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It’s the start of a new year and that means the kickoff of a whole new slate of television series. And while 2026 will bring plenty of those, it will also yield revivals, new seasons of beloved shows, spinoffs and long-awaited finales. Though this list isn’t exhaustive by any means, and not all dates have been announced, there’s plenty to start penciling into your calendar.

‘Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’ (Jan. 15, Paramount+)

Holly Hunter as Capt. Nahla Ake in “Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.”

(Brooke Palmer/Paramount+)

In these awful, uncertain times, it is heartening that “Star Trek,” that most good-hearted, proudly progressive of space operas, continues to create new missions for fresh multiplanetary crews of explorers. The latest series, set like “Star Trek: Discovery” in the far-flung 32nd century, when anything the writers need created can be, takes place both in San Francisco — where the rebuilt Starfleet Academy is welcoming its first new class in more than 100 years — and aboard a training starship, the USS Athena, which will presumably carry cadets into situations more dangerous than rush week or beer pong. Tig Notaro’s engineer Jett Reno, surviving from “Star Trek: Discovery,” and Robert Picardo’s holographic doctor way back from “Star Trek: Voyager,” are seen here, as are several new young actors for youth appeal and Holly Hunter, as the academy chancellor and starship captain, for the “Broadcast News” fans. The voice of Stephen Colbert, making announcements as the Digital Dean of Students, is heard, and Paul Giamatti puts on prosthetics to play the villain. — Robert Lloyd

‘Memory of a Killer’ (Jan. 25, Fox)

Michael Imperioli, left, and Patrick Dempsey in “Memory of a Killer.”

(Christos Kalohoridis/Fox)

Former “Grey’s Anatomy” heartthrob Patrick Dempsey trades in his “McDreamy” scrubs for a high-powered rifle in Fox’s thriller drama. Inspired by the 2003 Belgian film “De Zaak Alzheimer,” the drama features Dempsey as Angelo Ledda, a New York City hit man facing a devastating dilemma: he has early Alzheimer’s. The disease complicates his deadly profession and his life as a low-key family man. With a cast that includes Michael Imperioli (“The Sopranos”) and Gina Torres (“Suits”), the trailer looks particularly intriguing, with Dempsey looking intense while backed by the Who’s “Behind Blue Eyes.” Fox is spotlighting the series with a two-night premiere; the first episode airs following the NFC Championship game. The second episode airs Jan. 26 as the drama settles into its regular slot on Mondays at 9 p.m. — Greg Braxton

‘Scrubs’ revival (Feb. 25, ABC)

Zach Braff, top, and Donald Faison in the “Scrubs” revival.

(Jeff Weddell/Disney)

Ready for another walk through the halls of Sacred Heart Hospital with J.D., Elliot, Turk, Dr. Cox and Carla? The 30-minute sitcom was a comfort watch throughout much of the early aughts, with an endless loop of reruns keeping the show alive in the minds of fans long after it was canceled in 2010. But now ABC is bringing back the medical sitcom nearly 16 years later, and a lot of familiar faces are returning too: Zach Braff, Sarah Chalke and Donald Faison will reprise their lead roles, and John C. McGinley and Judy Reyes will make guest appearances. But not all is the same — several new cast members will join “Scrubs,” including Vanessa Bayer (“Saturday Night Live,” “I Love That for You”) and Joel Kim Booster (“Fire Island,” “Loot”). As long as J.D.’s daydreams and goofy bromance with Turk remain, I’m all in. — Maira Garcia

‘Monarch: Legacy of Monsters’ Season 2 (Feb. 27, Apple TV)

Wyatt Russell and Mari Yamamoto in Season 2 of “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters.”

