A New Year of Reading: A List Of Books To Look Forward To In 2026

2026 holds out plenty of promise for readers: A treasure-trove of fiction that probes the heart of living, loving and surviving in our time; speculative leaps into the past and the future, hybrid works that cleverly blend fact and fiction to help us wrap our minds around the larger truth. Plenty of non-fiction titles meant to spark essential conversations about a range of topics, including the abiding power of art and literature, the climate crisis and its impact on all life forms, the state of democracy and the rise of authoritarianism, evolving technology and AI, and the corrosive effects of sexism and misogyny in the digital age. Poetry, actively championed by small presses, offers readers insights, solace and lyrical salvation. Independent publishers encourage dissident and marginalised voices…May we all read widely, bravely and dangerously in 2026!

Here are a few books to look forward to in the new year. Listed in no particular order of preference.

Fiction

This is Where the Serpent Lives by Daniyal Mueenuddin

Pakistani-American author Daniyal Mueenuddin’s novel, set in contemporary Pakistan, revolves around lives that are profoundly impacted by the faultlines of class and social status. His 2009 short story collection In Other Rooms, Other Wonders too shared the complexities of feudal Pakistan and the collision of tradition and modernity with readers. Naunced, elegantly crafted and quietly powerful, the stories linger in memory. News of his return after a long gap with a new novel is cause for cheer.

Sisters in Yellow by Mieko Kawakami, Translated by Laurel Taylor and Hitomi Yoshio

Japanese author Kawakami, who upturned the male-dominated status quo of literary Japan with her novel Breasts and Eggs (2008) and was awarded the prestigious Akutagawa Prize, takes her first plunge into noir in the new year with her novel Sisters in Yellow, which explores female solidarity, teenage dreams, adult friendships and betrayals.

Rebel English Academy by Mohammed Hanif

Hanif, author of the unforgettable A Case of Exploding Mangoes, has set his fourth novel Rebel English Academy in politically charged 1970s Pakistan. It takes off from the hanging of Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, and traces the ways in which larger political churnings affect individual lives. Readers can look forward to generous doses of Hanif's wry humour and crackling insights about politics, religion, power, sexuality and dissent.

My Year in Paris with Gertrude Stein by Deborah Levy

The narrator of Levy's novel heads to Paris which was once home to Gertrude Stein—avant-garde American writer and god-mother of modernism. As Paris both charms and confounds the young narrator, she discovers more about life and living, and also conjures an enticing portrait of Stein who was never an easy enigma to decode.

Fieldwork as a Sex Object by Meena Kandasamy

An unflinching examination of misogyny in the digital age, Kandasamy’s novel tells the stories of women who stand up against oppressive systems and are navigating an increasingly online world where revenge porn, deep fakes and sexist trolls have become everyday reality.

August 17 by S. Hareesh. Translated by Jayasree Kalathil

A work of speculative fiction from the JCB Prize-winner, which takes an imaginative leap into pivotal political developments in Kerala’s history and nudges readers to contemplate the uneasy similarities between the past and the present.

Vigil by George Saunders

Saunders continues to be fascinated by the twilight hours of our lives and final reckonings, in this world and the next. The Booker winner’s new novel Vigil is set at the bedside of an oil company CEO. The spectre of the climate crisis looms large as the narrative unravels

Maryam & Son by Mirza Waheed

Waheed’s fourth novel tells the story of a mother whose world is turned upside down by her only son’s disappearance. Suspicions of his involvement in the conflict in Iraq complicates matters. Trapped in a post-truth world where disinformation flows freely, the characters are always on edge, struggling to prise apart fact and fiction.

A Mask the Colour of the Sky by Basseem Khandaqji

The English translation of Khandaqji’s novel, which won the 2024 International Prize for Arabic Fiction, comes to readers in 2026. It tells the story of a young Palestinian refugee from a camp close to Ramallah who dreams of freedom, and walks a rough path in search of it. Khandaqji was arrested when he was 21 and sentenced to three life sentences by an Israeli military court. He wrote his novel while he was incarcerated.

