Are you excited about 2026 books yet? We are. Get your calendar ready, because below is a tantalizing preview of what’s to come. This list covers intriguing debuts and new work from excellent established authors, and it offers a glimpse of books we may cover in our digital magazine, First Impressions program, or book club in the year ahead. Be sure to also check out our Best Books for Book Clubs in 2026. Happy browsing!
Most Anticipated Contemporary Novels for 2026
The Last of Earth: A Novel
by Deepa Anappara
Jan 13, 2026. 352 pages
Published by Random House
From the award-winning author of Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line comes a stunning historical novel set in nineteenth-century Tibet that follows two outsiders—an Indian schoolteacher spying for the British Empire and an English “lady” explorer—as they venture into a forbidden kingdom.
Why we’re looking forward to it: Publishers Weekly calls Anappara’s intricate latest “a fresh mix of spooky folklore and intense naturalism” and “an accomplished tale.”
This Is Where the Serpent Lives
by Daniyal Mueenuddin
Jan 13, 2026. 352 pages
Published by Knopf
A stunning first novel from universally acclaimed Daniyal Mueenuddin, whose debut short story collection won the Story Prize and was a finalist for the Los Angeles Book Prize, the National Book Award, and the Pulitzer Prize.
Why we’re looking forward to it: A debut novel from an already acclaimed writer, This Is Where the Serpent Lives will offer a wide-ranging glimpse of contemporary Pakistan in a story that dissects corruption and class dynamics.
Crux: A Novel
by Gabriel Tallent
Jan 20, 2026. 416 pages
Published by Riverhead Books
In this story of intense friendship and grit, two down-and-out teens escape their lives and chase a different future through rock-climbing—from the New York Times bestselling author of My Absolute Darling.
Why we’re looking forward to it: Kirkus calls Crux, the intense story of two teenage friends who pursue rock climbing, “thrilling” and a “sharp novel about youth in conflict with dreams, nature, and reality.”
Discipline: A Novel
by Larissa Pham
Jan 20, 2026. 224 pages
Published by Random House
A taut, electrifying debut about a woman forced to confront unsettling truths about herself, her past, and the life she rebuilt following a ruinous affair with her former mentor, from a “lit world phenom” (Harper’s Bazaar)
Why we’re looking forward to it: Discipline gives the impression of being a quietly philosophical novel in the vein of Katie Kitamura. Fans of thoughtful literary fiction with big ideas, take note.
How to Commit a Postcolonial Murder: A Novel
by Nina McConigley
Jan 20, 2026. 224 pages
Published by Pantheon Books
A bold, inventive, and fiercely original debut novel that begins with an uncle dead and his tween niece’s private confession to the reader—she and her sister killed him, and they blame the British.
Why we’re looking forward to it: The jacket description by itself is enough, and Publishers Weekly dubs it a “thrilling bildungsroman.”
When We Were Brilliant
by Lynn Cullen
Jan 20, 2026. 400 pages
Published by Berkley Books
They were an unlikely pair—a blond bombshell and a photographer determined to be taken seriously—but Marilyn Monroe and Eve Arnold would make a deal that would change their lives in this dazzling new novel from the national bestselling author of Mrs. Poe and The Woman with the Cure.
Why we’re looking forward to it: One of our First Impressions reviewers remarks, “This book will remind the reader of those written by Marie Benedict and Patti Callahan and would make an excellent book club selection.”
Beckomberga: A Novel
by Sara Stridsberg
Jan 27, 2026. 288 pages
Published by FSG Originals
A haunting novel of a woman’s lifelong witness to her father’s illness, and Stockholm’s mythic mental hospital.
Why we’re looking forward to it: A Publishers Weekly reviewer writes, “Stridsberg’s lyrical and unflinching narrative coheres into a relentless and strangely beautiful portrait of a family’s gloom…It’s astonishing.”
Vigil: A Novel
by George Saunders
Jan 27, 2026. 192 pages
Published by Random House
A wise, playful, electric novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling, Booker Prize–winning author of Lincoln in the Bardo, taking place at the bedside of an oil company CEO in the twilight hours of his life as he is ferried from this world into the next.
