Discover new books on Goodreads
Meet your next favorite book

Anticipated Literary Fiction 2026

2026, 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015
1

by
3.83 avg rating — 1,126,775 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
2

by
4.19 avg rating — 63,350 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
3

by
3.21 avg rating — 197,993 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
4

by
3.96 avg rating — 23,972 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
5

by
4.60 avg rating — 517,589 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
6

by
4.29 avg rating — 260,939 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
7

by
4.24 avg rating — 54,608 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
8

by
4.39 avg rating — 176 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
9

by
3.80 avg rating — 97,893 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
10

by
4.21 avg rating — 117,441 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
11

by
4.15 avg rating — 107,482 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
12

by
3.61 avg rating — 21,894 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
13

by
3.66 avg rating — 9,178 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
14

by
3.65 avg rating — 17,361 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
15

by
4.09 avg rating — 124,885 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
16

by
3.87 avg rating — 11,809 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
17

by
3.45 avg rating — 32,293 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
18

by
3.66 avg rating — 15,259 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
19

by
3.42 avg rating — 27,790 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
20

by
3.44 avg rating — 43,081 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
21

by
3.68 avg rating — 29,011 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
22

by
4.12 avg rating — 69,557 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
23

by
4.20 avg rating — 6,009 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
24

by
3.87 avg rating — 386 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
25

by
3.82 avg rating — 168 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
26

by
4.11 avg rating — 32,069 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
27

by
4.15 avg rating — 70,457 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
28

by
3.78 avg rating — 46,360 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
29

by
3.67 avg rating — 129,256 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
30

by
3.77 avg rating — 24,260 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
31

by
3.59 avg rating — 23,144 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
32

by
3.43 avg rating — 725 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
33

by
3.60 avg rating — 18,871 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
34

by
3.34 avg rating — 12,792 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
35

by
3.29 avg rating — 3,200 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
36

by
4.01 avg rating — 1,721 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
37

by
it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
38

by
4.62 avg rating — 10 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
39

by
3.94 avg rating — 2,078 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
40

by
3.99 avg rating — 7,336 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
41

by
3.89 avg rating — 8,520 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
42

by
3.59 avg rating — 4,248 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
43

by
4.25 avg rating — 11,421 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
44

by
3.57 avg rating — 2,459 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
45

by
3.91 avg rating — 16,440 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
46

by
3.10 avg rating — 33,237 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
47

by
3.29 avg rating — 1,346 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
48

by
4.17 avg rating — 923 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
49

by
3.87 avg rating — 5,816 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
50

by
3.86 avg rating — 399 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
50

by
4.04 avg rating — 4,223 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
52

by
3.55 avg rating — 6,172 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
53

by
3.35 avg rating — 1,262 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
54

by
3.16 avg rating — 1,611 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
55

by
4.14 avg rating — 13,026 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
56

by
3.85 avg rating — 4,144 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
57

by
3.44 avg rating — 347 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
58

by
3.16 avg rating — 2,634 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
59

by
3.88 avg rating — 30,745 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
60

by
3.44 avg rating — 8,220 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
61

by
3.35 avg rating — 4,954 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
62

by
3.67 avg rating — 6,715 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
63

by
3.88 avg rating — 418 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
64

by
3.86 avg rating — 7,993 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
65

by
3.78 avg rating — 19,064 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
66

by
3.86 avg rating — 215,889 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
67

by
3.97 avg rating — 17,173 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
68

by
3.93 avg rating — 104,686 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
4.06 avg rating — 4,662 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
70

by
3.63 avg rating — 153 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
70

by
4.12 avg rating — 15,648 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
72

by
3.97 avg rating — 5,429 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
73

by
3.20 avg rating — 22 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
73

by
4.09 avg rating — 690 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
75

by
3.85 avg rating — 4,121 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
76

by
3.49 avg rating — 1,520 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
77

