Midyear Book Buzz: The New Yorker’s 2026 Favorites

The New Yorker has unveiled its best books of 2026 so far, mixing buzzy titles like John of John (Douglas Stuart), Kin (Tayari Jones), London Falling (Patrick Radden Keefe), and Famesick (Lena Dunham) with anticipated reads such as This Is Where the Serpent Lives (Daniyal Mueenuddin) and The Witch (Marie Ndiaye); the piece also references The New York Times’ summer nonfiction picks and notes public libraries’ push for fair e-book pricing.