These are some of the 2026 books I’ve preordered or plan to read this year. The forthcoming books on my to-read list include small press picks, translated lit, debut novels, and two Survivor-adjacent books by two of my favorite Survivor players and podcasters.
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My Most Anticipated 2026 Books
Escape! by Stephen Fishbach | January 2026
A propulsive debut novel following a has-been reality TV star and a disgraced producer who get one last shot at redemption on a show set on a remote island, only to discover that the plot twists are beyond what they ever imagined.
Everyone gets the story arc they deserve.
Kent Duvall, a faded reality show winner, just wants another chance at glory—to find his way out of his depressing life and back to his highlight reel. When a scandal is captured on camera at a charity event, he gets his shot, on a new jungle survival show with seven other contestants. Each of them has been cast as a type—Ruddy the bully, Miriam the nerd, Ashley the love interest—but everyone is more than they appear.
The contestants’ goals seem simple—survive the wild, build a raft, win treasure. But Beck Bermann, a reality producer who suffered her own public shaming, sees them as characters in her redemption arc.
As the schemes and strategies spiral out, breakout camps sabotage each other and rival producers struggle to control the storyline. Soon the question becomes less about who will win than who will make it out in one piece.
Why I’m Interested
I love Survivor. I love Stephen Fishbach playing Survivor and Blood on the Clocktower. I love Stephen podcasting about Survivor on RHAP Know-It-Alls. I’m sure I’m going to love Fishbach’s novel about being a reality TV contestant!
Escape! is by far my most-anticipated 2026 book. I’m SO excited to read it and get into the mindset of a reality TV show contestant. I’m pretty sure I’ll never want to be on reality TV, but I’m dying to see what it’s like through Fishbach’s POV.
Half His Age by Jennette McCurdy | January 2026
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of I’m Glad My Mom Died comes a sad, funny, thrilling novel about sex, consumerism, class, desire, loneliness, the internet, rage, intimacy, power, and the (oftentimes misguided) lengths we’ll go to in order to get what we want.
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.
Startlingly perceptive, mordantly funny, and keenly poignant, Half His Age is a rich character study of a yearning seventeen-year-old who disregards all obstacles—or attempts to overcome them—in her effort to be seen, to be desired, to be loved.
Why I’m Interested
I loved McCurdy’s memoir I’m Glad My Mom Died and was pleasantly surprised by her writing skills. Given McCurdy’s personal experiences with this novel’s subject matter of inappropriate relationships with adults in positions of power (*cough* iCarly set), I’m intrigued to see how she captures it in a book.
When the Museum Is Closed by Emi Yagi, trans. Yuki Tejima | January 2026
A quirky, joyful, feel-good love story about a lonely museum worker who falls in love with a statue of Venus, from the author of international bestseller Diary of a Void.
Rika Horauchi’s new part-time job is to converse with a statue of Venus—in Latin—every Monday, when the museum is closed.
Initially reluctant, Rika starts to enjoy her strange new job. Recommended by her old university professor for her exemplary language skills, Rika leads an otherwise unassuming life, working the rest of the week in a frozen-food warehouse. As Venus comes to life in the quiet of the museum, they talk about everything. Venus opens up new worlds for Rika, both intellectually and emotionally. They soon fall in love. But when the museum’s curator, Hashibami, makes it clear he wants to keep Venus for himself, what will Rika do?
When the Museum Is Closed is by turns charming, funny and surprising, a surreal take on our most real emotions and concerns: love, loneliness, freedom, perceptions of beauty and how women are seen in society. This uncommonly original new novel confirms Emi Yagi as one of the most exciting Japanese writers published in English today.
Why I’m Interested
I enjoyed Yagi’s previous novel Diary of a Void, a novel about a woman pretending to be pregnant because everyone at her job treats her like a queen. I’ve been on a Japanese lit fic kick, and this looks fun and charming!
April and Back Again by Claire Taylor | February 2026
Midway through April and Back Again, Claire Taylor asks herself, “Where is the line between hope and stupidity?”
