Top new literary-fiction books in January 2026
Last updated:
January 29, 2026
January 2026 featuring new releases by Jennette McCurdy, George Saunders, Sophie Hannah, Donna Everhart, Emily R. Austin, Jude Deveraux, Sarah Crouch, Melissa Faliveno, Rebecca Hannigan, Suanne Laqueur and many more.
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Half His Age by Jennette McCurdy
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of I’m Glad My Mom Died comes a sad, funny, thrilling novel about sex, consumerism, class, desire, loneliness, the internet, rage, intimacy, power, and the (oftentimes misguided) lengths we’ll go to in order to get what we want. Waldo is ravenous. Horny. Blunt. Naive. Wise. Impulsive. Lonely. Angry. Forceful. Hurting. Perceptive...romance · fiction · contemporary · literary-fiction · drama · age-gap · realistic · coming-of-age · female-mc · book -
![Vigil by George Saunders]()
Vigil by George Saunders
A wise, playful, electric novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling, Booker Prize–winning author of Lincoln in the Bardo, taking place at the bedside of an oil company CEO, in the twilight hours of his life, as he is ferried from this world into the next... -
![No One Would Do What the Lamberts Have Done by Sophie Hannah]()
No One Would Do What the Lamberts Have Done by Sophie Hannah
'The twist is perfection...fiction · family · psychological · cozy · thriller · slow-burn · suspense · ghosts · animals · literary-fiction -
![Women of a Promiscuous Nature by Donna Everhart]()
Women of a Promiscuous Nature by Donna Everhart
Accused of “promiscuity” in 1940s North Carolina, a young woman unjustly incarcerated and subjected to involuntary medical treatment at The State Industrial Farm Colony for Women decides to fight back in this powerful, shockingly timely novel based on the long-buried history of the American Plan, the government program designed to regulate women’s bodies and sexuality throughout the first half...north-america · usa · north-carolina · historical-fiction · fiction · historical · feminism · 20th-century · psychological · family -
![Is This a Cry for Help? by Emily R. Austin]()
Is This a Cry for Help? by Emily R. Austin
Emily Austin, the bestselling “queen of darkly quirky, endearingly flawed heroines” (Sarah Haywood, author of The Cactus), returns with a luminous new novel following a librarian who comes back to work after a mental breakdown only to confront book-banning crusaders in an empowering story of grief, love, and the power of libraries.Darcy’s life turned out better than she could have ever imagined...fiction · contemporary · lgbtq · wlw · literary-fiction · mental-illness · audiobook · lesbian-mc · romantic-love · humor -
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![Order of Royals: A Novel by Jude Deveraux]()
Order of Royals: A Novel by Jude Deveraux
“Jude Deveraux’s writing is enchanting and exquisite.” —BookPageThe second book in Jude Deveraux’s spellbinding and unforgettable Blue Swan series weaves an intricate tapestry of fantasy and intrigue on the enigmatic planet of Bellis. Princess Aradella is trapped in the iron grip of her evil and powerful aunt, Queen Olina...romance · fantasy · myths · contemporary · paranormal · magic · new-adult · literary-fiction · action-adventure · fiction -
![The Briars by Sarah Crouch]()
The Briars by Sarah Crouch
The USA TODAY bestselling author of Middletide returns with a lush and atmospheric novel of suspense following a young woman whose job as a game warden puts her in the path of a murderer in a small town eager to protect its own...mystery · fiction · suspense · outdoors · young-adult · romance · murder · literary-fiction · crime · book -
![Hemlock by Melissa Faliveno]()
Hemlock by Melissa Faliveno
A woman haunted by a dark inheritance returns to the woods where her mother vanished, in this queer Gothic novel—a butch Black Swan. Sam, finally sober and stable with a cat and a long-term boyfriend in Brooklyn, returns alone to Hemlock, her family’s deteriorating cabin deep in the Wisconsin Northwoods, where her mother disappeared years before and never returned...horror · gothic · lgbtq · fiction · spooky · southern-gothic · thriller · mystery · psychological · literary-fiction -
![Darkrooms by Rebecca Hannigan]()
Darkrooms by Rebecca Hannigan
“Haunting, fast-paced, and unforgettable.”— Karin Slaughter, #1 New York Times bestselling author of We Are All Guilty Here“A lush, moody mystery. Darkrooms is gripping and atmospheric, as two women wrestle with guilt and injustice...mystery · fiction · audiobook · suspense · literary-fiction · thriller · slow-burn · contemporary · murder · whodunit -
