IN ANOTHER LIFE de Stephanie Merry

A funny and heartfelt high-concept commercial women’s fiction novel with the book club appeal of Rebecca Serle and JoJo Moyes and an irresistible « what if? » premise built around an irresistible hook: how much of a life can turn on a seemingly inconsequential choice?

IN ANOTHER LIFE
by Stephanie Merry
Zibby Books, January 2028
(via Nancy Yost Literary)

Mary Louise O’Shaughnessy is in trouble. Or, more accurately, two versions of her are.

In one life, she’s Polly: a single mother to a seven-year-old daughter, struggling with mysterious chronic pain and accustomed to handling everything on her own. Then, after another exhausting day, a stranger materializes in her house claiming to be Guy, her husband from another world. He desperately needs to get home, and Polly may be his only way back.

In another life, she’s Goldie: 9 months pregnant and increasingly frantic because her husband hasn’t come home. As the hours pass, every possible worst-case scenario begins unfurling in her mind — including the prospect of giving birth to their daughter without him…and the possibility that the secretive technology he’s been working on has sent him into the multiverse without a way back.

Polly and Goldie’s lives diverged after one night in a bar years ago. But when Goldie develops pregnancy complications in her world and Guy becomes unexpectedly sickened in Polly’s, both women are forced to admit that whether you’re raising a child or trying to get home across the multiverse, sometimes it really does take a village, in this case one made up of Polly’s annoying but increasingly attractive Nordic neighbor, Guy’s science nerd colleagues, and Cat, the women’s fiercely-protective older sister. IN ANOTHER LIFE combines lovable characters, warmth, humor, and a story grounded in a universal question. It’s the fantasy of seeing the life you might have lived; the mistakes and successes that shape us; and, ultimately, the communities we build when we finally allow ourselves to need other people.

Stephanie Merry is currently on the wellness team at The Washington Post. She previously spent eight years as deputy editor of the Post’s books section and, before that, covered film, television and culture.

HOW LONG DOES IT ACTUALLY TAKE de Christi Newrutzen & Michelle Rutz

Written by viral content creator Christi Newrutzen and her mom, psychologist Dr. Michelle Rutz, this practical and psychologically grounded book teaches readers how to close the gap between intending to act and actually beginning.

HOW LONG DOES IT ACTUALLY TAKE
by Christi Newrutzen and Michelle Rutz
Little, Brown Spark, Spring 2028
(via Mushens Entertainment)

Inspired by Christi’s videos, where she times herself doing commonly avoided tasks, Christi has helped her friends organize their bathrooms, tupperware drawers and much more.

Expanding on the method that has helped millions, the book gives a practical way to challenge the perseptions that fuel procrastination, showing that starting might be easier than we thought.

The book introduces three steps—challenge the story, shrink the monster, reflect with real data—that are at the core of why asking this simple question helps.

Christi Newrutzen is the creator of the widely popular “How Long Does It Actually Take?” series, where she times everyday tasks people commonly procrastinate—everything from cleaning and organizing, to making appointments and tackling projects that she, her friends, and her family have avoided for years.

Dr. Michelle Rutz holds a Doctorate in Psychology and is a member of the American Psychological Association. Additionally, she holds a Master’s degree in Education, two teaching credentials, and a bachelor’s degree in Human Development. Michelle’s impressive educational background, combined with the richness of her lived experience, brings legitimacy and depth of wisdom to Christi’s creative messaging of the psychology of procrastination and tools to overcome its negative impact.

THE PERSONALITY EDIT de Shannon Sauer-Zavala

A revolutionary science-based guide to shifting your personality traits to create the life you want.

THE PERSONALITY EDIT
by Shannon Sauer-Zavala
New Harbinger, December 2027
(via Liza Dawson Associates)

Most of us view our personalities as unchanging, but in reality, our personality traits are not etched in stone. Our personalities shift as we age and we don’t have to be passive passengers along for the ride—in fact, you can change your traits, imagine the life you want, and purposefully develop the characteristics you need to be successful.

In THE PERSONALITY EDIT, Dr. Shannon Sauer-Zavala shares science-based strategies that have been proven in clinical settings throughout the world to enhance or evolve the traits that can better serve you. This book is for you if:

• You’ve wished you could form more and deeper friendships but believed you’re not a warm enough person.
• You’ve told yourself that you couldn’t possibly organize your home and your finances because you don’t have the discipline to do it.
• You’ve ever thought you’d never move into a leadership position because you’re not outgoing enough.

