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Autumn Books: As the Midt...

Autumn Books: As the Midterm Elections Approach, Fiction Takes the Lead in Bookstores

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August 21st, 2026

Autumn Books: As the Midterm Elections Approach, Fiction Takes the Lead in Bookstores

Please note: This article has been simplified for language learning purposes. Some context and nuance from the original text may have been modified or removed.

🇺🇸 English

While news coverage of the midterm elections is anticipated to dominate media headlines come autumn, it may well be fiction that truly captures the attention of book-buying readers.

期中選舉的新聞報導預計將於秋季主導媒體版面，然而在購書讀者之間，小說類作品或許才是真正引人注目的焦點。

Former President Joe Biden's "Promise Me, America" not only stands out as a White House memoir—itself a major publishing event—but also emerges as a rare high-profile political work in the coming months.

前總統喬·拜登的《Promise Me, America》不僅以白宮回憶錄之姿脫穎而出——總統回憶錄本身即屬重大出版事件——更在未來數月內成為罕見的高規格政治著作。

In recent years, nonfiction book sales have remained sluggish, and political works have failed to recapture the peak achieved during Donald Trump's first term as president.

近年來非小說類書籍銷售持續低迷，政治類作品亦未能重現唐納德·特朗普總統首任期間所締造的高峰。

"The enthusiasm for political books appears to have waned considerably.

「對政治書籍的熱忱似乎已顯著消退。

In my view, the public has simply grown weary of it," remarked Kristen McLean;

在我看來，大眾不過是對此感到倦怠罷了，」克里斯汀·麥克林如此表示；

she serves as both an analyst and vice president of client insights at the market research firm Circana, which specializes in tracking retail book sales dynamics.

她身兼市場研究公司Circana的分析師與客戶洞察副總裁，該公司專門追蹤零售書籍的銷售動態。

"I believe the news cycle moves too quickly for many highly specific political books to keep pace," said Shannon DeVito, senior director of books at Barnes & Noble.

「我認為（新聞）循環對許多非常具體的政治書籍來說節奏太快了，難以跟上，」巴諾書店的高級圖書總監香農·德維托說。

Michael Lewis's "Blockers" offers a penetrating examination of Trump's second term from the perspective of internal government staff, standing as the only new work capable of rivaling Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan's summer bestseller "Regime Change."

麥可·路易斯的《Blockers》透過政府內部工作人員的視角，對特朗普的第二任期進行了鞭辟入裡的審視，堪稱唯一能與瑪姬·哈伯曼和喬納森·斯旺的夏季暢銷書《Regime Change》分庭抗禮的新作。

Beyond that, the notable political books of this autumn cast their gaze back to the Biden era, encompassing a range of works from "Promise Me, America" to former Middle East envoy Brett McGurk's "Brink: Inside the Race to Free the Oct. 7 Hostages," and extending to Akbar Shahid Ahmed's "Crossing the Red Line," written in response to Biden's Gaza war policy.

除此之外，今年秋季值得矚目的政治類書籍則將目光回溯至拜登時代，涵蓋了從《Promise Me, America》到前中東特使布雷特·麥格克的《Brink: Inside the Race to Free the Oct. 7 Hostages》，再到阿克巴·沙希德·艾哈邁德針對拜登加薩戰爭政策所撰寫的《Crossing the Red Line》等一系列作品。

Even Bob Woodward, the veteran journalist who has repeatedly published timely blockbuster revelations about sitting presidents over the decades, has chosen to remain silent on the current political landscape.

即便是鮑勃·伍德沃德，這位數十年來屢次針對現任總統發布即時性重磅揭露的資深記者，也選擇對當前政治局勢保持沉默。

In his book "The Secret: A Memoir of a Journalist," he reflects on the intricate interplay between successive presidents and their sources within the White House, spanning from the Nixon administration through the Watergate scandal that catapulted him to fame.

在其《祕密：記者回憶錄》一書中，他回顧了自尼克森政府時期，乃至於令他聲名鵲起的水門事件以來，歷任總統與白宮內部消息來源之間的複雜互動。

"Given that he delves more deeply into his own life, I anticipate this book will appeal to a broader and more diverse readership than his other works," DeVito remarked.

「由於他更深入地探討自身的生活，我預期這本書將吸引比其餘著作更為廣泛且多元的讀者群，」德維托如此表示。

Novelists Barbara Kingsolver and Hernan Diaz, who shared the Pulitzer Prize three years ago, are set to share the spotlight once again this busy season as two featured authors.

小說家芭芭拉·金索沃與埃爾南·迪亞茲，三年前同獲普立茲獎，如今將於此繁忙季節再度共享榮耀，成為兩位焦點作家。

Kingsolver's new work, "Partita," recounts the story of a former musical prodigy drawn back to her past, marking her first novel since "Demon Copperhead" — the book that won her the Pulitzer Prize and reimagined Charles Dickens's "David Copperfield."

