Stay ahead of the curve and find out exactly what everyone on BookTok and social media will be talking about this autumn. As a Trendsetter, you crave the buzziest, most viral and most talked-about books of the season.
Discover the hottest trending new release books that are taking the literary world by storm this fall. Featuring headline-grabbing releases from blockbuster authors like Colleen Hoover, Sarah J. Maas, Olivie Blake and R.F. Kuang, these are the most read and most talked about titles destined for every bestseller list and book club.
Bestselling New Books for September 2026
Birth of a Culture
by Grandmaster Flash - Robert Scoop Jackson
Step into the vibrant streets of the 1970s Bronx and witness the exact moment a global movement began. Birth of a Culture gives you a front-row seat to the origins of hip-hop, told through the firsthand experiences of Grandmaster Flash--one of the founding pioneers who helped build the culture from the ground up.
When you read this book, you feel the pulse of the neighborhood parks, hear the scratch of the vinyl, and experience the raw energy of a community turning its daily struggles into a revolutionary art form. This is not just a collection of dates and facts. It is a deeply personal narrative written by Grandmaster Flash and coauthor Robert "Scoop" Jackson that brings you into the rooms and onto the streets where music changed forever.
What you will discover inside:
- An Authentic Pioneer Perspective: Read a personal narrative from the mind of Grandmaster Flash, complete with untold stories of the earliest park jams and legendary club nights.
- The Blueprint of a Movement: Understand exactly how DJing, MCing, break dancers, and graffiti artists merged to form the core pillars of a massive cultural shift.
- Untold History Revealed: Uncover the real stories behind the evolution of hip-hop and culture.
- Timeless Cultural Relevance: Explore how the innovation born in the Bronx directly influences the music, art, and social movements you interact with every day.
This book cuts through the myths to deliver an authentic, chronological history--bringing you alongside Grandmaster Flash as he invents the groundbreaking Quik Mix Theory and helps transform a landscape of social unrest into a global movement. With turntables and microphones, the young innovator sparked a cultural explosion that quickly swept the world.
More than a timeline of musical milestones, this Birth of a Culture explores the profound power of community, resilience, and unapologetic creativity. The challenges and triumphs detailed within these pages mirror the social issues we still face, proving that music remains our most vital tool for connection and change.
Whether you are a lifelong hip-hop fan, a dedicated music historian, or simply someone who loves powerful stories of cultural triumph, this book belongs on your shelf. Once you've read Birth of a Culture, you can say you know the undeniable heartbeat of hip-hop's true origins.
Er: The Oral History
by Lynette Rice
ER: The Oral History is a deep dive into the show that began the modern medical drama phenomenon, and it contains new interviews with over 60 people, including John Wells and Noah Wyle (showrunner and star of the original ER, respectively, and executive producers of HBO's The Pitt), Eriq LaSalle, Laura Innes, Ming-Na Wen, Paul McCrane, Rick Rossovich, and Goran Visnjic.
Long before Jurassic Park was the embryo of an idea in Michael Crichton's mind, there was ER. A medical student who dreamt of a career in Hollywood, Crichton did what any aspiring writer would: he created a script based on time working in a high-octane hospital emergency department.
Of course, nobody wanted it. It wasn't until Crichton turned his attention to dinosaurs and his 1990 novel Jurassic Park became a megahit - and a mega-movie franchise - that Steven Spielberg's camp asked the former doctor what other ideas he was kicking around. Producers weren't interested in Crichton's dream to make a hospital film. But, they were looking for new television series programming and thought there might be something even bigger in the concept than a movie. And, thus, ER was born.
Despite some resistance from NBC's top brass, the Warner Bros. Television drama became an overnight hit with its high-adrenaline storylines, realistic dialogue, and bona fide (not to mention hot) stars in the making in the cast, including Julianna Margulies, Noah Wyle, Anthony Edwards, and an actor who didn't end up amounting to much named George Clooney.
ER premiered opposite the popular CBS drama Chicago Hope and quickly cannibalized its competition. It would, in its heyday, average 35 million viewers per season (in an era before streaming and DVRs), and was either the number one or number two most watched show on television for six years.
Over the course of its 15 years on air, ER would feature weddings, births, break-ups, death, and medical conundrums in just about every form you could imagine. Although stars like Clooney and Margulies would come and go, ER introduced (or, in some cases, re-introduced) the world to actors like Maura Tierney, Mekhi Phifer, Linda Cardellini, Ming-Na Wen, and Scott Grimes. It won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series and was nominated a staggering 124 times. As popular as Grey's Anatomy is now, there would be no Grey Sloan Memorial without County General.
