2026 Anticipated Releases

 2026 looks like a fantastic year for book releases. Many of my favourite authors are releasing new titles, there are interesting debut novels being released and some (hopefully) scandalous memoirs too! 

Check out my list below to see what books I am going to be anticipating the release of this year. 

THE TRUTH ABOUT RUBY COOPER BY LIZ NUGENT (Goodreads) 12 March 2026

One of my all-time favourite authors - I can't wait!

Blurb: 

If my sister hadn’t been beautiful, none of it would have happened.

Ruby Cooper and her sister, Erin, live an idyllic life in their close-knit church community in Boston. But when Ruby is sixteen, she is involved in an incident that causes her family’s world to implode.

Across decades, the fallout leaves a wake of destruction behind Ruby in Dublin and Erin in Boston.

Not that Ruby wants to think about the past.

But it can’t stay a secret forever.

WOMAN DOWN BY COLLEEN HOOVER (Goodreads) 13 January 2026

Blurb: Her words used to set the page on fire. But a viral backlash over her latest film adaptation forced Petra Rose to take a hiatus, resulting in missed deadlines and an overdue mortgage. Branded a fraud and fame-hungry opportunist, she learned the hard way what happens when the internet turns on you. And she’s been uninspired to write ever since.

Now, with her next suspense novel outlined and savings nearly gone, she retreats to a secluded lakeside cabin, hoping to find inspiration. It’s Petra’s last-ditch attempt to save her career—and herself.

Then he shows up.
Detective Nathaniel Saint arrives with disturbing news, his presence igniting a creativity in her she thought long since burned out. Petra’s words return in a rush, and her fictional cop character begins to mirror the very real cop who’s becoming her muse.

Their “research” sessions blur the lines between fantasy and reality. Each glance, every touch pulls Petra deeper into a world she thought she’d never lose herself in again. She’s never felt more alive. But inspiration this powerful comes at a cost.
When Saint starts taking his role in her career a little too seriously, Petra’s forced to confront the chaos she created. But doing so could cost her more than the reputation she’s been trying to salvage. The reputation the world wrote for her—the reputation only she can reclaim.

IT COULD HAVE BEEN HER BY LISA JEWELL (Goodreads) 23 June 2026

One of my all-time favourite thriller authors - I'm delighted this is released in summer too. 

Blurb: Jane Trevally is walking her dogs on her country estate one May afternoon when a small white dog appears. The teenaged girl that had been staying nearby with the dog is nowhere to be found, and Jane decides to return the dog to his registered owner hours away in London, in the deepest backwaters of Hampstead. But when Jane arrives, she is immediately unsettled—because Jane has a dark history with this house

The man who answers the door tells her the dog, Hugo, must have been stolen from the Heath, but Jane very much doubts that is true. Through the window, she catches a glimpse of a haunted-looking woman, not the missing girl she’d hoped to find.

Facing a crossroads similar to the one that first led her to this home twenty-five years ago, Jane knows that the house holds the key—to the missing teenager, to the lost dog, and to dark secrets they’d all rather leave buried

DEAR DEBBIE BY FREIDA MCFADDEN (Goodreads) 27 January 2026

Blurb: Sometimes, enough is enough…Debbie Mullen is losing it. For years, she has compiled all of her best advice into her column, Dear Debbie, where the wives of New England come for sympathy and neighborly advice. Through her work, Debbie has heard from countless women who are ignored, belittled, or even abused by their husbands. And Debbie does her best to guide them in the right direction.

Or at least, she did.
These days, Debbie’s life seems to be spiraling out of control. She just lost her job. Something strange is happening with her teenage daughters. And her husband is keeping secrets, according to the tracking app she installed on his phone. Now, Debbie’s done being the bigger person. She’s done being reasonable and practical. It’s time to take her own advice.
And now it’s time for payback against all the people in her life who deserve it the most.

HALF HIS AGE BY JENNETTE MCCURDY (Goodreads) 20 January 2026

Blurb: Waldo is ravenous. Horny. Blunt. Naive. Wise. Impulsive. Lonely. Angry. Forceful. Hurting. Perceptive. Endlessly wanting. And the thing she wants most of all: Mr. Korgy, her creative writing teacher with the wife and the kid and the mortgage and the bills, with the dead dreams and the atrophied looks and the growing paunch. 

She doesn’t know why she wants him. Is it his passion? His life experience? The fact that he knows books and films and things that she doesn’t? Or is it purer than that, rooted in their unlikely connection, their kindred spirits, the similar filter with which they each take in the world around them? 

Or, perhaps, it’s just enough that he sees her when no one else does.

MEET THE NEWMANS BY JENNIFER NIVEN (Goodreads) 6 January 2026

Blurb: 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?

THE CARETAKER BY MARCUS KLIEWER (Goodreads) 21 April 2026

I LOVED We Used To Live Here so will be counting down the days until this is released..

Blurb: Exciting Opportunity: Caretaker urgently needed. Three days of work. Competitive pay. Serious applicants ONLY.

Macy Mullins can’t say why the job posting grabbed her attention—it had the pull of a fisherman’s lure, barbed hook and all—vaguely ominous. But after an endless string of failed job interviews, she's not exactly in the position to be picky. She has rent to pay, groceries to buy, and a younger sister to provide for.
Besides, it’s only three days’ work…Three days, cooped up in a stranger’s house, surrounded by Oregon Coast wilderness.

What starts as a peculiar side gig soon becomes a waking nightmare. An incomprehensible evil may dwell on this property—and Macy Mullins might just be the only thing standing between it, and the rest of humanity.

