Best 2026 Book Releases (January - June)

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Welcome to 2026, bookworms! Here are some weird and wonderful books that are coming out in the next six months.

Note: Publishing is notorious for changing the release date of books. Don't come for me if the dates in this post are wrong. I'm trying my best! I promise!

Best 2026 January - June Book Releases

Meet The Newmans by Jennifer Niven

Adult Historical Fiction

January 6, 2026

For two decades, Del and Dinah Newman and their sons, Guy and Shep, have ruled television as America’s Favorite Family. Millions of viewers tune in every week to watch them play flawless, black-and-white versions of themselves. But now it’s 1964, and the Newmans’ perfection suddenly feels woefully out of touch. Ratings are in free fall, as are the Newmans themselves. Del is keeping an explosive secret from his wife, and Dinah is slowly going numb—literally. Steady, stable Guy is hiding the truth about his love life, and rock ‘n roll idol Shep may finally be in real trouble.

When Del—the creative motor behind the show— is in a mysterious car accident, Dinah decides to take matters into her own hands. She hires Juliet Dunne, an outspoken young reporter, to help her write the final episode. But Dinah and Juliet have wildly different perspectives about what it means to be a woman, and a family, in 1964. Can the Newmans hold it together to change television history? Or will they be canceled before they ever have the chance?

Why I want to read it: Early reviewers say it's like a funny version of The Seven Husbands Of Evelyn Hugo. That description sounds way too good to pass up.

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End Of Days: Ruby Ridge, The Apocalypse, And The Unmaking Of America by Chris Jennings

Adult History Nonfiction

February 10, 2026

On August 21, 1992, federal agents surveilled a cabin in Boundary County, Idaho, as part of an operation to arrest white separatist Randy Weaver for failure to appear in court. What followed was a shootout and eleven-day standoff punctuated by shocking bursts of violence. By the time Weaver surrendered to the authorities, his wife, son, and dog lay dead, as did a US Marshal.

In End of Days, Chris Jennings uses the gripping story of Ruby Ridge to examine the long history of apocalyptic faith in America and the way it has changed the nation. The strain of doomsday Christianity that gripped the Weavers, he shows, was grounded in a particular reading of the Book of Revelation that can be traced back to the 1870s and the twentieth century rise of Christian fundamentalism.

Today, polling indicates that almost 60 percent of white evangelicals believe the apocalyptic prophecies in the Book of Revelation will soon come to pass. Against that backdrop, the perceived overreaction by federal forces in Idaho galvanized and radicalized many Americans, triggering the birth of the militia movement and propelling the conspiratorial politics that have defined the Trump era. The story of the Weavers holds the key to understanding this downward spiral and, perhaps, to reversing it.

Why I want to read it: *Gestures vaguely at everywhere.*

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The Astral Library by Kate Quinn

Adult Fantasy

February 17, 2026

Alexandria “Alix” Watson has learned one lesson from her barren childhood in the foster-care system: unlike people, books will never let you down. Working three dead-end jobs to make ends meet and knowing college is a pipe dream, Alix takes nightly refuge in the high-vaulted reading room at the Boston Public Library, escaping into her favorite fantasy novels and dreaming of far-off lands. Until the day she stumbles through a hidden door and meets the Librarian: the ageless, acerbic guardian of a hidden library where the desperate and the lost escape to new lives inside their favorite books.

The Librarian takes a dazzled Alix under her wing, but before she can escape into the pages of her new life, a shadowy enemy emerges to threaten everyone the Astral Library has ever helped protect. Aided by a dashing costume-shop owner, Alix and the Librarian flee through the Regency drawing rooms of Jane Austen to the back alleys of Sherlock Holmes and the champagne-soaked parties of The Great Gatsby as danger draws inexorably closer. But who does their enemy really wish to destroy—Alix, the Librarian, or the Library itself?

Why I want to read it: I want to read more fantasy, but I'm searching for a particular kind of fantasy. I don't want epic fantasy or romantasy. I don't want wars. I want something with low(ish) stakes, relatable characters, and a magic system that's easy to understand. I'm hoping this book fits what I need.

