A new bookish year is upon us and it promises to be a banger. Anytime you get a new George Saunders in January, that portends a pretty good reading year. Plus, Colson Whitehead, Ann Patchett, Dave Eggers, Richard Russo, and a lot more.
The list of 14 books below is, of course, hardly a complete list -- I tried to make my list a mix of the "big" books of 2026 and the ones with special interest for me, personally. If you want a more complete list, check the Chicago Review of Books, or Lit Hub, or Book Riot.
Quick note: This is your annual reminder that The New Dork Review of Books is and will always be free. But if you want to help support my tiny corner of the internet, preorder any of these books from the Bookshop affiliate links. I get a small (legal) kickback and it also immensely helps the authors.
Anyway...here's my list of 14 great upcoming books:
Football, by Chuck Klosterman (January 20) -- Who better than one of our best cultural critics to write about our (crazy?) cultural obsession. (🐻⬇️)
Vigil, by George Saunders (January 27) -- Another slim novel from Saunders with a wild treatment of the liminal space between life and death? YES YES! There isn't a single "most anticipated" list that hasn't included this book.
Kin, by Tayari Jones (February 24) -- If you read and loved An American Marriage, and I did, this book must also be on your most anticipated list.
Brawler: Stories, by Lauren Groff (February 24) -- Gotta maintain my Lauren Groff Completist status.
For the Love of the Grind, by Sarah Hall (April 21) -- Woohoo, after last year's book from Keira D'Amato, we get a memoir this year from another top-tier marathoner. I'm here for any and all running books, and what a great title!
This Is Not About Running, by Mary Cain (April 28) -- This is yet another tell-all book (sad that there has to be more than one, much less several) about the abuse at the Nike Oregon Project under disgraced coach Alberto Salazar. I'll read every single one of them, and continue to be inspired by these athletes.
How We See the Gray, by Rachel León (May 15) -- Rachel is a friend and colleague at the Chicago Review of Books, and this is her debut novel. Rachel is tremendous writer, interviewer, and book reviewer, a fierce advocate for indie presses, and a passionate and astute literary citizen. But I've never had the privilege to read her fiction -- so I cannot WAIT for her novel!
Whistler, by Ann Patchett (June 2) -- This may be a book I take a long summer read-cation day and just absorb in a sitting or two. I love Ann Patchett's writing so much, and this story about "bravery, memory, the often small yet consequential moments that define our lives" sounds like Wheelhouse Ann.
Contrapposto, by Dave Eggers (June 9) -- Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, but make it Eggers! That's what this novel sounds like: Two art students spend their lives together in friendship and love and everything in between.
We Will See You Bleed, by Ron Currie (July 7) -- Babs is back! This book is a prequel to one of my favorite 2025 books, The Savage, Noble Death of Babs Dionne. Babs of course died at the end of that one (not a spoiler, it's in the title), but she's back running Waterville, Maine several decades earlier in this new installment.
Man Overboard!, by Kathleen Rooney (July 7) -- Chicago author Rooney has written about a sentient messenger pigeon, a rapacious oil company, a fierce woman walking around New York City, and more, and they're all absolutely fascinating. RANGE! This book is about a college swimmer who falls off a cruise ship and contemplates his life. Quirky and fun!
Tenderness, Rowan Beaird (July 21) -- Beaird's debut The Divorcées was such a fun book. Really looking forward to what she's up to next with this novel about a 1970s wedding on a small island.
Cool Machine, by Colson Whitehead (July 21) -- Don't you love it when the title of a novel also describes its author. 😎 With this book ,Whitehead wraps up the brilliant Ray Carney Harlem Trilogy. I may go back and read the first two again this summer -- they're sooo good.
Under the Falls, by Richard Russo (August 11) -- Russo is a "phone book" author for me, so of course I'm going to read his new novel, and his first standalone book in a while, about a crime in a small town.
