The Most Anticipated Books Of Winter 2025-26

If winter’s short, frigid days are good for anything, it’s reading. And happily, there’s no shortage of worthy titles hitting shelves in the coming months.

As usual, romance fans have plenty to look forward to, including Zakiya N. Jamal’s adult debut, Sparks Fly, and Lizzy Dent’s F1 rom-com Drive Me Crazy. Same goes for fans of sweeping epics, what with Alice Evelyn Yang’s A Beast Slinks Towards Beijing — a novel about a young woman confronting her family’s traumatic past — and Daniyal Mueenuddin’s This Is Where the Serpent Lives — a book about a cast of interconnected characters navigating feudal Pakistan’s striated social sphere. There’s much to look forward to in the nonfiction space, too, from Martha Ackmann’s biography of the one and only Dolly Parton to Tarpley Hitt’s Barbieland, a portrait of the company (and the woman) who made the doll into an icon. And that’s just scratching the surface.

Below, check out Bustle’s most anticipated books of the season.

Sparks Fly by Zakiya N. Jamal

Out Dec. 2. A late bloomer walks into a sex party, and her life totally changes. So begins Zakiya N. Jamal’s adult debut, which follows Stella, a digital media worker hoping to jump-start her love life — only to get entangled with the guy running the AI company that her workplace is partnering with. — Gabrielle Bondi, entertainment editor

Barbieland by Tarpley Hitt

Out Dec. 2. Barbie was the best movie of 2023, in my humble opinion, but it doesn’t even scratch the surface of her real-life story. In Barbieland, journalist Tarpley Hitt traces the entire (unauthorized) history of the doll, exposing the corporate maneuvers and marketing schemes that made Barbie an enduring icon — and a symbol of both feminism and consumerism, for better or worse. (Ken? Well, he’s just Ken.) — Jake Viswanath, staff writer

Winter Stories by Ingvild Rishøi, trans. Diane Oatley

Out Dec. 2. The hygge experts know that the best way to survive winter is to burrow deeper into it. Norwegian writer Ingvild Rishøi offers three meditative Scandinavian winter tales from a place of surprising brightness in the endless hours of dark. A young mother in financial trouble tries to steal a pair of underwear in front of the watchful eyes of her young daughter; three siblings run away to a remote cabin untouched by time. Get this for the friend in your life who was weirdly obsessed with “The Little Match Girl.” — Greta Rainbow, research editor

Galápagos by Fátima Vélez, trans. Hannah Kauders

Out Dec. 2. Fátima Vélez’s debut novel follows a group of artists from around the world who, dying of AIDS, decide to embark on a final voyage through the Galápagos Islands, ignoring their decaying health to eat, drink, and be merry one last time. Galápagos probes the surreal experience of facing your own mortality — and touches on a subject that feels especially timely, given the Trump administration’s refusal to commemorate World AIDS Day. — J.V.

Cape Fever by Nadia Davids

Out Dec. 9. If you’re a fan of Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Mexican Gothic, Nadia Davids’ latest deserves a spot on your reading list. Set in 1920, Cape Fever follows housemaid Soraya and her boss, Mrs. Hattingh, who lives in a decaying house that — unbeknownst to Hattingh — is full of spirits. At once an incisive exploration of colonialism, class, and culture, and a page-turning supernatural thriller, this novel sticks the landing. — G.B.

Ain’t Nobody’s Fool: The Life and Times of Dolly Parton by Martha Ackmann

Out Dec. 30. Martha Ackmann’s biography of Dolly Parton paints a full and loving picture of the entertainer, tracing how her public persona, shrewd business sense, and philanthropic efforts have helped her transcend music. — Grace Wehniainen, staff writer

Drive Me Crazy by Lizzy Dent

Out Jan. 6. While hockey romances dominated this past year, it’s Formula 1-centered love stories that are set to take over 2026. Among them is Lizzy Dent’s Drive Me Crazy, which tells the story of Chloe Coleman, a newly minted F1 principal (aka the team’s head honcho) who wants to turn her losing team around. It only gets more complicated when a controversial-but-talented driver joins her team — especially because the two have a history. Nothing amps up the stakes like fast cars and old childhood crushes. — G.B.

Lost Lambs by Madeline Cash

Out Jan. 13. The Flynns’ marriage is opening, and their adolescent daughters are falling apart. One is becoming radicalized online, another is dating a man called “War Crime Wes,” and the third can’t stop obsessing over the mysterious billionaire looming over their town. With Lost Lambs, Madeline Cash delivers a darkly funny family saga that reads like Jonathan Franzen for the TikTok generation. — Samantha Leach, associate director, special projects

Sheer by Vanessa Lawrence

Out Jan. 13. As beauty founder Maxine Thomas is embroiled in scandal, she reflects on the forces that shaped her rise — and downfall — from her career beginnings in 1990s New York to the peak “girlboss” days of 2015. Vanessa Lawrence so vividly traces her character’s personal history that you might almost forget (like I did!) you’re reading a novel, not a memoir. — G.W.

