16 Exciting Nonfiction Books Dropping in Q2 & Q3 2026
My reading nerd-dom has reached the level that I’m now researching upcoming nonfiction books and getting pre-excited about what I’ll read next. (Yep, that’s how you know it’s bad.)
I’ve been tracking release dates in my knowledge management system Obsidian, but I know many of you also get excited about this stuff, so I figured I’d share my list here.
Here are a few of the books I’m excited about that are coming out in the next few months. Because the publishing industry has busy cycles, you’ll notice a couple of big launch dates, including May 5th (today) and September 15th.
May 5
Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better by David Epstein
Malcolm Gladwell says this book is Epstein’s best yet, which is high praise considering Epstein’s earlier work, like Range. In his new book, Epstein explores how limits can stimulate creativity and innovation—including how we can create self-imposed boundaries to push ourselves to greater success.
The Power of Beliefs: How Strengthening Seven Core Beliefs Predicts Greater Success and a Better Life by Shawn Achor
While most researchers focus on somewhat depressing aspects of human psychology, Achor has made a career out of studying positive psychology: how to flourish and create a life worth living. His books The Happiness Advantage and Big Potential were huge inspirations for me. This new one drops today, and it’s all about how “the greatest predictor of your future is the beliefs you hold about the world.”
Walk: Rediscover the Most Natural Way to Boost Your Health and Longevity―One Step at a Time by Courtney Conley and Milica McDowell
I’m already a big believer in the power of walking, and I’m sure this book will make me even more obsessed. Conley and McDowell talk about the optimal number of steps you should get per day (it’s not 10,000), how walking can decrease joint pain, and how it can even be a predictor of overall health and lifespan.
May 12
I Am Not a Robot: My Year Using AI to Do (Almost) Everything and Replace (Almost) Everyone by Joanna Stern
Journalist Joanna Stern decided to turn over the keys to her life to AI for a year. She says, “The results are both hilarious and unsettling.” I’m curious to see where this book goes. (Also, isn’t this book cover great??)
May 19
How to Rule the World: An Education in Power at Stanford University by Theo Baker
The New York Times named this one of the most anticipated books of the year, and I can see why. In 2023, as a 17-year-old college freshman at Stanford, Theo Baker began writing for the school newspaper. Then he started researching school president Marc Tessier-Lavigne and got more than he bargained for. The publisher’s write-up for this book is pretty legit:
“Only one month into college and thousands of miles from home, Baker began receiving anonymous letters, going on stakeouts, and tracking down confidential sources. High-powered lawyers and public relations teams were hired to attack his reporting. Stanford opened an investigation into its own leader. And by the end of the year, Tessier-Lavigne was out as president.”
Steve Jobs in Exile by Geoffrey Cain
Everyone knows about Jobs’s eventual crowning as a tech genius, but most biographies of his life skip over the little-known “wilderness years”, when Jobs was ousted from Apple and founded NeXT. Journalist Geoffrey Cain pulls back the covers on that period of Jobs’s life to reveal how he became such an iconic leader.
Elizabeth II: In Private. In Public. Her Story. by Robert Hardman
Hardman is the only biographer who has interviewed the entire Royal Family, and he’s well-versed on British royalty from researching his prior books The Making of a King and Queen of Our Times. This new biography comes out on the 100th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s birth.
May 26
Incorruptible: Why Good Companies Go Bad...and How Great Companies Stay Great by Eric Ries
You may know Ries from his earlier book The Lean Startup, which helped kick agile software development into the mainstream for tech companies everywhere. His new book has testimonials from some heavy hitters like Mark Cuban, Daniel Pink, Ari Shapiro, Kim Scott, and Seth Godin. Good company! In this new book, Ries unpacks why the structures and systems within companies sometimes push them toward behavior that’s much more insidious than their espoused values.
June 2
Don’t Call It Art: 10 Ways to Create Like a Kid Again by Austin Kleon
Kleon’s book Steal Like an Artist changed the way hundreds of thousands of people think about creativity. Now he’s back with lessons to help readers “rediscover the joy of creating” based on seeing how his two sons interact with the world around them.
July 21
You Can Just Do Things by Cate Hall & Sasha Chapin
Substack power couple Cate Hall and Sasha Chapin are two of my favorite writers on the platform. Now they’re applying their literary prowess to a full book on how to become a more high-agency person. I’ve already preordered my copy, and I can’t wait to check it out this summer.
September 15
Protocols: An Operating Manual for the Human Body by Andrew Huberman
I didn’t even know Huberman’s name until a year or two ago, then it seemed like he was everywhere. His podcast Huberman Lab has become the world’s leading health podcast, and now he’s coming out with his first book—about how to improve physical and mental health, along with overall performance.
The Perilous Fight by Colin Kaepernick
Kaepernick’s life changed forever when he took a knee during the national anthem on September 1, 2016. I’m not going to dive into the politics of that decision in this post, but I admire anyone willing to take a principled stand like that. In this memoir, Kaepernick explores what led him to that decision, along with his experience growing up as a Black man in America.
Live Laugh Love: The Secret History of White Christian Women and the World They Made by Kristin Kobes Du Mez
Du Mez’s earlier book Jesus and John Wayne is a hard-hitting book about masculinity and militarism in the American church. It’s one of the books that helped me understand why religion is (unfortunately) now so closely connected with politics. Her new book dives into the evangelical view of femininity, consumerism, and prosperity.
Simplify: Do 50 Percent More with 50 Percent Less by Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen, Roy Schwartz
VandeHei, Allen, and Schwartz co-founded the media company Axios, which gained a fast following with short and impactful articles. The founders called the writing style “smart brevity,” and they wrote a book of the same name to help business leaders communicate more simply and powerfully. Now the trio is back with a book about how to eliminate distractions and identify important tasks that will move the needle.
September 29
The American Way of Killing by Malcolm Gladwell
Gladwell conducted a six-part series on gun violence in his podcast Revisionist History. Now he’s expanding that research into an entire book that investigates what sets America’s lethal violence apart from other nations (and what can be done about it).
The Steps by Sylvester Stallone
When I first watched the movie Rocky as a teenager, I had no idea that Stallone wrote the script himself. When I learned that later, it made me much more interested in Stallone and his work. In The Steps, he unpacks his difficult upbringing and what eventually helped him break through in Hollywood.
I hope you’re as excited about these upcoming books as I am. 🙂
And if you decide to pick up any of them, the affiliate links I’ve included above ensure that you’ll support me as well as local bookstores (at no extra cost to you). Win-win!
