I’m linking up with Top Ten Tuesday, which was created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. Check out upcoming Top Ten themes on Jana’s blog.
Today’s Top Ten Tuesday is Most Anticipated Books for the First Half of 2026, but instead, since I usually do quarterly most anticipated lists, I’m kicking off the first quarter of 2026 only—books I’m excited to read in January, February and March. I’m happy to say I’ve already read a few of these! And I think this list proves that 2026 promises to be a great year for new releases. I’m also sharing the results of my Fourth Quarter 2025 reading at the end. Titles are linked to Goodreads or my reviews:
January 2026 Most Anticipated:
Enchanting the Fae Queen (Queens of Villainy #2) by Stephanie Burgis. I pretty much love everything Stephanie writes, so this sequel should be a lot of fun!
Detour (Detour #1) by Jeff Rake & Rob Hart. Ditto for Rob Hart, he is such a solid writer, and although I’m usually wary of co-written books, I just have to read this:-)
Silver & Blood (Silver & Blood #1) by Jessie Mihalik. I guess this is the month of series, lol. I’ve actually read the first couple of chapters and so far so good. I love Mihalik’s science fiction series, so hopefully this will work for me as well.
A Box Full of Darkness by Simone St. James. I have already reviewed this, and it’s my first five star read of the year!
The Storm by Rachel Hawkins. I’ve also read and reviewed this, and absolutely loved it!
February 2026 Most Anticipated:
Daytide by Chris Panatier. This will be a tough book to get a hold of, unfortunately. Right now it’s only available as a limited edition hardcover from Rapture Publishing, and it’s very pricey. I can’t find it on Amazon, NetGalley or Edelweiss in ebook format anywhere, so hopefully the publisher will add other editions at some point. Otherwise very few people are going to read it, sadly. Yes, I preordered the pricey limited edition (I rarely do that so I figured for my favorite author…).
Nightshade & Oak by Molly O’Neill. Molly’s debut Greenteeth was a hit last year with so many readers, and I can’t wait to see how she follows it up.
Dollface by Lindy Ryan. I’ve become a big fan of Ryan’s, and although there are some mixed reviews right now for this book, I’m looking forward to it!
Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett. I see this on “most anticipated” lists everywhere, so I know I’m not the only one excited to read it:-)
Nowhere Burning by Catriona Ward. I’m so happy to finally see a new book from Ward (I think her last book came out in 2023). This is giving me a supernatural Lord of the Flies vibe!
March 2026 Most Anticipated:
Whidbey by T. Kira Madden. This one is a little outside my normal genres, but I did win a giveaway of the book on Goodreads, and I’m excited to see if the hype is true.
The Geomagician by Jennifer Mandula. This idea sounds so cool: a Victorian era fossil hunter who finds dinosaur bones, and somehow magic is involved. Can’t wait!
Nothing Tastes as Good by Luke Dumas. I enjoyed the last Luke Dumas book I read, and this horror story that revolves around weight loss has a lot of potential!
Jitterbug by Gareth L. Powell. I don’t have a review copy of this yet (I desperately want one!), but whether I get it or not, I’ll be reading Powell’s new book. He’s one of the most consistent authors I know.
Wolf Worm by T. Kingfisher. Of course, you can’t get through a year of reading without at least one Kingfisher book! This looks very dark and perfect for me.
Fourth Quarter results:
Well, I did OK. I’m mad at myself that I didn’t go back and finish The Blackfire Blade (it’s very slow in the beginning) and Turns of Fate. All of Us Murderers was super slow and nothing was happening, so I really should declare it a DNF. Futility I will try to pick up this year.
Ah, I’d forgotten about The Geomagician, definitely curious about that one!
It has a unique concept, I hope it’s good:-)
I’m curious about Detour.
Enjoy!
I just finished it, lots to think about!
I’m also very curious about The Geomagician and, of course, the Chris Panatier.
Lynn 😀
I’m so excited to get my copy of Daytide:-)
Good job with your fourth quarter results!
Thanks Lydia!
I have heard good things about Detour!
I just finished it and it was nuts! (in a good way)
Not me SIDE EYEING that limited edition copy. I wonder if they are maybe only teasing it like that and then will do a wider release? I just asked him and we will see if he responds
If you have time, search him on my blog and look at the interview he did with me, ARB called it the wildest interview they’ve seen and the photos are gold
Oh man it really does look like only those copies, and I just spent a small fortune preordering the two books Nicolas Lietzau is releasing, about in the same price range ♀️
Hopefully at some point it will be rereleased in other formats. It’s odd because it’s not a novella (I totally understand a limited edition only novella), but it’s a 500 page novel!
I will definitely check out your interview!
I like that cover for Daytide so it’s nice you’ll get a copy of the limited edition (too bad about the cost, though). And I also like the cover for Heather Fawcett’s book, lots to look at on that one. Can’t wait to see which of these you get to. Not bad at all for the previous quarter.
I’m excited to see the finished Daytide, and I hope it’s worth the $$$:-)
Well five of these (the cost and fantasy ones) would be added to my TBR Tammy!
Five is a lot!
Oh no, I’m sorry to hear that All of Us Murderers didn’t work out — I ended up grabbing a Kindle copy when there was a big price break, so now I have it and feel compelled to read it! Looks like you did really well last quarter. Funny, I have one of your books each month on my TBR! I’m looking forward to reading Detour, Mystical Cat Shelter, and Wolf Worm… and see a bunch of others that I would probably be happy to add (if only I had more reading time!)
Everyone else seems to love it, so you might too. Detour was wild! I’m still processing…
Hope you get a chance to read them all!
