2026 Gaming Guides: Best New Releases & Backlog Picks

Every day, publishers add thousands of new books to the mix, which means readers are juggling both fresh releases and a massive pile of classics and standouts from earlier years. If you somehow cleared the board on the best books of 2025, 2026 is already delivering plenty for everyone who likes to keep their backlog fed.

Checklists

Because the release calendar never really slows down, keeping track of what’s worth your time can feel like sorting loot in a never-ending dungeon. This roundup aims to make that job easier by spotlighting stand-out titles as they hit shelves across the year.

Popular New Books for 2026 by Month

We’re only a few months into 2026, but there have been plenty of releases worth hunting down. Below, you’ll find a selection of the most talked-about new books from each month. If you want the full set of recommendations for a given month, the page header is set up to jump you to the complete list.

Quick facts

June
May
April
March
February
January

Best New Books for January

Twelve Months (The Dresden Files, #18) by Jim Butcher

Dragon Cursed by Elise Kova

My Husband’s Wife by Alice Feeney

Half His Age by Jennette McCurdy

Beth Is Dead by Katie Bernet

The Poet Empress by Shen Tao

Inside Man: A Head Cases Novel by John McMahon

Graceless Heart by Isabel Ibañez

Vigil by George Saunders

Most Eligible: A Novel by Isabelle Engel

One of January’s biggest surprises was a fresh entry in Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files. It’s the first new installment in nearly six years, and it lands as the 18th novel in the series so far. Butcher has also said the next book is planned to arrive much sooner, which is good news if you want to jump back in right now and refresh your memory.

Romantasy fans had something to look forward to as well: Elise Kova’s Dragon Cursed. The novel is described as a fantasy romance and is noted as coming from the author of Aracana Academy, making it a strong pick if you enjoy that blend of worldbuilding and relationship-driven storytelling.

Best New Books for February

Operation Bounce House

Isles of the Emberdark

Her Last Breath

Pretenders to the Throne of God

Strange Buildings

Cleopatra

And Now, Back to You

Mother Faker

The Red Winter

February delivered a solid batch of sci-fi fantasy across the board. Matt Dinniman—known for Dungeon Crawler Carl—released Operation Bounce House, centered on a colonist farmer forced to survive the deadly activation of a corporate video game. It will feel familiar to Dungeon Crawler Carl fans, but it’s positioned as distinct enough to bring a different angle rather than simply repeating the same formula.

Another major fantasy release was Brandon Sanderson’s Isles of the Emberdark. It’s a novella that functions as a smaller expansion within the Cosmere, but it’s still framed as a must-read for the audience that follows those interconnected stories. With Apple TV partnering with Sanderson on adaptations, the timing is being treated as especially good for anyone who wants to get deeper into the fandom while the screen versions are on the horizon.

Best New Books for March

To the Death

Wolf Worm

Hooked

The Brides

Nothing Tastes as Good

The Night We Met

This Story Might Save Your Life

The Truth About Ruby Cooper

Innamorata

March’s most intriguing release is To the Death, described as having a Hunger Games-style setup with elements reminiscent of The Last of Us. The premise is built around a reality TV format where contestants must outlast each other while also dodging the undead.

Also arriving in March is T. Kingfisher’s new Southern gothic novel, Wolf Worm. The story follows a scientific illustrator who takes a job in North Carolina to assist an entomologist—only to discover that the workplace is tied to unsettling experiments.

Best New Books for April

The Infinite Sadness of Small Appliances by Glenn Dixon

Paranormal Payback edited by Jim Butcher and Kerrie L. Hughes

The Faith of Beasts by James S. A. Corey

The Caretaker by Marcus Kliewer

The Ending Writes Itself by Evelyn Clarke

Monsters in the Archives: My Year of Fear with Stephen King by Caroline Bicks

Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker

We Burned So Bright by T.J. Klune

April 2026 doesn’t feature many major book drops, but there are still a few titles worth pointing out. If you’re looking for a sci-fi adventure set in the not-too-distant future, The Infinite Sadness of Small Appliances by Glenn Dixon is highlighted. The premise is that everyday appliances gain sentience, and the story follows a young Roomba vacuum as it navigates this new reality.

Jim Butcher is also putting out a new short story collection in April alongside Kerrie L. Hughes. Titled Paranormal Payback, the book is built from a mix of stories from multiple authors, including a newly added Dresden Files story.

Best New Books for May

A Parade of Horribles

Platform Decay

Seek The Traitor’s Son

I Hear A New World

The Franchise

The Midnight Train

I Know A Place: Rest Stop and Other Dark Detours

Storm Breaker

The Anniversary

May stands out as a bigger month for readers into sci-fi and LitRPG. Among the most notable new releases are Matt Dinniman’s next Dungeon Crawler Carl novel, A Parade of Horribles, and Martha Wells’ latest Murderbot book, Platform Decay.

Best New Books for June

Exodus: The Helium Sea

The Sixth Nik

Thrilling Tales of Modern Men

The Unicorn Hunters

Headlights

This Immortal Heart

The Someday Garden

The Adventures of Juan Planchard

June is described as a quieter month for new releases, but it still has a few headline-style novels. For fans of the Archimedes Engine books, Peter F. Hamilton released the third entry in the series on June 18. There’s also a short story collection by Danny McBride titled Thrilling Tales of Modern Man, which is recommended as a read worth checking out.

Biggest Upcoming Books

Plenty of exciting releases are scheduled later in 2026, and many are already available for preorder. One standout is a new Star Wars book aimed at movie fans: Star Wars: Legacy. The story is set between Episodes VII and IX and focuses on Leia and Rey, and it’s described as canon; the release date is set for July 28.

Later in September, there’s also a prequel to Andor called Edge of the Abyss. October is shaping up to be another major month, especially after Sarah J. Maas confirmed the sixth entry in her ACOTAR series will arrive on the 27th. There’s no official title for that book yet, but it’s already open for preorder, with book 7 also mentioned as available for preorder.

October also brings the sixth installment of the Harry Potter illustrated collection. After the prior illustrator departed the project in 2022, Levi Pinfold was brought in to complete the series three years later. The Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince illustrated edition is already available for preorder, and there are even previews of some of the illustrations available.