5 Best Books of 2026...So Far

I've spent much of 2026 so far on backlist -- an unusual reading practice for me. But I have a milestone birthday coming up this year, and it's honestly messing me up a little -- it's made more acutely aware than ever that time isn't infinite. So I've tried to mix in books I've had on my shelves for a while -- The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver), A Visit From the Goon Squad (Jennifer Egan -- a reread), Telegraph Avenue (Michael Chabon), Office Girl (Joe Meno -- a reread), and many more. I highly recommend a good backlist binge. It's good for the soul.

And but so, here are my six favorite 2026 novels so far. 

Vigil, by George Saunders -- I mean, duh. Not coincidentally, this novel about coming to terms with mortality (among MANY other things) which I read in January was part of the inspiration for catching up on old books I'd missed before. 

How We See The Gray, by Rachel León -- There should be more novels about social workers. Social workers are superheroes! This fantastic novel set in Rockford, Illinois, interrogates the foster care system through the perspectives of several characters -- foster parents, social workers, parents, and children. A devastating novel also shouldn't be this funny and cool -- but it is. 

The Left and the Lucky, by Willy Vlautin -- A heartbreaking, beautiful story about everyday people just trying to make it in a world that doesn't want them to succeed. In just a matter of a few years and a few titles, Willy Vlautin has become one of my favorite writers. 

Brawler, by Lauren Groff -- I mean, duh (again). Of course, Groff's new story collection would be here. Groff's grocery list would be here. But Brawler is very, very good. 

So Old, So Young, by Grant Ginder -- Such a relatable look at friendship through the years. These characters fall in and out of touch, fight and reconcile, harbor grudges against each other, and develop rivalries with their friends’ new friends. Basically, life. 

Bonus Best Book:

Tenderness, by Rowan Beaird (out July 21) -- I have to include this wonderful cult/wedding weekend novel out in late July. I got to interview Rowan for a piece for the Chicago Review of Books that'll be out on the book's pub date, so stay tuned. In the meantime, hit that preorder now! You're definitely going to want to read this. 

Angel Down Won the Pulitzer: Let's Discuss

On May 4, when Marjorie Miller, Administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes, announced, first, that Angel Down was one of the three finalist for Fiction, I got really excited and typed out a quick Slack message to my friend Michael. But I'd spoken too soon. Then, Miller announced: "And the Pulitzer Prize goes to...Angel Down." WHOAAA! Incredible. Did not see that one coming.

Admittedly, at that point, I hadn't read the novel yet, but it had long been on my list. Michael had read it and had been adamant that I should. He was blown away. So then I did read it, and I was also blown away.

At the Chicago Review of Books today, in a new feature we've titled "Critics in Conversation", Michael and I discuss this unlikeliest of unlikely Pulitzer wins, our experiences reading the novel, and what it could mean FOR THE VERY FUTURE OF LITERATURE. 😁

We had lots to say, so please head over to CHIRB to read the full post. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Whistler, by Ann Patchett: Are All Happy Families Happy In the Same Way?

One thing I've learned over the years from reading a lot novels is that if I ever lose touch with someone who I used to be close to and want to reconnect, I'll just go hang out in New York City for a while, ride the subway, go to a museum, maybe catch a ballgame at Yankee Stadium, and eventually I'll just randomly bump into that person again. 😁

This is of course tongue in cheek, but Ann Patchett's sweet new novel Whistler is the second novel I've read this year (The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny is the other...and there are a TON more, Martyr! also comes to mind) in which a random reconnection in a city of 8.5 million people is the plot catalyst. Generally speaking, this bugs me. 

It bugged me a little bit here, but I'm not going to let my own silly hang ups prevent me from enjoying an Ann Patchett novel, for goodness sake. Ann Patchett has earned the right to do whatever she pleases. And the good news here is that even if you're not totally vibing with a Patchett plot, her prose is engaging and endearing enough to keep you reading. Some writers you just connect with. Ann Patchett is one of those writers for me, and I know this is a common refrain among readers. 

Anyway, so here's what happens: Daphne and her husband Jonathan are at the Met, when Jonathan notices a seemingly creepy old guy following them. He confronts the guy and learns he's Daphne's stepfather! Eddie and Daphne's mother were briefly married when Daphne was 9, and Daphne has all but forgotten about him -- it's been 44 years, after all. But the two did share a traumatic event -- a car accident, in which they were trapped overnight -- the accident being the on-the-surface reason Daphne's mother divorced Eddie. She couldn't trust him anymore. But of course there is much more to it. And so the novel chronicles the story of their reconnection while delving into the past.  

Another thing I've learned reading a lot of fiction: Happy characters usually make for boring novels. But dammit if Ann Patchett isn't a rule-breaker. This novel is full of jolly, well-adjusted characters without much friction between them. There is one big family secret, but it's revealed reasonably quickly and the fallout isn't huge. Indeed, throughout this novel, there's hardly any of the conflict or big blowouts you'd normally see in family dramas. 

What is Patchett up to here, then? At its core, this is a novel about the nature of memory and how perspective changes over time. It's about a second chance at family, when a second chance isn't something you even knew you needed. Also, there's a story about a horse named Whistler. It's related, trust me.

