Notes from the Shelf

A new year means a fresh lineup of books to get excited about, and 2026 already has some incredible fiction on the horizon. I’ve rounded up 20 fiction releases that I’m especially anticipating—but with a small caveat. This list focuses solely on the first half of the year, since tracking down second-half releases can be tricky this early on. Once summer rolls around and more titles are officially announced, I’ll be back with a follow-up post covering the most anticipated fiction for the rest of 2026.

1. The Last King of Faerie by Cassandra Clare
   Expected publication January 1 2026, YA Urban Fantasy. Beginning of the last trilogy for the Shadowhunters series. I really want to read this and catch up on the previous books before this new trilogy ends!
2. The Storm by Rachel Hawkins
   Expected publication January 6 2026, Mystery/ Thriller. Author of The Wife Upstairs, among others
3. The First Time I Saw Him by Laura Dave
   Expected publication January 6 2026, Mystery/Thriller. Sequel to The Last Thing He Told Me, which I really liked. I got The First Time I Saw Him in my Book of the Month box for January, so looking forward to reading soon!
4. My Husband’s Wife by Alice Feeney
   Expected publication January 6 2026, Mystery/Thriller. I really liked Beautiful Ugly, so I’m hoping this is just as wild of a read! I also got this in my January Book of the Month box.
5. The Future Saints by Ashley Winstead
   Expected publication January 20 2026, Romance. Author of In My Dreams I Hold a Knife, among others. This was also on Book of the Month, so I felt I had to get it!
6. The Unwritten Rules of Magic by Harper Ross
   Expected publication January 27, 2026,  Magical Realism. Debut novel
7. We Who Have No Gods by Liza Anderson
   Expected publication January 27, 2026, Dark Academia, Fantasy. Debut novel
8. How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates by Shailee Thompson
   Expected publication February 3, 2026, Horror, Romance. Debut novel
9. She Made Herself a Monster by Anna Kovatcheva
   Expected publication February 10, 2026, Horror, Historical Fiction. Debut novel. Gives me similar vibes to The Possession of Alba Diaz
10. The Found Object Society by Michelle Maryk
    Expected publication February 10, 2026, Fantasy, Mystery. Debut novel
11. Operation Bounce House by Matt Dinniman
    Expected publication February 10, 2026, Science Fiction, Humor. Author of Dungeon Crawler Carl
12. The Astral Library by Kate Quinn
    Expected publication February 17, 2026, Magical Realism. Author of The Rose Code, among others
13. All We Have is Time by Amy Tordoff
    Expected publication February 24, 2026, Romance, Fantasy, Time Travel. Debut novel
14. A Good Animal by Sara Maurer
    Expected publication February 24, 2026, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction. Debut novel
15. Thirty Love by Tom Vellner
    Expected publication March 10, 2026, Romance (LGBTQ+). Debut novel
16. Once and Again by Rebecca Serle
    Expected publication March 10, 2026, Romance. Author of In Five Years, among others
17. The Ending Writes Itself by Evelyn Clarke
    Expected publication April 7, 2026, Mystery/Thriller. Debut novel
18. Cherry Baby by Rainbow Rowell
    Expected publication April 14,2026, Romance. Author of Eleanor & Park, among others. I absolutely loved The Simon Snow trilogy, but I haven’t read any of her non-YA books, so I’m interested to see how this one will be.
19. The Caretaker by Marcus Kliewer
    Expected publication April 21, 2026, Horror. Author of We Used to Live Here, which I was obsessed with last year, so looking forward to this one!
20. Saturn Returning by Kim Narby
    Expected publication May 5, 2026, Contemporary Fiction (LGBTQ+). Debut novel

Those are my 20 most anticipated fiction reads for the first half of 2026, and I can’t wait to see which ones live up to the hype. There are a lot of debut authors on this list, so I’m excited to see which ones will be my new favorite author! I’m a bit surprised three of them are already offered on Book of the Month in January, but I suppose it makes sense since both authors are repeat authors (Laura Dave and Alice Feeney).

As more release dates and announcements roll in, I’ll be putting together a second anticipated fiction list later this summer to cover the rest of the year. Until then, I’d love to know which upcoming releases you’re most excited about—or which of these are already on your TBR.

In the meantime, check out related book reviews:

Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney
The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave
We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer
The Possession of Alba Diaz by Isabel Cañas

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