Recs if you like Westward Women...

lit fic and horror, mainly, and mostly books by women, nonbinary & trans writers, basically mostly non-cis-men

Be the trend setter of your book club or bookish friend group by getting to know the authors of next year’s publication cycle. These books are all by new talent in the publishing world from both the Big 5 and small, traditional publishers.

Be sure to also check out these authors on social media for ARC opportunities, and show these authors some love by requesting a purchase with your local library, or pre-ordering a copy yourself!

Weird girl literature, horror, and nonfiction novels, short stories, anthologies, etc.

dystopia fiction / near-future speculative fiction that hasn't hit huge bestseller lists, gone viral, etc. (for this list I'm focusing on dystopia without a heavy romance line)

Best of 2026 as of the Halftime episode

The only qualification is that a woman commits murder. Is she likeable? That's not important. Is she innocent? Also not important. Does anyone listen when she warns them? Of course not. Alas, they never learn.

Books that are technically literary fiction... but something else is going on genre-wise.