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.

★★★★☆ Years after her husband was captured by armed men on their wedding day, a woman discovers that he's alive. She's happily remarried, but compelled to seek him out.

★★★☆☆ A stranded group faces predators—both animal and human—in a South African game reserve in this twisty thriller that falls short on execution.

★★★★★ A coming-of-age novel set at an elite boarding that focuses as much on class, race, and outsider status as it does on the central murder mystery.

★★★★☆ A depressing, poignant look at agoraphobia and abuse in many forms, focused on a woman who hasn't left her home in over three years.

★★★★☆ Wren Darlington's journey picks up immediately where Silver Elite ended, continuing to explore the conflict between the Uprising and Command.

★★★☆☆ A woman returns to a mythical floating island she once visited as a child, only to become stranded with the ageless man who is living there.

★★★★★ One month shy of her thirtieth birthday, Phoebe Berman is determined to conquer her neuroses and finally lose her virginity in this laugh-out-loud rom-com.

A rundown of Amazon's Best Books of 2026 So Far and how they compare with Barlin's Books' top picks.

★★★★★ A brilliant retelling of Cinderella from the "wicked" stepmother's perspective, this witty, inventive historical drama completely reimagines a classic villain.

★★★☆☆ A Texas farm family faces a massive storm, corporate threats, and a string of burglaries in this multi-layered, yet muddled, thriller.

★★☆☆☆ While not exactly a sequel, Matt Haig revisits the premise of 2020's The Midnight Library with another examination of the different paths our lives can take.

★★★★★ In her first book since The Help, Kathryn Stockett transports us to 1933 Mississippi where a female-driven cast exposes the misogynistic society of the time.

★★★★☆ 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.