Why we’re looking forward to it: The setup of a dying oil executive lends itself well to the imaginative and humorous moral examination we’ve come to expect from Saunders. According to Publishers Weekly, he has “outdone himself with this endlessly irreverent work of art.”
Everyday Movement
by Gigi L. Leung
Feb 10, 2026. 368 pages
Published by Riverhead Books
A powerful, award-winning novel that follows the lives of two women as democracy starts to crumble in Hong Kong.
Why we’re looking forward to it: The publication of Everyday Movement in English translation is part of Riverhead Books’ recent mission to release more work originally written in Chinese. Leung’s novel follows two women in Hong Kong during the 2019-2020 protests there, giving voice to contemporary events on both a small and large scale.
This Is Not About Us: Fiction
by Allegra Goodman
Feb 10, 2026. 336 pages
Published by The Dial Press
A kaleidoscopic portrait of a modern American family—steadfast, complicated, begrudging, and loving—from the bestselling author of Isola.
Was this just a brief skirmish, or the beginning of a thirty-year feud? In the Rubinstein family, it could go either way.
Why we’re looking forward to it: Fans of Allegra Goodman’s recent historical novel Isola may also want to check out this “big-hearted,” humorous, modern story of an American family. In the meantime, you can read our recent interview with Goodman.
The Renovation: A Novel
by Kenan Orhan
Feb 10, 2026. 256 pages
Published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux
A woman discovers that her bathroom has been remodeled into a prison cell―where she is an unlikely inmate―in this surreal novel of exile, grief, memory, and migration.
Why we’re looking forward to it: This strange story of displacement and migration should appeal to readers who enjoy fiction that questions the nature of reality.
I Give You My Silence: A Novel
by Mario Vargas Llosa
Feb 24, 2026. 256 pages
Published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux
In his final novel, the Nobel Prize winner Mario Vargas Llosa returns to his native Peru.
Why we’re looking forward to it: Pulitzer Prize winner Mario Vargas Llosa’s final novel, this fictional exploration of Peruvian music, is set to be released in the US this year and has been critically praised elsewhere.
The Reservation: A Novel
by Rebecca Kauffman
Feb 24, 2026. 272 pages
Published by Counterpoint Press
For fans of The Bear, Elizabeth Strout, and Jennifer Egan, The Reservation explores the loves and labors of an ensemble of more than a dozen restaurant workers as they strive to get a perfect meal to the table.
Why we’re looking forward to it: Restaurant drama is one of the best kinds of drama.
Hovel: A Novel
by Ailsa Ross
Mar 17, 2026. 352 pages
Published by Strange Light
In this debut novel, a young woman in the Rocky Mountains, separated from the ancestral rhythms of her home in Scotland, turns to ancient rituals to find solace and connection. With shades of Olga Tokarczuk, Ali Smith, and Rachel Cusk, Hovel is a book for those fascinated by female interiority.
Why we’re looking forward to it: For readers who enjoy the reflective, the off-kilter, and the weird, this seems like a perfect debut to grab off the shelf.
I Love You Don’t Die: A Novel
by Jade Song
Mar 17, 2026. 288 pages
Published by William Morrow
Acclaimed author Jade Song (Chlorine) returns with her latest literary exploration: a lyrical, poignant, and heartfelt novel about the meaning of love, friendship, debt, depression, and death in New York City—a coming-of-age for a new generation, in the vein of Sally Rooney and Ottessa Moshfegh.
Why we’re looking forward to it: This quirky coming-of-age novel sounds dark, hilarious, and oddly life-affirming.
Son of Nobody: A Novel
by Yann Martel
Mar 31, 2026. 288 pages
Published by W.W. Norton & Company
From the author of the international bestseller Life of Pi, a brilliant retelling of the Trojan War from two commoners: an ancient soldier and a modern scholar.
Why we’re looking forward to it: We’re curious about this different kind of Greek myth story—not a retelling, but a parallel invention of a new narrative.
Inheritance
by Jane Park
Apr 7, 2026. 304 pages
Published by Pegasus Books
A young woman returns to the prairies, where she revisits her immigrant childhood and confronts a haunting guilt, in this debut novel by a brilliant new talent.
Why we’re looking forward to it: A contemporary story of family and political history, this looks like a fascinating dive into memory and intergenerational trauma.
