The 100 most anticipated books of spring 2026

by Abby Jimenez

🎧 Audiobook

Release date: March 24

We’re back in Minnesota with the newest Abby Jimenez book, which has us asking, what if we made the wrong choice in who we love, and is it possible that it actually led us right where we need to be? Come for the wonderful Abby Jimenez world, stay for all of the unrequited longing! This one was a delight and did not require half as many tissues for me as the last one did!

by T. Kingfisher

🎧 Audiobook

Release date: March 24

Some of our Libby librarians live for horror, and when you add in a romantic storyline, will it get a big romance reader like me to try it? Well, no, but I’m going to pass on the recommendation to others! At the turn of the 20th century, Sonia takes the only opportunity left to her, a female scientific illustrator, which is to illustrate a private collection of insects for a reclusive stranger. Things in the North Carolina woods are dark and twisty, and Sonia better start figuring out what is terrifying the animals and the locals before she ends up a victim.

by Navessa Allen

🎧 Audiobook

Release date: March 31

And speaking of questionable morals... here’s another entry in the Into the Darkness series by Navessa Allen, so buckle up for more morally gray characters and trigger warnings galore! Tyler and Stella may hate each other, but they have the same goal—revenge—and if it takes some fake dating to get where they need to go, so be it. Any feelings that might pop up are merely an unwanted side effect, or are they?

by Jenny Lawson

🎧 Audiobook

Release date: March 31

Jenny Lawson books are always a good idea. They are funny, real, and hit you right in the feels. In her first-ever advice book, Lawson talks about her own tips and tricks for staying creative and fulfilled, even in those times when you really have trouble getting motivated to do anything. She’s open and transparent about her own issues with mental health and ADHD, and her advice will feel like it’s coming from a trusted friend.

by Sarah Beth Durst

🎧 Audiobook

Release date: March 31

If you are in need of a warm, gentle hug for your brain, Sarah Beth Durst is a great place to start. Her cozy fantasy books are must-reads for many of our Libby librarians, and I’m excited to see her dipping her toes back into the YA space so we can have more coziness for more audiences. A young girl agrees to help with her great aunt's B&B in Vermont for the summer, only to discover that this rundown inn is not all it seems.

by Emma Straub

🎧 Audiobook

Release date: April 7 

Cruise/boat fiction is gathering steam, mark my words! A newly divorced Annie finds herself on a cruise with all five members of a 90s-era boy band and their devoted fans. While she wasn’t excited to attend the cruise to start with, once the singing starts, she feels more alive than she has in years. This book is a great reflection on getting older, starting over, and finding joy and bliss, and maybe even realizing that your passions never truly die.

by Caro Claire Burke

🎧 Audiobook

Release date: April 7

This has been the most buzzed-about book from all of the Libby librarians this winter, and I have a feeling it’s going to be the talk of spring! Natalie is that woman you see on social media who is living simply, making all of her own food, raising her family, and running an empire. What you’re not seeing is everything behind the scenes needed to keep this simple lifestyle running smoothly. When she wakes up one morning to a life that is truly disconnected with the modern world, devoid of electricity and requiring an actual farm to survive, she is left wondering how she got here and if she can ever make it back home.

by Patrick Radden Keefe

🎧 Audiobook

Release date: April 7

Say Nothing was on so many Libby librarians’ "best of" lists a few years back, and so many of us can’t wait to see what we can learn in his newest offering, this time in London’s secret criminal underworld. When their son dies under mysterious circumstances, Rachelle and Matthew Brettler mourn Zac, but need to know more about what happened. As they dig deeper into his life and death, they discover that there was much more to their son and to the criminal empires of London than they could’ve ever imagined. The truth can be so much stranger than fiction.

by Rainbow Rowell

🎧 Audiobook

Release date: April 14

As a Rainbow Rowell completist, you can bet that I read this the second that I could get my hands on it! Fame can change a person, and that is what has happened to Tom, who built his career on his love for Cherry, but now, seems to have outgrown her. When Hollywood comes to call, this cartoonist answers, and leaves Cherry, his muse, high and dry. So she decides two can do the leaving as she tries to find a new version of herself, perhaps with someone from her past.

by TJ Klune

🎧 Audiobook

Release date: April 28

Another Libby librarian favorite, TJ Klune gives us an end-of-the-world novel like no other. A black hole is expanding rapidly, and within a month, the Earth will be gone. So, what do Don and Rodney do? They take a road trip from Maine to Washington State to finish some things that were left undone long ago. Along the way, they’ll meet interesting people who have different views on what is coming, and they’ll reflect on their 40 years together and what it means to stare down the end.

by Martha Wells

🎧 Audiobook

Release date: May 5

If there’s one thing that gets many of the Libby librarians excited, it’s another installment in the Murderbot series! This is the eighth installment, and it’s bound to bring all of the humor, heart, and trouble-with-human-interactions that we’ve grown to love from this favorite sci-fi series. I would be remiss to not mention how much we all love the audiobook versions of all of these!

by Elizabeth Strout

🎧 Audiobook

Release date: May 5

Book club favorite Elizabeth Strout returns with the story of a man who lives a dependable, normal life, as a teacher and husband, until one day he discovers a long-buried secret that changes how he looks at everything. With this new information, he sets out to evaluate his life, his choices, and how he should move forward to a future of fulfillment.

by Shannon Chakraborty

🎧 Audiobook

Release date: May 12

The Libby librarians are past patiently waiting for this book, having raved about the first in the series! We’re back on board with Amina al-Sirafi, as she finds herself on the wrong side of things with the council unless she can bring back an artifact from an island that no one can escape. With her eyes on returning home to her daughter, will she succeed in this quest?

by Katherine Center

🎧 Audiobook

Release date: May 19

Another cruise book! Katherine Center is perfect for those who want something fun and funny to kick off their spring to summer reading, and this is sure to be no exception. Get ready for all of your favorite things, friends-to-lovers, fake flirting, destination weddings onboard, and more in this sweet, swoony romance.

by Kennedy Ryan

🎧 Audiobook

Release date: May 19

Kennedy Ryan is a must-read for romance fans, so if you haven’t read anything else by her, make sure you pick up her back catalog and get to reading before this one comes out in May. In this second-chance romance, a screenwriter and a musician must put aside their past and work together on a film that could make both of their careers, but will all the time together be a beautiful melody, or will it be curtains for them and their production?

by Freida McFadden

Release date: May 26

It’s a new Freida McFadden audiobook; I feel like nothing more need be said! However, if you want to know a bit more, this is the story of what happens after the happily ever ends, he restarts, she fixates, only to make some discoveries that may bring back all she had or end her life as she knows it.

by David Sedaris

🎧 Audiobook

Release date: May 26

Having seen David Sedaris speak multiple times, you can bet that I’m in the holds queue for his newest essay collection, which deals with caretaking, family, friendship, and being an outsider with his trademark humor and honesty.