I Review Books for a Living and Here are 5 Titles I Can't Wait to Read in 2026

I’ve been following Gonzalez since she started writing the Brooklyn, Everywhere column in The Atlantic. Her first two novels, Olga Dies Dreaming and Anita DeMonte Laughs Last, were best-sellers. The latter was a Reese’s Book Club selection in March 2024, and is also being adapted for the screen. When I heard that her third novel was coming in 2026, I did a little happy dance.

Last Night In Brooklyn follows 26-year-old Alicia Canales Forten, living in Brooklyn with her mother. After one night in Fort Greene, Alicia crosses paths with a charismatic, charming fashion designer who soon pulls the hesitant young woman into his euphoric orbit of creativity and possibility. On the horizon, both a history-making presidential election and fiscal crisis loom.

I’m always drawn to Gonzalez’s novels because they center on women of color trying to find themselves, fighting to cut through the noise of the dominant culture as well as the one in which they were raised. Gonzalez’s excavation of NYC, in particular Brooklyn, is what drew me to her column in the first place, so I can’t wait to get my hands on this newest love letter to my (adopted) home town.

I absolutely gobbled this one up. My supreme weakness is the murder mystery, and Philipson’s debut novel was a zingy propulsive page-turner. The opening line, for starters, is killer, so to speak: “If you picked up this book because you truly want to get away with murder, you will not be disappointed. Simply turn the page and we'll get started."

The plot, in a nutshetll: Detective Inspector Samantha Hansen is back at Scotland Yard following an extended period of leave after suffering harassment on the job. She’s spurred into the office by a shocking new case: A 14-year-old girl has been murdered, and Samantha knows she needs to see the case through. Throw in a competing detective, a godfather who’s also her boss and a junior detective who makes Samantha blush, and it’s a dramatic race to find the killer before they strike again.

I’m giving major props to Philipson for creating a character who feels real and human. Samantha sees injustice in the world and is up against big institutions that care little for being right and only for looking good. She makes choices that I don’t always agree with. But despite all that, I can’t help but think, “Maybe she’s right.” 

This one reminded me of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s Atmosphere in the way I was thrown into a hyper-specific world. A debut queer romance, Hold Me Like a Grudge follows Asher Ross, a Singaporean wrestler who’s landed his one chance to make a name for himself in an industry where people of color are scarce. To claim it, he must defeat the reigning champion, Caleb Knight, also known as the Ice Prince. Despite the heated rivalry the two must portray for the cameras and fans, a romance brews. As they come to terms with who they are in a sport that’s less than forgiving, both wrestlers will have to decide what’s actually worth fighting for. The fight scenes are taut and the writing style punchy and very online. Ultimately, this novel is about legacy—where you come from, what you leave behind and claiming the person you want to be.

Hart’s romantasy series did so well that the last book in her Fae & Alchemy trilogy is available for pre-order…without a title, and without a dust jacket. Former PureWow Associate Commerce Editor Natalie LaBarbera told me this one is high on her anticipation list. Following Quicksilver and Brimstone, this final tome will be released in November 2026. Plenty of time for those who have some catching up to do…and agony for the rest of us.

PureWow Editor-in-Chief Jillian Quint turned me on to A Real Animal, saying, "This book knocked my socks off with an unreliable (but weirdly relatable) narrator who keeps making bad decisions, but you root for nonetheless.”

Atwood's debut novel centers on Lucy, a woman in her twenties as she crosses from the life of a student into that of adulthood. The premise touched me deeply: A young woman yearning for an extraordinary life, feeling constrained by the smallness of her reality. As Lucy breaks away from the familiar and plunges into the unknown, she journeys on a quest to be loved and known, only to reckon with the shattering idea that maybe being human is to be none of those things. If all this sounds serious, it's not. Quint maintains that A Real Animal is "weird, funny, sexy and disturbing." Sounds unputdownable to me!