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

4. Kin by Tayari Jones

5. Fruit Fly by Josh Silver

6. Land by Maggie O’Farrell

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 Machine by Colson Whitehead

11. Whale Harbor by Mary Beth Keane

12. Luna, Phoenix, Queen by 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.