Weaving Wild Baskets
Katie Grove
Storey Publishing, $39.98, 2026
Rooted in the woods of Stone Ridge, Katie Grove’s Weaving Wild Baskets reframes an ancient craft as a living, local practice—less hobby than way of seeing. Drawing on vines, bark, grasses, and “little treasures” gathered through the seasons, Grove’s work connects hand skill to ecological awareness, inviting makers to read the landscape as material and collaborator. With clear, illustrated instruction alongside a philosophy of mindful foraging, the book balances utility and reverie. It’s a guide to making baskets, certainly—but more than that, an argument for attention, patience, and intimacy with the natural world.
Murder Bimbo
Rebecca Novack
Avid ReaderPress/Simon & Schuster, $28.99, 2026
A razor-edged debut with a killer instinct, Murder Bimbo follows a woman who weaponizes the expectations placed on her—beauty, frivolity, charm—and turns them into something far more dangerous. Rebecca Novack, a Hudson Valley resident, blends satire and suspense, skewering the cultural script of the “bimbo” while letting her protagonist seize control of the narrative with unnerving precision. Set against a glossy, performative social world where image is currency, the novel asks who gets underestimated—and what they might do with that power. Smart, stylish, and subversively funny, it’s a dark romp that flips the gaze and leaves a mark.
The Fly Fishing Book
Steven Weinberg
MacMillan, $29.99, 2026
Part field guide, part art object, The Fly Fishing Book casts a wide, welcoming net—inviting beginners and seasoned anglers alike into the rhythms of the water. Catskills-based artist and Spruceton Inn co-owner Steven Weinberg blends clear, practical instruction on casting, gear, and reading streams with lush watercolor illustrations that elevate the sport into something tactile and meditative. More than a how-to, it’s a philosophy of attention: to insects, currents, light, and time itself. Handsome enough for the coffee table but grounded in real technique, it captures fly fishing as both craft and quiet pursuit of joy.
Five Weeks in the Country
Francine Prose
Harper, $30, 2026
Five Weeks in the Country transforms a strange literary footnote into a darkly comic study of family life, artistic ambition, and emotional collapse. In 1857, Hans Christian Andersen arrives at the country home of Charles Dickens for what is meant to be a brief visit. He stays five weeks. As Andersen awkwardly inserts himself into the household, the Dickens family begins to fracture under pressures already simmering beneath the surface: a deteriorating marriage, restless children, and the strain of maintaining the public image of domestic bliss. Told largely through the collective voice of the Dickens children, the novel captures the uneasy overlap between comedy and heartbreak while examining how writers transform the chaos of life into art.
Mrs. Benedict Arnold
Emma Parry
Zando, $28, 2026
A sharp, sensuous reimagining of Revolutionary-era America, Mrs. Benedict Arnold centers on Peggy Shippen—young, perceptive, and caught between loyalty, ambition, and desire as the war reshapes Philadelphia society. Hudson Valley resident Emma Parry renders the conflict not just as battlefield drama but as social chess, where allegiances shift in drawing rooms as much as in armies. As Peggy navigates romance, politics, and the intoxicating presence of British officer John André, the novel probes the murky space between patriotism and self-interest. Elegant, psychologically attuned, and alive to the era’s tensions, it reframes a notorious story through the eyes of the woman history sidelined.
Peter Pan in the Catskills and Other Historical Essays
dited by Bill Birns
Purple Mountain Press, $30, 2026
A rich, place-rooted anthology, Peter Pan in the Catskills and Other Historical Essays gathers 33 pieces drawn from the Catskill Tri-County Historical Views, spanning geology, folklore, politics, and everyday life in the mountain region. Edited by Bill Birns, the collection moves fluidly from Ice Age landscapes to Revolutionary-era tensions, from literary origin stories like “Rip Van Winkle” to local figures both celebrated and forgotten. The essays function as a kind of cultural collage—each self-contained, yet collectively forming a portrait of a region where history feels close at hand. It’s both an invitation to curiosity and a testament to the Catskills’ enduring imaginative pull.
Eating at Home: The Nourishing Practice of Everyday Cooking
Trinity Mouzon Wofford
Ten Speed Press, $32.99, 2026
A cookbook with a point of view, Eating at Home reframes cooking not as a chore but as a daily practice—closer to meditation than meal prep. Chatham-based entrepreneur Trinity Mouzon Wofford offers 85 approachable recipes rooted in affordable ingredients and unfussy technique, drawing on her multicultural foodways and family rhythms. But the book’s real argument is philosophical: that slowing down in the kitchen can restore a sense of connection—to ingredients, to routine, to the people at the table. Equal parts recipe collection and manifesto, it makes the case that nourishment begins long before the first bite.
This article appears in May 2026.
