks is hiding that he's trans.

[00:04:12]Stop. I'm already I actually haven't read the synopsis before now. I I fuck with Sonita hardcore, so I don't care what they write. I'm going to read it.

[00:04:20]Oh my god, there's a tournament. There's far more to this tournament than meets the eye. Survival is the beginning. He's got a boyfriend who's unexpectedly arrested and thrown into the deadly tournament.

[00:04:30]>> Not me laughing.

[00:04:31]>> He'll do anything to rescue his man from his fate, even if that means entering the tournament himself. Incredible. So, it's about the cost that you pay for love, the cost that you pay to be who you are. I fuck with that hardcore. And y'all know I can't go through a Book Buzz video without checking in on my home girl Tanari Doo. Dr. Tanar Doo is coming out with another book. Dropped a cover reveal for Maisywood. Y'all already know who Dr. Tanana Ree Dw is and I'm not going to tell you if you don't know. You need to get your ass on Google. You need to you need to get it together cuz that woman is a living legend. You know what I'm saying? So, she released the cover for Maisywood, her next book, and it is already the number four best seller on black in black horror on Amazon. That's a queen right there. That's a queen right there.

[00:05:14]It's releasing from Saga Press. I really like this publisher and it is described as S.A. Cosby's All Sinners Bleeds Bleed, which meets Perl Everett's Eraser in this literary thriller following Johnny, the grandson of a famous black actress from the 1920s to the 1940s.

[00:05:32]He's now a filmmaker himself. and he returns to his grandmother's cabin retreat in California in the mountains only to encounter the legacy of her rage born in old Hollywood with flashbacks to Johnny's grandmother who brushed shoulders with giants like Lena Horn and Clark Gable and Hattie McDaniel. This novel explores three generations beginning with Masel Washington's life as a young actress. 50 years after Miselle's death, Johnny will discover the secret that she kept and natured, nurtured since she was a child. Is it a monster?

[00:06:05]>> When she had a dark wish come true.

[00:06:07]>> It's a monster.

[00:06:08]>> The literal next line. A monster lurks outside Maisywood. Sorry, I startled Aasha. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Come here.

[00:06:15]Come back. Come here.

[00:06:16]>> No, you don't. Yeah, the good girls.

[00:06:23]Who's that? Is that you?

[00:06:26]Why are you so fine? Like I hate that my dog is prettier than me. You sexy though. Yeah, you are. Who's a sexy beast? Yeah, you are. You see your teeth? Look at those teeth. Yes. Such a good girl. Yes, you are. Let me see.

[00:06:46]She's such a good girl. Oh my god, I love her. Okay, well, apparently she wants to be here, so I'm just going to let her do that. Even though it means I won't be in focus. She's the star, not me. A monster lurks outside Maisywood.

[00:06:55]hidden for generations and Johnny brought his family to its hunting grounds. Oh, he brought his family with him. Okay. Oh, and then, right, so another thing that I had bookmarked, I bookmarked this on March 20th. It's a post from Black Garnet Books in St. Paul, Minnesota. Bry's newest memoir, which I actually opened today and it's sitting right in front of me. Releases today. It's called Phases. It's her memoir. As a child, I remember being told that my dreams were written in the stars is the quote that's on the back.

[00:07:24]And as part of the promotion, this was sent to me as well. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Let me know in the comments down below. Is anybody interested in me annotating this and putting together a swag pack, including this, and posting this book on my Pango? Let me know. I just spent 7 hours annotating it all. I just spent 7 hours annotating all's well for someone.

[00:07:45]Annotating books is my favorite thing.

[00:07:48]If you don't know who Brandy is, I'm going to need you to get on YouTube and listen to some music, okay? I I can't explain to you how iconic she is. I really can't. Nebula finalist announced on March 19th. There are three of them.

[00:07:59]The River Has Roots by Amal El Mar.

[00:08:02]Automatic Noodle. This is by Anna Linowitz. But not too bold. But not too bold. What? Interesting. For some reason, it's very difficult for me to perceive this cover. Fascinating. Oh, I personally have not read anything by Amal Elar. I would like to. The River Has Roots. Comment down below. Tell me.

