Readers’ Hit New Books of the Year (So Far) (original) (raw)

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Readers’ Hit New Books of the Year (So Far)

Posted by Cybil on June 1, 2026

Each year, right around this time, we like to crunch the numbers on which new releases are resonating with readers at the halfway point of the year. It’s always fascinating, and this year is no exception.
It works like this: We gather up the year’s new titles already on shelves—books published between January and June—and note the ones that Goodreads members have clicked as “Read,” “Currently Reading,” or “Want to Read,” and then we include only books that have at least a 3.5-star average rating. This provides a kind of high-altitude perspective on which books are hitting the mark with Goodreads readers.

This year, we’ve sorted the books into genre stacks and listed the 12 most popular titles in each category. As always, genre designations can get a little blurry sometimes, but we did our best. You can scan the results below.

There are a couple of interesting developments to note. Well, a couple of interesting books, actually. Of all this year’s new releases, two breakout titles in particular have made a significant splash. Caro Claire Burke’s Yesteryear and Belle Burden’s Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage have both very quickly rocketed to the top of our data charts, based on reviews, average ratings, and shelvings. That’s some good buzz.

We’ve provided some synopsis and context for the year’s top new books in each genre category. You can click on the cover art images to get more details about each book.

Top Books by Genre

Yesteryear

The very premise of the year’s buzziest book tests the boundaries between contemporary and historical fiction in an interesting way: An old-timey tradwife influencer wakes up to discover that she’s been sent back in time to confront the unforgiving realities of real pioneer life, circa 1855. Is it actually time travel? Or something even stranger? Author Caro Claire Burke has clearly hit a nerve.

Kin

From the author of 2018’s An American Marriage, this heartfelt historical novel tells the story of two Black women from Louisiana, best friends since childhood, whose lives split off in different directions…only to converge once again. Readers are responding to Jones’ rich characterizations and vivid, ground-level exploration of the Jim Crow South and the Civil Rights era.

The Most Popular New Mysteries & Thrillers

Crazy-prolific author Freida McFadden rules the mystery-thriller roost once again with this profile of a woman on the proverbial edge. For years, advice columnist Debbie Mullen has been dispensing gentle guidance to the women who write to her. But when her own world starts falling apart, Debbie decides on a more direct course of action against those who have wronged her.

The Night We Met (Say You'll Remember Me, #2)

Larissa has a pretty good boyfriend and a pretty great dog, which they are co-parenting together. She also has a pretty big problem—she can’t stop thinking about her boyfriend’s best friend. Beloved romance novelist Abby Jimenez is keeping romance readers plenty busy with this poignant story of regrets, roads not taken, and the inherent messiness of the human heart.

Book 2 in Devney Perry’s Shield of Sparrows continues the slow-burn saga of reluctant princess Odessa and the hot-and-angsty man she loves. Author Perry introduces a multi-POV approach in this second installment, as she expands on her world of monsters, spies, sacrifices, and betrayals. If you’re new to the party, readers are recommending the series to fans of Sarah J. Maas and Rebecca Yarros.

The Astral Library

For fantasy readers, it’s basically a bulletproof story premise: Bookworm Alexandria Watson has just discovered a secret door in the Boston Public Library. On the other side is a magical library where books are literal portals into familiar fictional worlds—the Regency-era parlors of Jane Austen, say, or the streets of Sherlock’s London. Some are calling the book a love letter to libraries, and that sounds about right.

Operation Bounce House

Author Matt Dinniman is known to sci-fi readers as the creator of the delightfully bananas Dungeon Crawler Carl series. His new book imagines a future in which sinister military-industrial forces test their new weapons by recruiting Earth gamers to remotely kill off distant planetary colonists. Dinniman’s brand of SFF features plenty of dark humor and, just underneath, some grim observations about current societal trajectories.

The Caretaker

Unemployed graphic designer Macy Mullins has just accepted a three-day housesitting job at an old estate on the remote Oregon Coast. She just has to follow a few rules. Well, they’re more like rituals, actually. Some visitors may be stopping by. And there’s that part about the rabbits.… Readers are reporting nerve-shredding tension with this one, plus some huge reveals that raise the stakes quite considerably.

The Escape Game

It goes like this: The escape-room-themed reality show The Escape Game ended its previous season in tragedy, when a contestant was murdered on set. The unsolved crime hangs over the new season, but several of the players are keeping their own dark secrets. The YA author team of Marissa Meyer and Tamara Moss provides riddles wrapped in puzzles, with a surprise murder mystery center.

Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage

When author Belle Burden’s marriage of 20 years fell apart—abruptly, cruelly—the situation became the defining crisis of her life. Burden’s memoir candidly chronicles her experience as she deconstructs her marriage to reveal the fault lines beneath. Reader reviews highlight the book’s willingness to tackle extremely tricky topics and themes—privilege, intimacy, financial literacy—with honesty and courage.

London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family's Search for Truth

Veteran investigative reporter Patrick Radden Keefe uncovers the truth behind the mysterious death of London teenager Zac Brettler, who fell to his death from the balcony of a luxury tower on the River Thames. Keefe’s investigation takes readers into the glitzy nightclubs and dark alleys of London’s criminal underground, where Zac was playing a very dangerous game of deception.

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