F*ck Failure
by Benny Blanco
From Grammy Award-winning producer, artist, actor, and New York Times bestselling author Benny Blanco comes a book that teaches you how to achieve your wildest dreams by seizing the most powerful opportunity you'll ever be handed: failure.
You want success? You gotta fail better. I fail constantly--small everyday failures and massive failures that last for years. I've learned a few tricks along the way, and all of them have to do with turning f*cking up into an artform. My superpower as a producer is helping people tap into the success that's already inside of them.
F*ck Failure gives you the non-shortcut shortcuts to success. If you let it this book can change your life. Soon enough, failure will start to feel good. And once you realize that failure is freedom, you'll never look back.
Galinda (Deluxe Limited Edition): A Charmed Childhood
by Gregory Maguire
In this sister volume to Elphie, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Wicked Gregory Maguire shares the eagerly awaited origin story of Galinda, the pink-clad, effervescent, and popular favorite character.
A deluxe limited edition hardcover featuring stenciled edges, designed endpapers, and more--is available for a limited time while supplies last!
Who was Glinda the Good Witch before she floated down in her bubble to greet Dorothy? Who was Glinda before she became Elphaba Thropp's magnetic and popular roommate at Shiz University?
Well, before then, she was Galinda. With a "ga."
The youngest of four children in a high-born family down on their luck, Galinda is both pampered and ignored. Her natural grace promises to elevate her in the district dance competitions--but these efforts distract her from seeing the growing resentments of local merchants who disapprove of her family's business strategies.
Enmired in the self-satisfactions and unnamed timidities of childhood, Galinda finds in herself neither canniness nor the need to cultivate it. However, as her father deftly pivots around the snares and nets laid for him by his competitors, Galinda begins to dance toward a life that might lift her above her proud, if hardscrabble, childhood.
Galinda reveals the girl behind the bubbly, shallow cliché--offering fans of Wicked their first richer glimpse into the life of a beloved and iconic character.
Holding Lightning: The Life, Loves, and Art of Whitney Houston
by Emily Lordi
"A top-notch biography of a generational talent." - Kirkus Reviews (starred)
A showstopping portrait of Whitney Houston as we've never seen her before--a woman in her full power, a musician who knew the impact of her gift, and a fulcrum of Black celebrity--in this first major biography of the artist who became an icon.
We remember Whitney Houston for her soaring voice on songs that defined a generation and kicked open the door to Black women in pop music. Her trademark stance was a picture of elegance and power: head thrown back, arms flung straight out. Then there was her sound. One producer recalled Whitney's otherworldly ability to hold notes, comparing it to "holding lightning in your hand, holding lightning in your throat." She tried to hold the lightning as she bathed us all in the glow.
But since her death in 2012, the woman known as "The Voice" has been reduced to just that. Whitney's critics have slotted her memory into a tired genre of famous doomed women whose success owed more to their labels and their producers than to any agency of their own. Yet a closer look reveals a serious artist and woman of conviction striving to be who she was. She said it best: "There would be no 'Whitney Houston' without Whitney Houston."
In Holding Lightning, leading cultural critic and professor Emily Lordi has gained unique access to Houston's innermost circle to show us the Whitney we've been unwilling to see--her fluid sexuality, her unapologetic love of her own talent, her insistence that she be the architect of her own career. And, crucially, Lordi positions Houston's pivotal life in the long history of Black celebrity. Before "rooting for everybody Black" became the norm, Whitney worked as a relentless advocate for Black female talent across the entertainment industry.
Now, finally, in Holding Lightning, we have the essential, up-close portrait of the icon we thought we knew.
I Once Knew a Guy Named Charlie: A Memoir
by Jaclyn Smith
From Charlie's Angels star, miniseries queen, and businesswoman Jaclyn Smith comes a heartfelt memoir chronicling the making of a global phenomenon and her story beyond the screen.
When the pilot aired to instant success in 1976, Charlie's Angels ushered in a TV revolution--for the first time, a network show featured three single female detectives whose stories revolved around fighting crime, not around supporting men. Jaclyn Smith, as Kelly Garrett (the only Angel to lead all five seasons of the show), was propelled into international fame and became an icon to girls and women everywhere.