Tracking the final year of her thirties from April 2024 through April 2025, Claire Taylor’s debut poetry collection is an intimate portrait of loving and living against a backdrop of existential dread. Deftly oscillating between quotidian scenes of family life and the anxiety of raising children amid the realities of climate change, gun violence, and a democracy on the verge of demise, Taylor leads us through the ups and downs of a year that was history in the making. Simultaneously marveling at the magic of watching her children grow and witnessing the horror of a country going, literally and figuratively, down in flames, April and Back Again follows Taylor from the pleasures of life’s little moments into the growing depths of her own despair.
Full of quiet meditations, heartfelt introspection, and delightful hints of humor, April and Back Again is like the first hopeful signs of spring after a long, cold winter.
Why I’m Interested
I’ve loved Claire Taylor’s writing ever since I published her poetry and fiction in Capsule Stories (especially her short story “Retreat“) and have been grateful to work with her over the years. I adore Claire’s writing about motherhood—she captures the experience so beautifully and deeply. I’m PUMPED to read her latest poetry collection! Cannot recommend her writing enough.
The Disappearing Act by Maria Stepanova, trans. Sasha Dugdale | February 2026
The writer M has lived in the city of B ever since her homeland declared war on a neighboring state. While in exile, she is unable to write and suffers from loneliness, shame, and despair. But then M is invited to give a reading at a literary festival in a nearby country, and after a series of missed connections and mishaps, including losing her phone, she finds herself all alone in the wrong coastal town. She feels a flicker of liberation—the possibility of starting over—but memories of childhood, books, films and tarot cards pull her back, the last fragments of a vanishing world. Then she meets a troupe of circus performers who invite her to join them …
In this brief interlude, severed from reality, it seems as if M may finally escape from herself, from her past, from her nationality. Written in rich and hypnotic prose, The Disappearing Act oscillates between reality and dream, between an oppressive present and a lost past, between life and literature.
Why I’m Interested
This novel sounds…relevant…given the current political situation. LOL. I’m also intrigued by “memories of childhood, books, films and tarot cards pull her back…” because I often have dreams of shelves and shelves of all the objects, books, papers I’ve ever owned. I’m interested in exploring these themes of loneliness and escaping reality during wartime through this novel.
Sisters in Yellow by Mieko Kawakami, trans. Laurel Taylor and Hitomi Yoshio | March 2026
From Mieko Kawakami, award-winning author of Breasts and Eggs, comes a bold novel of sacrifice and the tumultuous bonds of sisterhood, set in the gritty Tokyo of the 1990s.
Hana has nothing—she’s fifteen years old and living in a tiny apartment in a suburb of Tokyo with her young mother, a hostess at a local dive bar. They have no money, no security. Then Kimiko appears.
Kimiko is older, a bright light in Hana’s dark world. Together they set up Lemon, a bar that, despite its shabby setting and seedy clientele, becomes a haven for Hana. Suddenly Hana has a job she loves, friends to share her days with, and the glittering promise of money. She feels like a normal girl. She feels invincible.
But in the narrow alleys of Sangenjaya, nothing is as it seems. Soon all of Hana’s hope, her optimism, and her drive will be pushed to the limit…
A story of enduring friendship and deep betrayal, Sisters in Yellow is a masterpiece of teenage dreams and adult cruelties that confirms Mieko Kawakami as one of the great writers of her generation.
Why I’m Interested
I love Kawakami’s novels Breasts and Eggs and Heaven (and intend to read All the Lovers in the Night). She puts you so deeply into her characters’ rich interior lives. She’s become a must-read author for me.
Seasons of Glass and Iron by Amal El-Mohtar | March 2026
Full of glimpses into gleaming worlds and fairy tales with teeth, Seasons of Glass and Iron: Stories is a collection of acclaimed and awarded work from Amal El-Mohtar.