(Vince Valitutti/Apple)

It’s been two years since the first season of “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters” ended with a surprise two-year time jump and I’ve been waiting to see what’s next for the extended Randa clan ever since. The Monsterverse series follows Cate Randa (Anna Sawai) — a survivor of a Godzilla encounter — trying to learn the truth about her father Hiroshi’s (Takehiro Hira) disappearance with the help of her newly discovered half-brother Kentaro (Ren Watabe) and ex-pat hacker May (Kiersey Clemons). It turns out the Randa family legacy is intertwined with Godzilla as well as Monarch, a secret organization dedicated to studying the giant monsters known as Titans. The possibility of kaiju battles was definitely what initially drew me to the show, but the humans have kept me hooked. Season 1 ended with Cate reuniting with her brother and father after escaping a mysterious pocket world beneath Earth’s surface with her long-lost grandmother Keiko (Mari Yamamoto) in tow. If that is not the setup for some gloriously messy family drama, I don’t know what is — and that’s not even taking into account a potential love triangle. But don’t fret monster lovers, the presence of Kong has also been teased for Season 2. — Tracy Brown

’American Love Story’ (February, FX)

The latest iteration of Ryan Murphy’s “American Story” anthology will focus on John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, whose relationship and untimely deaths in 1999 created a media frenzy. (The couple died in a plane crash that Kennedy was piloting — the cause of death was deemed pilot error, but with no survivors, we’ll never know with 100% certainty.) Though their deaths occurred more than two decades ago, the event remains a significant moment in the memories of Americans and the Kennedy family, which has endured numerous tragedies over the decades. While Kennedy family members have openly criticized the series, it hasn’t stopped Murphy from proceeding. The television creator knows how to pique viewers’ interest, often dramatizing notable people and events. The series stars Sarah Pidgeon as Bessette, newcomer Paul Kelly as Kennedy and Naomi Watts as matriarch Jackie Kennedy. — M.G.

‘Y: Marshals’ (March 1, CBS), ‘Dutton Ranch’ (2026, Paramount+)

Logan Marshall-Green, Arielle Kebbel and Luke Grimes in CBS’ “Y: Marshals.”

(Sonja Flemming/CBS)

More than a year has passed since “Yellowstone” rode off into the sunset. The modern western was television’s hottest series during its five-season run, solidifying the star power of its lead Kevin Costner as patriarch John Dutton while establishing co-creator Taylor Sheridan as one of TV’s top writer-producers. Sheridan hopes to continue his “Yellowstone” triumph with several spinoffs. Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser will reprise their respective roles as Dutton’s volcanic daughter Beth Dutton and her husband, boss ranch hand Rip Wheeler, in Paramount+’s “Dutton Ranch.” Luke Grimes, who played Dutton’s son Kayce Dutton, will headline “Y: Marshals” in which Kayce joins a top U.S. Marshals unit. Joining Grimes in the CBS drama are “Yellowstone” cast members Gil Birmingham (Thomas Rainwater) and Mo Brings Plenty (Mo). Also in development is “The Madison,” a drama starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Kurt Russell about a New York City family living in Montana’s Madison River territory. — G.B.

‘Imperfect Women’ (March 18, Apple TV)

Elisabeth Moss, left, Kerry Washington and Kate Mara in “Imperfect Women.”

(Nicole Weingart/Apple)

If you’re longing for the elusive Season 3 of “Big Little Lies” or a similar crime-laced psychological thriller led by powerhouse women, Apple TV might be able to scratch that itch with this upcoming drama. Based on Araminta Hall’s novel of the same name, “Imperfect Women” will follow three lifelong friends, played by Kerry Washington, Elisabeth Moss and Kate Mara, as a murder sends their lives into chaos. Moss and Washington also serve as executive producers with Hall. Details about the plot of the series are scant (it is a mystery, after all), but the novel teases a story with deep betrayal and guilt, a secret affair and muddled perspectives, all underpinned by a murder investigation. That all sounds pretty dark, but Moss said the series will somehow be a “fantastic palate-cleanser” after the close of her dystopian drama “The Handmaid’s Tale.” “Imperfect Women” is “super different,” she added. “It’s fun, it’s sexy.” — Kaitlyn Huamani

‘The Forsytes’ (March 22, PBS)

Danny Griffin and Tuppence Middleton in “The Forsytes.”

