And just like that, March is already here. After a snowy and cold first two months of 2026, spring is just around the corner, and many of us are dreaming of sunnier days ahead. Warmer weather is still a few months away, but you can always escape the last few weeks of winter with a good book that transports you away to another place. Just in time for the new month, Parade polled two librarians to get their picks for the best book releases coming in March 2026.In February, the librarians we spoke to shared a list of 11 hot new releases for the month, ranging from sentimental reads and psychological thrillers to mysteries, romances and sci-fi finds. For March, we're featuring an equally versatile list filled with mysteries, fantasy and suspense. To compile the list, we consulted RoxanneLape, a middle school librarian who is known as @lapethelibrarian on TikTok, and librarian Rachael Welsh, who goes by @rachaelreads on Instagram.Together, the avid readers came up with recommendations for the 11 best book releases in March 2026 that you'll want to add to your bookshelf as soon as they come out. Related: 25 Best Short Books You Can Easily Read in a Day, According to Librarians
Literary Fiction: Westward Women by Alice MartinNon-fiction:Judy Blume: A Life by Mark Oppenheimer Romance: Love Song by Elle Kennedy Fantasy: Innamorata by Ava ReidMystery/Thriller: The Secret Lives of Murderers' Wives by Elizabeth ArnottSelf-Help: How to Be Okay When Nothing Is Okay by Jenny Lawson
Related: 29 ‘Must-Read’ Magical Realism Books, According to Librarians
11 Best Book Releases in March 2026, According to Librarians
1. 'Want to Know a Secret?' by Freida McFadden
Amazon
Available March 3Lape has been a fan of Freida McFadden's work for ages."There’s something about her novels that stays with me long after I’ve finished reading," she tells Parade. "They’re fast-paced and twisty, and I very rarely guess the ending."The librarian is particularly psyched to read this new release."Want to Know a Secret? follows an influencer who appears to have a perfect life, until the truth lurking behind the screen begins to surface. It’s the kind of psychological thriller McFadden excels at: compulsively readable and full of surprises," she explains.Influencer and baking sensation April Masterson is the fictional protagonist of the story and has a lot of secrets in her personal life. Per the book description, these secrets are "enough to destroy" April, and someone's determined to make that happen.Related: 13 Best Audiobooks Narrated by Julia Whelan, According to Librarians
2. ‘The Secret Lives of Murderers' Wives' by Elizabeth Arnott
Amazon
Available March 3"Wives of convicted killers form a friendship in the 1960s and then find themselves the perfect team to investigate when a new string of murders occurs," Welsh shares. "I love every part of this description and cannot wait to read it."The novel follows Beverley, Elsie and Margot, whose husbands are "some of California's most infamous murderers," per the book description.Each of the women copes with the discovery of her husband's crimes in a different way, but they find themselves uniting when they learn about several local murders. Along the way, the book explores how the "deep bonds of female friendship can empower, uplift and lead us to endure."
3. 'Lady Tremaine: A Novel' by Rachel Hochhauser
Amazon
Available March 3 "I love fairy tale retellings, especially those that tell the tale from a different point of view. In Lady Tremaine, Cinderella's stepmother has the chance to tell her story. And maybe she's not as wicked as we all thought," Welsh explains.Lape is also excited about the upcoming release."Comparisons to Circe, another novel I loved, made this an easy addition to my TBR list," she gushes. "Exploring Lady Tremaine as a fully realized character rather than a one-dimensional villain promises a fresh and compelling perspective on a familiar fairy tale."In the novel, Hochhauser explores how Lady Ethel Tremaine takes care of her two daughters and a stepdaughter as she navigates life without her late husband. When she scores an invitation to a royal ball for all three of her daughters, she's disappointed "to see her hopes fulfilled by the wrong one.""As an engagement to the future king unfolds, Ethel discovers a sordid secret hidden in the depths of the royal family, forcing her to choose between the security she craves and the well-being of the stepdaughter who has rebuffed her at every turn," the book description reads.
4. 'Turn Off the Light: A Novel' by Jacquie Walters
Amazon
Available March 3"Told through the perspectives of two women separated by hundreds of years, this novel asks a chilling question: Is it simply a haunted house they're living in or something far more sinister? Blending historical fiction with horror, Turn Off the Light combines two of my favorite genres into what I hope will be a truly heart-racing read," Lape says.The book follows Edith, a healer who makes a "desperate choice," per the book description, when she's afraid that she has "opened her home to the Devil." Meanwhile, Claire is a woman who doesn't believe in ghosts. When she returns home to take care of her dying father, she fears that her childhood home is haunted and there's something stirring "that has waited a long time to rise.""As the danger mounts, Edith and Claire will discover they'll need each other to survive. But they are separated by four hundred years. And time is running out for them both," the book description reads.