Follow the Rites...Follow the Rites...Follow the Rites.....--- / ..... / ---..

PIPER AT THE GATES OF DUSK BY PATRICK NESS (Goodreads) 7 April 2026

Blurb: It’s been twenty years since the monstrous war that almost tore New World apart, and there’s a new generation on the planet. Todd and Viola’s sons Ben and Max have known only peace growing up on the family farm outside a bustling human settlement. They dream of the usual things, like school and adventure, until the nightmares begin . . .

A sudden sickness has infected the young people of New World with Noise in the form of their worst thoughts about themselves. Some suspect the Spackle, the indigenous people with whom humans have a very uneasy truce. Others wonder about a connection to a mysterious object looming in the sky. And then, one by one, the children of New World begin to disappear.

Ben, with his mother’s logical mind, and Max, with his father’s courageous heart, become caught up in separate quests for answers, journeys that will test their beliefs in their parents, each other, and in their very existence on the planet.

Patrick Ness makes a masterful return to New World in this timely work of science fiction, one that looks at the interplay of fear, power, and propaganda, and at the stories we tell ourselves.

PHASES BY BRANDY (Goodreads) 31 March 2026

Blurb: From the moment she first sang at church in McComb, Mississippi, Brandy knew her voice was special. At fourteen she landed her first record deal. At fifteen her album went platinum. At sixteen she was starring in the hit sitcom Moesha and became the first Black actress to play Cinderella on screen alongside fairy godmother, Whitney Houston.
 
Yet as the accolades piled up, so too did the pressure the maintain a flawless image. To onlookers, she had crafted the blueprint for the teenage “it” girl. But behind closed doors “The Vocal Bible”  as she was known, was struggling.
 
Now, for the first time, Brandy reveals the real story behind her life in the spotlight, the stratospheric highs and the unimaginable lows, the groundbreaking moments and the relatable journey she had to take to discover her authentic self—as a woman, a mother, an artist—as Brandy.

FAMESICK BY LENA DUNHAM (Goodreads) 14 April 2026

Blurb: For the last decade, as she’s spent countless hours in doctor’s waiting rooms searching for diagnoses, treatments, and relief, being the owner and operator of Lena Dunham’s body has felt, as she puts it, 'like towing a wrecked car across town at midnight.' It’s not easy dragging a wrecked car anywhere, much less to the Met Gala while sewn into a gold lamé corset. Or to the set of the hit show that you – as a twenty-five-year-old – are writing, directing, producing, and starring in. Or to the White House, the Golden Globes, or your publicist’s office to discuss the latest internet disaster. But Dunham does it – even if it means interminable hospital stays, vomiting in the bathroom when she’s meant to be meeting Oprah, or terrifying those closest to her – because she can no longer tell the difference between fighting to do what she loves and being a servant to her own ambition. All the while, she is holding out for a love that can withstand her personal and public challenges and, more than anything, yearning to feel like herself again – if only she could remember who that self was.

As Dunham takes us through her journey, tracking her rise to fame – from selling the pilot of Girls to the present – in three acts, it becomes clear that the spotlight casts long shadows, distorting the relationships she once held dear and isolating everyone in its glare. When an endless supply of drugs can’t protect you from pain – and begins to control your every move – being famous doesn’t stand a chance against the darker corners of the human experience.

OTHER TITLES I CANNOT WAIT FOR (BUT DO NOT YET HAVE COVERS):

HEARTSTOPPER VOLUME 6 (Goodreads) 2 July 2026

The FINAL volume of this wonderful series. I cannot wait to see how Alice Oseman sees the future for Nick & Charlie. 

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO MADELINE STONE BY LOUISE O'NEILL (Goodreads) 9 April 2026 

One of my all time favourite authors. 

Blurb: 2002.Twin sisters Madeline and Chelsea Stone are joint stars of the AtomicKids sitcom Double Trouble, but everyone knows it’s Maddie who shines most brightly. Until Chelsea beats her sister out for the role of a lifetime and is catapulted into the spotlight. And just as Chelsea’s star reaches impossible new heights, Maddie disappears.

2025.Chelsea Stone retired from acting after her sister’s disappearance – but living life under the radar is easier said than done when you’re the most famous woman of your generation.
When a storage locker is found containing heart-breaking truths about the year Maddie went missing, Chelsea feels a flicker of hope for the first time in twenty years. This is her chance to discover what really happened to her twin, but to follow the trail she’ll have to face the past and step back into the spotlight . . .

A BIGGER LIFE BY LOUISE O'NEILL 2026

I am a huge fan of Louise O'Neill, so I will definitely be reading this memoir / non fiction. 

BIMBO BY ASHLEY JAMES (Goodreads) 12 February 2026

Blurb: Whether it’s on the sofa of ITV’s This Morning or online, Ashley James is a fierce advocate for women. In Bimbo, she unpacks the labels that box women in, and the systems that keep them there. From 'bossy' little girls, 'tarty' teens, to mothers who 'let themselves go', and 'left-on-the-shelf' single women, Ashley dissects the systems that try to confine us and what if we broke free?

Told through raw personal stories, humour and with a fierce feminist lens, this is a battle cry for every woman who’s ever felt too much — or not enough. This is a call to women to stop shrinking, stop competing, and start rising — together.

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So that is everything I am anticipating in 2026 but as always, there are so many more books being released so this is just my shortlist. If you have any others you think I missed, please let me know below so I can add them to my ever growing TBR and if you are also looking forward to any of these titles - comment below and let's chat!