This Angry Pen of Mine: Recovering the Journals of Layne Staley
Hardcover | Kindle Edition
By Layne Staley
Publisher: Weldon Owen
Release date: November 11, 2025

Layne Staley, frontman of grunge rock giants Alice In Chains, died 24 years ago today at his Seattle, WA apartment from a drug overdose at 34 years old. It was on the 8th anniversary of the death of fellow grunge luminary Kurt Cobain of Nirvana. Like Cobain, Staley’s public battles with addiction and subsequent misconceptions about his life have become interwoven with his legacy, at times overshadowing the music. Now, Staley’s family hopes to bring the focus back to the singer’s music and art contributions with This Angry Pen of Mine: Recovering the Journals of Layne Staley, which reproduces some of the musician’s journal entries, lyric sheets, and much more.

In my 20+ years of running Geeks Of Doom, I don’t think I’ve ever done a Book Recommendations/Reading List specifially for Spring. Usually books that are released during the Winter and Spring seasons get folded into Summer or Fall Reading Lists and/or Gift Guides. But this year, I was feeling quite inspired and actually had the time to put something together for Spring.

Below are some titles — with accompanying links to the print, ebooks, and audiobooks editions — that I am personally looking forward to checking out this Spring, most of which land in the science fiction, fantasy, horror, roleplaying, historical fiction, and non-fiction categories and their subgenres. The first list of books is listed in order of release date from January 2026 through April 2026. After this main list, I’ve included some older titles to read before their new movie/TV adaptations come out. Finally, you’ll find a bonus section featuring themed Cookbooks, Craftbooks, Guides, Coloring Books, Sourcebooks, Card Sets/Games, Journals, and Accessories that are perfect companions for your Spring reading adventures, and also make great gifts.

Continue on to check out my Spring 2026 Book Recommendations & Gifts…

This year will see the big-screen release of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part 3 starring Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Florence Pugh, and Robert Pattinson. In conjunction with this highly anticipated event, Ace Books (a division of Penguin Random House) will be publishing two special repackages of books from Frank Herbert’s Dune universe and the publisher has given Geeks Of Doom the exclusive cover reveal! See the cover images below, along with details on the upcoming books, including pre-order links.

The first release is a deluxe trade paperback edition of the original Dune novel coming this Summer; the second is a deluxe hardcover box set containing Books 4-6 coming this Fall. Pre-order is available now for both items through multiple retailers.

Dragonlance Legends
Books 1-3: Time of the Twins, War of the Twins, Test of the Twins
Hardcover
By Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman
Publisher: Random House Worlds
Release Date: February 10, 2026

So this week sees the release of a series of books from my youth, although there is a typo in there, as it states it has been forty years since the series began. That has to be incorrect, as there is no way I am that old; I am still a teenager, I swear! But Dragonlance Legends captures all three of the books in one beautiful tome for new readers to enjoy and old-timers like me to walk down memory lane. If you were entertained by the first three books in the Dragonlance Chronicles collection, you will love this deep dive into one of the greatest characters in the series. I speak, of course, of Raistlin. But surprisingly enough, we read as his brother Caramon relentlessly tries to save his sibling from the very power he craves.

Stranger Things: One Way Or Another
Stranger Things: A Nancy Wheeler Mystery
Hardcover | Kindle Edition | Audiobook
By Caitlin Schneiderhan
Publisher: Random House Worlds
Release Date: December 2, 2025

Recent high school grad Nancy Wheeler dons her investigative journalist cap and teams up with pal Robin Buckley to solve a new mystery in Hawkins while continuing the hunt for the malevolent entity Vecna in the new novel, Stranger Things: One Way Or Another.

The new year brought an end to popular Netflix series Stranger Things, after a successful 10-year run. Viewers remain divided as to whether the series finale provided a satisfactory conclusion, but one thing is certain: fans aren’t ready to let go of their favorite Stranger Things characters. That’s where the franchise’s expanding book series proves invaluable, offering more tales from Hawkins, Indiana, and filling in the gaps of the events that occurred between the show’s five seasons.