![The Great Dane by Suanne Laqueur]()
The Great Dane by Suanne Laqueur
This book is dedicated to all of us.At one point or another, all of us have wondered who we are.All of us have scratched at a label put on us, feeling it didn't quite fit.All of us have felt pressured to be something we're not.All of us have wished we were someone else.All of us have looked in a mirror and been confused at what we see... -
![Discipline by Larissa Pham]()
Discipline by Larissa Pham
A taut, electrifying debut about a woman forced to confront unsettling truths about herself, her past, and the life she rebuilt following a ruinous affair with her former mentor, from a “lit world phenom” (Harper’s Bazaar).I have the sense that something is being drawn between us. Not drawn as in line but as in arrow pulled back...north-america · usa · maine · fiction · contemporary · literary-fiction · audiobook · coming-of-age · book · adult -
![The Society by Karen Winn]()
The Society by Karen Winn
Rumors about the Knox and its influence have swirled through Boston for centuries. While some believe the secret society is merely an elite social club, others are convinced it hides something more sinister...Vivian Lawrence was born into old-money Boston, but when her family fortune vanishes, so does her carefully curated life...fiction · suspense · psychological · thriller · female-mc · literary-fiction · contemporary · book · adult -
![Queering Him by Katherine Wela Bogen]()
Queering Him by Katherine Wela Bogen
For fans of books by Sally Rooney and LUSTER by Raven Leilani. In this propulsive debut novel, QUEERING HIM, Katherine Wela Bogen chronicles the scalding-hot story of millennial enemies turned lovers Avra and Kieran. Bullied by Kieran at high school, Avra begins to recognize something familiar in his threatening, but always lingering, gaze...romance · lgbtq · fiction · literary-fiction · contemporary · dark · mental-illness · bisexuality · coming-of-age · steamy -
![Knife To Meet You: A Dark Romantic Comedy by K.N. Wilder]()
Knife To Meet You: A Dark Romantic Comedy by K.N. Wilder
She eliminates men who deserve it. He's her next target. The only problem? He refuses to die.Jiya Kline has mastered the art of the permanent goodbye: seduce, poison, problem solved. But her latest target, the infuriatingly gorgeous Calloway Frost, keeps surviving her best efforts... -
![How to Commit a Postcolonial Murder by Nina McConigley]()
How to Commit a Postcolonial Murder by Nina McConigley
A bold, inventive, and fiercely original debut novel that begins with an uncle dead and his tween niece’s private confession to the reader—she and her sister killed him, and they blame the British.Summer, 1986. The Creel sisters, Georgie Ayyar and Agatha Krishna, welcome their aunt, uncle and young cousin—newly arrived from India—into their house in rural Wyoming where they’ll all live together...mystery · fiction · family · poc-author · humor · crime · poc-mc · historical · coming-of-age · literary-fiction -
![Jean by Madeleine Dunnigan]()
Jean by Madeleine Dunnigan
Seventeen–year–old Jean, a troubled Jewish boy caught in the countercultural swirl of 1970s London, arrives at Compton Manor, a rural alternative boarding school for boys with “problems.” Though he is an outcast among these outcasts, he is befriended by Tom, a much wealthier, more popular classmate, and it seems as if Jean’s world might change... -
![Sheer by Vanessa Lawrence]()
Sheer by Vanessa Lawrence
An electrifying, propulsive novel about the rise and fall of a controversial beauty mogul and the moral gray areas at the intersections of beauty, power, and ambitionIt’s 2015 and Maxine Thomas, the founder and creative director of the cult makeup company Reveal, has just been suspended by her own Board for a scandalous transgression...fiction · historical-fiction · lgbtq · contemporary · literary-fiction · urban · female-mc · friendship · book · adult -
![George Falls Through Time by Ryan Collett]()
George Falls Through Time by Ryan Collett
Less meets the year 1300 in this exhilarating and thoughtfully genre-defying literary novel about a man transported through time in a moment of extreme stress, whose modern anxieties are replaced by medieval brutalities.Newly laid off George’s internet bill is in his ex-boyfriend’s name. He’s got a spider-infested apartment, and two of the six dogs he’s walking in London have just escaped...romance · fantasy · historical-fiction · fiction · time-travel · lgbtq · sci-fi · historical · mlm · magical-realism -
