It’s the first day of 2026, and instead of doing the stats for last month, I’ve decided I’m doing my lookahead to the books that are being published this year that I’m looking forward to reading, many of which are already pre-ordered! There is no real order to this and I’m going to start with the standalone stuff, because as always there are loads of series books coming out but you know what I read in series, so I’m starting with the less predictable bits!
First up, is the one and only non fiction book in this post: Liza Minelli’s memoir. It’s called Kids, Wait Til You Hear This! and it’s out in March just around the time that she turns 80. You may remember from my review of the documentary about her Liza: A Trully Terrific Absolutely True Story that Liza’s public persona is so ingrained in her that she doesn’t really show you anything behind that in the doc. And so I’m fascinated to see whether this is any different. But even if she’s still got the public face on, her life is still so incredible that I’m looking forward to reading about it in more depth. I pre-ordered this back in September and I can’t wait.
To the fiction: Emma Straub’s new book American Fantasy which is set on a cruise ship with all five members of a 90s boyband on board along with thousands of their fans. I’ve really enjoyed a bunch of books that have featured famous people and normies and this looks like it’s doing something similar but in a more lit-fic way than some of the ones I’ve read. The bar here is Curtis Sittenfeld’s Romantic Comedy though and that is high. This is out in April in the US and May in the UK.
Next up is Star Shipped which is Cat Sebastian’s first contemporary romance. This is an enemies to lovers deal about Simon and Charlie, two costars on a popular sci-fi TV show. As someone who was a massive Star Trek fan back in the day, I look forward to figuring out which shows (or franchises) this is pulling from as well as seeing what Sebastian’s writing looks like in a contemporary setting. This is out in early March in ebook and late April in paperback. Also in March is a new book from Sarah T Dubb. I loved Birding with Benefits which was one of my best books of 2024 and so I’m looking forward to Honey Bee Mine which has a bee keeper and a bad boy restauranteur who end up working together on a honey festival. Sounds sweet right? (sorry, terrible pun)
Another April release is Cherry Baby, the new Rainbow Rowell. This is about Cherry, whose husband has gone off to Hollywood to make a movie based on his comic strip which features a character based on her. However what no-one in her town knows is that he isn’t coming home leaving her to figure out who she is without him. But then on a night out to see a band she runs into someone who knew her way back when and even better – has never heard of the comic strip. I love a second chance romance and I like Rainbow Rowell so I’m really looking forward to this.
And now the series: the first to arrive is The Mysterious Affair Of Judith Potts, which is the fifth Marlow Murder Club Book from Robert Thorogood and is coming in two weeks time in mid January. We have a new Hawthorne and Horowitz coming in April. And A Deadly Episode sounds like it’s taking the series even more meta as the first book in this series (where a fictional version of the author is solving mysteries) is now being turned into a film and a murder takes place on set. I’m very interested to see how this works out! In July we have the next Three Dahlias mystery, Death on a Lively Sea, which sees Posy, Caro and Ros on a super yacht belonging to a billionaire who is convinced he’s going to be murdered! And there’s another Dahlia novel due in December – Murder on the Mistletoe Express.
The tenth Veronica Speedwell, A Ghastly Catastrophe, is out in March, There’s also a 14th Kate Shackleton book which allegedly is coming in April, but has already slid from March and still has no title, so I am fully expecting it to slide again! Away from murder mysteries, there is a sixth Before the Coffee Gets Cold book coming in May called Before I Knew I Loved You. We also have the sixth and final Heartstopper coming in July with Nick heading off to university – can he and Charlie make long distance work? There is also the series finale to Jen DeLuca’s Ren Faire series, Well Versed, which is out in September and Caitlin is the same age Emily was when she rushed home to help Caitlin and her mum in Well Met. This time it’s Caitlin who is back in her home town, back in her childhood bedroom and back at the Ren Faire where her teenage heart was broken – only to find that the guy who did the breaking is back too. I don’t want the series to be over, but one more visit to Willow Creek is better than no more.
And finally there is one book out in 2026 that I have been waiting a long, long time for. And that is Jasper Fforde’s Dark Reading Matter. The final Thursday Next book has been more than a decade in the waiting for. And I have been very patient and I mentioned this in last year’s anticipated books and the release date slid into 2026, and it’s slid again in the last few weeks to September, but I have it pre-ordered and so eventually it will turn up. I have faith.
And that’s your lot. It’s quite a bit isn’t it? And the good news is that the majority of them are either pre-ordered or I have copies already via NetGalley so the chances of me reporting back in on some of them is high!
Happy New Year everyone!
Verity Reads Books (lots of them) 