A round-up of the best new release books coming this year

The most anticipated releases of 2026.

If you’re anything like us, then you’ll agree that slow mornings at home, lunch breaks at the gardens and weekend trips away are all made infinitely better with a book in hand. Luckily for us, 2026 has plenty to offer on the literary front.

January has already delivered, with Jennette McCurdy’s highly anticipated novel, Half His Age, alongside Lior Torenberg’s Fleabag-esque debut, Just Watch Me. Still, there’s always room for more on our bedside tables.

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Eager to get our screen time down and reading time up, we’ve curated a non-exhaustive list of the most exciting books coming in the months ahead. Whether you’re looking for an addictive thriller, an enchanting literary fiction or a juicy memoir, there’s something for every type of reader.

Seed by Elisabeth Easther

 

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Release date: February 3

Seed follows four women: Hilary and her partner, eager to start a family; Maggie, a happily single and dating mother; Shelley, who’s preparing to return to work after maternity leave; and Virginia, a midwife determined to have a baby on her own. From the publishers of authors Dolly Alderton and Marian Keyes, it’s a funny and heartfelt deep dive into the business of baby-making.

Find it here.

Glyph by Ali Smith

Release date: February 17

Not to be confused with Gliff, Ali Smith’s dystopian 2025 novel, Glyph is something of a ‘sister novel’. While read as a standalone story, it uncovers a hidden story from the first book. It’s Ali Smith at her most soulful and playful, blending politics with personal insight.

Find it here.

Lost Lambs by Madeline Cash

 

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Release date: March 3

Written by Madeline Cash, the founding editor of Forever Magazine, Lost Lambs is a witty and poignant family drama. Already drawing comparisons to Zadie Smith, with film rights sold to A24 (with none other than Lena Dunham attached), it will immerse you from the very first page.

Find it here.

Slip by Abbey Lay

Release date: March 3

From the Australian author of Lead Us Not comes Abbey Lay’s latest novel, Slip. The story begins as Grace, a linguist, sets off on a six-week trip to Sicily to research Italian dialects for her thesis. Leaving behind her long-term partner, Jack, she rents a room in the apartment of a local writer. Over her stay, Grace and Nico grow closer, bonding over shared meals and language, while Jack’s impending arrival looms. Slow-paced in the best ways, Slip reckons with themes of desire, identity and longing.

Find it here.

Stowaways by Andre Aciman

Release date: March 3

Stowaways is a new release novel from Call Me By Your Name author, Andre Aciman. Written in the author’s signature prose, the book is set on a hot summer’s evening in Manhattan, beginning as a mysterious email arrives in Chloe’s inbox. In it is a dying request from Paul Axel, a man from her past, asking her to fulfil one last request.

Find it here.

Life Drawing by Emily Lighezzolo

Release date: March 3 2026

Life Drawing is the debut novel from Australian writer Emily Lighezzolo. It traces the relationship between characters Maisie and Charlie, an artist and a model who meet at a life drawing class. Set over two decades, the novel dives into themes of art, gaze, consent and commodification.

Find it here.

Hooked by Asako Yuzuki, Polly Barton (translator)

Release date: March 17

Award-winning Japanese author Asako Yuzuki is back with a new novel. Toeing an unsettling line between friendship and obsession, Hooked follows Eriko, who happens to take a particular interest in housewife and blogger, Shoko.

Find it here.

Sisters in Yellow by Mieko Kawakami

Release date: March 31

From the author of Breasts and Eggs, Mieko Kawakami, comes her latest novel, Sisters in Yellow. It follows Hana, a fifteen-year-old, whose life is transformed when she meets the dazzling, older Kimiko.

Find it here.

Famesick by Lena Dunham

 

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Release date: April 14

If Too Much had you craving more Lena Dunham, you’re in luck. A reflection on fame, sex, illness and the messiness in between, Famesick traces Dunham’s rise from Girls to the present day, candidly examining the true cost of fame.

Find it here.

My Year in Paris with Gertrude Stein by Deborah Levy

Release date: April 21

Deborah Levy’s new genre-bending novel begins as her unnamed protagonist arrives in Paris, drawn into a circle of friends defined by food, conversation and late-night walks. As she navigates anxiety, modernity and the challenge of making a life for yourself in a new city, her thoughts circle back to Gertrude Stein, another woman in Paris in another moment of cultural and personal upheaval.

Find it here.

The Ruiners by Ellena Savage

Release date: April 24

The Ruiners is the debut novel from Australian author Ellena Savage, known for the essay collection Blueberries. It follows Pip, who, after inheriting fifty thousand dollars, abandons her life in Melbourne for a crumbling house on a Greek island with Sasha, a young scholar. What begins as an idyllic fresh start soon becomes a reckoning with inheritance, desire and environmental collapse.

Find it here.

Women Who Win by Antoinette Lattouf

 

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Release date: April 28

Women Who Win is journalist and human rights advocate Antoinette Lattouf’s account of women who challenged systems of power and shaped history. From Australia’s first female law graduate and Indigenous leaders resisting colonisation, to Lattouf’s own battle against one of the country’s most powerful media institutions, it’s a celebration of defiance.

Find it here.

Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

Release date: April 28

Yesteryear follows modern-day tradwife, Natalie Heller Mills. Armed with eight million followers, six children, a cowboy Republican husband and a team of nannies and producers working behind the scenes, her online life appears idyllic. Until one morning, she wakes up in 1805. Though her family seem familiar, Natalie must unravel whether she’s at the centre of a hoax, a reality show or something stranger.

Find it here.

Call Girl Confidential by Blue-Eyed Kayla Jade

Release date: April 24

Call Girl Confidential is a diary-style memoir from OnlyFans creator, porn star and call girl, Blue Eyed Kayla Jade. Chronicling her rise in the industry, it offers a candid and darkly funny insight into her life as a full-service sex worker in Australia.

Find it here.

Vocal Break by Lauren Elkin

 

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Release date: May 26

Acclaimed French writer Lauren Elkin returns with Vocal Break. Blending history, personal experience, and the work of Beyoncé, FKA Twigs, Billie Eilish and others, the book explores what makes women’s voices so powerful.

Find it here.

Land by Maggie O’Farrell

Release date: June 2

Maggie O’Farrell, the bestselling author of Hamnet, is back with an epic, multigenerational family drama. Set in 1860s Ireland after the Great Hunger, it follows a father and son tasked with mapping the country before British soldiers arrive. What follows is a captivating story of overlapping lives, loss, hope and reunion.

Find it here.

Nymph by Sofia Montrone

 

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Release date: June 30

Set in a fading Italian hotel, Nymph follows Leo as she navigates family loss, memory and unexpected desire. Poetic and intimate, the novel explores themes of longing, metamorphosis and coming of age.

Find it here.

Good Witch Hunting by Lucianne Tonti

Release date: June 30

Good Witch Hunting is a deep dive into the world of witches. Written by Australian author and journalist Lucianne Tonti, it explores how the legacies of those hunted and burned continue to echo in today’s world.

It Could Have Been Her by Lisa Jewell

Release date: June 30

It Could Have Been Her is the highly anticipated novel by thriller writer Lisa Jewell. The story follows Jane Trevally, who, after accompanying a man back to his house for a drink, hears a scream come from upstairs and flees. 25 years later, she finds herself coincidentally back at the same house, returning a dog whose owner is now missing.

Find it here.

Kitten by Stacey Yu

 

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Release date: June 30

Following a young woman and a mischievous cat whose unlikely bond begins to unravel her carefully constructed life, Kitten explores love, dependence and the disorienting work of becoming yourself.

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