Guides
Book lists & reading guides
The best books by genre, trope and mood — each list explains why every book belongs.
- Winter Reading & Book Gifts: Find the Right Book for the SeasonThe best winter reads for 2026: Abby Jimenez's A Married Little Christmas and Court Behr's sapphic A Very Merry Detour for holiday romance, Legends & Lattes for cozy fantasy, Nita Prose's The Mistletoe Mystery for a festive puzzle and Lucy Foley's The Hunting Party for a snowbound thriller. Pick a mood below and follow the link to a full list.10 books
- Book Gifts for Cozy Readers: Thoughtful Winter Gift IdeasThe best book gifts for cozy readers this winter are Abby Jimenez's deluxe A Married Little Christmas, the new Legends & Lattes graphic novel and deluxe boxed set, Holly Black's illustrated A Conspiracy of Charming Monsters and Nita Prose's short The Mistletoe Mystery. Below: 12 gift picks, bundles by reader type and 2026 special editions.12 books
- The Best Winter Books for Book Clubs (with Discussion Questions)The best winter book club books are Travis Baldree's Legends & Lattes, Lucy Foley's Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel and The Hunting Party, and Nita Prose's novella The Mistletoe Mystery. Each of the ten picks below comes with three spoiler-free discussion questions and a simple meeting format.10 books
- Thriller & SuspenseThe Best Winter Thrillers and Snowbound MysteriesThe best winter thrillers and snowbound mysteries are Lucy Foley's The Hunting Party, Ruth Ware's One by One, Sarah Pearse's The Sanatorium and Shari Lapena's An Unwanted Guest, plus two big new 2026 releases: Stephanie Wrobel's Revenge Plot and Foley's Miss Marple novel Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel.13 books
- MysteryThe Best Cozy Mystery Books to Read or Gift This WinterThe best cozy mysteries for winter are Nita Prose's The Mistletoe Mystery, Mia P. Manansala's Blackmail and Bibingka, Ally Carter's The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year and Benjamin Stevenson's Everyone This Christmas Has a Secret. Below: 15 picks with setting and series order, new 2026 Christmas mysteries and classic Poirot.15 books
- FantasyThe Best Cozy Fantasy Books for WinterThe best cozy fantasy books for winter are Travis Baldree's Legends & Lattes, Julie Leong's sapphic The Keeper of Magical Things, Rebecca Thorne's Can't Spell Treason Without Tea and Heather Fawcett's snowy Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries. Below: 12 picks with how much romance each has, sapphic cozy fantasy and 2026 gift editions.12 books
- RomanceThe Best Christmas Romance Books to Read & Gift in 2026The best new Christmas romance books of 2026 are Abby Jimenez's A Married Little Christmas, Court Behr's sapphic A Very Merry Detour, Zoe Allison's enemies-to-lovers The Christmas Competition and the five-author anthology Snow This Is Love. Below: 16 picks with pairings and tropes, sapphic and queer holiday romance, and Hanukkah and New Year's reads.16 books
- New Books Coming Out in 2026: The Release CalendarThe biggest new books of 2026 so far include Tayari Jones's Kin (Feb), Douglas Stuart's John of John (May), Maggie O'Farrell's Land (June), Leigh Bardugo's Dead Beat and Emily St. John Mandel's Exit Party (Sept). Still to come: Rebecca Yarros's Peculiar Stars (17 Nov) and Brandon Sanderson's The Fires of December (8 Dec). Month-by-month calendar below.12 books
- The Most Anticipated Books of 2027The most anticipated books of 2027 with confirmed dates are Sarah J. Maas's A Court of Forgotten Melody (12 Jan), Taylor Jenkins Reid's The Last Days of Vic & Coco (2 Mar), Kazuo Ishiguro's Miss Lambert Steps Aboard Danger (9 Mar), Emily Henry's Modern Classic (6 Apr), Kristin Hannah's The Fire (4 May) and Rachel Reid's Unrivaled (1 Jun).12 books
- Books Coming Out in December 2026The biggest books coming out in December 2026 are Brandon Sanderson's The Fires of December and Quentin Tarantino's The Adventures of Cliff Booth (both 8 Dec), Colm Tóibín's The Bridge and Casey McQuiston's Red, White & Royal Blue: The Private Correspondence (both 1 Dec), and Jennifer E. Smith's Rabbit Rabbit (15 Dec).12 books
- The Best Book Club Books of 2026 (with Discussion Questions)The best book club books of 2026 are Tayari Jones's Kin, Caro Claire Burke's Yesteryear, Sally Hepworth's Mad Mabel, Belle Burden's memoir Strangers and Rachel Hochhauser's Lady Tremaine. Each pick below comes with a spoiler-free premise, approximate length, a content heads-up and three discussion questions.18 books
- Thriller & SuspenseThe Best Thriller Books of 2026The best thriller books of 2026 so far are Ilona Bannister's Five, Tana French's The Keeper, Sally Hepworth's Mad Mabel and Patmeena Sabit's debut Good People. Below: 22 picks across psychological suspense, whodunits, legal and spy thrillers, which ones stand alone, and the big releases still coming.22 books
- Science FictionThe Best Science Fiction Books of 2026The best science fiction books of 2026 so far are Ann Leckie's standalone space opera Radiant Star, Hernan Diaz's far-future Ply, M. John Harrison's Booker-shortlisted The End of Everything and Emily St. John Mandel's Exit Party. Most of the year's best SF is standalone, so it's an easy year to start.19 books
- FantasyThe Best Fantasy Books of 2026The best fantasy books of 2026 so far are Shen Tao's standalone debut The Poet Empress, Leigh Bardugo's Ninth House finale Dead Beat, Mark Lawrence's Daughter of Crows and Victoria Aveyard's pirate romance Tempest. Below: 17 picks, a table showing where you can start, the year by type, and what's still coming.17 books
- RomanceThe Best Romance Books of 2026, by Trope and MoodThe best romance books of 2026 so far are Rainbow Rowell's Cherry Baby, Kennedy Ryan's Score, Tia Williams's The Missed Connection, Carley Fortune's Our Perfect Storm and Edward Schmit's debut The Open Era: a grief-and-body-image second chance, a Hollywood reunion, a viral airplane meet-cute, a borrowed honeymoon and two rival tennis players.20 books
- The Best Books of 2026: What's Worth Reading This YearThe best book of 2026 so far is Tayari Jones's Kin, ranked No. 1 by Amazon's editors, chosen by Oprah's Book Club and winner of the Kirkus Prize for Fiction. Close behind is Douglas Stuart's John of John, the only book on Amazon's top 20, the Booker shortlist and Oprah's list. Below: our 20 picks, a consensus tracker, and the year by genre.20 books
- Books Coming Out in November 2026: The New Releases to WatchThe biggest books coming out in November 2026 are Cassandra Clare's The Last King of Faerie (3 Nov), John Scalzi's Monsters of Ohio (3 Nov), David Baldacci's All In (10 Nov), and Rebecca Yarros's Peculiar Stars and TJ Klune's Murmuration (both 17 Nov). Below: our 12 picks, a date-by-date calendar and the month sorted by genre.12 books
- RomanceThe Best Sapphic Romance Books: 14 Love Stories Between WomenThe best sapphic romance books range from modern rom-coms like Written in the Stars and Delilah Green Doesn't Care to landmark classics like The Price of Salt and Desert of the Heart. This list collects 14 love stories between women across contemporary, historical, fantasy and science fiction, with a note on who each book suits.14 books