Afternoon Hours of a Hermit
by Patrick Cottrell
Apr 21, 2026. 224 pages
Published by Ecco
A darkly funny and profoundly moving new novel by award-winning author Patrick Cottrell.
Why we’re looking forward to it: Interacting slyly with Patrick Cottrell’s brilliant Sorry to Disturb the Peace, this follow-up promises to be a funny and satisfying piece of metafiction.
Go Gentle
by Maria Semple
Apr 21, 2026. 384 pages
Published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons
The New York Times bestselling author of Where’d You Go, Bernadette returns to form in her most exuberant and life-affirming novel yet with the story of one woman’s cheerful determination to live a life of the mind only to have the heart force its way in.
Why we’re looking forward to it: This latest outing by Semple sounds like the perfect title for readers and book clubs seeking something perspective-shifting and uplifting.
Last Night in Brooklyn: A Novel
by Xochitl Gonzalez
Apr 7, 2026. 256 pages
Published by Flatiron Books
New York Times bestselling author Xochitl Gonzalez delivers a captivating story about a young woman whose life becomes ensnared in her glamorous neighbor’s secret past, laying bare the mounting tensions at play in a rapidly gentrifying, early 2000’s Fort Greene, Brooklyn.
Why we’re looking forward to it: This next book from Gonzalez sets the stage for an examination of race and class in a particular time and place alongside a riveting story.
Livonia Chow Mein: A Novel
by Abigail Savitch-Lew
Apr 21, 2026. 368 pages
Published by Simon & Schuster
In the vein of Happiness Falls and Family Lore, a gripping story of family history and political upheaval centered around a Chinese family-owned restaurant in Brownsville, Brooklyn and its impact on the neighborhood’s Jewish and Black residents over the course of a century.
Why we’re looking forward to it: Another New York novel shot through with the impacts of social class and the implications of American ideals, this multi-decade family saga seems poised to be a winner.
Abundance: A Novel
by Hafeez Lakhani
May 5, 2026. 304 pages
Published by Counterpoint Press
Two generations of a Muslim Indian family grapple with what parts of life we control and what we must humbly accept in pursuit of the American dream—for readers of Min Jin Lee, Mohsin Hamid, and Ayad Akhtar.
Why we’re looking forward to it: A family story that touches on questions of medical intervention alongside the ins and outs of running a popular donut franchise, this appears to be a novel of quintessentially American concerns that should be perfect for book clubs.
A Siege of Owls: A Novel
by Uchenna Awoke
May 12, 2026. 256 pages
Published by Catapult
An urgent and unforgettable novel that follows a young man’s coming of age in rural Nigeria as he bears witness to violence, upheaval, and hope in a rapidly changing society from the acclaimed author of The Liquid Eye of a Moon.
Why we’re looking forward to it: Awoke’s latest from Catapult (after his debut, The Liquid Eye of a Moon, called a “Nigerian Catcher in the Rye”) promises a mix of beauty and humor alongside harsh realities in this coming-of-age tale.
Ghost-Eye: A Novel
by Amitav Ghosh
Jun 16, 2026. 336 pages
Published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Past and present collide in a novel about a girl who might just be a “case of the reincarnation type.”
Why we’re looking forward to it: The premise of this novel from Ghosh (a young girl who may have been reincarnated) is simple but fascinating.
Most Anticipated Historical Novels for 2026
Autobiography of Cotton: A Novel
by Cristina Rivera Garza
Feb 3, 2026. 264 pages
Published by Graywolf Press
In 1934, a young José Revueltas traveled to Tamaulipas to support the cotton workers’ strike in Estación Camarón, which became the basis of his landmark novel Human Mourning.
Why we’re looking forward to it: In this hard-to-define novel, Rivera Garza uses José Revueltas’ Human Mourning (1943) as a starting point and “weaves labor history, environmental catastrophe, and stories of her family into a vivid tapestry” (Publishers Weekly).
She Made Herself a Monster: A Novel
by Anna Kovatcheva
Feb 10, 2026. 288 pages
Published by Mariner Books
A heady, dark-hued Gothic gem of a debut novel: in nineteenth-century Bulgaria, a self-proclaimed vampire slayer—actually, a traveling con artist—joins forces with a teenage girl to create a monster deadly enough to vanquish their own demons.
