From buzzy debuts to long-awaited returns, we’re breaking down 10 of the fiction titles we’re most excited about in 2026.
Resolving to spend less money this year? Or just waste less stuff? Well, you can ditch those bloated paperback prices in 2025 and dust off your library card as we’ve got all the year’s most anticipated releases coming to a library shelf near you.
And what better year to read more than 2026, the National Year of Reading? Backed by the National Literacy Trust, the campaign aims to tackle the worrying decline we’re seeing in reading for pleasure, and to kick it off we’re scrapping book fines for the months of January and February.
Now is the time to step back into the library!
Half His Age by Jennette McCurdy
Releases 20 January
Since Jennette McCurdy’s memoir I’m Glad My Mom Died dominated the book sphere (and, well, just about every sphere) in 2022, her follow up has been hugely anticipated.
She’s now back with her first foray into fiction. Half His Age is a novel about a 17-year-old yearning after her creative writing teacher. We expect it will kick of this year’s release calendar with a bang, and plenty of laughs along the way.
Dear Debbie by Freida McFadden
Releases 27 January
With the film adaptation of The Housemaid still in cinemas after a successful run at the box office, Freida McFadden’s next book has big shoes (or should we say seats?) to fill.
Dear Debbie follows an agony aunt/housewife seeking vengeance against the long list of people who have wronged her. We can feel the female rage bubbling already.
Woman Down by Colleen Hoover
It’s a good month for BookTok – Colleen Hoover is back. Her latest release, a meta novel titled Woman Down, follows an author on the heels of viral backlash over a film adaptation of her books, retreating to a lakeside cabin to find inspiration. Sound familiar?
Hooked by Asako Yuzuki
Releases 12 March
Japanese powerhouse Asako Yuzuki is back with her much-anticipated follow up to Butter.
Hooked is an unmissable new novel of female friendship and dangerous obsession and sees Yuzuki’s signature return to feminism and food in a delicious blend. We can’t wait to see what Yuzuki has cooked up for us this time.
Judge Stone by Viola Davis and James Patterson
Releases 9 March
A collaboration between acting giant Viola Davis and serial crime novelist James Patterson wasn’t exactly on our bingo card for 2026 but, now that we’re here, we’re not mad about it.
Davis and Patterson’s new courtroom drama, Judge Stone, drops this March and follows a small-town Judge in the deep South grappling with true justice.
Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
Releases 9 April
Long before it’s due to arrive on bookshelves, the rights to Yesteryear, podcaster Caro Claire Burke’s first book, have already been acquired by Amazon with Anne Hathaway set to star.
The story centres around a “trad wife” influencer who broadcasts her idyllic family life in her rustic farmhouse online, only to wake up one day to find herself transported back to 1805, where she’s forced to live the image of a “simple” settler life, as curated on her Instagram page. We can already see this zeitgeist-y debut being everywhere later this year.
Smallie by Eden McKenzie-Goddard
Releases 28 May
Eden McKenzie-Goddard’s Smallie is the first novel to look at the recent Windrush scandal and has already received a flood of critical praise.
Smallie is a multi-generational tale that begins in 1961, when Lucinda arrives in Southampton from Barbados in pursuit of her lover. The story jumps back and forth to 2017, where her children are fighting claims that their mother is an illegal immigrant.
Described as poetic and hugely important, we eagerly await its early summer release.
John of John by Douglas Stuart
Releases 21 May
Booker Prize-winning writer of Shuggie Bain, Douglas Stuart returns this year with his next novel and we’re ready for him to tug at our heart strings all over again.
John of John is the heartbreaking story of a young man’s return home and how the bonds of family life are torn by the weight of expectation.
The Midnight Train by Matt Haig
Releases 21 May
From one heartbreaker to the next, May 21st is set to be a real tearjerker as Matt Haig’s follow up to The Midnight Library also drops.
The Midnight Train offers another time-travelling adventure about regret and second chances. Tickets (and tissues) at the ready!
Land by Maggie O’Farrell
Releases 2 June
With the star-studded film adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet still in cinemas, we’re being treated to another of O’Farrell’s beautiful worlds later in the year with her next book Land.
Land is a historical novel set in Ireland during the years before and after the Great Hunger and follows a father and his reluctant son as they work for the Ordnance Survey to map out the whole of Ireland.
What books are you most looking forward to coming out this year? Did we miss any? If you’re looking for more inspo while you wait on new releases, you can browse our catalogue of books, all free to borrow with your library card.