5. ‘Westward Women: A Novel' by Alice Martin
Amazon
Available March 10Welsh is looking forward to reading this novel from new author, Alice Martin."In the future, women become afflicted with an infection that causes them to abandon their lives and travel West," she explains. "This is a debut novel, and I can't wait to read it!" Per the book description, women ages 18 to 35 become "drawn to the Pacific Ocean" and vanish once they reach it.The novel follows three women who are "on the edge of transformation" and "in search of a way forward." Aimee, who is following the trail of her missing best friend, joins Piper, a man who leads infected women out West. Teenie "clings to a single memory" as she travels with Piper. Then there's Eve, a former journalist who is "chasing the story that might just consume her."Related: The 19 Best Books on Kindle Unlimited Right Now, According to Librarians
6. ‘Judy Blume: A Life' by Mark Oppenheimer
Amazon
Available March 10"Judy Blume's books were ever-present in my childhood and adolescence," Welsh shares. "Being able to learn more about the woman who gave me so many stories is such a gift."This biography shares the life story of one of the most iconic authors of our time, whose books include Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, Summer Sisters, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing and many more.While writing the book, journalist and historian Mark Oppenheimer interviewed Blume, analyzed her novels and unpublished works and accessed her papers and correspondence. The end result is an exploration of Blume's "complicated childhood, varied relationships and marriages, unabashed sexual experiences, bouts of heartache and loss and enduring legacy as a champion of free speech and contemporary literature," per the book description.
7. ‘Innamorata (The House Of Teeth Duology)‘ by Ava Reid
Amazon
Available March 17 "I love a dark fantasy and this has all of the makings of a gothic romance! Magic, romance, forbidden libraries—what's not to love?" Welsh shares.The novel tells the tale of an island where the dead once walked the earth and seven noble houses "ruled by the arcane secrets of necromancy," per the book description. When a conqueror defeats the rulers, the remaining members of the House of Teeth are determined to defy the new order.One of them, Agnes, needs to "recapture the secrets of death magic and avenge her family’s fallen honor." Along the way, she needs to arrange a marriage between her cousin Marozia and Liuprand—the heir to the conqueror’s throne—to obtain access to the forbidden library in his castle. However, Agnes finds herself drawn to Liuprand."This passion is as treasonous as it is powerful, poisoning the kingdom’s roots and threatening to tear the already shattered realm in two," the description reads.
8. 'One Word, Six Letters' by Adib Khorram
Amazon
Available March 17"Two teenage boys are figuring out who they are and who they want to become. I love books that make our teenagers think about their place in the world as they become who they will be and make their ways in the world," Welsh says.The novel follows two high school freshmen named Dayton and Farshid. At a school assembly, Dayton accepts a dare and "shouts the f-slur at a visiting author," per the book description. Afterwards, the boys' stories converge.Dayton's friends and parents are disappointed in his actions, and Farshid ends up examining his feelings "about the quiet struggle of coming to terms with his queerness in a world steeped in heteronormativity." Both boys must then confront "what kind of men they want to become."
9. ‘Wolf Worm' by T. Kingfisher
Amazon
Available March 24"T. Kingfisher has a rare talent for crafting engrossing stories in under 300 pages, never sacrificing world-building or character depth," Lape states.The librarian is eagerly awaiting this new release."Set in the 1800s, Wolf Worm follows a young woman entering a male-dominated field as she is tasked with illustrating a collection of insects, along with uncovering the collector’s increasingly insidious motivations," she explains. "I’ve yet to be disappointed by this author, and this eerie historical horror sounds especially promising."The protagonist, Sonia Wilson, is a scientific illustrator who gets the opportunity to illustrate a collection of insects for a man named Dr. Halder. When she moves to his North Carolina manor house, she begins to experience "dark happenings" in the woods, per the book description. Sonia wonders what happened to her predecessor and why the animals in the woods are acting "so strangely." She also hears local rumors about "blood thiefs."By teaming up with a housekeeper and a healer, Sonia learns that Halder is involved in some dark activities. "His ground-breaking discoveries come with a cost―one that Halder is paying with human flesh. If Sonia can’t find a way to stop the monstrosity, she may be next under the knife," the book description reads.
10. 'Dig: A Thriller' by J. H. Markert
Amazon
Available March 24"This novel explores the aftermath of mass psychosis following a young boy’s horrific crimes. Dig sounds like the kind of book that hooks you from the very first chapter," Lape explains. "Described as a 'surreal horror,' it is easily one of my most anticipated reads of the year and promises to be unsettling in all the right ways."As a child, Jericho Dodd killed a dozen people with an axe. Even after his own death, Jericho's town, Crow Island, has been a "dark and unsettling place," per the book description.When Jericho's father starts to dig up the past, a "compulsion to dig sweeps over the island," with everyone eager to "uncover buried secrets." Violence ensues and neighbors begin turning against each other. Along the way, the island's signature tupelo honey changes."As dread and paranoia seep up from the ground, it becomes clear that the island itself needs something from its residents–before it digs itself apart for good," the book description reads.
11. 'Son of Nobody: A Novel' by Yann Martel
Amazon
Related: 21 Books Like 'Fourth Wing,' According to Librarians
Sources:
Roxanne Lape is a middle school librarian who is known as @lapethelibrarian on TikTok.Rachael Welsh is a librarian who goes by @rachaelreads on Instagram.Hence then, the article about 11 best new book releases coming in march 2026 according to librarians was published today ( ) and is available on Parade ( Saudi Arabia ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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