Sometimes the most exciting book releases are the ones readers have been waiting years—or even decades—for. When an author takes time off from publishing, their return can feel like a true literary event, and fortunately for us, in 2026, there are several beloved writers finally back with new books. From highly-anticipated sequels to new stories from some of our beloved favorites, these upcoming titles are well worth the wait.
Kin by Tayari Jones (2/24)
Bestselling author of An American Marriage Tayari Jones is back with her newest novel, Kin. Vernice and Annie, motherless daughters from Honeysuckle, Louisiana, grow up as best friends and neighbors but follow very different paths. Vernice, raised by a determined aunt, leaves for Spelman College, where she discovers a world of privilege, ambition, and inequality among a sisterhood of Black women. Annie, haunted by her absent mother, embarks on a dangerous journey to find her, encountering love, adventure, and life-threatening challenges along the way.
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Son of Nobody by Yann Martel (3/31)
25 years after his international bestseller, Life of Pi, Yann Martel is back with another novel. Son of Nobody is a retelling of the Trojan War told from the perspective of two commoners. Psoas of Midea is a goatherd’s son, who leaves his family behind to fight with the Greeks. Many thought the commoner’s story was lost, until Harlow Donne, a Canadian academic studying at Oxford, discovers the tale nearly thirty centuries later. As he is translating the story, Donne comes to realize that the story of homesickness, regret, love, and grief is very familiar to his own life, and despite the fact that there are thousands of years between the two, they have more in common than he realized.
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Love by the Book by Jessica George (4/7)
You might know Jessica George from her bestselling book, Maame, which was first published in 2023. Three years later, the author has returned with another contemporary hit. Remy’s debut novel inspired by her three best friends became an instant bestseller, and her agent and publisher are eagerly awaiting the follow-up. This should be every author’s dream come true, right? Unfortunately, not only does Remy’s inspiration leave her, but so do her friends. With one moving to New York, one newly pregnant, and another now back together with her awful boyfriend, Remy finds herself all alone. Until she (literally) bumps into Simone, a Kindergarten teacher and sex worker whose family disowns her after learning about her well-paying side hustle. It’s not soulmates at first sight, but as the two guarded women let one another in, they realize they just might be the missing piece that they’ve been searching for.
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Ghost Town by Tom Perotta (4/28)
It’s been years since bestselling author Tom Perotta published his beloved Little Children in 2004, but he’s coming back in 2026 and we couldn’t be more thrilled. In 1970s suburban New Jersey, Jimmy Perrini is struggling with grief after a family tragedy at the end of eighth grade. Isolated from friends and family, he drifts toward two older teens: a wild local boy and an eccentric girl whose Ouija board offers them a strange comfort. As events spiral, Jimmy is caught between the supernatural and the harsh realities of home. Told by an older Jimmy, Ghost Town explores how the past lingers and the ghosts we carry never fully leave us.
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The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett (5/5)
Kathryn Stockett, known for her 2009 debut The Help, is publishing her second novel this spring, sixteen years later. After her mother abandons her on Christmas Eve, eleven-year-old Meg Lefluer learns to trust no one. Now one of the unadoptable “big girls” at Lafayette County Orphan Asylum, she struggles just to keep her spirits alive—until Birdie Calhoun arrives in Oxford seeking her socialite sister’s help, only to uncover a web of lies. Disillusioned, Birdie teams up with Meg and Charlie, a woman down on her luck, to execute a risky plan to claim what’s rightfully theirs. But as their small acts of defiance unfold, they soon learn that rebellion can come with dangerous consequences.
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Change of Plans by Sarah Dessen (5/5)
Sarah Dessen is a household name for millennials, and she’s making her comeback after a seven year hiatus with her newest young adult novel, Change of Plans. When Finley’s relationship with her boyfriend begins to unravel, a last-minute summer trip with her distant mother to a hidden family vacation house changes everything. Surrounded by newly discovered relatives and a tight-knit group of teens who work at her aunt’s diner, including a charming guitarist named Ben, Finley begins uncovering family secrets and, for the first time, figuring out who she is on her own.
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On Witness and Repair by Jesmyn Ward (5/19)
From the power of discovering Octavia Butler as a twenty-something to raising children in a world of divisiveness to the death of her partner on the eve of the COVID-19 pandemic, two-time National Book Award winner and New York Times bestselling author Jesmyn Ward has put together a collection of essays that span more than a decade of her life. With six years between this release and her last book, Navigate Your Stars, this is a release you are not going to want to meet.
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Helpless by Jessica Knoll (7/7)
Ever since graduating college, Faye’s life has been nothing but a dream. She’s half of the power-producing duo with her Hollywood husband, and she’s spent her years writing and acting. Her ex, Henry, is a married father running his family’s business. On the surface, their life has gone according to plan. However, when a former professor suddenly passes away, Faye and Henry find themselves back on their college campus, revisiting the start of their relationship. What starts as a drink at the hotel turns into a nightmare when he kidnaps and drugs her, forcing her to walk down memory lane and confront their toxic past. Known for Luckiest Girl Alive (2015) and Bright Young Women (2023), Jessica Knoll has been keeping us on our toes for years, and it doesn’t look like she has plans to stop any time soon
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Exit Party by Emily St. John Mandel (9/15)
It’s been four years since Emily St. John Mandel published her bestselling book, Sea of Tranquility, but the author is back with her newest sci-fi novel, Exit Party this fall. In Los Angeles, 2031, after the U.S. collapses, the city is finally free of curfews. Ari Waker and her roommate make their way through the city to a party, but the night turns strange when a mysterious doppelgänger appears and the party’s host disappears. As Ari tries to figure out what happened, the story moves from a broken America to Greece, Paris, and even the moon. Exit Party is a gripping tale about survival, safety, and life in a world turned upside down.
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A Court of Thorns and Roses 6 by Sarah J. Maas (10/27)
Fantasy fans have been eagerly awaiting the next book in the A Court of Thorns and Roses series, which began in 2015. Sarah J. Maas has released new novels for the series every few years, with the most recent, A Court of Silver Flames, hitting shelves in early 2021. Though she’s since focused on her Crescent City series, the long-awaited conclusion is finally here. On the Call Her Daddy podcast, Maas revealed her plans: an untitled part one releasing on October 27, followed by parts two and three combined in a single volume on January 12, 2027.
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Life Out of Order by Audrey Niffenegger (10/27)
It’s been over twenty years since Audrey Niffenegger published her bestselling book, The Time Traveler’s Wife. Years later, Audrey is back with Life Out of Order, the long-awaited sequel. The book follows Alba DeTamble, the daughter of Henry and Clare, who was born with the same rare Chrono-Displacement Disorder as her father that forces her involuntarily slip through time. As she dips in and out of decades, she’s haunted by the secrets that she must keep from those she loves most in order to protect her family. Can she live a normal life, or will her secret be exploited by the authorities?
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