This Is Where the Serpent Lives by Daniyal Mueenuddin

Out Jan. 13. A decade and a half after his award-winning short-story collection, In Other Rooms, Other Wonders, Daniyal Mueenuddin is releasing his first novel — and it’s well worth the wait. This Is Where the Serpent Lives follows a cast of indelible characters trying to make their way, and climb the social ladder, in feudal Pakistan. Altogether, it’s a masterful look at class, love, and ambition. — Chloe Joe, features editor

The Age of Calamities by Senaa Ahmad

Out Jan. 13. In Senaa Ahmad’s debut collection, history is plopped in a blender and spun on high. What results is nothing short of delightful. A series of absurdist tales that treat well-trodden narratives and esteemed figures as they are: modern-day myths, ready to be picked up and played with. — C.J.

Scavengers by Kathleen Boland

Out Jan. 13. Bea had a finance job, and to a finance job she might return — or at least she hopes. In the meantime, she’s crashing with her mother and a truckload of faux plants in her mom’s new Salt Lake City home — a home Bea’s been paying for, ever since her sister died and her mom abruptly moved out west. Short on options, Bea agrees to accompany her mother on a quixotic quest into the desert, searching for literal buried treasure. Naturally, things don’t go as planned. — C.J.

Half His Age by Jennette McCurdy

Out Jan. 20. After the breakout success of her memoir, I’m Glad My Mom Died, Jennette McCurdy returns with a novel that’s just as haunting, hilarious, and heart-rending. The book follows Waldo, an only child born to a teenage mother whose love life is nothing short of a cautionary tale. But when Waldo falls for her older teacher, she’s forced to reckon with her own messy desires and what it means to grow up without a road map. It’s a coming-of-age story that refuses easy answers — the kind McCurdy tells best. — S.L.

Room 706 by Ellie Levenson

Out Jan. 20. A tense, emotionally rich story of a woman trapped in a London hotel room during a violent siege, forced to confront her affair, her marriage, and what she’s willing to risk to feel alive. As danger closes in, the novel becomes a meditation on relationships, motherhood, and desire. — S.L.

Two Women Living Together by Kim Hana, Hwang Sunwoo, trans. Gene Png

Out Jan. 20. The Japanese and Korean subgenre “cozy lit,” also known as “healing fiction,” has boomed in the last few years. But while such books can often read as surface-level deep and saccharinely sweet, Two Women Living Together evades cheesiness by telling the absolutely true story of a unique living situation in Seoul that just happens to be, yes, full of cats and tea and coziness. The political implications of the authors’ radical feminist act are more prescient than you think. — G.R.

Discipline by Larissa Pham

Out Jan. 20. At just over 200 pages, Larissa Pham’s debut novel packs quite the punch. Discipline follows Christine, an author who’s on tour promoting her new revenge-fantasy book. The book was inspired by a tricky past relationship with a professor, which led to her giving up painting — and by writing it, she’s gained a sense of control over the past and her choice to give up her craft. But when said professor calls her up and invites her to his cabin, she takes a detour, and her narrative threatens to unravel. — G.B.

A Beast Slinks Towards Beijing by Alice Evelyn Yang

Out Jan. 27. Alice Evelyn Yang’s debut centers on a family who once endured colonial violence, and continue to grapple with the repercussions. After leaving on her 14th birthday, Qianze’s father returns to her childhood home 11 years later, a completely changed man. As he tells her about their family’s past, which wends through Japanese-occupied Manchuria and the Cultural Revolution, Qianze experiences disturbing visions — which leads her father to reveal an age-old prophecy. — J.V.

If I Ruled the World by Amy DuBois Barnett

Out Jan. 27. A young editor navigates the sleek, sexy, and competitive world of late-’90s magazines in Amy DuBois Barnett’s irresistible debut. After reading about fictional Nikki Rose, you’ll want to learn more about Barnett — herself a major voice in media who’s helmed magazines such as Ebony, Honey, and Teen People. — G.W.

Dear Debbie by Freida McFadden

Out Jan. 27. On the heels of the buzzy, star-studded adaptation of Freida McFadden’s The Housemaid comes her latest thriller, a fresh addition to the deliciously chaotic “good for her!” genre. Dear Debbie follows a New England-based advice columnist who, after losing her job — and her grip on her family — goes on a vengeful mission to take back control. (Yes, a TV series is already on the way.) — G.W.

Every Happiness by Reena Shah

Out Feb. 3. In Every Happiness, Deepa and Ruchi meet at Catholic school in India only to both emigrate to the United States, where together they contend with the complexities of marriage, childrearing, class differences, family obligations, and one dangerous secret. It’s a striking debut about loyalty, safety, and the ties that bind us. — S.L.

Who’s Watching Shorty?: Reclaiming Myself From the Shame of R. Kelly’s Abuse by Reshona Landfair

Out Feb. 3. In this powerful memoir, Reshona Landfair reveals she’s the “Jane Doe” who testified at R. Kelly’s recent trial, which led to his conviction and 30-year prison sentence. With her book, Landfair does exactly what its title suggests: reclaims her harrowing story and uses it to empower others to speak up against abuse. — G.B.

