The 2026 Booker Prize longlist

The 2026 Booker Prize Longlist includes fiction written in English and published in the UK and/or Ireland between October 1, 2025 and September 30, 2026 by authors representing Jamaica, Mexico, Turkey, England, Scotland, Ireland, and the United States.

The longlisted books are:

The Shadow of the Object by Chloe Aridjis Switzy by Emma Cline Helen of Nowhere by Makenna Goodman The End of Everything by M. John Harrison The Disappearers by Marlon James Black Bag by Luke Kennard The Renovation by Kenan Orhan May We Feed the King by Rebecca Perry The Palm House by Gwendoline Riley The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout John of John by Douglas Stuart All Them Dogs by Djamel White The Vivisectors by Missouri Williams

“Our longlist of books has something for everyone,” said Mary Beard, this year’s Booker Prize Chair of judges and author of Women and Power: A Manifesto.

Notable among the nominees:

Previous Booker Prize-winner Marlon James’s (A Brief History of Seven Killings) 600-page novel exploring the murder of a gay man An imaginative meditation by Chloe Aridjis, who would be the first author of Mexican heritage to win the Prize Previous Booker Prize winner Douglas Stuart’s (Shuggie Bain) buzzy Oprah’s Book Club pick

The shortlisted authors, who will each receive £2,500, will be announced September 22, 2026, and the winner, who will receive £50,000,  will be announced on November 9, 2026.

ROMANCE

July Romances to beat (or add to?) the heat

Be it a torrid love affair during summertime or that dream you’ve been praying to achieve, summer is the perfect time to try new things—like these books:

If Books Could Kill by Kate Eberle

What would you do if you were suddenly the protagonist of your favorite author’s next book? If she were a romance author, you’d probably be delighted, yes? But what if said romance author decided to start writing crime novels? That’s just the thing that happens to Roxie when she makes a wish and finds herself in what she thinks is the perfect meet-cute. At least until the guy tries to kill her.

A Date With Death by Kelly Creagh

So there’s a children’s librarian. She’s having an awful night at this Halloween party, but this very quiet person in a Grim Reaper costume is patiently listening to her grievances. And then to make it all worse, she tumbles off a balcony—only to be caught by said Grim Reaper…who definitely doesn’t have any human flesh. That Grim Reaper? Totally real. But instead of actually reaping the person he was supposed to, he saved her life instead. No good. Catching feelings is definitely something Grim Reapers are supposed to do.

*Yes, Chef by Grace Reilly**

Perfect for fans of It Happened One Summer, Reilly’s summer romance features a city girl and a grumpy chef who team up to open a restaurant in South Florida. For the ones who love tattooed bad-boy chefs, Jack is that type of surly-but-soft-on-the-inside man you love in a romance MC.

Just a Highland Fling by Naina Kumar

When Neelu makes the decision to make an appearance at her estranged father’s wedding in Scotland, she doesn’t intend to accidentally drive her future stepmother away before the wedding actually happens. When she agrees to help her father retrieve his fiancée, the pair is joined by Jacob, the hot bagpiper Neelu very recently had a one-night stand with. A road trip through Scotland to Skye with your father who you don’t really know and a hot poet you know biblically sounds like a heck of a time, doesn’t it?

We have even more new romance releases if you want them.

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LATINE LIT

The forces derived from being a Latina

collage of seven covers of books by Latina authors

On July 22, Smithsonian museum director Anthea M. Hartig appeared before two separate House committees in what Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett called a “white pride rally disguised as a Congressional hearing.”

During the two-hour proceedings, Hartig was questioned about the perceived racism, diminishing patriotism, and woke ideology “infecting” the museum, including this inquiry from Representative Brandon Gill: “What is Latina power?”

Armed with purpose, pearls, and a power bob, Hartig hit him with a “be serious” glare before calmly answering: “Latina power would be the forces derived from being a Latina.” Gill responded by asking if it was appropriate for the National Museum of American History to sell “Latina Power paraphernalia,” holding up an image of zippered pouches, hats, tumblers, and other merch in delightful shades of pink—all of which have been sold at the museum for years.