(Sean Gleason/Masterpiece / PBS)

Written by Debbie Horsfield (“Poldark”), this is, as far as I can tell, a freely adapted, female-forward prequel to John Galsworthy’s “Forsyte Saga” novels, which provided the basis for a highly popular, 26-part adaptation in 1967 and subsequent filmings in 2002 and 2003. Set among a late Victorian-era family of stockbrokers, a phrase that will undoubtedly bring the word “succession” to mind, it promises to be a meaty, cheesy and handsomely dressed — sometimes undressed — romp. The large ensemble cast includes Francesca Annis, Stephen Moyer, Tuppence Middleton, Eleanor Tomlinson, Jack Davenport, “Doctor Who” companion Millie Gibson and Susan Hampshire, who starred in and won an Emmy for the 1967 series. — R.L.

‘Margo’s Got Money Troubles’ (April 15, Apple TV)

Michelle Pfeiffer and Elle Fanning in “Margo’s Got Money Troubles.”

(Allyson Riggs/Apple)

Ever look at a television title and think: “It’s great to see myself represented on TV?” The actual premise of this series may feel less relatable on the surface to most, but the struggle to stretch a dollar like it’s made of industrial-use elastic is a conundrum many of us know all too well these days. And this new series from prolific TV producer David E. Kelley promises humor and heart in its adaptation of Rufi Thorpe’s novel of the same name, which explores sex work and financial precarity without moralization. The series stars Elle Fanning as the titular character, a recent college dropout from a working-class background who, as a new mom raising a baby solo, is forced to figure out how to make ends meet and finds a financial lifeline as a creator for OnlyFans, the subscription-based platform made famous by adult content. The series also features Michelle Pfeiffer as Margo’s mother (an ex-Hooters waitress) and Nick Offerman as her father (an ex-pro wrestler). And to ensure she’s not letting 2026 go by without adding a stamp to her TV punch card, Nicole Kidman is also part of the stacked cast. Because we need that, all of us. — Yvonne Villarreal

‘The Testaments’ (April 2026, Hulu)

Lucy Halliday, left, and Chase Infiniti in “The Testaments.”

(Disney)

The success of Bruce Miller’s award-winning adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” prompted the author to write the Booker Prize-winning sequel “The Testaments,” which Miller is also adapting. Set to premiere in April, it returns viewers to the Old Testament world of Gilead, years after the events in “The Handmaid’s Tale,” and focuses on June’s (Elisabeth Moss) daughters Hannah, renamed Agnes (Chase Infiniti), and Daisy, previously known as Nicole (Lucy Halliday), as they face the brutal forces of a misogynistic theocracy. Ann Dowd reprises her role as Aunt Lydia, the only character (with the possible exception of June) who will cross over from the previous series. Miller has characterized the series as a “coming of age” story, but readers of the book will know that all is not what it once was in Gilead; forces both without and within plot its downfall and June’s daughters will not be far from the fight. — Mary McNamara

‘Beef’ Season 2 (2026, Netflix)

Three years after gifting us a darkly comic road rage thriller fronted by Steven Yeun and Ali Wong that was set against a soundtrack of ‘NSync, Tori Amos and Hoobastank songs, Lee Sung Jin’s anthology series returns for its second season with another layered, twist-filled exploration of class struggles, resentment and the absurdity of life’s curveballs. Consisting of eight 30-minute episodes, this season unpacks the pursuit of the American Dream by way of an exclusive Southern California country club and two couples from different socioeconomic backgrounds. The chaos kicks off when a young couple who work at the club (Cailee Spaeny and Charles Melton) witness a heated fight between their boss (Oscar Isaac), the general manager, and his wife (Carey Mulligan), an interior designer, just as the club’s new Korean billionaire owner (Youn Yuh-jung) takes over. The encounter spins out into a web of favors and coercion in this tale of broken systems and characters going to great lengths to get what they want. “Parasite’s” Song Kang-ho and K-Pop star BM (of KARD) round out the cast. And yes, there will be needle drops. — Y.V.

