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Our Most Anticipated Books of 2026
Writing about writers, marry-me fiction, a story of sheepherding, imagining the end of the United States as we know it—there’s a lot of literature to get excited for this year. I spoke with Lauren Harris and Victoria Uren, two of our books editors, about the buzziest upcoming releases.
Our conversation has been edited and condensed.
What book, publishing this year, are you most excited to read?
L.H.: I’m currently reading and enjoying “A Parish Chronicle,” by the Icelandic writer Halldór Laxness, which just came out in English for the first time. It’s about sheepherders and a stubborn church that just won’t quit. It is, as I’m sure you can already guess, hilarious.
V.U.: Oh, Merve Emre was just telling me how much she is loving him right now. Top of mind for me is Helen Garner’s collected stories, out on March 3rd. Garner is an Australian writer, now in her eighties, who is the author of the life-changingly magnificent “Children’s Bach,” which I think of as the be-all and end-all of anti-monogamy monogamy novels.
Let’s be honest, are there really any pro-monogamy novels?
L.H.: Riverhead just announced that they’re publishing a new book by Hernan Diaz, the author of “Trust,” which famously won a Pulitzer Prize and—more famously—brought together the celebrity power couple Dua Lipa and Callum Turner. Nothing says “Marry me, I’m a sexy intellectual” like a new Diaz novel.
Good fodder for the argument that books can really change your life.
V.H.: Another book I’m also very excited for is actually all about how that can happen. It’s a new novel in English by the Chinese writer Can Xue, called “The Enchanting Lives of Others.” It focusses on a book club in Shanghai.
Her work is very philosophical without feeling high-handed. In an interview, she once said that writing experimental fiction “takes a special ability to make out the structure of the soul (which is also the structure of both literature and philosophy) from the diverse confusion of human affairs.” If that’s not a sell, I don’t know what is. I guess the jacket copy does claim that it’s her “most accessible work yet.”
That is a very funny selling point—you might actually understand this one! The book-club plotline puts me in mind of a trend I’m seeing for spring: writing about writing. Ann Patchett has a new book coming in June, called “Whistler,” which features an editor; Tom Perotta’s “Ghost Town,” out in April, is about a novelist. What is all this? Are we navel-gazing?
V.U.: Yes, probably. Gwendoline Riley’s much-anticipated “The Palm House,” coming in March, also has an editor in it. And Ben Lerner has a tiny book arriving in early April, called “Transcription,” which has a funny premise involving writers. I don’t mind writers writing about writing. I do think that writers should avoid only being friends with other writers, though. That’s fatal.
L.H.: Let’s say, instead, your friends are unrepentant oil executives. You might really enjoy George Saunders’s “Vigil,” which is about a ghost trying to persuade such a man of the error of his ways.
What book are you hearing scuttlebutt about?
V.U.: Well, I learned on the digital water cooler that is Instagram that Gideon Lewis-Kraus is really excited about Harriet Clark’s novel “The Hill,” coming in May. And, actually, it is probably the upcoming novel that I’ve heard about the most.
The story follows a woman whose mother is incarcerated when she is a baby. I think it’s drawn from real life—Clark’s mom is a radical left-wing activist who was in the Weather Underground, and in 1981 she was sentenced to life in prison. The Paris Review ran an excerpt a few years ago that I found quite beautiful, which is one of the reasons I’m excited.
H.J.: Maggie O’Farrell, who wrote “Hamnet,” has a book out in June that keeps coming up in conversation. I have a soft spot for stories set in Ireland, especially historical fiction.
Let’s do a speed round. If I am a woman in my late thirties, what book is going to be the subject of all my group chats? And what should it be?
V.U.: In May, there is a very fun-looking novel called “Honey,” by a writer named Imani Thompson. It seems to be about a disillusioned Ph.D. student who goes on a killing spree against entitled men. I’m imagining it as “John Tucker Must Die,” but with more Luce Irigaray.
L.H.: Every woman in her late thirties should be reading about the sheepherders.
H.J.: You’re so right. I was imagining Lena Dunham’s memoir “Famesick,” coming April 14th, would probably make the rounds—but sheep first, I think. And people, Dunham included, are already talking a lot about “Half His Age,” by Jennette McCurdy, which looks like a very timely tale.
If I am an avid, longtime New Yorker reader of indeterminate age, what would you recommend to me?
V.U.: The new Colson Whitehead, “Cool Machine.” You’ve probably read the first two Ray Carney novels and are eager to see what happens next. You only have to wait until July. And if you enjoyed Patrick Radden Keefe’s investigation into the mysterious death of Zac Brettler, then you’ve got “London Falling,” in April. I suspect that one could be devoured in a sitting.
L.H.: There are plenty of New Yorker staff writers and contributors with books out this year—Jason Zengerle on Tucker Carlson; Anand Gopal on the Syrian uprising; a Library of America collection celebrating the works of John McPhee, just to name a few!—but I’m really looking forward to Rachel Aviv’s “You Won’t Get Free of It,” which is a collection of reported writing about mothers and daughters. I’m a mother and I have daughters (very tiny ones), and I’m haunted by the title of the book alone.
H.J.: Lauren Groff is another one—her new story collection, “Brawler,” is out next week.
If I am a recent college graduate who is fixated on the news, what book will be an absolute must?
L.H.: Quinn Slobodian and Ben Tarnoff have a forthcoming book called “Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed,” which casts Elon Musk as an avatar of the age. Sure to make you great fun at post-grad parties!
V.U.: What a double byline. For me, it’s “Sisters in Yellow,” by the Japanese writer Mieko Kawakami, coming in March. This is the only forthcoming title I’ve talked about so far that I’ve actually already read, and I absolutely loved it. It’s about a teen-age girl who comes from a working-class suburb in Tokyo and is desperate to escape a life of living basically paycheck to paycheck. It’s incredibly sweet and sad, emotionally direct without being simplistic, and tragic without being mawkish. A thick book—it only just fit in my cavernous coat’s enormous pockets—but I tore through it.
H.J.: After the success of her very prescient COVID-y novel, Emily St. John Mandel is probably the writer for someone graduating into this political chaos. Her new book, “Exit Party,” will be out in September, and it takes place in the spring of 2031—in the first year after the collapse of the United States. Might be a nice world to be immersed in for a while.
If all else fails, the next book in Rachel Reid’s “Heated Rivalry” series—you may remember the hit adaptation on HBO Max?—is reportedly coming out September 29th. Shane and Ilya forever.
Editor’s Pick
Why Some People Thrive on Four Hours of Sleep
Imagine how tired (and groggy and grouchy) you’d be if you never slept more than a few hours a night? Short sleepers don’t have that problem. Shayla Love investigates how those with the genetic predisposition can get so little rest and still function—and whether the rest of us can pick up any tricks. Read the story »
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What happens when sexual exploitation is fundamental to police corruption?
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In “Love Story,” it is Sarah Pidegon’s Carolyn Bessette that stays with you.
Daily Cartoon
Puzzles & Games
- Today’s Crossword Puzzle: annual tournament in tennis or golf—six letters.
- Shuffalo: Can you make a longer word with each new letter?
P.S. Stephen Colbert’s latest dustup with CBS is a reminder that, when his show goes, we’ll be losing one of the last public pipelines to some version of the truth. 📺