![Lost Lambs by Madeline Cash]()
Lost Lambs by Madeline Cash
Rippling with humor, warmth, and style, Lost Lambs is a new vision of the charms and pitfalls of family dysfunction.The Flynn family is coming undone... -
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![I Could Be Famous: Stories by Sydney Rende]()
I Could Be Famous: Stories by Sydney Rende
"A terrific fresh, original, and surprising." -George Saunders For fans of Homesick for Another World and HBO's Girls, a magnetic debut story collection following ten ambitious women and one male superstar as they pursue their desires-however deluded-for more. A listless woman befriends an influencer at a rooftop party, only to discover her lifestyle is not as glamorous as it seems... -
![A Gift Before Dying by Malcolm Kempt]()
A Gift Before Dying by Malcolm Kempt
In a hauntingly atmospheric novel set against the unforgiving landscape of the Arctic Circle, a disgraced police investigator discovers that his path to redemption is paved with ice—and blood...fiction · thriller · literary-fiction · crime · law-enforcement · police-procedural · ghosts · supernatural · book · adult -
![The Hitch by Sara Levine]()
The Hitch by Sara Levine
From the author of the cult classic Treasure Island!!!, a delightfully unhinged comedy following a woman as she attempts to exorcise the spirit of a dead corgi from her nephew and renegotiate the borders of her previously rational world Rose Cutler defines herself by her exacting standards... -
![Room 706: A Novel by Ellie Levenson]()
Room 706: A Novel by Ellie Levenson
Trapped in a London hotel room with her lover, a woman must contend with her life and her marriage in this exhilarating debut.“Room 706 is as tender as it is surprising, a gripping interrogation of womanhood—before and after marriage and children change our identities. I’m sure I won’t be the only one nodding my head throughout. I adored this brilliant novel... -
![In Bloom: A Novel by Liz Allan]()
In Bloom: A Novel by Liz Allan
The Bastards aren't afraid of anything.It's the mid-nineties, and in the small, shitty coastal town of Vincent, four girls - each hailing from single-mother, multi-sibling families, form a band... -
![Scavengers: A Novel by Kathleen Boland]()
Scavengers: A Novel by Kathleen Boland
A cautious daughter and her eccentric, estranged mother venture west in search of buried treasure—and a way back to each other—before they run out of patience, money, and options... -
![Paper Cut by Rachel Taff]()
Paper Cut by Rachel Taff
A compelling suspense debut about a woman infamous for escaping a cult as a teenager, whose future is threatened when dangerous secrets come back to haunt her—perfect for fans of Jessica Knoll and The Girls .Lucy Golden is a true-crime icon, infamous for the murder she committed while escaping a California cult twenty years ago...suspense · cults · fundamentalism · thriller · psychological · crime · coming-of-age · literary-fiction · murder · fiction -
![Your Tomorrow Was Today by Oyindamola Dosunmu]()
Your Tomorrow Was Today by Oyindamola Dosunmu
A Nigerian woman’s evocative chronicle of modern womanhood, navigating love, family, and the radical desire to remain child-free in a patriarchal world.Karen has spent years building an independent life in the city, far from her fractured family, leaving no room for love—until she receives news of her mother’s sudden death... -
![The Seven Daughters of Dupree by Nikesha Elise Williams]()
The Seven Daughters of Dupree by Nikesha Elise Williams
From the two-time Emmy Award–winning producer and host of the Black and Published podcast comes a sweeping multi-generational epic following seven generations of Dupree women as they navigate love, loss, and the unyielding ties of family in the tradition of Homegoing and The Love Songs of W.E.B. DuBois.It’s 1995, and fourteen-year-old Tati is determined to uncover the identity of her father...historical-fiction · historical · family · fiction · mystery · poc-author · female-mc · literary-fiction · black-mc · poc-mc -
![The Jills by Karen Parkman]()
The Jills by Karen Parkman
In this propulsive debut, a Buffalo Bills cheerleader will stop at nothing to solve the disappearance of her best friend and teammate, navigating the dark underbelly of a hardscrabble city, the grime and glamour of professional cheerleading, and her own tangled family history. Virginia is a Jill—a professional Buffalo Bills cheerleader—living the life she’s always dreamed of...