This stunt is the latest example in our government’s long history of being weird about Latine cultural expression, and of our current administration’s continued targeting of the Latine community. Read more about the hearing and that history, then add these brilliant, award-winning authors and poets to your reading list. Latine Power is many things, Mr. Gill, and literary excellence is certainly one of them.

Ada Limon – Our 24th United States Poet Laureate, winner of a MacArthur genius grant in 2023. Start with: The Carrying, Bright Dead Things, and Against Breaking Vanessa Angélica Villareal – Poet and essayist. Winner of the 2019 Whiting Award, recipient of a 2021 National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Creative Writing. Start with: Magical/Realism, which was longlisted for the National Book Award for Nonfiction in 2024. Elizabeth Acevedo – Poet, author of adult and YA lit. Winner of the 2018 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, a Carnegie Medal in 2019, the 2019 Michael L. Printz Award, and the 2018 Pura Belpre Award Start with: The Poet X, With the Fire on High, or Family Lore Kali Fajardo-Anstine – Novelist and short story writer. A finalist for the 2019 National Book Award for Fiction and a 2023 Guggenheim Fellow. Start with: Sabrina & Corina or Woman of Light

On a petty note: JZD, the makers of the merch in question, have added an “I ♥️ Latina Power Paraphernalia” sticker to their Latina Power collection. I’ve got $5 on that for sure. —VD

YOUNG ADULT

What do the bestselling YA books of 2026 so far say about the state of YA?

covers of three 2026 YA bestselling books

The New York Times YA Bestsellers have been nearly identical since January. That goes both for the weekly hardcover list and the monthly paperback list.

Two authors have dominated both since January, and while there’s no ill will toward their success, that dominance elicits several worthwhile questions about the current state of young adult fiction.

Fake Skating by Lynn Painter spent all 26 weeks on the hardcover bestseller list If Only I Had Told Her by Laura Nowlin spent all 26 weeks on the hardcover bestseller list Wings of Starlight by Allison Saft spent 20 weeks on the hardcover bestseller list Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter spent 18 weeks on the hardcover bestseller list

When we look at the paperback bestsellers, published once a month:

Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter spent all 6 months on the list Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow spent all 6 months on the list If He Had Been With Me by Laura Nowlin spent all 6 months on the list If Only I Had Told Her by Laura Nowlin spent all 6 months on the list Nothing Like the Movies by Lynn Painter spent all 6 months on the list

Yes, you are indeed seeing some double. Both Painter and Nowlin have duplicate titles on the hardcover and paperback lists.

If there are 320 “spaces” on the bestseller list at six months into the year—260 weekly and 60 monthly—then between the spaces taken up by Painter’s titles (58) and those taken up by Nowlin (38), that’s two authors making up 27% of all the possible spaces for bestsellers.

What does this concentration on the bestseller list say, besides reminding us that the methodology behind the NYT’s list remains mysterious?:

Are these books really selling that many copies in both formats to consistently be landing on both lists? Or are other books simply not selling? Are the sales numbers for YA such that it doesn’t take that many sales to land on either or both lists? Is it harder now for a new author or a new book from a midlist author to see high enough sales to make the list, even if the sales of those on the list are themselves not particularly high? Who is purchasing YA books right now? Many of these titles lean older in their target audience—ages 14+ or 16+, instead of 12+. Many also fall into the romance or the romantasy category. Are those making book purchases buying and reading these same genres that are published for adults? What role are special editions of these books playing? We also cannot overlook the lack of diversity across these lists. This directly reflects both the efforts to get these books onto the radars of readers and six years of direct attacks on literature through book banning.

📊 Read the entire analysis of this year’s YA bestselling titles here. – KJ

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DISABILITY PRIDE MONTH

Libby’s most popular kids’ books that center disabled characters

covers of five children's books with disabled characters

Every July, Disability Pride Month highlights the Americans with Disabilities Act, which was signed into law on July 26, 1990, and banned discrimination against people with disabilities and guaranteed fair access to jobs, buildings, and transportation.