[00:08:20]Do you think I would like it? I'm pretty sure it's on my good readads want to read. Analyt is an author that I've read from and very very much enjoyed. That's a non-binary author. Phenomenal fe feminist works. And then this last author I'm completely completely new to.

[00:08:35]I'm on their Instagram and it says that they are an Argentine Brazilian writer, translator, and arachnid. I fuck with it. They have a book called Cabaret in Flames releasing in 2026 and then but not too bold released in 2025. See that two authors I really fuck with follow them. They are Zorra Solo and then the Latina London. If somebody knows the pronouns of this author that would be really cool if you could drop them. I don't know if we have any Ava Reed fans in the house but this is the latest book by Ava Reed. I am so interested from the cover alone. Taran Fischer is not an author that speaks to me personally, but this cover for Dirty Red is sexy. We got the Finlay Donovan crosses the line, another book in that Finlay Donovan series. I read the first book and I quite enjoyed it. But as these books have been released and the series is ongoing, what have your respective experiences with the series been? Is it getting played out? Is it getting better? Give me the tea. I haven't read anything by L. Kennedy yet to my knowledge, but I love that we have a new book from Ibram X Kendy. That's really important. chain of ideas looks incredible. Ibram has an amazing way with words, an amazing way of of talking about things that are highly dense in an accessible format. Very talented writer.

[00:09:50]I Hear Freedom by Cisco Bradley. That is calling to me personally. Definitely calling to me personally. Shora Williams has another book out and this one is fantasy. It's called Mayhem and the Mortal Phenomenal. Now, if there's any tea on any of these books, especially from this first list here, I'm interested in all of these books. Let me know in the comment section down below. Now, I don't know if y'all know about Tiffany D.

[00:10:15]Jackson's latest book. Y'all may know that she had a child, and I was so excited for her. This is the first kind of bookish news that I've heard from her since her child. I was going to say the release of her child, not since, >> okay, >> you know what I'm trying to say. Since the birth of her child. This book is called Ghost in the Night. And look how adorable.

[00:10:35]Look how adorable she looks and how proud she looks. Like I just can't wait for that to be me like holding my book.

[00:10:40]Oh, don't touch me with your cold wet nose. Get away from me, Rudolph. Don't touch my butt. What are you doing back there? Most action I've gotten in a while. And we have just a Get out of there. Get out of there. What?

[00:10:51]>> You're probably wondering how you got here.

[00:10:53]>> What are you doing? Huh? What are you doing, creeper? You're creepy. All right. Justin and Hong had a baby. The child is named Pip and Pip is 4 months old as of March 11th. Very beautiful. I just wanted to share this joy. Very precious. We love to see the behind the scenes of authors' lives. For those of you who don't know, Justinian Pong is the bestselling author of books The Lucky Seed and The Emperor and the Endless Palace. And his Instagram is just full of really adorable, precious, like parenting and nerdy bookish stuff.

[00:11:28]Fuck with it. I'd love to see authors of color thriving and happy and sharing their wins. We need to see more of that.

[00:11:35]Absolutely. We've also got some positive news from Sara Alifi, who I absolutely adore. Y'all know that Sara is the author of Oh my god, why am I blanking on this book? Where is it? The second book is Battle Drum. The first book was shite. Where is it? Harper Voyager falls for new trilogy from Sara El Ariifi in a sixf figureure deal. I know that's right. I know that's right. This is correct. And the power photo like you know it just makes me want to shimmy.

[00:12:07]You know I'm so proud of her. So she's got a book titled Sinner Man and it's coming in 2027. It is the next standalone fantasy. She says it's going to break you and I'm ready to get broke.

[00:12:17]So, it's set in 1950s London where an immortal masquerades as a detective. A lucrative job for a man who consumes sins to survive.

[00:12:26]>> I can't I have chills.