‘Little House on the Prairie’ (2026, Netflix)

It’s beyond time that someone revisited the semi-autobiographical series by Laura Ingalls Wilder in a way more suited to modern television. The 1974 NBC adaptation is a classic, but as a family drama of its time, it did not attempt to capture the historical breadth the book series documented. The many tribulations, and triumphs, the Ingalls family experienced as they moved from state to state, (including the locust plague of 1874, described in “On the Banks of Plum Creek,” which devastated the Midwest) provide a unique look into life on the American “frontier.” With any luck, showrunner Rebecca Sonnenshine and her team of writers will do the same. — M.M.

‘Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen’ (2026, Netflix)

Fans of the nearly 10-year long “Stranger Things” chapter on Netflix are sure to be feeling a bit of Duffer Brothers withdrawal in the new year. But their overall deal with Netflix will bear another intriguing project before the creators move over to Paramount exclusively. “Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen” is a horror drama centering on a soon-to-be bride and groom, although the title seems to imply they never make it to the altar. The Duffer Brothers, Matt and Ross, and Hilary Leavitt from Upside Down Pictures are executive producing along with Haley Z. Boston, who will serve as showrunner. Boston has written on “Guillermo del Toro’s “Cabinet of Curiosities” and “Brand New Cherry Flavor,” both of which attracted avid horror fans. Camila Morrone (“Daisy Jones & the Six,” “The Night Manager”) stars alongside Adam DiMarco (“The White Lotus,” “Overcompensating”). Very few other details have been shared, but the talent involved — both behind the scenes and in front of the camera — is enough to pique my curiosity, even if I’ll have to close my eyes when things get a little too scary for my comfort. — K.H.

‘Yellowjackets’ Season 4 (2026, Showtime)

Tawny Cypress in the Season 3 finale of “Yellowjackets.”

(Darko Sikman/Paramount+ with Showtime)

I thought high school was traumatizing enough, but I didn’t have to deal with anything close to what the teens in “Yellowjackets” have endured for three seasons. The coming-of-age survival thriller is about a championship high school soccer team whose plane crashes into the remote Canadian wilderness where they are stranded for 19 months. The story unfolds over two timelines, with one following the girls as they do whatever it takes to survive in the wilds — including cannibalism and ritual sacrifice — and the other following the survivors in the present day as they are trying to live their lives. Unfortunately for them, whatever they started in the wilderness is unwilling to be left buried in the past and is back on the h(a)unt. There is plenty of rage, trauma, secrets and murder in both timelines, as well as some unsolved mysteries that may or may not involve supernatural elements. With the upcoming fourth season confirmed to be the last, here’s to hoping some of the remaining questions — including how the girls were saved, how many girls actually survived, and why the “wilderness” came back to them in the present day — will be answered. — T.B.

‘VisionQuest’ (2026, Disney+)

It feels like forever ago that “WandaVision” kicked off Marvel Studios’ foray into television with a bang. A clever homage to sitcoms, the show followed Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) as she tried to magically piece together a life and family with Vision (Paul Bettany) after the events of “Avengers: Endgame” (2019). The upcoming Disney+ series “VisionQuest” will cap off the “WandaVision” trilogy, which also includes one of my favorite MCU installments, “Agatha All Along.” When audiences last saw Vision, the reconstructed android had just regained his memories and, presumably, his sentience, before flying off into the unknown. The new series will see Vision trying to navigate that aftermath to figure out who he is — reportedly with some help from other known Marvel AI programs and robots. Both “WandaVision” and “Agatha” explored grief and trauma and motherhood in their own ways, so I’m curious how these themes might carry over into “VisionQuest.” I’m admittedly a bit more into witches than robots, but I’m looking forward to the proper introduction of Tommy Shepherd (Ruaridh Mollica), who in the comics is the grown-up version of one of Wanda and Vision’s magically-created twins, and any potential family reunions. — T.B.

