Did I not just say that I hope/wish/want to read more backlist books this year? May I present to you 48 2026 releases that are my most anticipated of the year. 🤣 I stress, most anticipated, because there are actually more on my To Read list. I have gone a step further and put a * next to the ones I am the most excited & committed to reading right away. So much for the backlist books. 🤣 I definitely have a problem with shiny new things. 🙂
Note that the publications months are as of right now. Release dates do change, sometimes they get moved up and sometimes moved back. And as for Caller Unknown, my ARC says May release but I have seen dates elsewhere that say February, so I am not really sure on that one. It’s Not What You Think is also posted with 2 dates, one in March and one in September, so we shall see there as well.
You can see that the spring and early summer will be very busy with reading for me! What a terrific reading year it will be! I have a good number of these already as ARCs but I still have 26 books from 2026 in request status!
January
*The Briars – Sarah Crouch
Half His Age – Jennette McCurdy
Meet the Newmans – Jennifer Niven
Dandelion is Dead – Rosie Storey
February
*Keeper of Lost Children – Sadeqa Johnson
*Kin – Tayari Jones
The Girls Before – Kate Alice Marshall
More Than Enough – Anna Quindlen
March
*The Night We Met – Abby Jimenez
*Start at the End – Emma Grey
*It’s Not What You Think – Clare MackIntosh (could be sept)
*You With the Sad Eyes – Christina Applegate
Served Him Right – Lisa Unger
The Truth About Ruby Cooper – Liz Nugent
This Story May Save Your Life – Tiffany Crum
A Far-flung Life – M.L. Stedman
Whidbey – T Kira Madden
The Encore – Juliet Izon
April
*Love By the Book – Jessica George
*Yesteryear – Caro Claire Burke
*Last One Out – Jane Harper
Go Gentle – Maria Semple
My Dear You – Rachel Khong
When Lemons Give You Life – Anna Johnston
Underlake – Erin L McCoy
May
*The One Day You Were My Husband – Rosie Walsh
*Dolly All the Time – Annabelle Monaghan
*The Midnight Train – Matt Haig
Caller Unknown – Gillian McAllister (may be Feb.?)
The Calamity Club – Kathryn Sockett
Good Joy, Bad Joy – Mikki Brammer
Enormous Wings – Laurie Frankel
Mercy Hill – Hannah Thurman
Both Can Be True – Jessica Guerrieri
The Things We Never Say – Elizabeth Strout
June
*Whistler – Ann Patchett
*The Burning Side – Sarah Damoff
*The Top of the World – Ethan Joella
*The Secrets We Hide – Karin Slaughter
*It Could Have Been Her – Lisa Jewell
*Daughters of the Sun and Moon – Lisa See
Land – Maggie O’Farrell
The Fire Agent – David Baewald
The Butler – Clare MackIntosh
July
Helpless – Jessica Kroll
Country People – Daniel Mason
August
The Amateur – Chris Bohjalian
September
Under Story – Chloe Benjamin
