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And everything happening this week for Future Fest!

As the year’s end comes into closer and closer view, some of us start doing the math of whether or not we’ll be able to meet our reading goal for the year. But, whether or not we fall short, meet, or exceed our reading goal for this year, I have some good news: there are a bunch of great books coming out next year in 2026. 

As part of Future Fest, we are looking ahead at the pop culture landscape to make predictions on what's the next big thing. Because I’m the type of person who plans out the books they’re going to read a few months ahead of time, I’ve compiled the biggest books we can expect to see on shelves next year in 2026. Take a look below. 

Big 2026 Books: Dear Debbie - Freida McFadden

Freida McFadden has been making waves in the mystery genre, with her book, The Housemaid, now set to grace the big screen. McFadden will have a new book hitting bookshelves in January of next year called Dear Debbie. Her publisher describes Dear Debbie as “a biting, subversive thriller about what happens when women finally choose to take justice into their own hands – with killer results.” 

Big 2026 Books: The Girls Before - Kate Alice Marshall

If you haven't read a book by Kate Alice Marshall yet and you love thrillers, walk swiftly to your nearest local library or bookstore and grab yourself a book by her. She's steadily been putting out a strong batch of thriller novels these past few years, and The Girls Before is her next book. Macmillan, the publisher of the book, describes its premise as such: "Audrey is a search and rescue expert who never stopped looking for her ex-best friend, Janie, who disappeared when they were teenagers. Janie used to love the local legend of a forest witch who saves girls from bad men, but Audrey knows now that for every one saved, there’s always another one lost. When she stumbles upon evidence in the forest that a teenage runaway might have actually been kidnapped from land belonging to the town’s most prominent family, she will have to dig through decades of secrets to reveal the biggest one of all: what happened to the girls before."

Big 2026 Books: One of You - Erin E. Adams

One of my most highly anticipated reads for 2026 is Erin E. Adams' sophomore novel, One of You. I loved her debut novel, Jackal, from 2022, and found it an absorbing look at a Haitian American woman's return to her childhood home in Appalachia for her best friend's wedding. Beyond the fact that Jackal is a horror novel, I was hooked by Adams' writing and how she married the environmental history of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, with the larger legacy of anti-Black violence in the United States. Now, Adams will return with a suspense novel, One of You, chronicling two Haitian American sisters exhuming the dark secrets of their family after their mother unexpectedly dies. The logline, "What would you sacrifice to become American?" is so evocative to me, and I can't wait to see how Adams explores this topic in her book. 

Big 2026 Books: Japanese Gothic - Kylie Lee Baker

Another follow-up novel I have my eye on for 2026 is Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker. Baker debuted earlier this year with Bat-Eater: And Other Names for Cora Zeng, a blistering examination of anti-Asian racism and misogyny that proliferated during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. And I've put Bat-Eater as one of the best novels of 2025 thus far. Thankfully, Baker returns for her next novel with Japanese Gothic, a time-hopping horror novel that cuts between the life of a New York City man who has killed his roommate in October 2026, and a female samurai in October 1877. What unites both characters is a door that links them across time and space, and I can't wait to unwrap all the narrative threads with this one. 

Big 2026 Books: We Burned So Bright - TJ Klune

TJ Klune is one of the most beloved fantasy authors today, and we're happy to see that he'll be back for a new book next year called We Burned So Bright. Centered on an older couple, Don and Rodney, We Burned So Bright tells the story of their end-of-the-world road trip after 40 years together. That "end-of-the-world" bit isn't just hyperbole: a black hole will swallow up the Earth in a month. And Don and Rodney are taking the time to make things right with their world before it's gone forever. 

Big 2026 Books: Seek The Traitor's Son - Veronica Roth

We just finished reading Veronica Roth's latest book, To Clutch a Razor, and loved it. And now we're even more excited that she'll be back in Spring 2026 with Seek the Traitor's Son, the start of a new fantasy series. Roth has described the book as a “big romantic kinda-dystopian kinda-fantasy story about the daughter of a bounty hunter, the knight sworn to protect her, and the prophecy that ruins both of their lives.” 

Big 2026 Books: The Last King of Faerie - Cassandra Clare

Shadowhunters fans, you're in luck. Cassandra Clare is back for book 1 in The Wicked Powers series, the final trilogy of The Shadowhunter Chronicles. Goodreads describes the plot of The Last King of Faerie as such: "It follows Kit Herondale, Ty Blackthorn, and Drusilla Blackthorn from The Dark Artifices series, as they are drawn into the final massive conflict between the side of demons and the side of angels. Their story drives the narrative, as Dru is pulled into matters of Faerie and the life of Ash Morgenstern and Kit and Ty must solve a mysterious disappearance. Meanwhile Janus, the dark version of Jace Herondale, plots to bring the whole world under his power — along with his demon accomplices, he hopes to rule over everything with Clary Fray by his side. Can Kit, Dru, Ash, and Ty, separated from their friends and family, hope to hold him back?"

Just like yourself, the Popverse staff spends a whole lot of time with our respective noses in respective books. It's why we've come up with stuff like:

• The hottest upcoming fiction
• Queer romance to add to your reading list
• A genre fiction literary column called If It Bleeds, We Read

...and a whole lot more. Join our metaphorical library, won't you? There are no late fees and you can be as loud as you want, so long as the people you live with are OK with it.