As the new year begins, novelists send characters to great heights in Tibet and Wyoming, to the great depths of the 19th century Atlantic and back in time, to early 20th century Pakistan. Meanwhile, nonfiction authors contemplate a Spanish shipwreck, a racially motivated murder, the origins of great ideas and how laughter can change our lives. Happy reading!

FICTION

Call Me Ishmaelle: A Novel
By Xiaolu Guo
Grove Press: 448 pp., $18
(Jan. 6)

Guo, whose 2017 memoir “Nine Continents” detailed her difficult road to personal and artistic freedom, pours that experience into Ishmaelle, a young woman from England’s coast who joins the crew of a whaling ship named the Nimrod. Yes, it’s a retelling of Herman Melville’s “Moby Dick” and yes, it’s well worth your time. By adding in new characters while adhering to the original story, the author creates something new, strange and thrilling.

The Last of Earth: A Novel
By Deepa Anappara
Random House: 252 pp., $29
(Jan. 13)

Set in 1869, when Europeans were forbidden to enter Tibet, this slow-paced yet tense novel follows the perspectives of Balram, an Indian surveyor, and Katharine, a woman of mixed English and Indian heritage, as they both attempt expeditions for different purposes. During their treks both characters meet a man named Chetak, whose eerie folkloric tales underscore the power structures they’ll each have to surmount before reaching their goals.

This Is Where the Serpent Lives: A Novel
By Daniyal Mueenuddin
Knopf: 368 pp., $29
(Jan. 13)

While most of this stunning book takes place in Pakistan, an important section leads two brothers to college at Dartmouth in the United States, a place about as far in every respect from their Rawalpindi origins as possible. Mueenuddin, whose gift for satire shines whether he’s describing society matrons or gangsters, never loses sight of his theme: How do any of us ever manage to justify our treatment of the underserved?

Crux: A Novel
By Gabriel Tallent
Riverhead: 416 pp., $30
(Jan. 20)

A “crux” refers to the toughest point in a climb; it also means a decision point, as well as a place where two things cross. For Tallent’s sophomore novel, two characters who are climbers have reached an important moment in their teenage lives. Daniel and Tamma (he’s straight, she’s queer) have been close friends for years, scrabbling all over Joshua Tree peaks, but as their home lives and individual paths diverge, their bond wavers.

Vigil: A Novel
By George Saunders
Random House: 192 pp., $28
(Jan. 27)

It seems unfair that, after his spectacular “Lincoln in the Bardo,” Saunders returns with not just another novel featuring a ghost, but with a new novel even more spectacular than the last. “Who else could you have been but exactly who you are?” says the newly incarnated Jill “Doll” Blaine, sent to comfort nefarious oil tycoon K. J. Boone in his last hours alive — a statement that in no way diminishes the political urgency of this spare, lovely book.

NONFICTION

Humor Me: How Laughing More Can Make You Present, Creative, Connected, and Happy
By Chris Duffy
Doubleday: 272 pp., $29
(Jan. 6)

We’ve all heard that laughter is the best medicine; funny stuff isn’t merely diversion, but essential to our health. Author Duffy, who hosts the TED Talks podcast “How to Be a Better Human,” believes that anyone, from age 10 to age 103 (he gives examples of each), can make you laugh, help you form community and even lead you to make better decisions. One of the latter? Learn to laugh at yourself; it can signal “general intelligence and verbal creativity.”

The Legend of Wyatt Outlaw: From Reconstruction Through Black Lives Matter

By Sylvester Allen Jr. and Belle Boggs
University of North Carolina Press: 296 pp., $30
(Jan. 27)

The titular Outlaw was the first Black constable of Graham, N.C. In 1870, he was killed by lynching by members of the local Ku Klux Klan, no doubt in part due to his efforts to build coalition between members of different races and social classes. Allen, a native of Graham and a playwright who wrote a drama based on Outlaw’s legacy, and Boggs, a scholar, connect the terrorism and hatred behind this man’s murder to the present day.