With confidence and style, El-Mohtar guides us through exquisitely told and sharply observed tales about life as it is, was, and could be. Like miscellany from other worlds, these stories are told in letters, diary entries, reference materials, folktales, and lyrical prose.
Full of Nebula, Locus, World Fantasy, and Hugo Award-winning and nominated stories, Seasons of Glass and Iron: Stories includes “Seasons of Glass and Iron,” “The Green Book,” “Madeleine,” “The Lonely Sea in the Sky,” “And Their Lips Rang with the Sun,” “The Truth About Owls,” “A Hollow Play,” “Anabasis,” “To Follow the Waves,” “John Hollowback and the Witch,” “Florilegia, or, Some Lies About Flowers,” “Pockets,” and more.
Why I’m Interested
I read This Is How You Lose the Time War last winter and loved it. Then I read El-Mohtar’s novella, The River Has Roots, and attended her reading of it in 2025. WOW. I absolutely adore her musical, poetic writing style and mythical stories and can’t wait to read more of her work!
Repetition by Vigdis Hjorth, trans. Charlotte Barslund | March 2026
One of the foremost writers of her generation explores the strength and pain of being young.
As winter approaches in Norway and the daylight dwindles, a chance encounter prompts a novelist to reexamine her past. The seismic events following her sixteenth birthday return with haunting vividness, exposing a story both utterly familiar and desperately strange.
It was the year she first got drunk, the year she first had sex with a boy. She was watched like a hawk by an anxious mother and a silent, distant father. It was a year of typical teenage fixation and typical teenage frivolity, and of all the usual parental fretting. Until something else took hold, and her family made an unspoken decision and a terrible sacrifice. Only now, decades later, can these events come close to being comprehended.
In Repetition, award-winning novelist Vigdis Hjorth explores through fiction the parts of childhood that chime through the decades.
Why I’m Interested
I read two of Hjorth’s novels last year—Will and Testament and Is Mother Dead—and LOVED them. The way she writes about narcissistic family systems and the very intricate forms of gaslighting and verbal abuse within immediate families blew my mind—I’ve never seen anyone else capture those emotions and anxiety so accurately. I’m very intrigued to read more of her work!
The Tribe and I Have Spoken by Rob Cesternino | May 2026
The ultimate (unofficial) Survivor book for fans from the contestant-turned-host of Rob Has a Podcast.
Rob Cesternino has probably talked more Survivor than any other person on the planet. After playing in Survivor: The Amazon and All-Stars, Rob built a community amongst Survivor’s online fans with Rob Has a Podcast. Now, this foremost scholar of the show takes readers from the beaches of Borneo on the first season all the way to the landmark fiftieth season. This beautifully illustrated ode to the show includes “The Heroes and Villains Hall of Fame,” the greatest “Watercooler Watershed Moments” in the show’s history, and Rob’s “Ultimate Survivor Playbook” (no refunds) to winning that million-dollar prize.
Whether you’re a superfan or a first timer, The Tribe and I Have Spoken is a must-read celebration for anyone who counts themselves as part of this passionate tribe of fans from around the world.
Why I’m Interested
I love Survivor. I love Rob Cesternino’s RHAP podcasts about Survivor and other reality TV shows. When Rob announced he had a book coming out, it was a no-brainer, immediate preorder. In fact, I preordered a hard copy but hope that Rob reads the audiobook version so I can listen to the book on audio. Having this in multiple formats seems like a good idea since you’ve got to hear him read it but also need to see the illustrations!
P.S. Yes, I’M PISSED about Rob getting murdered on The Traitors season 4 episode 3!!!!!!!!!! WTF! Bring him back!
The Secret World of Briar Rose by Cindy Pham | June 2026
A lush and immersive queer “Sleeping Beauty” retelling about escapism, grief, and dreaming of a better world, as imagined by YouTube star Cindy Pham.
One hundred years have passed since the last heir of Gyldan fell into eternal slumber and doomed the once-mighty kingdom to poverty and invasion. At least, that’s what the fairy tales claim.