Why we’re looking forward to it: It may not be Buffy, but this feminist tale involving a so-called vampire slayer in 19th-century Bulgaria sounds plenty entertaining.
Night Night Fawn: A Novel
by Jordy Rosenberg
Mar 3, 2026. 304 pages
Published by One World
From the author of Confessions of the Fox comes a novel in which a yenta on her deathbed begins to look back at all her failures—including her child.
Why we’re looking forward to it: This novel appears to be a romp with a sober and worthy goal. According to People, author Jordy Rosenberg hopes that this comic story of an “old world yenta, committed homophobe,” and “accomplished jazzercizer” will “illuminate the often insidious ordinariness of far-right politics.”
The Complex: A Novel
by Karan Mahajan
Mar 10, 2026. 448 pages
Published by Viking
A brilliant, sweeping, tour de force moving between the US and modern India, following the illicit liaisons, real estate dramas, political ambitions, and mortal betrayals of one prominent Delhi family — from the author of the National Book Award finalist The Association of Small Bombs.
Why we’re looking forward to it: A complicated story that follows family relationships against a backdrop of contemporary Indian history, this seems like a novel of great breadth and depth.
No Friend to This House: A Novel
by Natalie Haynes
Mar 10, 2026. 384 pages
Published by Harper
No Friend to This House is an extraordinary reimagining of the myth of Medea from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Stone Blind, Natalie Haynes.
Why we’re looking forward to it: Fans of Natalie Haynes’ previous work (A Thousand Ships, Stone Blind, and more) will be thrilled that she’s back with this retelling of the classic story of Medea.
Questions 27 & 28
by Karen Tei Yamashita
Apr 28, 2026. 448 pages
Published by Graywolf Press
In February 1942, shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Franklin D. Roosevelt issued an executive order authorizing the secretary of war to remove 120,000 Japanese Americans from their homes on the West Coast and corral them into inland concentration camps.
Why we’re looking forward to it: One-of-a-kind author Yamashita brings her narrative magic to a recounting of Japanese American internment during World War II.
A Perfect Hand: A Novel
by Ayelet Waldman
May 19, 2026. 304 pages
Published by Knopf
A richly drawn, captivating, and endlessly amusing novel of love and subterfuge between a lady’s maid and her clandestine lover, set in the country estates of nineteenth-century England.
Why we’re looking forward to it: Nineteenth-century England. Class drama. Forbidden love. Let the antics begin!
We Want So Much to Be Ourselves
by Stephen O’Connor
Jun 9, 2026. 496 pages
Published by Bellevue Literary Press
A German psychoanalyst, his Jewish wife, and their young daughter are swept up in the rising tide of fascism.
Why we’re looking forward to it: A love story and a look at the overlap between psychoanalysis and the rise of the Nazis, this looks to be a substantial work of historical fiction that presents new angles on familiar subjects.
A Pair of Aces
by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray
Jun 23, 2026. 400 pages
Published by Berkley Books
A gripping novel about two trailblazing women on opposite sides of the law—a prosecutor and a madam—who team up to bring down notorious gangster Lucky Luciano, from the New York Times bestselling authors of the million-copy bestseller The Personal Librarian.
Why we’re looking forward to it: Our subscribers voted Benedict and Murray’s The Personal Librarian a BookBrowse Best of Year book in 2021, and can now start getting excited about this upcoming collaboration.
Most Anticipated Short Story Collections for 2026
The Age of Calamities: Stories
by Senaa Ahmad
Jan 13, 2026. 240 pages
Published by Henry Holt and Company
Written by an inimitable new voice, The Age of Calamities is a genre-defying, mind-bending collection of absurdist, funny, and speculative short stories.
Why we’re looking forward to it: Kirkus calls it a “debut teeming with strange delights.”
Brawler: Stories
by Lauren Groff
Feb 24, 2026. 288 pages
Published by Riverhead Books
A stunning, fierce collection from a master of the short story and one of the most important writers of our time.
Why we’re looking forward to it: This is Groff’s first short story collection since 2018, and it seems to be a work of the moment. According to Elle, she observes the pieces as interacting with “the violence that lurks within familial spaces” and “larger moments of cultural violence that I think we’ve been in for a very long time.”