by
4.21 avg rating — 79 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
77

by
4.33 avg rating — 63 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
77

by
4.92 avg rating — 10 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
80

by
3.97 avg rating — 144,411 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
81

by
3.51 avg rating — 3,209 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
82

by
4.15 avg rating — 50 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
83

by
3.70 avg rating — 441 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
83

by
3.77 avg rating — 2,543 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
83

by
3.82 avg rating — 5,379 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
83

by
4.15 avg rating — 9,523 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
87

by
3.68 avg rating — 610 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
88

by
4.08 avg rating — 11,534 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
88

by
3.54 avg rating — 19,381 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
90

by
3.70 avg rating — 29,067 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
90

by
4.42 avg rating — 990,278 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
92

by
3.46 avg rating — 17,297 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
93

by
3.25 avg rating — 5,546 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
94

by
3.65 avg rating — 2,277 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
95

by
3.35 avg rating — 5,304 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
96

by
3.61 avg rating — 2,592 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
97

by
3.63 avg rating — 5,916 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
97

by
3.77 avg rating — 1,869 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
99

by
3.38 avg rating — 264 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
100

by
3.71 avg rating — 38,892 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
345 books · 413 voters · list created December 11th, 2025 by Rainbowheart (votes) .
101 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Rainbowheart 2014 books
154 friends
Dale 1986 books
98 friends
Michael 31 books
0 friends
ilikebooks 962 books
63 friends
~☆~Autumn 8169 books
148 friends
sami 2511 books
370 friends
Fiona 1734 books
266 friends
domsbookden 821 books
235 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-13 of 13 (13 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by Rainbowheart (last edited Jan 02, 2026 03:36PM) (new)

Rainbowheart I removed a handful of YA fantasy novels. There are plenty of other lists for both YA and fantasy series.


message 2: by Rainbowheart (new)

Rainbowheart Had to remove another handful of books, self-published, non-literary fiction, most of which were not even 2026 releases.


message 3: by Mark (new)

Mark David I love this book


message 4: by Rainbowheart (new)

Rainbowheart I had to remove a ton of promotional author spam just now. To clarify, this list is for adult literary fiction being published for the first time in English in 2026, not self-published works, not books released in earlier years.


message 5: by Rainbowheart (last edited Feb 09, 2026 08:15AM) (new)

Rainbowheart I had to remove more books from 2025 along with some genre fiction. Just to clarify, this list is for adult literary fiction. As mentioned on Wikipedia, literary fiction "encompasses fiction that is more character-driven than plot-driven, examines the human condition, or is considered serious art by critics. These labels are typically used in contrast to genre fiction, which refers to books that fit into established categories of the book trade and place more value on entertainment and appealing to a mass audience."


message 6: by Rainbowheart (new)

Rainbowheart People who repeatedly spam self-published books from other years onto this list will be reported.


message 7: by U (new)

U buena lista


message 8: by Corina (new)

Corina Sandu I love this list! I have found my people, in a world full of fantasy & romance & thrillers :) Where were you???? :)


message 9: by Michelle (new)

Michelle Rainbowheart wrote: "People who repeatedly spam self-published books from other years onto this list will be reported."

thank you for keeping up with the list and removing the spam books!


message 10: by Rainbowheart (new)

Rainbowheart You're welcome! Glad people are enjoying the list.


message 11: by Bee (new)

Bee Exit Party is definitely my most anticipated Literary Fiction book of 2026. The wait is agonizing!


message 12: by Sarah (new)

Sarah Michelle wrote: "Rainbowheart wrote: "People who repeatedly spam self-published books from other years onto this list will be reported."

thank you for keeping up with the list and removing the spam books!"


Heart the Lover is 2025


message 13: by Rainbowheart (new)

Rainbowheart Thanks for the heads up! I removed that one along with a handful of other non-literary, non-2026 titles.


back to top



Related News

This Native American Heritage Month, celebrate the bookworm way with this collection of new and recent books. The titles collected below are a...

Anyone can add books to this list.