Corin is a jaded thief who doesn’t believe in fables, even when she searches Gyldan’s underground tunnels to find her younger sister, Elly, who ran away to find the sleeping princess in hopes of a better life. Corin’s conviction is challenged when she discovers the ruins of the ancient castle, maintained by beings from the kingdom’s golden age, who protect a hidden portal into Princess Amelia’s subconscious. Following Elly’s voice, Corin jumps in the portal and seals the entry behind her.
Inside the lush world of Amelia’s dreams, the sisters reunite for a new adventure as they meet Briar Rose, Amelia’s whimsical alter ego, and Malicine, a sharp-tongued demon with a gift for magic. But as they explore ice castles, sunflower mazes, and star-filled oceans, Corin suspects Briar Rose is hiding darker secrets behind her “perfect” paradise—and that there are some things her subconscious can’t bury forever.
Why I’m Interested
I’ve followed Cindy (@readwithcindy) for a while now because I really enjoy her BookTube videos, especially the ones breaking down book drama of authors behaving badly. (Two faves are “This author was caught faking their race with multiple identities: a deep dive into Freydis Moon” and “A writer named KIM CHI got caught pretending to be Asian… because she wanted a literary agent.”)
When I saw the news that Pham’s book was coming out, I thought the book description of a queer Sleeping Beauty retelling sounded fun!
The Veiled Prophet: Secret Societies, White Supremacy, and the Struggle for St. Louis by Devin Thomas O’Shea | June 2026
A provocative look at the secret society that has controlled St. Louis for over a century, revealing how shadowy elites organize themselves against working-class power.
Every December in downtown St. Louis, the city’s upper crust attend a garish costume party that doubles as a debutante’s ball. The daughters of high society are paraded to the throne of a cloaked monarchical figure, and bow to the Veiled Prophet of Khorassan. At first glance, the event seems outdated and clownish, but in truth the Veiled Prophet Society has functioned as an exclusive club for the “city fathers,” where solidarity is built between wealthy men who head major U.S. corporations, banks, and control whole industries. At the Veiled Prophet’s Ball, these titans of capital come together to crown one of their daughters the Queen of Love and Beauty, and celebrate the breaking of strikes, the sabotage of protests, and the enforcement of racial hierarchies.
Devin Thomas O’Shea’s The Veiled Prophet is the definitive history of the Veiled Prophet Society in all its violence and pageantry, offering a colorful alternate history of the United States through the lens of the Midwestern elite. O’Shea follows the Veiled Prophet Society from its origins in the wake of the 1877 general strike, through the 1904 World’s Fair, to the height of the Prophet’s—and St. Louis’s—influence during the Cold War. The Veiled Prophet examines the unexpected ways this secret society has shaped the course of history, from the CIA to the Vietnam War to the assassination of Martin Luther King.
Yet the power wielded by the Veiled Prophet has not gone uncontested. Since the Gilded Age, the Prophet has faced resistance from orphans armed with pea-shooters, Communist Party organizers during the Depression, Civil Rights icons, and renegade debutantes. The Ferguson uprising of 2014 was only the most recent challenge to the Prophet’s influence.
As the fight for the soul and streets of St. Louis intensifies, it’s more critical than ever that we expose the sordid history of these powerful, masked figures and their control over our democracy.
Why I’m Interested
I live in St. Louis and am dying to know the tea about this secret cult!!!
Heartstopper #6 by Alice Osman | July 2026
Boy meets boy. Boys become friends. Boys fall in love. The final installment in the bestselling LGBTQ+ graphic novel series about life, love, and everything that happens in between.
Everyone in school knows Nick and Charlie. Everyone knows they’re going to be together forever. But Charlie’s busy with his bid to become head boy. And while Nick is preparing to leave for college, he’s starting to wonder who he’ll be…without Charlie.