Python’s Kiss: Stories
by Louise Erdrich
Mar 24, 2026. 240 pages
Published by Harper
“Erdrich should be a major contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature.” —Boston Globe
Why we’re looking forward to it: A new short story collection from Louise Erdrich. What else needs to be said?
The News from Dublin: Stories
by Colm Toibin
Mar 31, 2026. 320 pages
Published by Scribner
From Colm Tóibín, “one of the world’s best living literary writers” (The Boston Globe), comes a brilliant collection of nine short stories, many never-before-published, set across Ireland, Spain, and America—about the complexities of family, longing, loss, and love.
Why we’re looking forward to it: These stories, set in locations as varied as Spain, Ireland, and America, offer an array of short fiction from world-renowned novelist Tóibín.
My Dear You: Stories
by Rachel Khong
Apr 7, 2026. 240 pages
Published by Knopf
From the author of New York Times bestseller Real Americans, a brilliant short story collection about love, life, and the anguish of becoming oneself in a time when it’s so easy to be someone else.
Why we’re looking forward to it: The author of Real Americans brings what look to be similar elements of societal observation and imaginative fiction to her short stories.
Fat Swim: Fiction
by Emma Copley Eisenberg
Apr 28, 2026. 240 pages
Published by Hogarth Books
An electrifying collection of linked stories following a cast of characters navigating bodies, queerness, power, and sex—with radical results—from the bestselling author of Housemates.
Why we’re looking forward to it: Author Marcy Dermansky, commenting on this collection focused on bodies and what they express, says, “I loved these stories—funny and sad and deeply resonant.”
Most Anticipated Mysteries and Thrillers for 2026
Wolf Hour: A Novel
by Jo Nesbo
Feb 3, 2026. 400 pages
Published by Knopf
From the modern master of Nordic noir comes a shocking new thriller set in contemporary Minneapolis, in which a detective and a crime writer conduct parallel investigations, six years apart, into a series of puzzling murders.
Why we’re looking forward to it: This latest thriller from Norwegian noir writer Nesbo sounds masterful.
Blood Relay: A Novel
by Devon Mihesuah
Feb 24, 2026. 336 pages
Published by Bantam Books
In this richly layered debut thriller reminiscent of the real issue of missing and murdered Indigenous people, a badass Choctaw detective discovers an insidious plot against her reservation while investigating the disappearance of a beloved champion athlete.
Why we’re looking forward to it: This debut promises to be a complex, socially relevant, and twist-filled mystery.
Whidbey: A Novel
by T Kira Madden
Mar 10, 2026. 384 pages
Published by Mariner Books
A stunning literary achievement and portrait of three women connected through one man in the aftermath of his murder—the explosive and highly anticipated debut novel from beloved and award-winning memoirist, T Kira Madden.
Why we’re looking forward to it: We’re pleased to find that T Kira Madden’s first foray into fiction seems to be a literary thriller, and we can’t wait.
The Keeper: A Novel
by Tana French
Mar 31, 2026. 448 pages
Published by Viking
From the iconic crime writer who “inspires cultic devotion in readers” (The New Yorker) and has been called “incandescent” by Stephen King, “absolutely mesmerizing” by Gillian Flynn, and “unputdownable” (People), comes the third and final book in the million-copy-bestselling Cal Hooper trilogy.
Why we’re looking forward to it: There doesn’t really need to be a reason to put a Tana French book in the mysteries and thrillers section of a most-anticipated list, does there?
Most Anticipated Speculative Fiction for 2026
A Beast Slinks Towards Beijing: A Novel
by Alice Evelyn Yang
Jan 27, 2026. 368 pages
Published by William Morrow
A dark, magical realist debut family saga that moves through the Japanese occupation of Manchuria, the Cultural Revolution, and the present day to explore the effects of intergenerational trauma, the legacy of colonialism, and the inescapability of fate.
Why we’re looking forward to it: A multigenerational saga employing history, folklore, and magic realism, this could be a strange and exciting ride.
