every 2026 release you should know about
the 50 best of next year's books
I am an avid new release reader.
It wasn’t always this way. As recently as a few years ago I was basically just rereading old favorites and — if I was feeling adventurous — trying backlist books from those same authors.
Then I unlocked the power of NetGalley, which has probably been the best and worst thing to happen to my reading. (That, and learning the strategy of actually picking books I think I’m going to like.)
So far this year I’ve read 139 books released in 2025. So it’s only fitting that part of my yearly wrap-up series would include the releases I’m looking forward to…next year.
If my NetGalley addiction continues at this rate I won’t read anything else anyway.
read part one of my weekly 2025 wrap-up series: the most disappointing books of the year
(this is going to be so unbelievably long, as a warning. like all my posts. consider tapping read in app or browser!)
Through Gates of Garnet & Gold by Seanan McGuire
Release Date: 1/6/26
Genre: Fantasy
One-sentence synopsis: Nancy is a human girl who visited the Halls of the Dead, then had to go to magic boarding school, then went back to the Halls, and now has to go back to the boarding school to fix stuff up around skeleton world.
Why I’m awaiting it: Reading the annual installment of this series every January has become a tradition for me, even if they haven’t worked for me in ages.
Is This a Cry for Help? by Emily Austin
Release Date: 1/13/26
Genre: Contemporary fiction
One-sentence synopsis: Darcy and her wife have a lovely life and bookish jobs (the American dream), but the fascist rot of the world still manages to come for their mental wellness.
Why I’m awaiting it: Emily Austin has released three books (okay and one novella) and two of them have been five stars for me. I will follow her like a barnacle.
Lost Lambs by Madeline Cash
Release Date: 1/13/26
Genre: Literary fiction
One-sentence synopsis: It’s a family saga <3
Why I’m awaiting it: The cover got me and the family saga title kept me. Two of my favorite books of 2025 fall under that umbrella so I’ll keep chasing that high till it breaks. (Mixed metaphor but I can’t begin to think of what I mean.)
The Moon Without Stars by Chanel Miller
Release Date: 1/13/26
Genre: Middle grade fiction
One-sentence synopsis: Luna loves doing art and being shy, but then the art makes her popular — sheesh.
Why I’m awaiting it: The author of my personal candidate for greatest memoir of all time now writes sweet and lovely books for children. I really enjoy them.
Half His Age by Jennette McCurdy
Release Date: 1/20/26
Genre: Contemporary fiction
One-sentence synopsis: Waldo (!) is a teen with a crush on her creative writing teacher.
Why I’m awaiting it: I am actually not decided on reading it yet. I thought McCurdy’s memoir was worth the hype, but I may not be bought in enough to make the transition to fiction. Watch this space I guess.
Discipline by Larissa Pham
Release Date: 1/20/26
Genre: Literary fiction
One-sentence synopsis: Christine is on a book tour publicizing her novel about a bad relationship with a professor when she hears from the oldish dude who inspired it.
Why I’m awaiting it: I can’t quit this sort of book — women making messy decisions and big mistakes and the closest thing to a plot is their reflections on them.
One & Only by Maurene Goo
Release Date: 2/3/26
Genre: Romance
One-sentence synopsis: As a matchmaker, Cassia has seen her soulmate, and the younger guy she’s into is not him. Sadly. Because he’s hot. (Dramatic flair via punctuation doesn’t count as additional sentences.)
Why I’m awaiting it: The random moments I choose to pick up a romance are compulsory. I just have to let it ride.
Every Moment is a Life by Various
Release Date: 2/10/26
Genre: Nonfiction
One-sentence synopsis: Striking, raw, unfiltered portraits of life in Gaza during genocide.
Why I’m awaiting it: Free, free, free Palestine.
Bad Asians by Lillian Li
Release Date: 2/17/26
Genre: Contemporary fiction
One-sentence synopsis: When an unemployed group of friends has a documentary about themselves go viral, they grow apart and further from the lives they’d imagined.
Why I’m awaiting it: I love books about friend group dynamics — they seem complicated to pull off and the misses are astonishingly boring, but the hits getting through that struggle.
Saoirse by Charleen Hurtubise
Release Date: 2/24/26
Genre: Literary fiction
One-sentence synopsis: Sarah fled her world in Michigan as a teenager and found family, happiness, and artistic fulfillment in Ireland — now at risk from her own fame and success.
