Amazon’s editors have released their list of 20 of the best books of 2026. The list is a mix of genres, fiction and nonfiction, and takes the best of the best from genre-specific best-of lists that Amazon also compiled.
It’s largely comprised of the buzziest and bestselling books, but there are also a few lesser-talked-about books, and the book that occupies the #1 spot may surprise you.
Amazon’s Best Books of 2026
1. American Hagwon by Min Jin Lee
2. Exit Party by Emily St. John Mandel
3. The Vanishing Family: Love, Fate, and the Quest to End Dementia by Robert Kolker
7. London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family’s Search for Truth by Patrick Radden Keefe
8.Big Little Truths by Liane Moriarty
9. This Cursed Beautiful Land: A Russian-American Story by Evan Gershkovich
10. Cool Machineby Colson Whitehead
11. Whale Harbor by Mary Beth Keane
12.Luna, Phoenix, Queenby Julie Orringer
13. Public Access Afterworld by Jane Schoenbrun
14. Bad Words by Rioghnach Robinson
15. Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage by Belle Burden
16. John of John by Douglas Stuart
17. Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
18. The Disappearers by Marlon James
19. The Nightingales by Emil Wilson
20. Night Objects by Eli Raphael
For more on Amazon’s top 20 list—including what Amazon editors have to say about their personal favorites—visit Amazon.
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