How Great Ideas Happen: The Hidden Steps Behind Breakthrough Success

By George Newman
Simon & Schuster: 304 pp., $30
(Jan. 27)

So many cartoons depict great ideas using light bulbs that we’ve forgotten many of the greatest ideas come about from long deliberation and careful winnowing. Canadian professor Newman uses archaeological terms for the process: surveying, gridding, digging and sifting. Who knew that Jordan Peele rewrote “Get Out” 400 times, or that Paul Simon composed his “Graceland” album by combing through all of his previous work?

Neptune’s Fortune: The Billion-Dollar Shipwreck and the Ghosts of the Spanish Empire

By Julian Sancton
Crown: 384 pp., $33
(Jan. 27)

In 1708 the San José, a treasure-laden Spanish galleon, sunk off the coast of Colombia. In 2015 a man named Roger Dooley found the galleon’s wreck and brought back artifacts proving it. Unfortunately, with little education, few bona fides and a sketchy reputation, Dooley received no credit for the discovery. Sancton tracked down Dooley — now in his 80s and somewhat reclusive — and thus is able to provide a fascinating conclusion to the tale.

Mattering: The Secret to a Life of Deep Meaning and Purpose

By Jennifer Breheny Wallace
Portfolio: 288 pp., $30
(Jan. 27)

Loneliness pervades our society and to heal it, people need to feel that they actually matter to others — something author Wallace saw when she researched and wrote her 2023 bestseller “Never Enough,” which focused on adolescents and burnout. Now Wallace shares her findings from talking with people of all ages and hearing what a difference it makes when connections are made and individuals are recognized for even the smallest contributions.

Patrick is a freelance critic and author of the memoir “Life B.”

We might rarely get to see snowfall in Los Angeles, but logging onto social media in December means the arrival of a different kind of flurry. The one where our friends, both close and parasocial, excitedly share the year-end music-listening data dumps of their Spotify Wrapped.

Spotify Wrapped only represents the culmination of our listening habits on a single music platform, but every shared Wrapped post seems to come with some self-evident clarity about our personal identity. Spotify Wrapped bares our souls and provides us the opportunity to see ourselves deconstructed via our musical inclinations. By most accounts, it’s an irresistible delight. Oh, Spotify, you rascal, you’ve got us pegged.

For anyone in Los Angeles, 2025 has been one hell of a year to get the Wrapped treatment. We’re still processing the aftermath of the devastating Eaton and Palisades fires — and haunted by ICE raids and the federal administration’s ceaseless attacks on California. Not to mention Jimmy Kimmel getting silenced.

Maybe it’s not such a bad idea to take that temperature check.

But listening to music can be a passive experience — one enjoyed in tandem with folding laundry, or driving a car. To really learn about ourselves and how our year has been, we might want to turn elsewhere, to a habit with more intention. I’m talking, of course, about reading.

While there’s apps for tracking our reading habits, like StoryGraph or Goodreads, I’m devoted to a wholly analogue tracking method that’s helped me churn through books faster and with more intent than ever before: the book stack.

Starting every January, whenever I finish a book, I place it sidelong atop a shelf in the corner of my living room. With each new book I conquer, the stack gets taller, eventually becoming a full tower by December. A book stack, low on analytics, can’t tell me the total number of pages I’ve read, or how many minutes I spent reading, but it’s a tangible monument to my year’s reading progress. Its mere presence prods me into reading more. It calls me a chump when the stack is low and cheers for me when it reaches toward the ceiling.

My first book stack started in 2020, a wry joke to demonstrate the extra time we could all devote to reading books during a pandemic. The joke barely worked. I ended up reading just 19 books that year, only a few more than I had the previous year (though it could’ve been more if one of those books wasn’t “Crime and Punishment”).