金索沃的新作《Partita》敘述一位昔日音樂神童被重新吸引回過去的故事，此為她自《Demon Copperhead》以來首部作品——該書是她重新詮釋查爾斯·狄更斯《大衛·科波菲爾》並奪得普立茲獎的小說。

Meanwhile, Diaz follows his award-winning "Trust" with "Ply," a dystopian Dickensian novel portraying a young thief navigating a chaotic future society.

與此同時，迪亞茲繼其獲獎作品《Trust》之後，推出反烏托邦的狄更斯式小說《Ply》，描繪一個身處混亂未來社會中的年輕竊賊。

Díaz recalls that he happened to meet Kingsolver at the Pulitzer Prize ceremony, where the two shared bourbon and forged a bond over their mutual passion for literature and other shared interests.

迪亞茲憶述，他在普立茲頒獎典禮上與金索沃不期而遇，兩人共酌波本威士忌，並因對文學及其他共同志趣的共鳴而締結情誼。

"I do not regard literature as a competition or a tennis tournament," Diaz remarked.

「我並不認為文學是一場競賽或網球錦標賽，」迪亞茲表示。

"I believe that the more quality books there are on the market, the richer the level of dialogue becomes, and the greater the readers' engagement."

「我認為市面上優質的書籍越多，對話的層次就越豐富，讀者的投入程度也隨之提升。」

The sales trajectory of the fiction market in 2026 has remained consistently robust, and it is highly likely to sustain its elevated momentum, owing to the fact that two of the most renowned romantic fantasy authors—Rebecca Yarros and Sarah J. Maas—are both poised to release new works.

2026年小說市場的銷售態勢始終維持穩健，且極有可能持續居高不下，原因在於兩位最負盛名的浪漫奇幻作家——麗貝卡·亞羅斯與莎拉·J·馬斯——皆將推出新作。

Maas is in the process of releasing A Court of Splintered Harmony, the sixth installment in the A Court of Thorns and Roses series, with the seventh volume slated to appear early next year.

馬斯正著手發行《A Court of Splintered Harmony》，此為《荊棘與玫瑰的王國》系列的第六卷，而第七卷則預定於明年初問世。

Yarros's Threshing Day comprises thirteen tales centering on characters from her Empyrean series, whereas her standalone work, Peculiar Stars, portrays the protagonist Callista Moran, who, after a maritime mishap leaves her stranded on a desolate island, uncovers facets of herself she had never anticipated.

亞羅斯的《Threshing Day》收錄了十三篇以她Empyrean系列中角色為核心的故事，至於她的獨立作品《Peculiar Stars》，則描繪主角卡莉斯塔·莫蘭在一次航海事故後受困於孤島，進而發掘出自身始料未及的一面。

Among the most anticipated new releases this season are the latest work by Nobel laureate Jon Fosse, "Vaim Hotel," alongside three Booker Prize shortlisted titles—Marlon James's "The Disappearers," Emma Cline's "Switzy," and Rebecca Perry's "May We Feed the King."

本季備受矚目的新書名單中，赫然在列的是諾貝爾文學獎得主約恩·福瑟的最新力作《Vaim Hotel》，以及三部入圍布克獎的候選作品——馬龍·詹姆斯的《The Disappearers》、艾瑪·克萊恩的《Switzy》與麗貝卡·佩里的《May We Feed the King》。

Of these, the one most likely to ignite literary controversy is Rachel Cusk's "Life of M," a metafictional novel that traces the career of a film star, whose real-life inspiration—whether Natalie Portman or not—remains tantalizingly ambiguous.

其中，最可能引發文壇熱議的當屬瑞切爾·卡斯克的《Life of M》，這部後設小說刻畫了一位電影明星的生涯，其原型是否為娜塔莉·波曼，始終撲朔迷離。

Yet the season's most eagerly awaited novel is arguably Chad Harbach's "The Brightness": a work that deftly interweaves the parallel life trajectories of two close friends in their twenties, and his first novel in many years since his acclaimed 2011 debut, "The Art of Fielding."

然而，本季最令人翹首以待的小說，恐怕非查德·哈巴赫的《The Brightness》莫屬：這部作品娓娓道來兩位二十多歲摯友交織並行的生命軌跡，也是他自2011年備受讚譽的處女作《The Art of Fielding》以來，睽違多年的首部小說。

Min Jin Lee's "American Hagwon" marks her first return to long-form fiction since her highly acclaimed 2017 novel "Pachinko."

李敏金的《American Hagwon》標誌著她自2017年備受讚譽的《柏青哥》以來首度重返長篇小說創作。

Emily St. John Mandel's "Exit Party," meanwhile, is a futurist narrative of collapse from the author of "Station Eleven."

