Journalist Tom Junod's new memoir is out this spring. (Photo courtesy of Tom Junod)

The 2026 Spring Arts Preview: Our picks in Books

ArtsATL staff

March 4, 2026

Whatever your literary tastes are, Georgia authors have them covered in early 2026. From historical nonfiction to rowdy rom-coms, clear a space on your shelf for these titles.

In the Days of my Youth I Was Told What It Means to Be a Man

by Tom Junod (Doubleday, March 2026)

Tom Junod is justifiably one of the most celebrated magazine writers of his generation. In article after article for Esquire and other top-shelf publications, the writer, who lives in Marietta, has established a recognizable, depths-plumbing voice that shimmers on the page. Readers have eagerly awaited something more personal, and here it is, a decade in the making and a mouthful of a title for a lengthy tome. (Yes, it’s a line from Led Zeppelin; Junod is an audiophile). This elegant memoir explores, in unsparing detail, his relationship with his flamboyant, larger-than-life father, Lou Junod, a style icon who lived out a double — triple? — life under his family’s noses. Was Junod’s dad a player? He had affairs with at least two Gabor sisters, for starters. In sentences as rich as a saucer of foie gras, the great man’s son takes stock and makes a kind of peace.
— Candice Dyer

If I’m Coming to Your Town, Something Terrible Has Happened: The Life and Times of a Domestic War Correspondent

by Justin Glawe (NewSouth Books, June 2026)

Spanning much of the last decade, If I Am Coming to Your Town, Something Terrible Has Happened tracks Savannah resident and self-described “domestic war correspondent” Justin Glawe’s freelance journalism career, which progressed alongside a drinking problem exacerbated by witnessing the worst of the nation.

Glawe writes with both the dynamism and observational clarity of the veteran reporter and the wry, cynical tone of one of Raymond Chandler’s hard-boiled detectives. He opens this slim but impactful memoir with a visceral description of the moment a protest turns to a riot, then zooms out to his first such riot: Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014. The book rarely slows down from there, explores how the United States arrived at its current moment in history by refusing to acknowledge hard truths.
— Rachel Wright

Heir of Grief

by Allison Blanchard (April 2026)

Heir of Grief is the first book in the series The Bloodwright Chronicles by Allison Blanchard, a creative writing teacher at Brookwood High School in Gwinnett. It’s a young adult dark “romantasy” novel about 16-year-old Mari, who has just lost her grandmother, and, after the death of her loved one, experiences emotional distress and grief as she soon begins to uncover details of her family’s sordid past.

Before long, her mourning spurs unfamiliar abilities: She is a Bloodwright, a person whose power is actually established from loss. Heir of Grief is an adventure in which Mari must choose whether she will let her magical sorrow take over her . . . or let it save her.
— Jina DuVernay

More book highlights . . .

Chasing My Vagabond Heart: A Musical Journey, by Kodac Harrison, is a memoir detailing the multimedia artist’s life in Georgia. (January 2026)
When We Were Brilliant, by Lynn Cullen, is a historical novel exploring the complicated, close friendship between Marilyn Monroe and first female Magnum photographer Eve Arnold. (January 2026)
What You Cannot Tell, by former Georgia Poet Laureate Judson Mitcham, is a novel about a young teacher who takes a job at a historically Black college in the 1970s. (February 2026)
The Voice in My Head is God, by Tauheed K. Epps, better known as local rapper and songwriter 2 Chainz, chronicles key moments in life, from being raised by a single mother to finding purpose. (March 2026)
The Rough Side of the Mountain, by former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, is a must-read for those interested in her local upbringing and political career. (April 2026)
How to Fake a Southern Gentleman, by Mayra Cuevas and Marie Marquardt, is a rom-com novel re-imagining My Fair Lady about two friends who take down a corrupt man in Atlanta. (April 2026)
Images of America: Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area, by ArtsATL contributor Jeff Dingler and Brigette Jones, chronicles Arabia Mountain and includes numerous vintage images. (April 2027)