If you've read this far, you've probably gotten the sense that this isn't my favorite Patchett novel. I'm in the minority, I think -- so many other readers seem to have loved this book. But what do we say in situations like this? A mid-tier Patchett is still better than a top-tier novel from 90 percent of other writers. And that's a hill I'll die on. 

A Very Special and Extremely Dorky Bookish Anniversary

On June 2, my trusty reading journal turned 25 years old! This single Word document now consists of 1,745 single-spaced pages and (this is truly crazy) 1,221,968 words (basically two War and Peaces). 

Here's the story: Way back in 2001, before Goodreads or any other way to keep track of books on the Web, I started this Word document I titled "list." Every time I'd finish reading a book, I'd sit down and spend 20 minutes (or often longer) writing about it -- why I picked it up in the first place, what I thought of it, key plot points, etc. And even though much easier and more sophisticated ways to track reading became available over the years, I stuck with my tried-and-true (and so GenX) method. 

This single document has been with me through four cities, about a dozen apartments, half a dozen laptops (I used to back this thing up manually on a thumb drive -- now it's backed up in the cloud), and more life events than I could even list.  The first book I wrote about -- on June 2, 2001 -- was John Updike's Rabbit Run. The most recent one, last week, was Rachel Leon's debut How We See The Gray. And there are 1,281 books in between. 

I know that total, because I always include a "finished on" date on my reading journal when I write about the book. In about 2009 when I first joined Goodreads, I backfilled all the books I'd read before that point into my new Goodreads account. So Goodreads also now goes all the way back to June 2, 2001. Peak book nerd achieved! 

Why is this journal so important to me? Beyond the simple idea that I just enjoy doing it, one of the reasons I've kept it up for so long and so meticulously is that I'm terrified of forgetting what I've read -- that in some future, the time spent with past books will be forgotten, and therefore erased. What could be worse than simply forgetting about an old friend?

But also, I can't tell you how valuable the reading journal has been for me as I've moved through a bookish life. Sure, if a sequel comes out, I can easily go back and find out what happened in the first one (and what I thought). But it's also helped me immensely as I've written about books more frequently. Just as one example: If you've ever tried to make a book list, and not sound repetitive, you know it's not easy -- this journal has helped me drudge back up specific details about books I read literally decades ago. 

The day I started this journal, I wrote: "Hopefully I’ll be reading this list (with a few hundred pages) when I’m 60." Welp, younger me, it's a few THOUSAND pages, and the odd are pretty good that if I make it to 60, so will this. 

How We See The Gray, by Rachel León: A Big 'Ole Dose of Empathy

At last week's release party for Rachel León's debut novel, How We See The Gray, León's editor, Megan Stielstra, told the crowd that reading this book had literally made her a better person. What a compliment! And you know what? That's true for me too. 

They say reading novels inspires empathy -- that walking a mile, even a fictional one, in someone else's shoes helps you see the world differently and gives you a better understanding of someone else's struggles. It makes sense, but I don't know how you prove that's true. At the very least, what is unquestionably true is that reading a novel helps you learn about things you didn't know about before. And that's the first step toward empathy -- toward being a better person. 

How We See The Gray interrogates the fraught foster care system through the eyes of social workers, children, parents, and foster parents. Set in Rockford, Illinois over the course of a year (June 2018-June 2019), we follow these characters through pain, success, lies, heartbreak, elation, addiction, hilarity, peace, and just about everything in between.

The gray in the title could be a reference both to the moral murkiness of an overmatched and underfunded foster care system, but also, and more importantly, it's a nod to how we should see every person as nuanced, neither good nor bad. Of course, it's not always easy to square in our minds people who have done bad things but aren't bad people. The currency of our current moment is the hot take -- the loudest and angriest voices drown out more reasoned, measured thought. Nuance is an endangered species. But people deserve more than snap judgment. No one should be defined by their worst moment. 

As I approached the end of this engaging novel, this line just smacked my gobs: "We believe this world would be kinder if people's default response was curiosity, rather than judgment." RIGHT?! I MEAN, RIGHT?!

But this is a novel, and we read novels, yes to learn, but mostly to be entertained. And let me be clear about one thing: This novel is very entertaining. It's not even the least bit preachy. Even if at times it's hard to read because it's emotionally painful, it's still a whole lot of fun.

León is a skillful and deft writer, constructing the stories in multiple points-of-view into a cohesive whole. It never feels fractured or discontinuous, as narratives in this structure sometimes do. 

Finally, the disclaimer: I do know Rachel. She is a friend. Whenever you pick up a friend's piece of writing, there's always that niggling voice in the back of your brain that goes, "What if I don't like this? What'll I do?" But I can tell you with a clear conscience: I liked this quite a bit. I mean, I REALLY liked this. It feels different -- like something fresh and original and (probably because it's from a small press) unlike anything else out there right now. Very highly recommended! 

(One last really stupid note: I've been struggling this whole post not to make a "How We See The Fifty Shades of Gray" joke. But EL James went with the British spelling "grey" [I know, the character's name is Grey], so it wouldn't have worked anyway. 😎 )