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Agnes Aubert's Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett

Adult Historical Fantasy

February 17, 2026

Agnes Aubert leads a meticulously organized life—and she likes it that way. As the proudly type-A manager of a much-needed cat rescue charity, she has devoted her life to finding forever homes for lost cats.

But after she is forced to move the cat shelter, Agnes learns that her new landlord is using her charity as a front—for an internationally renowned and thoroughly disreputable magic shop. Owned by the disorganized—not to mention self-absorbed, irritating, but also decidedly handsome—Havelock Renard, magician and failed Dark Lord, the shop draws magical clientele from around the world, partly due to the quality of Havelock’s illicit goods as well as their curiosity about his shadowy past and rumors of his incredible powers. Agnes's charity offers the perfect cover for illegal magics.

Agnes couldn’t care less about the shop—magical intrigue or not, there are cats to be rescued. But when an enemy from Havelock’s past surfaces, the magic shop—and more importantly, the cat shelter—are suddenly in jeopardy. To save the shelter, will Agnes have to set aside her social conscience and protect the man who once tried to bring about the apocalypse—and is now trying to steal her heart?

Why I want to read it: Can I just stay "ditto" and point to the book above this one? Also, the author's other book, Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia Of Faeries, is an all-time-favorite fantasy book. I'm hoping this one is just as good.

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You Did Nothing Wrong by CG Drews

Adult Horror

March 17, 2026

Single mother Elodie’s life has become a fairy tale. She’s met Bren, equal parts golden-retriever devoted and sinfully handsome. He’s whisked her and her autistic son, Jude, to the crumbling family house he’s renovating. She has a new husband, a new house, and a new baby on the way. Everything is perfect.

Then Jude claims he can hear voices in the walls. He says their renovations are “hurting” the house. Even Elodie can’t ignore it–something strange is going on. The question is, is it with the house, or with her son?

Then the one secret Elodie has been hiding is revealed, and no one is safe anymore.

Why I want to read it: The author's other book, Don't Let The Forest In, lives rent free in my head. I think it's because there's a lot of body horror in that one. Body horror is distressing! I'm interested to see what the author can do with a haunted house story.

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Wolf Worm by T. Kingfisher

Adult Historical Fantasy

March 24, 2026

The year is 1899 and Sonia Wilson is a scientific illustrator without work, prospects, or hope. When the reclusive Dr. Halder offers her a position illustrating his vast collection of insects, Sonia jumps at the chance to move to his North Carolina manor house and put her talents to use. But soon enough she finds that there are darker things at work than the Carolina woods. What happened to her predecessor, Halder’s wife? Why are animals acting so strangely, and what is behind the peculiar local whispers about “blood thiefs?”

With the aid of the housekeeper and a local healer, Sonia discovers that Halder’s entomological studies have taken him down a dark road full of parasitic maggots that burrow into human flesh, and that his monstrous experiments may grow to encompass his newest illustrator as well.

Why I want to read it: T. Kingfisher writes faster than I can read. Someday I'll catch up. I need to explore more historical horror because it's two of my favorite genres mashed together. I suspect I'll love it.

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How To Be Okay When Nothing Is Okay: Tips And Tricks That Kept Me Alive, Happy, And Creative In Spite Of Myself by Jenny Lawson

Adult Memoir / Self-Help

March 31, 2026

In How to Be Okay When Nothing Is Okay, Jenny shares one hundred humorous, heartfelt, and genuine tools and tricks that she relies on to keep her going even when her brain isn’t working properly due to depression, anxiety, and ADHD. She also offers tips to stay passionate and focused on creative endeavors, especially when everything around you is saying to give up.

Why I want to read it: I'm on a quest to find a self-help book that actually helps. I like Jenny Lawson's sense of humor, and I'm a chronically anxious human, so I have high hopes for this one.

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Cherry Baby by Rainbow Rowell

Adult Romance

April 14, 2026

Everybody knows that Cherry's husband, Tom, is in Hollywood making a movie.

Almost nobody knows that he isn't coming home.

Tom is the creator of Thursday—a semi-autobiographical webcomic, turned bestselling graphic novel, turned international phenomenon.