Me too!
The Geomagician description reminds me of Heather Fawcett’s Encyclopaedia of Faerie series.
Thanks for sharing your #TTT
You’re right, it does! I hope it’s just as good.
Lots of great books are coming out! I’m really looking forward to the new Simone St. James book myself. 🙂
It’s amazing, I hope you love it too!
I’m reading some of your January picks. I’m sad about Turns of Fare. That was on the top books list for all of us here who did Top 10 lists.
I’m sad too! I fully intend to get back to it this year. Because who knows when the sequel will come out, and I want to be caught up.
I forgot to add Silver and Blood on my list but I’m also looking forward to it!
I hope we both love it!
I should really read Catriona Ward some time. I know I have a few books on my TBR but I don’t think I’ve ever picked one up. And yes, it would be a sad year without a T. Kingfisher or two!
The Last House on Needless Street is my favorite Catriona Ward, but I usually enjoy all her books.
I really enjoyed Worm Wood and Agnes Aubert! The Geomagician and Dollface are both on my TBR! 🙂
Good to know that you’ve already loved them! I can’t wait:-)
I’m curious about The Geomagician and Jitterbug also! And of course I’ll be reading Burgis’ Enchanting the Fae Queen, once my preorder copy arrives. Happy reading!
Jitterbug is definitely one of my top most anticipated books!
I have several of these on my list! I totally forgot about Enchanting the Fae Queen, since I liked the first book! I love this cover too. I hope you enjoy all of these!
Thanks Leslie! I just started Enchanting the Fae Queen, and I love it already.
I see some familiar covers! I thought for sure you had read the Anne Bishop book already. You will be pleased to know I am 25% into The Storm, which I started last night, and am enjoying it so far. I can’t wait to dive into Dollface!
OK I’m so curious to see what you think of The Storm! I know you have a rocky relationship with Hawkins;-)
Besides A Box Full of Darkness (which you already know I want to read) I’m very intrigued by The Geomagician. That sounds like it could be a lot of fun. 😀
I love the concept of The Geomagician, I hope it’s as good as it sounds:-)
I’ve been meaning to read The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins, I should probably get to it while waiting for The Storm! I also love the premise of The Geomagician. That cover is gorgeous!!
Yes, read The Heiress! So good:-)
Daytide sounds really interesting. Also love the sound of The Geomagician. Thanks for introducing me to these!
They are so different, but equally exciting!
Daytide has an excellent cover. I’m really tempted by The Geomagician, but I’m determined to not got crazy with the ARCs!
I know what you mean, I went crazy with ARC requests at the end of last year and I’m already panicking!
I’m excited for Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter too!
If you’d like to visit, here’s my TTT: https://thebooklorefairyreads.wordpress.com/2026/01/12/top-ten-tuesday-the-most-anticipated-books-releasing-in-the-first-half-of-2026/
I hope we both love it!
Three of these made my list too but they’re definitely not the only ones I’m intrigued by. Your reviews of A Box Full Of Darkness & The Storm made those two definite must reads for me and I’d love to finally start the Queens Of Villiany series. That Chris Panatier book sounds pretty luxury too. Maybe they’ll release it in other formats a bit further down the line as I can’t imagine they’ll stick with 350 copies alone.
I think you did great with your books last quarter again too, although I hope you get a chance to finish the ones you’re still interested in sometime.
Thanks Charlotte! I do recommend the Queens of Villainy series, Stephanie Burgis is such a good writer:-)
I’m really excited for Agnes Aubert and it was definitely one of the more popular picks in this week’s TTT! I’m also keen to check out the new Mihalik book I hope you enjoy all of these reads!
A BOX FULL OF DARKNESS was one of my favorites from last year. Simone St. James is the best, isn’t she? I’m also looking forward to NOWHERE BURNING.
Happy TTT (on a Wednesday)!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
There are at least 5 books from this post that I’m looking forward to reading, too!
Nic list and great way to keep track of your reading.
I don’t know how you were able to manage whittling the list down to only 5 per month lol! There are a lot of great books coming out this quarter. Yes to all of it!
Clearly I need to read the Queens of Villainy series! I read The Storm and enjoyed it. The POVs got a little confusing, but I’m hoping it was just an ARC problem. I hope you like it! I also really liked The Last House on Needless Street, so I’m hoping Ward’s new book is just as good. I’m also planning on reading more Kingfisher this year!
I’ve been a little iffy with Kingfisher reads lately but I’ll be giving Wolf Worm a shot. Whidbey has caught my eye (it doesn’t take much – I’ll click on any book with old timey painting and neon font on the cover haha).
No surprise that we share many most anticipated in common! I can’t bring myself to order the very pricey Daytide, though I REALLY want to read it. I don’t really understand the logic of pricing most of your readers out of buying it, honestly. I loved Detour, I hope you do too!
I loved Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter, magic and kitties was perfect for me! I also enjoyed Wolf Worm, but I didn’t love it as much as I normally do with T Kingfisher, maybecause there wasn’t the usual animal companion (just lots of bugs) so there weren’t cute interactions between the heroine and her buddy, I don’t know. Snake Eater was freaking AMAZING though, I loved that so much!
Agnes Aubert and The Geomagician are on my list too. I have them waiting for me and I am super excited!! And I am also quite excited about the new Kingfisher’s book (but I think it goes without saying) and Silver and Blood sounds pretty good! I should finish the other series I started by this author, but this is not the point here!
How many is Kingifisher (re)releasing this year? Haha.
I’m really looking forward to reading Turns of Fate this year.