The Most Anticipated Books of 2026
- Greg Barlin
- 1 day ago
- 7 min read
Ready to refresh your TBR pile? As we head into the most anticipated book releases of 2026, the literary world is buzzing with everything from high-stakes fantasy sequels to the most talked-about debut novels of the year. 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. From the return of beloved authors like Barbara Kingsolver, Matt Haig, and Emily St. John Mandel to groundbreaking new voices like Caro Claire Burke, here is your definitive guide to the stories everyone will be talking about this year.
As a bonus, I've included links to those where I've been fortunate to receive an Advance Reader Copy (ARC), so that hopefully I can help you as you ponder which to pick up next. As always, you can find my full reviews in my Best Books of 2026: A Running Ranking post, updated and reranked after each book that I finish.
Habits of the Sea
by Shea Ernshaw | ★★★☆☆ | Full ReviewÂ
Publication Date: July 7, 2026
Ernshaw's last novel for adults, 2021's A History of Wild Places, was distinctly better than I expected it would be, and so I'm excited to see what she brings to the table with this latest offering in which twelve-year-old Ellie Mills discovers a fabled floating island off the coast of Nova Scotia. When she explores the island, she meets Clay Lockhart living in the weatherworn farmhouse perched on its highest hill. But then the island vanishes overnight, and Ellie is left questioning whether it ever existed at all. Decades later, the island resurfaces—and Ellie, now in her thirties, returns, determined to uncover the truth. What she finds is even stranger: Clay is still living on the island, and he hasn’t aged a single day.
The Night Hunter
by Natalie Moss | ★★★☆☆ | Full ReviewÂ
Publication Date: July 28, 2026
In this debut novel, two sisters are reunited following their mother's death, but when they return to South Africa, a trip into the bush suddenly turns deadly. The sisters are forced to take their survival into their own hands, and they soon come to suspect that something more than the animals of the safari may be hunting them.
There are plenty of twists and misdirections in this one, almost to the level of a Frieda McFadden novel, and that also felt a bit overdone. Loose ends are fully tied up, but the motivations of some of the characters felt forced. It will keep many guessing, but the payoff wasn't worth the journey for me.
The Infinite State
by Richard Swan
Publication Date: August 4, 2026
Katherine Fuller’s husband is dead. As an esteemed member of Pater Aeternus—totalitarian governing party of the fascist, galaxy-spanning Decurion Empire—he has left behind an estate of immeasurable wealth. And Katherine is going to inherit it. With it, she plans to secretly purchase a virgin world, and create a better, fairer society.
As long as she can do so without Pater Aeternus discovering her plans...
When Lemons Give You Life
by Anna Johnston
Publication Date: August 4, 2026
Anna Johnston's The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife was just a little too contrived, coincidental, and overly sappy for me. But it was still enjoyable, and while I expect more sentimentality from this latest offering about a retired Michelin-star chef who rediscovers his love of cooking (and life) while working to reconcile with his estranged sister, I'm skeptically hoping to see if some tweaks have been made to Johnston's recipe.
Under the Falls
by Richard Russo
Publication Date: August 11, 2026
I don't need more than "Richard Russo" on the cover to get me interested in once again immersing myself in his special ability to capture the deep-seated relationships of small town America. This time it focuses on a crime that brings to light long-held secrets among a group of lifelong friends.
The Enigma Challenge
by S.C. Godfrey
Publication Date: August 11, 2026
An academic specializing in ciphers unlocks the first puzzle in "The Enigma Challenge", triggering a race against time. Six days, five puzzles, three countries...and if she fails, her identity is wiped forever in this action-packed adventure marketed as "Romancing the Stone meets The Da Vinci Code."
The Secrets We Hide
by Karin Slaughter
Publication Date: August 11, 2026
I recently finished last year's We Are All Guilty Here, and the character depth, complexity of the storyline, and several believable twists has me more than ready for more time with the Cliftons of North Falls, GA. I can't wait for this one!
The Calamities
by Chuck Wendig
Publication Date: August 18, 2026
Hidden in our world are the fiends—half-human, half-demon, and possessed of a dark magic born from buying human souls—and the Maynes are one of the oldest and most influential fiendish families.
Mourning Mayne knows he'll one manage the family's vast empire. But after meeting Key, a black-market seller of human souls, and Quinn, an artist who may hold the dark truth behind the fate of the fiends, Mourning must decide whether to embrace his role in the family or to forge his own destiny, and with it, change the course of the world.
