This Vast Enterprise deftly moves Lewis and Clark out of the spotlight to reveal the “fascinating and unruly ensemble” of people who were part of the Corps of Discovery. ... Read full Story
The first scholar to gain access to Stephen King’s archives, Caroline Bicks explores the master of horror’s seminal works in her superbly shudder-inducing Monsters in the Archives. ... Read full Story
T Kira Madden’s gale-force first novel, Whidbey, is a challenge to other novels in its category and an encouragement to raise the bar. ... Read full Story
Readers of Tara Menon’s stunning debut novel, Under Water, will be as mesmerized by scenes of exploring Thailand’s coral reefs as they are by her depiction of overwhelming grief. ... Read full Story
Even amid their bitterest struggles, there’s a tenderness to the family at the heart of Tolani Akinola’s striking, smart debut, Leave Your Mess at Home. ... Read full Story
Xochitl Gonzalez’s straightforward prose downplays its subtlety and brilliance, and she is Whartonesque when it comes to describing the folkways of a particular group of people at a particular time. ... Read full Story
Julia Langbein’s Dear Monica Lewinsky is inventive, funny and incisive—a delightful comedy that’s also frank in commenting on the trouble caused by institutional power imbalances between men and women. ... Read full Story
As nature reawakens with the passage of winter, our gardens aren’t the only thing in bloom. Celebrate Earth Day and the arrival of spring with love stories set in various lush landscapes, from the forest to the ocean—and even an alien planet. ... Read full Story
Filled with depictions of cats in art, culture and history across millennia, this book proves that cats have always been everywhere, all at once. ... Read full Story
Part teen drama, part paranormal thriller and wholly entertaining, Where No Shadow Stays is a book that readers won’t be able to put down—and it might continue to creep them out after the last page has been turned. ... Read full Story
Marv and Char Lopez’s The Compact Garden will equip readers with everything they need to start growing, no matter how much space they have available. ... Read full Story
In her unnerving new horror novel, Kylie Lee Baker puts a Japanese twist on the gothic to deliver a dark vision of a house and its ghosts. ... Read full Story
Readers will root for Mei Mei, the protagonist of Victoria Chang’s Eureka, as she and her friends bravely struggle toward a conclusion filled with love and hope. ... Read full Story
In Forgive-Me-Not, Mari Costa aimed to create something that she would have devoured as a fairy-loving teen, and the result is a beautiful, queer twist on the knight and princess tale that will delight and intrigue readers. ... Read full Story
With its unique recipes presented via Lesley Chesterman’s culinary expertise, A Montreal Cook will take home cooks on a pleasurable journey to this celebrated Canadian city. ... Read full Story
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 8, 2026 is:
wistful \WIST-ful\ adjective
To be wistful is to have sad thoughts and feelings about something that you want to have or do, and especially about something that made you happy in the past. Wistful can also describe something, such as a smile or sigh, that shows or communicates such feelings.
// As the car pulled away, Lea cast one last wistful glance at the house where she'd spent so many happy years.
"Postcards have always been an object of fascination for me. I remember flipping through photo albums as a young girl and coming across those sent to my parents, from people I had never met. When I asked who these people were, I would hear wistful stories." — Minoli Wijetunga, The Guardian (London), 10 Jan. 2026
Did you know?
We see you there, dear reader, gazing silently up at the moon, heart aching to know the history of wistful, as if it could be divined on the lunar surface. And we'd like to ease your melancholy by telling you that the knowledge you seek—nay, pine for—is closer at hand. The word wistful comes from wistly, a now-obsolete word meaning "intently," and the similar-sounding wishful. Wistly, in turn, likely comes from whist, an old term meaning "silent." What's more certain is that our modern wistful is a great word to describe someone full of pensive yearning, or something inspiring such yearning.