Why I’m awaiting it: A general and unfounded loyalty to Irish literature as a concept. Also, Ronan.
Kin by Tayari Jones
Release Date: 2/24/26
Genre: Literary fiction
One-sentence synopsis: Two childhood best friends lead opposite lives, parting and converging again.
Why I’m awaiting it: I don’t know if this feeling is a “Me Exclusive,” but if I’m pretty neutral on an author’s debut and then years pass before the follow-up, suddenly I’m back on board in a big way.
An Arrow in Flight by Mary Lavin
Release Date: 3/3/26
Genre: Short stories
One-sentence synopsis: A collection from a near-forgotten voice in Irish literature, curated by Colm Toíbin.
Why I’m awaiting it: Same reasoning as the entry before last, minus the Ronan part.
Westward Women by Alice Martin
Release Date: 3/10/26
Genre: Science fiction
One-sentence synopsis: National issue – women are getting drawn to the Pacific, and not in the normal vacation vibe way.
Why I’m awaiting it: Generally I don’t like sci fi, but it has also produced some of my favorite books ever. So you have to take the occasional risk, is what I’m saying. I guess.
Whidbey by T Kira Madden
Release Date: 3/10/26
Genre: Mystery
One-sentence synopsis: Three women are drawn into a whodunnit as they are each connected to a recently murdered (bad-sounding) guy.
Why I’m awaiting it: T Kira Madden wrote quite a good memoir several years ago that I nearly forgot about entirely. I have enough memory to feel into the idea of reading this, it turns out.
Strange Girls by Sarvat Hasin
Release Date: 3/10/26
Genre: Literary fiction
One-sentence synopsis: Two college friends reconnect and have that “why did we ever lose touch?!” thing and then spend a weekend together and remember.
Why I’m awaiting it: A strange girl is maybe my favorite category of person.
I Love You Don’t Die by Jade Song
Release Date: 3/17/26
Genre: Horror
One-sentence synopsis: Vicky has always loved death, but after her life takes a dismaying throuple-related turn, the obsession shifts.
Why I’m awaiting it: I HATED — hated — this author’s debut, but there’s something about a horror novel claiming to be for fans of Sally Rooney…I’m sorry but I have to know what that could possibly mean.
Sisters in Yellow by Mieko Kawakami
Release Date: 3/17/26
Genre: Literary fiction
One-sentence synopsis: A group of women, each fleeing something, open a bar and encounter the seedy underbelly (one of my favorite clichés) of 1990s Tokyo.
Why I’m awaiting it: MIEKO KAWAKAMI! It’s Mieko Kawakami. Every time Murakami says one of his clouded “she’s the only good woman” type statements about her I’m like even a broken clock…
How to Hold Someone in Your Heart by Mizuki Tsujimura
Release Date: 3/17/26
Genre: Fantasy
One-sentence synopsis: A guy whose side hustle is helping people reunite with their dead loved ones questions when he’ll get to experience the good vibes he brings people.
Why I’m awaiting it: I didn’t love the first book in this now-duology, but I can’t stop reading Japanese books about people finding peace and happiness through a supernatural mechanism. I need a steady supply to serve as a sort of therapy situation.
Light and Thread by Han Kang
Release Date: 3/24/26
Genre: Nonfiction
One-sentence synopsis: The lecture Han Kang delivered upon receiving the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Why I’m awaiting it: It’s been a few years that I’ve read almost exclusively lit fic now, but this was the first time one of my favorite authors won a major award. It feels like something that happened to me.
Seasons of Glass & Iron by Amal El-Mohtar
Release Date: 3/24/26
Genre: Short stories
One-sentence synopsis: A collection of fantasy and fairytale short stories, gathered as if found material from other worlds.
Why I’m awaiting it: I love This Is How You Lose the Time War, and I really enjoyed El-Mohtar’s recent solo novella. Do I hate this corny romantasy title and fear whether I could enjoy fantasy short stories? Sure. But she’s earned my trust at the bare minimum.
The Adjunct by Maria Adelmann
Release Date: 3/31/26
Genre: Literary fiction
One-sentence synopsis: Sam’s precarious life as an adjunct is threatened when her former adviser writes a book about his past mistakes — with a main character who might be her.
Why I’m awaiting it: The wave of Reckoning With Problematic Past Relationships literature is one I’m surfing, to make the metaphor overstay its welcome.