Dr. Shannon Sauer-Zavala, Ph.D., is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist with over 20 years of experience working with people struggling with anxiety, depression, and personality disorders. She is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Kentucky, where she develops new treatments for stubborn mental health conditions and tests them in rigorous clinical trials. Her treatment program, Compass, has been clinically shown to stimulate 20 years’ worth of personality change in less than 20 weeks. Her research has been supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the Canadian Institute of Health Research, and the Templeton Foundation. Over the past ten years, she has received tens of millions of dollars in grant funding to support her mental health treatment research. Dr. Sauer-Zavala has translated her provocative work on intentional personality change to popular audiences through a TEDx talk in 2024 and an interview segment on CBS Sunday Morning in 2025. The tools included in THE PERSONALITY EDIT have been featured in global media, the Washington Post, Medium, Psychology Today, VeryWell Mind, WebMD, National Public Radio, and many more media outlets.

POOL SERVICE de Nick Waters

Jackie Collins meets Carl Hiassen in this sexy summer thriller about a pool boy given a chance to exact revenge on the billionaire developer that stole his family’s home.

POOL SERVICE
by Nick Waters
Simon & Schuster, Summer 2027
(via Harvey Klinger)

Jack “Patch” Patchett is a thirty-something, second generation pool boy born and bred along the remote banks of the Loxahatchee River in Jupiter, Florida. Patch doesn’t just balance pH and chlorine levels for the rich; his ’services’ extend beyond the backyards and into the bedrooms of his female clientele. These McMansions are part of the wealthy developments that forced out local families like Patch’s, and threaten the natural order of the river’s habitat, but despite it all, Patch is content with his laid-back lifestyle and bolstered by an immoveable sense of belonging and pride in his community.

When he receives a call from Vivian, the wife of Harlan Wilde, the billionaire who evicted his family and kept their idyllic piece of land for himself, Patch can’t resist a glimpse of the property’s transformation. Patch feels a pull to home, and an overwhelming chemistry with the glamorous Vivian, who seems to have stepped out of a classic Hollywood film.

As their steamy affair heats up, and Patch develops a taste for the finer things in life, Vivian and Patch concoct a plan for murder that will test the limits of Patch’s moral code, and strain his relationships with Lola, his childhood love, and the cranky yet lovable Herschel, who owns the rundown motel where Patch lives. A hilarious, titillating adventure that also explores capitalism’s impact on nature and the thorny realities of the American dream, Nick Waters’ exhilarating debut is quite simply, the most fun you’ll have all summer.

Nick Waters graduated from Stanford with a B.S. in Engineering and Film Studies and an M.A. in communication; while there, he was a member of the varsity swim team and competed at the USA Olympic Trials. Afterwards, he relocated to LA where he’s produced, directed, and written screenplays. With POOL SERVICE, he begins a whole new career as an exciting new novelist.

EMPTY AND MARVELOUS de Melissa Broder

From the beloved, bestselling author of Milk Fed and Death Valley, a darkly comedic novel about existential anxiety, angels, and Ralphs supermarket; a picaresque of the psyche turned tale of supernatural eros.

EMPTY AND MARVELOUS
by Melissa Broder
Scribner, May 2027
(via The Gernert Company)

A writer in Los Angeles dares tell herself, “All is well.” With this newfound serenity, she allows herself to search online for Emil, the ex she barricaded from her life. She is shocked to discover that her intoxicating former flame—the inspiration for her cult classic erotic novel The Pegasus—has died by suicide. The writer must keep the revelation a secret from her husband, because her romance with Emil almost ended their once-open marriage. She can’t share it with her publisher, who expects her to go on book tour in a matter of days (to the delight of anxious teens with their own questions about life). And given the dangerous window that Emil’s death blows open on her own depression, the writer is determined not to face it herself.

There’s only one place she feels safe, connected to humanity and the spark of the divine: the Westwood branch of Ralphs supermarket. And when she begins receiving ethereal messages among the meatstuffs and produce, sublime sexts that seem to be coming from Emil in angel form, the writer discovers that she wants to live. But only inside the supermarket.

EMPTY AND MARVELOUS is a brazenly funny, cathartic, mystically lustful novel about a woman grappling with her existence. As she contends with grief, secret pleasure, and a crisis of faith, we wonder: Do cosmic threads exist between people? What is the responsibility of an artist to her fans? And can angels actually sext? A love letter to readers, the Muses, and the cereal aisle, EMPTY AND MARVELOUS is a marvel.

Melissa Broder is the author of the novels Death Valley, Milk Fed, and The Pisces, the essay collection So Sad Today, and five collections of poems, including Superdoom. Her books are translated in over a dozen languages. Broder has written for The New York Times, Harpers Bazaar, Elle, Bon Appetit, Bookforum, and New York Magazine. She lives in Los Angeles.