Halfway through the first month of the year, it’s time to send out the old and usher in the new. I have compiled some book lists and 2025-in-review numbers from the end of the year, along with a list of most-anticipated titles for 2026 and a new set of reading and listening challenges.

Let’s dive in.

New & Upcoming Titles

• The most anticipated books of 2026 from Barnes & Noble, Brightly (picture books, middle grade, YA), Goodreads, and USA Today.
• The most underrated books of 2025.
• The most-anticipated books in translation of 2026.
• 2026 releases that will be perfect for your book club.
• Here’s some food for thought: What does it mean to publish so many books?

Reader’s Advisory and Genre Resources

• Make sure to take a look at the 2026 Read Harder Challenge!
• If audiobooks are more your style, Libro.fm has a 2026 listening challenge.
• Romance is booming, but why do critics still dismiss it?
• A short history of romantasy.
• The state of YA in 2025.

Numbers & Trends

• Which books showed up across all of the Best Of lists?
• The most popular books on Libby in 2025.
• Hoopla’s 2025 Year in Review.
• These were the most popular books across dozens of US public libraries in 2025.
• Most Americans didn’t read many books in 2025.
• People aren’t lying about reading. You’re just insecure. (Ouch.)

Book Adaptations In the News

• What happened to these high-profile canceled adaptations?
• Not surprisingly, Heated Rivalry gets a second season at HBO.
• A look at all of the upcoming Freida McFadden adaptations.

Library Articles Worth Reading

• Leading in ambiguity.
• Refresh your library on a budget.
• What do college students lose when libraries are ignored?
• The unusual mind of a school librarian.
• Evaluating books about youth with disabilities.
• How to prepare for a ransomware attack at your library.

Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists

• Kids’ books you always meant to read.
• Great cookbooks for little kids.
• 14 YA time travel and time loop books that will make you wish you had your own time machine.
• 6 celebrity books that aren’t just juicy tell-alls.
• 6 novels in translation that blend horror and folktales.
• 5 contemporary takes on the closed circle mystery.
• 15 relationship books for heartfelt connection.
• Fiction and nonfiction books you’ve always meant to read.
• 8 monstrous books like The Witcher.
• The best romantasy retellings.
• 8 memoirs exploring the dangers of purity culture.
• Magical realism romance novels.
• 8 nonfiction books about pets.
• Steamy winter romances.
• 6 Regency-era novels that aren’t romances.

Now that you’ve caught up with all of that, how about a peek at some of the most anticipated books of 2026 so you can prepare your shelves?