Publishers Weekly’s Most Anticipated Books of Fall

The literary headlines you should know about today include a preview of fall new releases, the Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction shortlist, and The Love Hypothesis teaser trailer.

Clear Your Schedule and Check Out Publishers Weekly‘s List of the Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2026

Fall is always an exciting season for publishing, but it’s especially stacked in 2026. It feels like every big author has a buzzy release out in September or October, not to mention a slew of intriguing debuts. Publishers Weekly has put together their giant list of notable releases out between August 1st and January 31st (because publishing has a funny way of defining seasons). It’s organized into 13 categories, with a top ten for each and then a ton more titles following those. Stay tuned for their upcoming previews of children’s books (July 13), comics & graphic novels (July 20), and religion & spirituality books (July 27).

The 2026 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction Shortlist

Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction recognizes “realists of a larger reality, who can imagine real grounds for hope and see alternatives to how we live now.” This year’s shortlist was chosen by Nicola Griffith, Mat Johnson, Fonda Lee, Darcie Little Badger, and Peter Rock, which is a pretty stacked panel. The nine finalists are:

Audition by Pip Adam

Sunward by William Alexander

Call and Response by Christopher Caldwell

Midnight Timetable by Bora Chung, translated by Anton Hur

The Works of Vermin by Hiron Ennes

Notes from a Regicide by Isaac Fellman

Mad Sisters of Esi by Tashan Mehta

One Message Remains by Premee Mohamed

Slow Gods by Claire North

The winner will be announced on Le Guin’s birthday, October 21st, and will receive $25,000.

Watch THE LOVE HYPOTHESIS Teaser Trailer

Bestselling romance novel The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood is being adaptated into a movie for Prime Video, starring Lili Reinhart as Olive Smith and Tom Bateman as Dr. Adam Carlsen. Olive is a PhD student who ends up fake dating her professor to test their theories about love. You can judge the chemistry for yourself in the new teaser trailer.

The Most Important Document We’ve Covered

On today’s episode of Zero to Well-Read, in honor of America’s 250th birthday, Jeff and Rebecca sit down with historical content creator and political commentator Amanda Nelson for a deep dive into the U.S. Constitution. They talk about what the framers were reacting to when they outlined the foundation of a new government, what the Constitution does and doesn’t say about individual rights, and how a concept that is never specifically named in the document has shaped the country ever since. Check out the accompanying newsletter for more.

What’s your most anticipated fall new release? Let us know in the comments!