6 highly anticipated books coming spring 2023
From Paris Hilton's memoir to a behind-the-scenes exploration of America's teaching profession
The early months of 2023 have already delivered a few solid releases for book lovers. Still, it doesn't hurt to look at upcoming highly anticipated releases if you want to add more to your booklist. Here are a few books coming out this spring and summer that you might consider reading.
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March
The Teachers: A Year Inside America's Most Valuable, Important Profession (Mar. 4)
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Alexandra Robbins' latest book is "a revealing exploration of the current state of the teaching profession," Kirkus Reviews says. The bestselling author of The Nurses, The Overachievers, Pledged, Fraternity, and "other behind-the-scenes examinations" takes readers into American public schools. The book centers on three teachers from different regions of the country that Robbins follows for a school year, along with interviews with hundreds of others, "providing an intimate view into the daily lives of educators," Kirkus says. Even before the pandemic, writes Robbins, "the education landscape had already darkened considerably." The pandemic added unique pressures that led to a mass exodus of teachers and "further exposed the nation's shameful mistreatment of teachers, which remains underaddressed," Robbins adds. "This deeply researched and impressive study," Publisher's Weekly writes, "brings home the fact that America underinvests in the education of its children — and that teachers step in to fill the gaps." Pre-order here.
Paris: The Memoir by Paris Hilton (Mar. 21)
In her debut book, Paris: The Memoir, socialite Paris Hilton "delivers a memoir with surprising depth and purpose," Kirkus says. Hilton is "furiously candid" about her life behind the carefully constructed public persona, including the alleged abuse she suffered in her teens. She discusses the "brutal institutions" for troubled teens she cycled through. "Reading like a prison-break movie," Kirkus writes, the book "chronicles multiple escape attempts, each ending in failure." The most impressive thing about her memoir "is the gracious and compassionate eye with which Hilton views her past," Kirkus adds. Pre-order here.
Other books to read in March:
Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton (Mar. 7); Guardian of the Valley by Dean King (Mar. 21); Lone Women by Victor LaValle (Mar. 28); White Cat, Black Dog by Kelly Link (Mar. 28); Skinfolk by Matthew Pratt Guterl (Mar. 28)
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April
Homecoming by Kate Morton (Apr. 4)
Kate Morton's first book in four years is one of the most anticipated April releases. The New York Times bestselling author of The Clockmaker's Daughter returns with Homecoming, which Elle Magazine calls a "gorgeous new work of historical fiction." The book spans generations, centering on a Christmas Eve murder in 1950s South Australia. The story cuts to 2018 when a journalist has become fully entrenched in investigating the mysterious crime somehow linked to her family. The author's "layered writing," which Kirkus says is "realized most successfully in the scenes from the past," leaves surprises for even the keenest mystery fans. Publisher's Weekly calls the book "Morton's best yet." Pre-order here.
The Haunting of Alejandra by V. Castro (Apr. 18)
V. Castro's forthcoming book, The Haunting of Alejandra, weaves Mexican folklore into a story about "motherhood, family legacy, and self-discovery," per the book's blurb. The heroine is haunted by the spirit of La Llorona, "the vengeful and murderous mother of Mexican legend," and the lure of her inner darkness. Alejandra must find a way to process the trauma of her past and the pain she inherited from her foremothers. Today calls The Haunting of Alejandra a "provocative novel" that is "haunting and packed with dark secrets." Alejandra's fight to rid herself of the darkness is "a perfect metaphor for clearing the fog of depression and seeing the societal structures and history that contribute to our present-day malaise," Lit Hub writes. Pre-order here.
Other books to read in April:
The Trackers by Charles Frazier (Apr. 11); You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith (Apr. 11); The Last Animal by Ramona Ausubel (Apr.18); The Fitful Sleep of Immigrants by Orlando Ortega-Medina (Apr. 25); The Skin and Its Girl by Sarah Cypher (Apr. 25)
May
Quietly Hostile: Essays by Samantha Irby (May 16)
Bestselling author Samantha Irby "is back with another laugh-out-loud collection of essays written in her smart, self-deprecating style," Book Riot says. In her latest collection of autobiographical essays, Irby discusses her job as a writer for shows like HBO's Sex and the City reboot, alongside her exploration of therapy, crystals, and a newfound affinity for QVC. "The frustrating minutiae of what things are like as one grows older permeate every page," Steph Auteri writes for Book Riot. Her latest collection proves, Time Magazine says, "that no matter how famous Samantha Irby gets, she'll never stop being #relatable." Pre-order here.
A Life of One's Own by Joanna Biggs (May 16)
Critic and Harper's senior editor Joanna Biggs' second book, A Life of One's Own, made Vulture's list of most anticipated releases for 2023. The book's blurb describes it as a "piercing blend of memoir, criticism, and biography" in which Biggs explores "how women writers across the centuries carved out intellectual freedom for themselves." Intermingled with the story of her divorce and reluctance to succumb to the pressures of domesticity, Biggs adds criticism as she revisits the lives and work of the type of women writers she covered in her career — women like Sylvia Plath, "Simone de Beauvoir, Elena Ferrante, and Toni Morrison, among others." She re-examines them in search of clarity over "whether, for women, domesticity exiles us from artistic and experiential freedom," Vulture writes. Pre-order here.
Other books to read in May:
Shakespeare Was a Woman & Other Heresies by Elizabeth Winkler (May 2); In Vitro: On Longing and Transformation by Isabel Zapata (May 9); Yellowface by R. F. Kuang (May 18); The Late Americans by Brandon Taylor (May 23); The Male Gazed by Manuel Betancourt (May 30)
Bonus:
Pageboy: A Memoir by Elliot Page (Jun. 6)
Several celebrity memoirs have been making a splash this year, from Prince Harry's Spare to Pamela Anderson's recent book. While much of the genre is "often erratically hit or miss," Elle Magazine's Lauren Puckett-Pope thinks "Page's highly anticipated memoir might change the score." When the book was announced last year, publisher Flatiron Books told The Associated Press that the memoir would "delve into Page's relationship with his body, his experiences as one of the most famous trans people in the world, and will cover mental health, assault, love, relationships, sex, and the cesspool that Hollywood can be." Ever since the Umbrella Academy star came out as transgender in 2020, he has used his platform as an Oscar-nominated actor to become a "ferocious" advocate for the community, Puckett-Pope says. "Pageboy posits to tell the whole story, beginning with Page's early, crushing fame after the success of Juno." Pre-order here.
Theara Coleman has worked as a staff writer at The Week since September 2022. She frequently writes about technology, education, literature and general news. She was previously a contributing writer and assistant editor at Honeysuckle Magazine, where she covered racial politics and cannabis industry news.