艾蜜莉·聖約翰·曼德爾的《Exit Party》則是一部出自《十一號站》作者筆下的未來主義式崩壞敘事。

Furthermore, Yiyun Li, Edwidge Danticat, Kate Atkinson, Disha Philyaw, Diane Williams, Laleh Khadivi, R.F. Kuang, and Nora Rabin have each released new works of their own.

此外，李翊雲、艾德薇姬·丹蒂卡特、凱特·亞金森、迪莎·菲利亞、黛安·威廉斯、拉蕾·哈迪維、R.F. 匡與諾拉·拉賓納亦各自推出了新作。

Fans of Stephen King (and the late Peter Straub) will undoubtedly be eagerly awaiting Other Worlds Than These, which serves as the concluding installment of the Talisman series.

史蒂芬·金（以及已故的彼得·史特勞布）的書迷們，無疑會對《Other Worlds Than These》翹首以盼——此作為《護身符》系列的終章。

Alice Hoffman, meanwhile, launches a brand-new series with The Witches of Cambridge, while Brandon Sanderson has joined forces with Janci Patterson to embark on the creative journey of Blightfall.

艾莉絲·霍夫曼則以《The Witches of Cambridge》揭開嶄新系列的序幕，而布蘭登·山德森亦攜手詹西·帕特森，共同開啟《Blightfall》的創作旅程。

John Grisham's latest thriller is entitled The French Illusion.

約翰·葛里遜的最新驚悚力作，題為《The French Illusion》。

As for S.A. Cosby's Truth to Power, it is a Marvel crime novel centered on the superhero-turned-detective Luke Cage.

至於S.A. 科斯比的《Truth to Power》，則是一部以超級英雄兼偵探盧克·凱奇為核心的漫威犯罪小說。

Three Oscar winners are set to share their life stories this autumn: Sylvester Stallone's "The Steps," whose title echoes his memorable run up the stairs in "Rocky"; Michael Douglas's "One Helluva Ride," which the actor-producer describes as a corrective to the nebulous legend of fame; and Dustin Hoffman's "Look at Me," touted by publisher Simon & Schuster as "an intimate memoir of art, ambition, family, friendship, love, old age, and the mysteries of a creative life."

三位奧斯卡獎得主將於今年秋季分享他們的人生經歷：席維斯·史特龍的《The Steps》，書名呼應他在《洛基》中令人難忘的向上奔跑；麥可·道格拉斯的《One Helluva Ride》，這位身兼演員與製片人的作者稱此書為對模糊成名傳說的修正；以及達斯汀·霍夫曼的《Look at Me》，出版商賽門與舒斯特將其宣傳為「一部關於藝術、抱負、家庭、友誼、愛情、老年以及創作生活奧秘的親密回憶錄」。

Gloria Steinem looks back on her earlier work, An Unexpected Life, while former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick offers a profound reassessment of his own activism in The Perilous Fight.

葛洛莉亞·史坦能回顧了她早年所著的《An Unexpected Life》，而前NFL四分衛科林·卡佩尼克則在《The Perilous Fight》中對自身的行動主義進行了深刻反思。

Chuck Lorre's memoir, Sitcom, comes from the creator of Two and a Half Men and The Big Bang Theory.

查克·洛爾的《Sitcom》這本回憶錄出自《好漢兩個半》與《生活大爆炸》的創作者之手。

Eric Dane's My Book of Days arrives just months after the Grey's Anatomy actor passed away from ALS.

艾瑞克·丹恩的《My Book of Days》則在《實習醫生》那位演員因漸凍人症辭世數月之後問世。

Christopher Nolan's adaptation of The Odyssey has brought the ancient epic back into vogue, propelling translations by Emily Wilson and the late Robert Fagles onto bestseller lists.

克里斯多福·諾蘭改編的《奧德賽》使這部古代史詩再度蔚為風潮，艾蜜莉·威爾遜與已故的羅伯特·法格斯的譯本因此登上暢銷書榜。

Wilson released a new book this autumn, Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea, featuring essays that span Greek tragedy, the 'slut-shaming' of Helen of Troy, and the 'cunning laughter' in Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion's 'WAP'.

威爾遜今年秋天推出新書《Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea》，收錄的文章主題涵蓋希臘悲劇、對特洛伊海倫的「蕩婦羞辱」，以及卡蒂·B與梅根·西·種馬《WAP》中的「狡黠笑聲」。

In "Cloud Runner," former U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo attempts to articulate what she admits she may be powerless to convey—her daughter Rainy Ortiz, who passed away three years ago: "I lost my girl. / Some things lie beyond the realm of words," Harjo writes.

