By Carole Reedy—

Readers have had a banner year of new books from some of our favorite writers, and it’s not over yet. Here are six titles arriving before the end of 2026 to add to your holiday list—either to give or, even better, to receive.

Partita by Barbara Kingsolver, October 6

Without a doubt one of the most anticipated reads of the season, Kingsolver’s latest will appear in bookstores, libraries, and on your Kindle this fall. We mentioned this book, about music, memory, and a life-altering love affair, in our July 2026 column and include it here again as a reminder.

Stations by Louise Kennedy, November 3

Kennedy’s much-lauded 2022 debut novel, Trespasses, put her on the radar of book lovers everywhere. The book was also adapted into a British TV series. Irish author Anne Enright poignantly said of the novel: “I loved it for the way it holds a national sorrow.”

Kennedy’s latest returns to the world of 1980s Ireland and Northern Ireland. It’s the story of two teenagers, Red and Róisín. Red, often on the wrong side of the law, escapes to England, but they remain connected. In search of freedom, Róisín eventually travels to England but doesn’t find what she anticipated.

Cold Sunset by William Boyd, November 3 in the US, September 3 in Britain

Even if you’re not a lover of the spy genre, a William Boyd novel is guaranteed to entertain in a deeply intelligent way. Boyd’s unusual talent for engaging readers, regardless of the subject matter, is evident in the 16 novels he’s published to date.

Cold Sunset is number three in his Gabriel Dax spy series, preceded by Gabriel’s Moon and The Predicament, both compelling, delightfully fresh, entertaining reads.

Cold Sunset takes the reluctant spy and travel writer Gabriel Dax to Russia in 1964 with the task of delivering a drawing to a triple agent, who then wants Dax to sneak him over the Russian border to Finland.

Annie Proulx Stories: New and Selected, November 10

Annie Proulx is 91 years old. Her newest publication brings together celebrated stories from across her career, along with three new works. The collection spans decades of her writing about the American West, New England, and rural life.

The book’s introduction is written by Colm Tóibín (see his new book below), who has observed that some of the most powerful depictions of intimacy between men can be found in Proulx’s work.

Proulx has had a distinguished career. Her 1993 novel The Shipping News won both the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award. Her short story Brokeback Mountain won an O. Henry Award in 1998 and was later adapted into an opera, with a libretto written by Proulx herself. The opera premiered at Madrid’s Teatro Real in 2014.

The Bridge by Colm Tóibín, December 1

Tóibín has the remarkable talent, found in so many Irish writers, of weaving a simple story into a beautifully rendered tale. Each of his books is unique in subject, place, and style.
The Bridge is a novella and a follow-up to A Long Winter. The setting is the Catalan Pyrenees, where a new bridge opens up a formerly isolated area. And so the story of Miquel and his father continues.

Tóibín has written 11 novels, including Brooklyn, The Blackwater Lightship, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and The Master.

Primeval and Other Times by Olga Tokarczuk, December 1

Originally published in Poland in the 1990s, Primeval and Other Times arrives this December in a new US edition translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones.

Tokarczuk was awarded the 2018 Nobel Prize in Literature for what the Nobel committee described as “a narrative imagination that with encyclopedic passion represents the crossing of boundaries as a form of life.”

One of Tokarczuk’s most notable creations, Flights, was awarded the Man Booker International Prize in 2018 and is a reader favorite. The unusually titled Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead is another of her popular works, while the 900-page epic The Books of Jacob is considered by many to be her magnum opus.

Tokarczuk’s background in clinical psychology is evident in her writing. Primeval is a mythical Polish village through which Tokarczuk takes us across three generations of life. Reading their stories may cause you to reflect on your own history and life. The tales are not only about the changes and hardships experienced by the people, but also about the natural world surrounding them.

We’re already looking forward to another year of innovative storytelling in 2027.

Carole Reedy has been writing for The Eye since 2011. She is an avid reader who has made Mexico her home for many years.