Now, for the first time, she shares the behind-the-scenes story of the origin and making of the iconic show, along with her longtime friendships with her co-stars including Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson, and Cheryl Ladd.
But, as Smith writes, she wasn't born the first day she put on Kelly Garrett's tiny white bikini. Before Charlie's, she was a dancer on Broadway from Texas and a prolific commercial actress. After Charlie's, she channeled her childhood love of design when she pioneered the concept of celebrity-branded clothing lines with a mega-successful K-Mart partnership. She now sells her clothing lines as a commercial branding partner on HSN. While balancing acting and entrepreneurship, and bravely facing breast cancer, she also found love and raised two beloved children.
Intimate, honest, and down-to-earth, I Once Knew a Guy Named Charlie tells the life story of an accomplished woman who has inspired generations of Angels who have come after her.
Never Say Die: A Memoir
by Ke Huy Quan
In this stunning and compulsively readable memoir, the Oscar-winning star of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, The Goonies, and Everything Everywhere All at Once, Ke Huy Quan, tells the story of his journey from Vietnamese refugee to '80s child star to the most inspiring comeback in Hollywood history.
"A monumental work of self-discovery and the power and grace of communal survival. Quan's voice is crystalline and luminous, and his Odyssean journey to the screen is, in itself, a triumph of storytelling." -Ocean Vuong
Ke Huy Quan's Hollywood adventure began when he was twelve years old, a mere five years after his family escaped Communist Northern Vietnam and settled down to a relatively peaceful life in L.A.'s Chinatown. After attending an open call audition on a whim, he was unexpectedly swept up in the wild world of filmmaking: learning to swim from Harrison Ford on the set of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, receiving trucks full of toys from Steven Spielberg and George Lucas for his birthday, meeting Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker, and making lifelong friends on the set of The Goonies.
A star of two of the most beloved movies of the '80s, there appeared to be no limit to Ke's rise. But just a few years later, the roles had dried up and it seemed like Hollywood no longer had a place for him. He eventually left acting to work odd jobs behind the scenes for directors like Wong Kar Wai. His confidence was badly shaken, but his love of performing never abated. It wasn't until decades later, when he was 49 years old, that he stepped back in front of the camera to star in a strange little indie film called Everything Everywhere All at Once, which surprised everyone with its incredible box-office and awards season success. To call Ke's Oscar-winning performance a triumphant return would be an understatement.
In this moving, inspirational memoir, Ke paints a vivid self-portrait, telling both heart-wrenching and funny stories of his early rise, slow fall from the spotlight, the resilience that kept him going through his darkest times, and his eventual resurrection on one of the biggest stages in Hollywood. Never Say Die is the story of Ke's extraordinary life, a love letter to the movies and people that shaped him, and a powerful testament to never giving up on your dreams.
Ruthless
by Danielle Steel
A journalist and the powerful man she is assigned to profile find themselves on a collision course in this powerful novel by #1 New York Times bestselling author Danielle Steel.
Shipping magnate John Randall Williams is feared by his competitors, loathed by his only daughter, Gabby, and at sea after the recent death of his devoted wife. About to face his first Christmas alone, John meets a young woman named Lillith at a dinner party and is immediately drawn to her beauty. He invites her to share the holiday with him on his 350-foot sailboat in Saint Barts, and Lillith allows herself to be swept away.
Charlotte Ramsay, a senior editor at Vanity Fair, is on assignment in Saint Barts during the holidays. Known for her integrity as a journalist, she has come to the island to interview another powerful man: the elusive high-tech billionaire Ben Sharpe, whose luxury yacht is also anchored in the harbor. Though the first interview goes badly, she eventually agrees to have dinner with him and becomes intrigued by the real man behind the facade.
A chance encounter between the two couples sets the stage for a face-off between the Charlotte and John. He might have a well-earned reputation for ruthlessness, but when she is in pursuit of her story, she never backs down.
From the power corridors of Manhattan to the sunsets in Saint Barts, Danielle Steel masterfully pulls back the curtain on the private lives of the wealthy elite, where all is not always what it seems.
Trendsetters like you may also enjoy our latest book recommendations for Beach Readers, featuring contemporary fiction averaging 400 pages or less. If you prefer literary fiction and more substantial reads, check out our top picks for Bookworms. You might also want to check out our top Trendsetter books from Summer 2026.