Reading List 2026

The reading list for 2026 brings together novels and nonfiction works that reflect the intellectual, political and emotional tensions of the present moment. New books by internationally renowned authors such as George Saunders, Colson Whitehead, Min Jin Lee, Julian Barnes, Louise Erdrich and Douglas Stuart appear alongside emerging voices whose work is already drawing serious critical attention.

Across this selection, recurring themes come sharply into focus: power and its misuse, postcolonial inheritance, class and social mobility, grief, surveillance, violence, education and the quiet pressures shaping private lives. Literary fiction stands next to investigative nonfiction; formally restrained realism meets allegory, satire and historical reconstruction. Together, these books trace how individuals and societies respond to systems that constrain, define or fail them.

 

Vigil

George Saunders

George Saunders returns with Vigil, a novel that once again stretches the boundaries between realism, satire, and philosophical inquiry. While details of the plot remain deliberately scarce, early descriptions suggest a setting shaped by collective waiting, moral uncertainty, and the fragile social contracts that emerge under pressure. As in Lincoln in the Bardo, Saunders appears less interested in linear storytelling than in the emotional and ethical resonance of voices in collision.

Saunders is widely regarded as one of the most original American writers of the last decades, known for blending deep compassion with formal experimentation. Vigil is expected to reaffirm his ability to capture the absurdities of contemporary life while asking enduring questions about responsibility, empathy, and the stories we tell ourselves to endure difficult times.

 

How to Commit a Postcolonial Murder

Nina McConigley

Nina McConigley’s novel is as provocative as its title suggests. Set in 1980s Wyoming, the book follows two sisters contemplating violence against an abusive family member, while simultaneously unpacking the layered histories of colonialism, race, and belonging in the American West. The narrative balances dark humor with emotional precision, refusing easy moral conclusions.

McConigley, a PEN Open Book Award winner, has built a reputation for sharp, fearless prose that interrogates identity without didacticism. This novel is particularly compelling for its refusal to separate personal trauma from larger historical forces, making it both an intimate family story and a politically astute literary work.

 

Sophie, Standing There

Meg Mason

Meg Mason’s Sophie, Standing There is a quiet, emotionally exacting novel about grief, memory, and the ways literature itself can become a form of survival. The protagonist, Sophie, finds herself suspended in a moment of loss, revisiting relationships and texts that once shaped her sense of self.

Mason gained international acclaim with Sorrow and Bliss, and this new novel is expected to deepen her exploration of mental health, love, and self-awareness. Her prose, deceptively simple, excels at articulating emotional states that often resist language. This is a book for readers who value psychological honesty and understated power.

 

Cool Machine

Colson Whitehead

With Cool Machine, Colson Whitehead is expected to conclude his Harlem trilogy, offering a final, incisive look at power, race, and modernity in America. While earlier volumes traced crime, surveillance, and social mobility, this installment reportedly turns toward technology and systems that shape human behavior in subtler, more insidious ways.

Whitehead, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, consistently reinvents his narrative approach while remaining politically sharp. Cool Machine promises not only a satisfying culmination of a major literary project, but also a chilling reflection on how history, progress, and exploitation are deeply entangled.

 

American Hagwon

Min Jin Lee

Min Jin Lee’s long-awaited follow-up to Pachinko examines the global education industry through the lens of Korean “hagwons” — private academies that embody parental ambition, economic pressure, and generational anxiety. The novel spans continents and decades, tracing how the pursuit of success reshapes families and identities.

Lee is celebrated for her ability to combine sweeping historical narratives with intimate character studies. American Hagwon is expected to resonate strongly in an era obsessed with performance, credentials, and productivity, offering a humane counterpoint to narratives of achievement at any cost.

 

Departure(s)

Julian Barnes

In Departure(s), Julian Barnes turns inward, offering a reflective work that blends memoir, essay, and fiction. The book meditates on aging, illness, love, and the act of leaving — relationships, places, even life itself. Barnes’ trademark clarity and restraint give the text a quiet authority.

