{
  "id": 2359701,
  "title": "Fall books: Fiction takes the spotlight in bookstores during the midterm season",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/21/fall-books-fiction-takes-the-spotlight-in-bookstores-during-the",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-08-21T10:23:02.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Associated Press",
    "slug": "associated-press",
    "url": "https://apnews.com/article/fall-books-2026-4ff0310275a7dad2f826fe96cc8f8f6c"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "As midterm election headlines dominate during the fall season, fiction books are expected to take center stage among book buyers. Former President Joe Biden's memoir, \"Promise Me, America,\" is set to stand out due to its high-profile status. However, political books have seen a decline in sales in recent years, outpaced by the intensity of the current news cycle. Despite this, \"Blockers,\" a book exploring Donald Trump's potential second term from the perspective of government employees, could rival the impact of Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan's bestseller, \"Regime Change.\"\n\nOther notable political releases include Brett McGurk's \"Brink: Inside the Race to Free the Oct. 7 Hostages,\" Marlon James' \"The Disappearers,\" and Jill Lepore's \"The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State.\" Even veteran political author Bob Woodward has opted to focus on his own life in \"Secrets: A Reporter's Memoir,\" reflecting on presidents and White House sources from the Nixon era to the Watergate scandal.\n\nMeanwhile, fiction authors such as Barbara Kingsolver and Hernan Diaz, co-winners of the Pulitzer Prize three years ago, will be among the featured authors in a busy literary season. Kingsolver's \"Partita,\" about a former musical prodigy returning to her past, follows her Pulitzer-winning \"Demon Copperhead.\" Diaz, on the other hand, has released \"Ply,\" a dystopian tale set in a chaotic future society.",
  "summary": "This combination of images show, top row from left, \"A Court of Splintered Harmony\" by Sarah J. Maas, \"American Hagwon\" by Min Jin Lee, \"American Scoundrel\" by Kai Bird, \"Birth of a Culture\" by Grandmaster Flash with Scoop Jackson, \"Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea\" by Emily Wilson, \"Exit Party,\" by Emily St. John Mandel, second row from left, \"In Latin America You Could Be Free\" by Yesenia Barragan,…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}