Semi-autobiographical. That means there's a character in this movie based on Cherry . . . "Baby."

Wide-hipped, heavy-chested, double-chinned Baby.

Cherry never wanted this. No fat girl wants to see herself caricatured on the page—let alone on the big screen. But there's no getting away from it. Baby looks so much like Cherry that strangers recognize her at the grocery store.

While her soon-to-be ex-husband is in Los Angeles getting rich and famous and being the Internet's latest boyfriend, Cherry is stuck in Omaha taking care of the dog he always wanted and the house they were going to raise a family in. And wondering who she's supposed to be without him.

Cherry had promised to love Tom through thick and thin.

She'd meant it.

One night, Cherry decides to leave all her problems, including Tom's overgrown puppy, at home. She ventures out to see her favorite band play her favorite album, and someone recognizes her from across the room.

Russ Sutton knew Cherry when she was a young art student with a fondness for pin-up dresses and patent leather heels. Before Tom.

Russ knows Cherry. He likes Cherry.

And best of all . . . he's never heard of Thursday.

Why I want to read it: I'm not a romance girl, but the premise of this one intrigues me. I like that the main character is a caricature in her ex-husband's webcomic. That would create a lot of drama.

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The Radiant Dark by Alexandra Oliva

Adult Science Fiction

April 28, 2026

It’s March 1980, and Carol Girard and her husband are living an ordinary life in a small town in the Adirondacks. They have just had their first child, and though Carol is struggling with the challenges of new motherhood, her future seems clear. Until something extraordinary happens: an inexplicable flickering of light in the sky, which is ultimately determined to be communication from intelligent life on another planet. But these beings are eleven light-years away, and nothing is known about them other than the fact that they seem to know we exist too. And so begins a decades-long exchange of messages with this mysterious, faraway civilization.

As humanity reels from a shifting understanding of its place in the universe, we follow the stories of the Girard family: Carol, whose fascination with this other life sparks a desperate search for spiritual meaning; Michael, her loyal son, who finds solace not in the stars above his head but in the ground beneath his feet; and Ro, Carol’s bright and ambitious daughter, whose childhood goal to work in interstellar communication will evolve into something far grander.

Why I want to read it: Aliens! And the 1980s setting. I want to read more alternate history books. I think I'll enjoy that genre.

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Molka by Monika Kim

Adult Horror

April 28, 2026

Molka (n): the Korean term for spy cameras secretly and illegally installed, often to capture voyeuristic images and videos.

Dahye can't believe her luck when she finds herself in a whirlwind romance with handsome, charismatic Hyukjoon, the heir to a multi-million-dollar fortune.

But then a shocking revelation threatens: the couple has been caught on a spycam amid Korea's growing molka epidemic, and the video is all over the internet. When Hyukjoon flees the country to avoid the intense public scrutiny, Dahye is left to grapple with the ramifications on her own; and the demons from her childhood, long dormant, begin to surface.

Amid the chaos, she catches the attention of Junyoung, a nerdy, introverted IT tech at work. Junyoung harbors a dark secret: he has been spying on the women at work with his own hidden cameras. As Dahye's life begins to unravel, she unknowingly becomes the sole target of Junyoung's perverse obsession.

When the facts surrounding the invasion of her privacy come to light, Dahye is faced with the humiliating truth. Her pain and hurt turn to rage as she faces her past. Her desire for vengeance is insatiable, and she will not rest until the men who have wronged her have paid in blood.

Why I want to read it: I'm the most uninteresting person in the world, but the thought of spy cameras terrifies me. I don't want to be perceived! This sounds like a perfectly horrifying horror novel.

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Make Believe: On Telling Stories To Children by Mac Barnett

Adult Literature Nonfiction

May 5, 2026

From the newly appointed National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, a timely and intimate meditation on the ways we think about and interact with children’s literature, and what that says about our opinions of children and childhood.

Why I want to read it: I have a master's degree in children's literature, so I'm very interested in the subject of this book. I'm always curious about how the stories we consume shape our interests, thoughts, attitudes, etc.

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Which upcoming book release are you excited to read?