My Most Anticipated Books of 2026

New releases worth knowing about

It’s shaping up to be a great year for books. Fantastic, even. There are so many new releases coming out this year from beloved authors (including some we haven’t seen writing from in a while) and buzzy debut novelists.¹ Was there something about 2026 that felt right to everyone? It’s like all the big authors got together and said, “Right. 2026 is THE YEAR.”

all bangers no skips

To help us avoid the overwhelm, I pulled 30-ish new release titles I’m most excited for from January through the beginning of August.² I’ll plan share my fall/winter releases list in a future letter. (Which is also looking very exciting, e.g., a new Meg Mason and Emily St. John Mandel.)

Today’s post is paywalled as it takes an ungodly amount of time to cull, compile, link out, write, and produce these lists. I hope you consider upgrading to paid—I’m hosting a 20% off special that ends on Monday:

If you can’t swing a sub right now, please send me a note, and I’ll comp you: alisha@downtimenewsletter.com.

Also beyond the paywall: My five reading intentions for the year…and one thing I’m definitely not doing.

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Fiction

Lost Lambs: A Novel by Madeline Cash (1/13) — I nearly passed on this one until I saw a) the incredible, unhinged cover, and b) the blurb from Leslie Jamison. A debut novel about a family that’s falling apart, featuring three daughters, an open marriage, a conspiracy theory, and a billionaire shipping magnate? Sounds wild, and I’m in. [This one’s out now and has already been getting buzzy reviews across major publications.]

Little One by Olivia Muenter (2/3) — I can’t wait to dive into this new novel from friend-of-the-letter Olivia Muenter of Such A Bad Influence. The book centers on a mysterious wellness cult in Florida and a woman who longs to escape her past. [Exciting note: I’ll be in conversation with Olivia at East City Bookshop in D.C. on 2/4. Tix are sold out, but you can join in virtually for free here!]

Clutch by Emily Nemens (2/3) — The blurb made this seem like a “peak millennial” book, which is like catnip for me: a group of four girlfriends’ lives diverge after college, seeing them through “COVID and childbirth and midcareer challenges.” There’s IVF, caregiving for aging parents, marriage struggles - it’s a lot of different elements and themes, but I’m excited to see how it might all come together for these characters.

This is Not About Us by Allegra Goodman (2/10) — You might recognize this author’s name from her previous work of historical fiction, Isola, which was a popular Downtime book club pick last year. While Isola is historical fiction, this one’s a contemporary family drama. I love that she’s got range.

Bad Asians: A Novel by Lillian Li (2/17) — First of all, the title! Second of all, Lillian Li wrote and published the much-loved Number One Chinese Restaurant back in 2018, so I was happy to see her name pop up again this year. I like the sound of the book’s meta structure: a Harvard Law School dropout makes a docu about her group of Chinese American friends who are languishing at home on the heels of the Great Recession of 2008 — and the video gets leaked to a little platform that just launched called YouTube.

Brawler by Lauren Groff (2/24) — Groff is an auto-buy author for me (Matrix is one of my all-time faves), and I’m looking forward to this new short story collection, which of course has received glowing reviews already.

Kin: A Novel by Tayari Jones (2/24) — Everyone remembers An American Marriage, right? I’m thrilled Tayari Jones is back with a novel that touches on themes of “mothers and daughters, friendship and sisterhood, and the complexities of being a woman in the American South.” One of my top anticipated reads of the year.

The Natural Way of Things by Charlotte Wood (3/10) — I’m not totally sure I’m emotionally ready to read a Handmaid’s Tale-esque feminist dystopia (aren’t we living in one now??), but Booker Prize finalist Charlotte Wood’s latest novel sounds like a page-turner, and sometimes you need those.

Down Time by Andrew Martin (3/10) — Confession: I put this on my list because of the title (lol), but it actually sounds…interesting? It’s a pandemic novel about a group of “neurotic, ambivalent intellectuals” who are friends and deal with a major tragedy.