Under Story
by Chloe Benjamin
Publication Date: September 1, 2026
A sweeping epic of speculative science, the author of The Immortalists grapples with the "the precarity of the natural world, and the mysterious webs of consciousness that bind us" as our main character tries to convince her former husband to relive their story a second time.
Before You Were Anne
by Emiko Jean
Publication Date: September 1, 2026
Jean's 2024 novel The Return of Ellie Black was one of the better thrillers I read that year, and Before You Were Anne reunites readers with detective Chelsey Calhoun who debuted in Ellie Black. In this latest offering, a woman is found dead and her sixteen-year-old daughter is missing. Once again, Calhoun must unravel a mystery in order to find a missing person before it's too late.
Scion
by James Islington
Publication Date: September 1, 2026
It's not another installment in his Hierarchy series (The Will of the Many, The Strength of the Few), but I will happily read some cyberpunk from James Islington while I wait. In this short installment (240 pages), Islington imagines a world in which the wealthy elite have developed a way to live forever. That's all good, except when the planet's resources start to run out (sound familiar, Scythe fans?). Enter the assassins...
The Pirate Queen
by Ariel Lawhon
Publication Date: September 8, 2026
Another historical novel by the author of Frozen River? Yes, please. The Pirate Queen is inspired by the real-life story of Grace O'Malley, an Irish folk heroine who rose above the expectations of 16th century Ireland to lead a sea fleet and defend Ireland from the advances of the Queen Elizabeth and the British.
Taipei Story
by R.F. Kuang
Publication Date: September 8, 2026
Another novel, another genre for prolific author R.F. Kuang (Yellowface, Katabasis). This time Kuang focuses on a Chinese-American student who enrolls in an intensive language program in Taipei for the summer. While there, she's forced to deal with unexpected culture shock, self-discovery, and a family history she thought she knew but didn't.
Exit Party
by Emily St. John Mandel
Publication Date: September 15, 2026
On the heels of the successes of Station Eleven and Sea of Tranquility, Emily St. John Mandel once against returns to near-future speculative science fiction, tackling a scenario in which the United States has collapsed and mysteries and strange occurrences abound.
Hollywood, Ending
by John Green
Publication Date: September 22, 2026
In his first novel for adults, acclaimed author John Green (The Fault in Our Stars, Everything is Tuberculosis) blends a behind-the-scenes Hollywood love story with the pressure and cost of living life in the public eye.
The French Illusion
by John Grisham
Publication Date: September 29, 2026
After Paul and Chelsea Tanner’s fairytale wedding, their future is full of promise. But their honeymoon to Paris takes a dark, shocking turn when they are kidnapped while on a day trip to the French countryside. Who would target them, and why? It turns out this is not the first crime of its kind. The search for clues soon stretches across borders, with the FBI, CIA, and French Intelligence trying to work together to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Struggling to find answers, a young lawyer is recruited to be the bait in an elaborate CIA operation.
Partita
by Barbara Kingsolver
Publication Date: October 6, 2026
Do you even need a description to add a new offering from Barbara Kingsolver to your TBR pile? She once again returns to Appalachia, the setting of so many of her novels—including the most recent (and excellent) Demon Copperhead—this time focused on a woman who had left her past and her love of music behind, only to have it reemerge decades later.
A Court of Thorns and Roses 6
by Sarah J. Maas
Publication Date: October 27, 2026
Perhaps the most anticipated book of the year, Sarah J. Maas returns to the series that started it all for the first time in 5 years. Still untitled Book 6 releases in October, with Book 7 to swiftly follow in January 2027.
Peculiar Stars
by Rebecca Yarros
Publication Date: November 17, 2026
Speaking of popular romantasy, it's not another Fourth Wing book from Rebecca Yarros, but it is a new book. In this stand-alone contemporary romance, a woman finds herself stranded on an island for 18 months with her fiancé’s cousin. I'm sure they'll just be platonic companions that whole time...right?
Stormside
by Alex Aster
Publication Date: November 17, 2026
Fans of Alex Aster's Starside won't have to wait long to find out what Aris does next, as Book 2 in the series drops just eight months after the start of the series. After that long, slow build-up in Book 1, I'm expecting more fireworks in this sequel.