Still, the book stack model gamified my reading habits and now I give books time I didn’t feel I had before. I bring books to bars, movie theaters and the DMV. If ever I have to wait around somewhere, you better believe I’ll come armed with a book.

The pandemic may have waned, but my book stack count continued to climb, peaking in 2023 after reading 52 books, averaging one per week.

But, hey, it’s about quality, not quantity, right? If there’s a quality to be gleaned from my 2025 book stack, you’d see that I’ve been looking for hot tips on how to survive times of extreme authoritarian rule. Some were more insightful than others.

In the stack was Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward’s “All the President’s Men,” a landmark true story about two intrepid reporters who brought down the president of the United States by repeatedly bothering people at their homes for information. Fascinating as it is, it also feels like a relic from a time when doing something like that could still work. Philip Roth’s “The Plot Against America” tells the story of a Jewish New Jersey family in an alternate timeline where an “America First” Charles Lindbergh beats Franklin Roosevelt in the 1940 presidential election, ignoring the threat of Hitler in Europe and giving way to a rise in antisemitism at home. Roth paints a dreary portrait of how that scenario could have played out, but the horrors are resolved by something of a deus ex machina rather than by any one character’s bold, heroic actions. Then there’s Anthony Doerr’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “All the Light We Cannot See,” about the converging stories of a German boy enlisted in Hitler’s army and a blind French girl during World War II. Sadly, this novel reads less like a book about living under fascist rule than a thirsty solicitation to become source material for Steven Spielberg’s next movie.

Each of these titles have merit, but this year’s book stack had two gems for anyone who wants to know how best to resist tyranny. Pointedly, there was Timothy Snyder’s tidy pocket-sized handbook “On Tyranny” filled with 20 short but fortifying chapters of practical wisdom like “Do not obey in advance,” “Defend institutions” and “Believe in truth.” Each is applicable to our current moment, informed by historical precedent set by communist and fascist regimes of the past century. This book — well over a million copies sold — came out at the start of Trump’s first term in 2017, so I came a little late to this party. The fact that Snyder himself moved to Canada this year should give us all pause.

Practical advice can also be found in great fiction, and on that front I found comfort and instruction in Hans Fallada’s “Alone in Berlin” (a.k.a. “Every Man Dies Alone”), based on the true story of a married couple living in Berlin during World War II who wrote postcards urging resistance against the Nazi regime and secretly planted them in public places for random people to discover. Under their extreme political conditions, this small act of civil disobedience means risking death. Not only is the story riveting, there’s also great pleasure in seeing the mayhem each postcard causes and how effective they are at exposing the subordinate class of fascists for what they truly are: nitwits.

Also notable in “Alone in Berlin” is the point of view of both the author and his fictional heroes. Neither a target of persecution, nor a military adversary, Fallada nevertheless endured the amplified hardships of living under Nazi rule during World War II. His trauma was still fresh while writing this book and it’s evident in his prose. He survived just long enough to write and publish “Alone in Berlin” before dying in 1947 at the age of 53.

If I’ve learned anything from these books, it’s that it’s in our best interest to not be afraid. Tyrants feed on fear and expect it. A citizenry without fear is much harder to control. That’s why we need to raise our voices against provocations of our rights, always push back, declare wrong things to be wrong, get in the way, annoy the opposition, and allow yourself to devote time to do things for your own enjoyment.

And in that spirit, my book stack also includes a fair amount of palate cleansers in the mix: Jena Friedman’s “Not Funny,” short stories by Nikolai Gogol, Jhumpa Lahiri’s “The Namesake” (whose main character is named after Gogol), and a pair of Kurt Vonnegut novels. Though it’s hard to read Vonnegut without stumbling upon some apropos nuggets of wisdom, like this one from his novel “Slapstick:” “Fascists are inferior people who believe it when somebody tells them they’re superior.”

Zachary Bernstein is a writer, editor and songwriter. He’s working on his debut novel about a poorly managed remote island society.