Why I’m Interested
It’s obligatory to keep reading this queer graphic novel series! Heartstopper so fun and heartwarming. 😍
A Real Animal by Emeline Atwood | July 2026
In this unforgettable debut, a moment of metaphysical transformation launches a woman’s beautiful and terrifying journey through her twenties, through loneliness and complicated love that takes her from the depths of the Pacific Ocean to the plains of Texas
A Real Animal follows Lucy through the decade dividing college and real adulthood, as she navigates three distinct romantic relationships, reckons with the false promise of family intimacy, and seeks connection with the sublime and natural worlds. Lucy wants her life to be extraordinary. But this desire never seems to graft easily onto the smallness of her world. As a senior in college struggling to quell the destructive effects of a sexual assault, she gets a glimpse of a different plane of existence—more wild, physical, animal. She moves away from home, breaks up with her long term boyfriend, stops speaking to her mother, and starts dating a complicated, violent man.
As she changes cities, friends, and partners, there is a persistent sense of wildness in Lucy and in her world that’s only ever barely being controlled. The thrum of a nonhuman existential force in the back of her mind urges her to reject the ordinary, but also reminds her that she is alone in the world. She feels it in the depths of the ocean while deep sea diving, in the cold silences on phone calls with her sister and her mom, in the misunderstanding gaze of a man she thought would love her forever.
Guided by Emeline Atwood’s lightspeed, suspenseful prose, we follow Lucy across states, jobs, relationships, and stages of intimacy with her family, witnessing both moments of horrific pain and quotidian happiness. The years pass by seamlessly, bringing her to the edge of her twenties and back to an altered, barren version of her childhood home, where she must finally come to terms with the fear that being human itself might mean feeling alone, and wild, and unknowable.
Why I’m Interested
This novel came up on a few 2026 anticipated books lists, and it looks raw and exciting!
Last Day of a Prior Life by Andrés Barba, trans. Lisa Dillman | August 2027
In this contemporary “ghost story without a ghost,” award-winning author Andrés Barba eerily explores how the past can hold us captive, as a woman encounters a compelling unblinking boy in an empty house.
While eagerly preparing a house for prospective buyers, a woman finds herself face to face with a strange sight: a seven-year-old boy with an otherworldly stare. Seemingly appearing and disappearing before her again and again, she realizes that the boy wants something from her. Choosing to leave her everyday world behind, the woman steps through the looking glass, inadvertently nurturing a disturbing co-dependence and discovering a suspended time, a loop, and another life in the process.
In this “ghost story without ghosts,” award-winning author Andrés Barba demonstrates an exquisite talent for dissecting human intimacy, excavating the links between past and present, the objects and spaces we leave behind, and what must not be lost or cannot be forgiven. Richly atmospheric and mesmerizing, Last Day of a Prior Life is a concise, disturbing, and dazzling novel that calls to mind the gothic tales of Shirley Jackson and Henry James.
Why I’m Interested
This sounds like it has similar creepy, ghosty vibes to Barba’s Such Small Hands, which I loved (and reviewed!). Last Day of a Prior Life sounds like a perfect spooky autumn read.
Garden by Hiroko Oyamada, trans. by David Boyd and Lucy North
Crabs scurrying over a landfill. Huge tadpoles writhing in a pond. A gecko stuck to the window. A sudden invasion of ants. Nature mysteriously creeps in and overruns the realm of humans in this stunning collection of stories.
Hiroko Oyamada masterfully conveys the sense that seemingly stable and ordinary people are cracking at the edges, that a surreal encounter with an animal can change the entire course of one’s life, that an obscure local ritual can have profound consequences. In these fifteen stories we find young couples navigating pregnancies, toddlers, and in-laws; men and women returning to their childhood homes to rediscover the enigmatic traditions they’d left behind; and children who plumb dreamlike riddles in the natural world.
Why I’m Interested
I love Hiroko Oyamada’s three other novels that have been translated into English—The Factory, The Hole, and Weasels in the Attic—and think she does speculative fiction SO brilliantly! I’ve literally searched for if she has any new works coming out in the past few months. Ugh I’m so excited for this.
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