[00:12:27]>> He exits what? He exists in the fringes of society. One of the many immortals who walks the London streets in the day, thrives in the underbelly of the city at night. Some of them were once gods, others vampires or ghouls, but he was only ever known as the cinnam man. I know that's right. I know that's right.

[00:12:45]It's described as a heartbreaking love story. I can't do love. Please, no love.

[00:12:49]All right, moving on with our news.

[00:12:50]Buffy meets The Craft and Greg Araki in the trailer for witchy sappic horror film titled The Serpent's Sin. The Serpent's Skin. Normally when I do these, I kind of will have a section where I talk about like horror movies cuz y'all know I'm just I love I love me some scary shit. Not going to do that in this video. This one, it looks like I just put this in the wrong folder, but I might as well announce it. It's bookish, right? Buffy, the craft. You know, you know, this next piece of bookish news I'm really excited about because this is another book from an author that I rock with. And her first book was well wellreceived. It was a book of the month pick. People really quite liked it. It had great asexual representation, but I felt like it deserved even more even more attention. So, this of course is the author who wrote Kaiki. Amazing. If y'all haven't read that book, you need to get to it. You need to get to it. Her name is Vishnavi Patel. Civil rights and author Kaiki, goddess of the river, 10 incarnations of rebellion. And the fourthcoming, we dance upon demons.

[00:13:52]Vishnavi's Patel, the library of lost time, in which a woman follows the trail of a man that she loves through time and across different worlds that are created whenever a book is banned. Alternate realities in which the book never existed. exploring the power of literature to shape the world around us.

[00:14:12]I mean, I need that. And that's going to come out in 2027. RF Kuang dropped another book. It this book is called Taipei Story. And the cover is given. The cover is giving. Okay, y'all know that Katabas was the first book that she wrote that I personally didn't love. But not every story is for every reader. It just wasn't for me personally. Everything else that she has written has spoken to me on such a personal level. And honestly, the first half of Katabas did as well. It just the second half with the love story turn like y'all know that I'm a grump and a grouch. Just I can't do love. I don't want to do it. Okay, somebody's in the streets acting a fool with their motor in a world of instant overwhelming content. And what it's a true luxury to see artists taking their time. The book cover, I mean, I just can't I can't. As as usual, I don't care what the book is about. I do not read synopsis for RF Kong's work. So, if you're curious about what this book is about, you may absolutely look it up. I love going in knowing very little besides what I hear on the internet or what I hear through videos. One piece of news that I'm very excited about is that Perl Everett James is getting an adaptation. I didn't really speak about this, but I read James last year and it was it was it was so good. I don't know what to tell y'all. It's Huckleberry Finn retold from the perspective of the black man that Huckleberry Finn was friends with. There's no words. There's no fucking words to describe how good that book was. It slit my throat. It really did. It was amazing. That man can write.

[00:15:47]That man can write. That's all I got to say. The Reading Black Girls dropped this adorable post titled anticipated black authored reads in 2026. So, I'm going to put these books up here on the screen. just a little revolving carousel so that you can see what these books are. I intentionally saved going through this list until I was on camera because I wanted to do it together. You know what I'm saying? So, let's see what we got. Let's see what we got here. Walter, there's a new Walter Mosley. I know that's right. Yes, sir. I don't know Eden McKenzie Goddard, but the cover for Small is Giving. The cover for The Finest Things is Giving. Wicked Endeavors. Oh, I know that author.

[00:16:24]Camila Cole. Why do I know the name Camila Cole? I don't know how I feel about this cover. I do. I just I'm being polite. Black girl fantasy book. It's like purple. I think there's a shorty with braids on the cover. Let me see if I can find it. So Let Them Burn, I want to say. Is that the author of So Let Them Burn. Let me know. Wow, these books look so good. The Immi Thompson book.

[00:16:45]Honey, this cover is is precise that these books release in May. Now we're into June. We have Oh man. Oh my gosh.

[00:16:53]These all look so good. The only one sin in Hollywood like old black Hollywood, old Hollywood books, but old black Hollywood. Come on now. Come on now. The heirs from um from Farita Abid.