As the month comes to an end, we’re sharing this list of the most popular children’s books centering disabled characters on Libby.

They have kids who tap dance in school talent shows, save animals, go on dragon-filled adventures, and more. Among them are titles that have been adapted into Disney+ movies, and books written by bestselling and diverse authors.

Here’s the list:

10. I Funny by James Patterson

9. Shiny Misfits by Maysoon Zayid

8. Call of the Sound Dragon by Tracey West

7. Save the Day by Dani Neiley

6. Out of My Heart by Sharon M. Draper

5. Out of My Dreams by Sharon M. Draper

4. Mixed-Up by Kami Garcia

3. Very Bad at Math by Hope Larson

2. Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling

1. Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper

➡️ More kids’ books that center characters with disabilities.

COMICS

Immerse yourself in the best comics of summer

Comics awards season is here, and readers who love the format—and those who are curious about this visual storytelling medium—have plenty to choose from.

The Harvey Awards announced their finalists across seven categories. Publishers, retailers, librarians, and educators judge these awards.

Anyone who has attended a ReedPop comic convention between 2016 and 2026 with a Professional or Artist Alley badge is eligible to vote in each category to select winners. Winners will be announced at New York Comic Con in October.

The Eisner Awards announced their award winners at San Diego Comic-Con. These honor the best comics published in the U.S. in the previous year in 32 categories.

These awards offer a broad look at the comics being published in any given year.

You can discover what’s new and exciting with legacy superheroes, as much as you can see the new and emerging voices in graphic memoir, children’s comics, and even in narrative nonfiction about comics. Although these awards still show that comics tend to lean more male, over the last decade, it’s become clear how much more inclusivity has been embraced.

Among the highlights:

Children’s author Dan Santat won an Eisner for All the Hulk Feels, and his children’s comic A Fishboy Named . . . Sashimi was shortlisted for the Harveys. Mariko Tamaki and Nicole Goux’s young adult comic This Place Kills Me won an Eisner Award and is shortlisted for the Harveys. Absolute Batman by Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta took home the Eisner for best continuing series, and Absolute Batman: Volume 1 is on the Harvey shortlist for book of the year.

While there is no specific Eisner Award given for best manga, Manga’s First Century: How Creators and Fans Made Japanese Comics, 1905–1989, by Andrea Horbinski, took home an award for Best Academic/Scholarly Work.

There are six manga titles on the Harvey shortlist: Billy Bat, He Rolled Me Up Like a Grilled Squid, Land, Miss Ruki, My Gorilla Family, and My Life in 24 Frames Per Second.

The Harveys honor the best adaptation from a comic—that is, a film, television, or other take on a story from the comic format. There are 10 shortlisted titles this year.

The Eisner Awards do not award this adaptive style but instead, award the best adaptation from another medium—that is, narrative literature, films, television, etc., that’s been transformed into a comic. This year’s winner is Lord of the Flies: The Graphic Novel by William Golding, adapted by Aimée De Jongh.

💥 Dig into the full slate of Harvey Award shortlisted titles and the winners of the 2026 Eisner Awards. — KJ

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Chang-Rae Lee, born July 29, 1965

Did you know? Lee worked as an analyst on Wall Street before entering the MFA program at The University of Oregon. His master’s thesis was the manuscript for what would become Native Speaker, for which he would win the PEN/Hemingway Award in 1996.

CRITICAL LINKING

You are now free to roam about the internet

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🏖️ Pack these historical beach reads in your tote bag.

🍿 Watch the trailer for the controversial adaptation of Children of Blood and Bone.

📖 Read an excerpt of Min Jin Lee’s forthcoming novel, American Hagwon.

📝 Document your adventures with expert tips for travel journaling.

🌈 Discover more queer books with the Our Queerest Shelves newsletter.

END NOTES

Written by Rebecca Schinsky, Sharifah Williams, Jeff O’Neal, Vanessa Diaz, Kelly Jensen, Jessica Pryde, Erica Ezeifedi, and Danika Ellis. Thanks to Vanessa Diaz for copy editing.

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