在《Cloud Runner》中，前美國桂冠詩人喬伊·哈爾喬試圖闡述她坦言自己或許無力言傳之事——其三年前辭世的女兒雷尼·奧爾蒂斯：「我失去了我的女孩。/有些事情不屬於文字的範疇，」哈爾喬如此寫道。

Jennifer Franklin, meanwhile, in her poetry collection "A Fire in Her Brain," conveys the inner thoughts of Lucia, the gifted yet ill-fated daughter of James Joyce.

珍妮佛·富蘭克林則在詩集《A Fire in Her Brain》中，傳達了詹姆斯·喬伊斯才華洋溢卻命運多舛之女露西亞的思緒。

This new collection also features works by Riley Long Soldier, Tina Chang, Patricia Lockwood, Dalia Taha, Avis Blackbird, and Xiu Ming Nguyen.

這批新作同樣出自萊利·朗·索爾德、蒂娜·張、派翠西亞·洛克伍德、達利亞·塔哈、阿維斯·布萊克伯德以及阮休明之手。

The anthology Other Legacies includes tributes by award-winning poets such as Ray Armantrout and Edward Hirsch to lesser-known poets like Rachel Loden, Julia de Burgos, and Stephen Jonas.

選集《Other Legacies》收錄了雷·阿曼特魯特、愛德華·赫希等獲獎詩人對瑞秋·洛登、茱莉亞·德·布戈斯與史蒂芬·喬納斯等較不知名詩人的致敬之作。

Another writer who has benefited considerably from Nolan's films, Kai Bird, co-authored the biography "American Prometheus," which was adapted into "Oppenheimer," and has now teamed up once more to write "American Scoundrel," chronicling the remarkable career of Roy Cohn, a lawyer, political operative, and mentor to Trump.

另一位因諾蘭電影而受益匪淺的作家——凱·柏德，與人合著了改編成《奧本海默》的傳記《美國普羅米修斯》，如今再度攜手合著《American Scoundrel》，細述律師、政治操盤手兼特朗普導師羅伊·科恩的傳奇生涯。

In "The Rush," the award-winning author Nathaniel Philbrick looks back on the nineteenth-century gold rush.

在《The Rush》一書中，屢獲殊榮的作家納撒尼爾·菲爾布里克回顧了十九世紀的淘金熱潮。

The highly esteemed science writer James Gleick, meanwhile, offers an in-depth analysis of the evolution of communication technology in "The Telephone: A New History."

備受推崇的科普作家詹姆斯·葛雷克則在《The Telephone: A New History》中，深入剖析了通訊技術的演進歷程。

Two works—Timothy W. Ryback's "53 Days" and Viktor Sebestyen's "Weimar Germany"—dissect the collapse of German democracy in the 1930s, while other books warning of contemporary threats include Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor's "End Times Fascism" and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jill Lepore's "The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State."

兩本著作——提摩西·W·賴貝克的《53 Days》與維克多·塞貝斯琴的《Weimar Germany》——剖析了1930年代德國民主的崩潰，而其他警示當代威脅的書籍則包括娜歐米·克萊恩與艾斯特拉·泰勒的《End Times Fascism》，以及普立茲獎得主吉兒·萊波爾的《The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State》。

Public radio host Celeste Headlee's "Freedom's Daughters" is one of the many works this autumn that place race and racism at the heart of their inquiry.

公共廣播主持人塞萊斯特·赫德利的《Freedom's Daughters》是今年秋季以種族與種族主義為核心議題的眾多著作之一。

Grandmaster Flash and Robert "Scoop" Jackson have co-authored "Birth of a Culture," a history of rap and hip-hop, while Stephanie Phillips's musical chronicle "We Were Here" foregrounds the contributions of artists ranging from Sister Rosetta Tharpe to Living Colour.

閃耀大師與羅伯特·「史庫普」·傑克森攜手撰寫了說唱與嘻哈歷史《Birth of a Culture》，而史蒂芬妮·菲利普斯的音樂史《We Were Here》則著重呈現了從羅塞塔·薩普修女到Living Colour等藝術家的貢獻。

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alan Taylor's "Tower Hill" offers a fresh perspective on the 1831 slave rebellion led by Nat Turner.

普立茲獎得主艾倫·泰勒的《Tower Hill》為納特·透納領導的1831年奴隸起義提供了新的視角。

In "Renaissance Men," Harriet A. Washington celebrates three pioneering yet long-overlooked Black physicians, with a narrative spanning from the mid-19th to the mid-20th century that continues to resonate today.

在《Renaissance Men》中，哈麗特·A·華盛頓頌揚了三位具開創性但長期被忽視的黑人醫生，其敘事跨越19世紀中葉至20世紀中葉，並在今日仍引起共鳴。

August 21st, 2026

The Lingo Times

Autumn Books: As the Midterm Elections Approach, Fiction Takes the Lead in Bookstores

Autumn Books: As the Midterm Elections Approach, Fiction Takes the Lead in Bookstores

🇺🇸 English

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