Whether you’re looking to read more in 2026 or smash your Goodreads goal, you’ve come to the right place. From romance novels and historical fiction to crime capers and fantasy, the best new book releases leave you spoilt for choice.
So far, Jennette McCurdy’s Half His Age – the follow-up to the author’s bestselling memoir – is the provocative story of an age-gap affair. Meanwhile, Roxy Dunn’s second novel, Wants & Needs, is a page-turning exploration of polyamory, while Madeline Cash’s Lost Lambs is a darkly comedic story about three sisters and their obsession with a corrupt billionaire (writer Lena Dunham has called the author “a voice like no other”).
February and March fiction highlights, Madeleine Dunnigan’s debut, Jean, is a queer coming-of-age story set in a boy’s boarding school in the 1970s, while Asako Yuziki – who went viral in 2024 with her novel Butter – returns with Hooked, a similarly dark story that blurs the lines between friendship and obsession. When it comes to non-fiction, Belle Burden’s memoir Strangers is an internationally bestselling eulogy of her marriage and its breakdown, following her husband’s affair.
This month, Caro Claire Burke’s Yesteryear is a gripping look at the trad wife lifestyle, while Booker Prize winner Douglas Stuart’s third book, John of John, is set to dominate bestseller charts (I’m still thinking about it after reading it late last year). Hamnet author Maggie O’Farrell is releasing her 10th novel, Land, in June. Meg Mason – who penned the 2020 international bestseller Sorrow & Bliss – is back with a new novel, Sophie, Standing There; while Eden McKenzie-Goddard’s Windrush novel Smallie is already getting early critical acclaim.
If you’ve yet to catch up with the past year’s reading material, there was acclaimed fiction from esteemed authors, including Lily King’s tear-jerker decade-spanning romance Heart The Lover, Ian McEwan’s unsettling dystopian fiction What We Can Know, and David Szalay’s Booker-winning novel Flesh. As for debuts, Florence Knapp’s The Names is a searing family drama that’s still topping book charts.
I, along with the other bookworms on the IndyBest team, have read dozens of new releases over the past year to bring you the best books to dive into this winter. Keep scrolling for all the details.
The best new books to read are:
- Best overall – Yesteryear by Claire Caro Burke, published by Fourth Estate: £14.19, Amazon.co.uk
- Best debut – The Names by Florence Knapp, published by Phoenix: £8.49, Amazon.co.uk
- Best historical fiction – ‘The Shock of The Light’ by Lori Inglis Hall, published by The Borough Press: £15.39, Amazon.co.uk
- Best family saga – ‘Lost Lambs’ by Madeline Cash, published by Doubleday: £16, Amazon.co.uk
Read more: I’ve already read some of 2026’s biggest book releases – these are the four to look out for