The Shape of Dreams by April Reynolds

Out Feb. 3. April Reynolds’ second novel transports readers back to mid-’80s East Harlem, where Anita — the mother of a murdered boy — searches for justice. As the perspective shifts between an eclectic cast of characters, new complicated layers come to light — the reverberating effects of which you’ll feel long after you turn the final page. — G.B.

Little One by Olivia Muenter

Out Feb. 3. I adored this author's debut, Such a Bad Influence — a moody, emotional thriller about a woman investigating the disappearance of her younger sister, a major Gen Z influencer. This time around, Muenter (a former Bustle editor) returns to the subject of sisterhood, probing a fictional cult and wellness culture. — Hannah Orenstein, deputy editor of lifestyle and wellness

Saraswati by Gurnaik Johal

Out Feb. 3. In the wake of his grandmother’s passing, Satnam, a Londoner, returns with his parents to his grandmother’s farm in Punjab. He doesn’t intend to stay — but then, an apparent miracle takes place in his backyard: A long-dry well fills with water. Neighbors, scientists, and believers quickly descend, suspecting the well’s water to signal the return of the mythical Saraswati river. His stage set, Gurnaik Johal zooms out from there, tracing the stories of several interconnected people with Punjabi roots. — C.J.

They by Helle Helle, trans. Martin Aitken

Out Feb. 10. Can a mother and daughter be in a love triangle? Not romantically, but in the sense of their union existing separately from the rest of the cruel world? A strange and deeply affecting 2018 novel from celebrated Danish author Helle Helle, newly rendered into English by a prize-winning translator, will be the surprising coming-of-age hit of next year. — G.R.

Murder Bimbo by Rebecca Novack

Out Feb. 10. Rebecca Novack’s debut novel follows a sex worker who’s recruited to assassinate a presidential candidate — a thrilling premise in its own right, made all the more memorable by the titular killer’s twisty (and unreliable) narration. From beginning to end, Murder Bimbo will keep you on your toes. — G.W.

In Sickness and in Health: Love Stories From the Front Lines of America’s Caregiving Crisis by Laura Mauldin

Out Feb. 10. As a chronically ill person — and, therefore, a person in need of care — I’ll admit I approached this one with trepidation. Often, caregivers and the disabled speak to one another as if on opposite sides of an impassable divide, each feeling the other isn’t listening or understanding their needs. But as both a disability scholar and a former caregiver herself, Laura Maudlin manages to thread the needle. In Sickness and in Health calls attention to America’s threadbare safety net, and the strain borne by the partners and parents and children who become at-home health aides of last resort. — C.J.

So Old, So Young by Grant Ginder

Out Feb. 17. This tragicomic, generation‑spanning novel follows six college friends over the course of five eventful parties, spread across two decades. From a New Year’s Eve celebration on the Lower East Side, to a Cancún wedding, and ultimately, a funeral, we observe how their friendships shift as jobs, lovers, babies, and grief test the bonds that once felt unbreakable. — S.L.

Evil Genius by Claire Oshetsky

Out Feb. 17. Ottessa Moshfegh’s Eileen meets Bret Easton Ellis’ American Psycho meets Barbara Loden’s Wanda meets all kinds of queer feminist theory in the latest from Claire Oshetsky, whose previous novel was named a “Best Book of 2024” by the New Yorker. Against the backdrop of 1970s San Francisco, the fantasy gets a little too real for a 19-year-old daydreamer and phone company employee. But don’t worry, there’s plenty of humor in between the murder. — G.R.

Lean Cat, Savage Cat by Lauren J. Joseph

Out Feb. 17. From the jump, Lean Cat, Savage Cat is a wild ride, rollicking and absurd and mystical in equal measure. It follows Charli, a struggling art-school grad, as she tumbles through a fog of glamour and drugs and romance, gathering speed until her inevitable crash. — C.J.

Nowhere Burning by Catriona Ward

Out Feb. 24. Novelist Catriona Ward introduces a pair of siblings whose home life is untenable. When older sister Riley learns about a place to seek refuge, she leads her little brother, Oliver, there. What they find, however, is utterly unexpected. — Stephanie Topacio Long, copy editor

The Story of You by Blake Cooper Griffin

Out Feb. 24. A deeply personal blend of memoir and guidebook, this book explores what it really takes to embrace change. Blake Cooper Griffin reflects on his own life transitions — from his shame-ridden Southern childhood to chasing his Hollywood dreams — to offer readers a hopeful, honest road map for finding themselves again and again. — S.L.

Tell Me How You Eat: Food, Power, and the Will to Live by Amber Husain

Out Feb. 24. All of a sudden, Husain finds it “strangely impossible” to eat. Searching for answers, she embarks on a journey to understand consumption through a new lens, thoughtfully charting the political, cultural, and historical forces that can color (and impede) it. — G.W.