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The Best Books of 2026

Re-ranked every time I finish one Last re-ranked Aug 7
See all 62 →
#1

Lady Tremaine

Rachel Hochhauser
#2

Yesteryear

Caro Claire Burke
#3

Five

Ilona Bannister
#4

Phoebe Berman's Gonna Lose It

Brooke Averick
#5

The Bright Years

Sarah Damoff
#6

We Are All Guilty Here

Karin Slaughter
#7

Dolly All the Time

Annabel Monaghan
#8

The Strength of the Few

James Islington
#9

One and Only

Maurene Goo
#10

Mad Mabel

Sally Hepworth
#11

This Story Might Save Your Life

Tiffany Crum
#12

The Calamity Club

Kathryn Stockett
#13

King Sorrow

Joe Hill
#14

Night Objects

Eli Raphael
#15

The Wayfinder

Adam Johnson
#16

The Infinite State

Richard Swan
#17

Operation Bounce House

Matt Dinniman
#18

London Falling

Patrick Radden Keefe
#19

The Children

Melissa Albert
#20

A Violent Masterpiece

Jordan Harper
#21

The Castaways

Lucy Clarke
#22

A Court of Mist and Fury

Sarah J. Maas
#23

A Far-flung Life

M.L. Stedman
#24

What Happened to the McCrays?

Tracey Lange
#25

Into the Blue

Emma Brodie
#26

The Enigma Challenge

S.C. Godfrey
#27

Our Perfect Storm

Carley Fortune
#28

Anatomy of an Alibi

Ashley Elston
#29

Happy Ending

Chloe Liese
#30

The One Day You Were My Husband

Rosie Walsh
#31

The Burning Side

Sarah Damoff
#32

When Lemons Give You Life

Anna Johnston
#33

When the Cranes Fly South

Lisa Ridzén
#34

You With the Sad Eyes

Christina Applegate
#35

Jane and Dan at the End of the World

Colleen Oakley
#36

Starside

Alex Aster
#37

Broken Dove

Dani Francis
#38

People We Meet on Vacation

Emily Henry
#39

Last One Out

Jane Harper
#40

Sublimation

Isabel J. Kim
#41

Read Your Mind

Oz Pearlman
#42

Meredith, Alone

Claire Alexander
#43

The Ending Writes Itself

Evelyn Clarke
#44

The Song of the Blue Bottle Tree

India Hayford
#45

The Book Witch

Meg Shaffer
#46

Under the Falls

Richard Russo
#47

Crux

Gabriel Tallent
#48

Crooks

Lou Berney
#49

This Book Made Me Think of You

Libby Page
#50

The Things We Never Say

Elizabeth Strout
#51

Habits of the Sea

Shea Ernshaw
#52

Lake Effect

Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney
#53

We Burned So Bright

TJ Klune
#54

The Toll

Neal Shusterman
#55

Detour

Jeff Rake, Rob Hart
#56

Whisper Creek

Allison Brennan
#57

The Night Hunter

Natalie Moss
#58

American Fantasy

Emma Straub
#59

The Shampoo Effect

Jenny Jackson
#60

The Midnight Train

Matt Haig
#61

The List of Suspicious Things

Jennie Godfrey
#62

Homebound

Portia Elan
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