A running ranking of the books that I have reviewed this year, updated and reranked after each book that I finish.

Whether you’re looking for the next viral BookTok recommendation, a thriller from a favorite author, or a Pulitzer-worthy literary fiction masterpiece, I’ve rounded up the top upcoming books of 2026 that you need to preorder now.

★★★★☆ A 36-year-old woman navigates divorce and reclaims her identity from a comic character based on her in this latest adult novel from Rainbow Rowell.

★★☆☆☆ A multi-timeline story that had me hopeful for something akin to Cloud Cuckoo Land unfortunately sputters to a disjointed and wholly unsatisfying conclusion.

★★★★☆ A haunting, dual-timeline tale of estranged siblings reckoning with a traumatic childhood serves up a unique blend of family drama and dark fairy tale.

★★★★☆ Six authors compete on a remote Scottish island to finish a dead writer's final novel in this middling Clue-like send-up of the publishing industry.

★★★★☆ When a woman's fiancé leaves her on their wedding day, she ends up taking her lifelong (gorgeous, heterosexual) male best friend on her honeymoon. What could happen?

★★★★★ Jaw-dropping dialogue and moral judgement set the tone for this dark exploration of five neurodiverse characters, one of which we're told will die by the end of the book.