As one of Britain’s most esteemed literary figures, Barnes has long explored memory and mortality. This book is widely seen as a summative work, not in the sense of closure, but as a distillation of a lifetime of thought. It will appeal to readers who value precision, wit, and philosophical depth.

 

The Caretaker

Marcus Kliewer

Marcus Kliewer’s The Caretaker moves between psychological tension and literary introspection. The novel centers on a figure tasked with overseeing both a physical space and an emotional legacy, gradually uncovering truths that destabilize his sense of control.

Kliewer represents a newer generation of writers working at the intersection of genre and literary fiction. The Caretaker is anticipated for its atmospheric intensity and its exploration of responsibility, guilt, and the limits of knowledge — themes that resonate beyond its immediate plot.

 

London Falling

Patrick Radden Keefe

Known primarily for his nonfiction masterpieces, Patrick Radden Keefe turns his investigative lens toward London in London Falling. The book examines crime, family, and institutional failure through a meticulously reported narrative that reads with the urgency of a novel.

Keefe’s work is distinguished by moral seriousness and narrative clarity. This book is particularly compelling because it applies his journalistic rigor to a deeply personal story, raising questions about accountability, loyalty, and the structures that enable violence.

 

Python’s Kiss

Louise Erdrich

Python’s Kiss is a short story collection that showcases Louise Erdrich’s enduring mastery of form and voice. Across interconnected narratives, she explores desire, betrayal, survival, and the quiet forces that shape lives over time.

Erdrich, a Pulitzer Prize winner, has long been one of the most important voices in American literature. This collection is expected to reaffirm her ability to compress vast emotional and historical landscapes into precise, resonant moments.

 

John of John

Douglas Stuart

Douglas Stuart’s John of John continues his exploration of class, masculinity, and vulnerability. Centered on a character navigating familial expectations and personal identity, the novel is both raw and tender.

After the success of Shuggie Bain and Young Mungo, Stuart has established himself as a writer of extraordinary emotional force. This book is anticipated for its unflinching honesty and its deep compassion for characters often marginalized in literature.

 

This Is Where the Serpent Lives

Daniyal Mueenuddin

Set in Pakistan, this novel unfolds through interconnected stories that examine power, corruption, and intimacy across social classes. Mueenuddin’s prose is measured and unsentimental, allowing moral complexity to emerge organically.

Mueenuddin is widely respected for his nuanced portrayal of postcolonial societies. This book is particularly relevant for readers interested in global literature that resists exoticism and instead foregrounds lived experience and ethical ambiguity.

 

Fear and Fury

Heather Ann Thompson

Historian Heather Ann Thompson brings her archival rigor to Fear and Fury, a work that examines cycles of violence, media sensationalism, and institutional failure in late 20th-century America.

Thompson, a Pulitzer Prize–winning historian, writes with narrative force without sacrificing analytical depth. This book is essential reading for those interested in how fear is manufactured — and how it reshapes policy, justice, and collective memory.

 

Pulver

Johann Reißer

Pulver is a German-language novel that engages with fragmentation — of identity, language, and social cohesion. Through a compressed, often abrasive style, Reißer depicts a world on the brink of dissolution.

Reißer is emerging as a significant voice in contemporary German literature. Pulver stands out for its formal ambition and its refusal to offer comfort, making it a challenging but rewarding read.

 

A Beast Slinks Towards Beijing

Alice Evelyn Yang

Alice Evelyn Yang’s novel is a politically charged exploration of surveillance, migration, and myth in a near-contemporary China. Blending realism with allegory, the book traces the movement of a figure — human or symbolic — toward a city that represents power and control.

Yang’s background in both fiction and critical theory informs a narrative that is intellectually demanding yet emotionally resonant. This novel is anticipated for its courage and conceptual originality.

 

The Red Winter

Cameron Sullivan

The Red Winter is an expansive novel that merges political thriller elements with literary ambition. Set against a backdrop of geopolitical instability, it explores loyalty, ideology, and the personal cost of historical forces.

Sullivan’s work has been praised for its structural control and moral seriousness. This novel is expected to appeal to readers who seek fiction that engages directly with contemporary power dynamics without sacrificing narrative complexity.