The Penguin Book of the International Short Story. Eds. John Freeman and Rabih Alameddine

Short story lovers are sure to relish this collection which features stories written in English as wells as translated stories by writers from around the world. Contributors include Haruki Murakami, Mozambique’s Mia Couto, Han Kang, Salman Rushdie and Olga Tokarczuk, among others.

Loving Proudly: Queer Stories for Queer Rights

This collection embraces genres ranging from fantasy to myth to romance. Thirty queer writers across genres explore identity and authenticity, desire and struggle in their stories, celebrating queer love in its many forms.

Extinction by Leeya Mehta

Mehta’s poetry and short stories have taken readers on moving transcontinental journeys. In her new novel Extinction, she continues to trace individual’s journeys in search of sanctuary and belonging, delving into the intergenerational trauma that four generations of Indian women carry, and the possibilities of ending the cycle and beginning anew.

Mother Mine by Sheeba Shah

The mother-daughter relationship, which refuses to be contained by set definitions, continues to fascinate fiction writers. In her new novel Mother Mine, Shah tells the stories of an unconventional mother and her protective daughter, and their ways of navigating a world where female ambition is still treated as suspect.

Non-fiction

A Hymn to Life by Gisèle Pelicot

Pelicot, the French woman who bravely waived anonymity to make public the trial of her former husband and the 50 men accused of joining him in raping her, calls for ‘shame to change’ sides in her powerful memoir.

Days of Love and Rage: A Story of Revolution by Anand Gopal

A powerful account of six lives caught up in the conflict in Syria. Through the story of a city in the throes of a revolution, Gopal chronicles the saga of democracy and rising authoritarianism in our time.

Spectacle State: How the Far Right Shapes Feeling and Culture in India by Brahma Prakash

Focusing on objects and images that have come to define public life in India today (Hindutva pop, bulldozers, angry Hanuman stickers, etc), the author tracks Hindutva’s move from the margins to the mainstream, and shines the spotlight on the country’s current cultural landscape.

Not Quite Family: An Intimate Memoir of Bollywood by Khalid Mohamed

Film critic, journalist, author and Bollywood insider Khalid Mohamed’s tell-all memoir, peppered with his acerbic insights, promises to be a riveting read.

Wild Capital: Discovering Nature in Delhi by Neha Sinha

Nature writer Neha Sinha walks readers through Delhi’s urban sprawl to introduce us to the city’s hidden wilderness and wildlife

On Morrison by Namwali Serpell

Serpell, who teaches English Literature at Harvard, recreates the course she puts together on Toni Morrison through close readings of the Nobel laureate’s fiction. A fascinating portrait of Morrison emerges from her book.

A Woman’s Work: Reclaiming the Radical History of Mothering by Elinor Cleghorn

Cleghorn reclaims and retells the history of motherhood, lobbying for mothers of all classes to be valued, and dissects the patriarchal power dynamics imposed on motherhood in cultures across the globe.

The Silent Syndicate: Who's Pricing Your Health? by Ameer Shahul

A thorough inquiry into the changes affecting Indian healthcare and its human cost.

Poetry

The Acrobat: Essential Poems by Wisława Szymborska

An essential selection of Polish poet and translator Szymborska’s work. The poems grapple with war and history, time’s ruthless march and the fragility of human existence. Replete with her trademark wit and irony, they probe existential questions with rare sensitivity. The book also includes her 1996 Nobel lecture titled ‘The Poet and the World.’

Daughter of the Mountains by Fatimah Asghar

Asghar, author of If They Come for Us, continues to be formally inventive in her sophomore collection, ruminating on exile, estrangement and the nuances of spiritual practice in her poems.

Voices from the Bodo Heartlands: Twelve Women Poets in Translation. Eds. Zothanchhingi Khiangte & Manab Medhi

This anthology offers readers a chance to immerse themselves in indigenous women’s poetic voices from the geographical and political borderlands. The translations do the essential work of re-centering indigenous perspectives, and skillfully turn the English language into a decolonial tool of communication.