The Beheading Game: A Novel
by Rebecca Lehmann
Mar 24, 2026. 320 pages
Published by Crown
Disgraced. Beheaded. And out for revenge …
We all know what happened to Henry VIII’s second wife, Anne Boleyn. But what if she woke up the day after her execution and took it upon herself to seek justice?
“Nobody was surprised at Anne’s conviction. The world loves to put a woman in her place.”
Why we’re looking forward to it: Fans of British monarchy fiction may find both the familiar and unexpected in this creative twist on history.
The Witch: A Novel
by Marie NDiaye
Apr 14, 2026. 144 pages
Published by Vintage
In a small French town, a mediocre witch trapped in a cruel marriage cries watery tears of blood as she passes on her gifts to her twin daughters, who soon must make a choice: stay close to the nest and the mother who nourished them, or soar away from the dead-end claustrophobia their selfish father has imposed?
Why we’re looking forward to it: Marie NDiaye is huge in France with good reason, and this is her latest work to be released in English. If you haven’t ever read her fiction before, now is a great time to start.
Most Anticipated Young Adult Fiction for 2026
Shards of Silence
by Brian Lee Young
May 5, 2026. 336 pages
Published by Heartdrum
In his first YA novel, award-winning author Brian Lee Young (Diné) bridges the generational divide between a Navajo teen at an elite prep school and his great-grandmother’s experience at a federal boarding school for Indigenous students. The book is an eye-opening call for community healing and a profound coming-of-age story.
Why we’re looking forward to it: This book’s imaginative premise and historical ties makes it stand out among upcoming YA releases in 2026.
Where You’ll Find Us
by Jen St. Jude
Jun 2, 2026. 368 pages
Published by Bloomsbury YA
In this beautifully profound YA novel, a trans teen finds a home where queer kids from all different decades have found refuge from hatred-and from time.
Why we’re looking forward to it: This book uses a bold speculative premise to ask larger questions about community and queerness in a work that seems both dazzling and profound.
Most Anticipated Nonfiction for 2026
Chain of Ideas: The Origins of Our Authoritarian Age
by Ibram X. Kendi
Jan 13, 2026. 352 pages
Published by One World
The #1 New York Times bestselling author of How to Be an Antiracist traces the rise of the authoritarian and xenophobic movements threatening democracies around the globe.
Why we’re looking forward to it: In this new work, Kendi takes on the influence of “great replacement theory” on our current moment, connecting the dots to explain today’s political landscape.
One Aladdin Two Lamps
by Jeanette Winterson
Jan 20, 2026. 240 pages
Published by Grove Press
“One of the most daring and inventive writers of our time” (Elle) weaves together memoir, manifesto, and a feminist reimagining of One Thousand and One Nights in this impassioned exploration of the power of reading.
Why we’re looking forward to it: “Winterson’s language is accessible and unfussy, and an irrepressible sense of play animates the project,” says Publishers Weekly. “By the time it’s over, readers will feel like they’re seeing the world around them through brand new eyes.”
Language as Liberation: Reflections on the American Canon
by Toni Morrison
Feb 3, 2026. 240 pages
Published by Knopf
Collected in one astonishing volume, Toni Morrison’s explorations of the American literary canon.
Why we’re looking forward to it: Widely known for her novels, Morrison has received less credit as a scholar. Here’s an opportunity to see her at work.
Leaving Home: A Memoir in Full Colour
by Mark Haddon
Feb 17, 2026. 320 pages
Published by Doubleday
An unflinching, brilliantly written, darkly funny, lavishly illustrated memoir by the acclaimed author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time: A ringing testament about how one artist sees the world, and how his experiences have shaped his vision.
Why we’re looking forward to it: A memoir that reflects on notions of creativity and imagination, this book seems likely to connect with Haddon’s previous fans and readers of inventive autobiography.
Small Town Girls: A Writer’s Memoir
by Jayne Anne Phillips
Apr 21, 2026. 208 pages
Published by Knopf
A luminous memoir in essays from the Pulitzer Prize–winning novelist, who reflects on her origins and the mysteries of memory.
“Understand: born and raised in West Virginia, you can never truly leave. Those who stay, and those who don’t, stand in the middle of the story, wherever they go.”
Why we’re looking forward to it: Another memoir about creation from a famous writer, Small Town Girls intersects with contemporary American and literary history.