[00:17:08]Yes. Yes. I still have to read the last book, the one about the the shorty in the boarding school. I got to read that still. It's on my shelves. I can tell a Deal of Dawn is not going to be for me.

[00:17:20]Madly Driven by TA Love is a contact sport. Is that a malemale queer sports romance book? Okay. Well, this book here is getting read for sure. It's definitely getting read. Coulson Whitehead has a new book and it's called Cool Machine. This one drops in July.

[00:17:34]I'm excited for that. I really, really like Coulson Whitehead. He wrote The Nickel Boys, which is one of those books that made me cry. It's good. It's It's one of my favorite books of all time.

[00:17:45]It's It's definitely a sad work, but so good. Man, that cover for Take What You Can by Naima Coer looks incredible. And this book, These Walls, Remember, it releases in August. It's by Dell Sundine.

[00:17:58]Okay. The music scared the shit out of me. This looks really, really good. This has got Jesse written all over it. Death Card by Jasmine Smith. The cover. Okay.

[00:18:08]Have we heard about Death Card? What are our thoughts? Are there What are the early reviews saying? Give me some tea.

[00:18:13]Yep. There's the new Tiffany D. Jackson, Ghost in the Night, Bound by Fury. Okay.

[00:18:20]Very unhinged looking black girl on the cover. and we love it. We love to see it. The Book of Chuck by Latoya Watkins.

[00:18:27]That looks good as well.

[00:18:30]Okay, so I just scrolled to the other book releases. There's a second book in the Queenie series by Candace Cardi Williams. If y'all have been here long enough, you will remember how I felt about Queenie. I went on a rant on Instagram and on YouTube just really being disappointed with people about how they were speaking about Queenie's behavior. I felt like Queenie got sex shamed. I feel that Queenie really got vilified by a lot of her own skin folk, was really deeply misunderstood. I felt that a lot of readers completely missed the point of the book and that their reviews reflected that. I'm not going to lie. I ain't going to hold you. So, I'm very curious to see about this next book. I'm I'm real curious. And the la the last piece of news where I'm going to end this video.

[00:19:18]Y'all know I love SA Cosby. I love him.

[00:19:20]Love him. All the Sinners Bleed is getting an adaptation. Okay. And we've got the cast. We've got the cast. Okay.

[00:19:26]And the ca the the cast is casting. The cast is casting. Danielle Ezra Andrea Cortez join Joe Robert Cole's adaptation of Essay Cosby's All the Sinners Bleed.

[00:19:37]I know that's right. I know it's right and I know it's precise. This this series follows Titus Crown, the first black sheriff in the Bible belt county, as he hunts a serial killer targeting his community in the name of God. Woo!

[00:19:51]All right, so which of the news that I have given you did you not know about?

[00:19:56]What did I put on your radar? What am I missing? What am I missing? Let me know in the comments down below. What are you excited for? What are you like, oo, I don't know about this. Just give me the tea. I I need to get back in to the know of what's what's good in the book community. Thank you so much for being so receptive to me as y'all always are.

[00:20:13]Like just mad kind, mad mad welcoming.

[00:20:16]If you want to support my journey, you know what to do. My pango's down below.

[00:20:19]Thank you for rocking with my content as always. Like I really really appreciate y'all. I hope that you're happy. I hope you're safe. I hope you're well. I hope that you don't have toxic people in your life. And if you do, I hope that you're doing as much work centering and healing for yourself and making an exit plan if possible. Um, I don't want to spend another second of my precious short mortal life unhappy because of another person. And I don't want that for y'all either. Okay. Do you want to say bye to Aasha? Yeah. Who's your baby? Oh, big stretch.

[00:20:49]Big stretch. You want to say bye? You want to give him a goodbye? Can you speak? Oh, you don't want to talk now.

[00:20:58]Now you're shy.

[00:21:00]There you go. Good girl, little chunk. A little choppers. Yes, you are the baby.

[00:21:06]Yes, you are the baby with the stinky wrap.

[00:21:10]I love you.

[00:21:13]I love you. You sure do. I love you.

[00:21:22]I love you all, too. Bye.