New Book Releases in September 2026
Let's Find a New Book Together
It's almost a new month with new books so let's find the perfect one for you. Below you will find a curated selection of books that are publishing in September 2026. I aim for a diverse range of authors, characters, and genres. If I missed a stellar book, please leave it in the comments and we’ll build a TBR list together.
Now is the perfect time to place holds for upcoming new releases at your local library. Many times you can ask your librarian to order new releases for your library branch AND place yourself on the hold list ahead of time. And if you’re a Libby user, here are my tips for getting on the holds list before it releases.
If you decide to purchase the book for your home library, consider an independent bookstore in your city or online retailers who support indie sellers like bookshop.org and libro.fm.
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Mystery & Thriller
Before You Were Anne by Emiko Jean (Chelsey Calhoun #2)
Publication Date: September 1, 2026
After a woman is killed and her daughter vanishes, detective Chelsey Calhoun uncovers a legacy of violence and survival that spans from Japan to Seattle in this propulsive novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Return of Ellie Black.
I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for my honest book review. You can read it here.
Purchase Links: Bookshop.org, Libro.fm, Amazon
It's Not What You Think by Clare Mackintosh
Publication Date: September 22, 2026
He has a secret. She knows he's lying… Nadeeka is certain Jamie is having an affair. She knows the tell-tale signs. She's been here before.
When Jamie claims to be at work late, she knows he's lying. He's with another woman, and she's determined to catch him in the act. But when Nadeeka arrives home to confront him, Jamie can't explain himself. The house has become a crime scene…Jamie is dead.
Purchase Links: Bookshop.org, Libro.fm, Amazon
Mother Daughter Sister Stranger by Hank Phillippi Ryan
Publication Date: September 1, 2026
The sole survivors of the fiery plane crash that killed their parents, Eliza Ramsey and her sister Bea share an unbreakable bond. But now, on the eleventh anniversary of the tragedy, Bea fails to retrieve her pre-teen daughter from a sleepover at Eliza’s.
Purchase Links: Bookshop.org, Libro.fm, Amazon
Horror
Kiss Slay Replay by Rachel Harrison
Publication Date: September 1, 2026
After a horrifying turn of events, Willa comes to understand that she’s stuck in a loop of carnage and terror that she must learn how to escape or else suffer a fate worse than death—being an eternal wedding guest.
Purchase Links: Bookshop.org, Libro.fm, Amazon
Sometimes I Scare Myself by Jeneva Rose
Publication Date: September 22, 2026
Three horror stories.
A dinner party. A quiet house. A roadside stop.
You’ll recognize the setup. You won’t recognize what comes next.
Purchase Links: Bookshop.org, Libro.fm, Amazon
Our Cut of Salt by Deena Helm
Publication Date: September 22, 2026
In this lyrical debut, three generations of Palestinian women must put the haunting of their ancestral home to rest, before the secrets of the past drown them all. Our Cut of Salt is a powerful and intimate look at what it means to make a home, to lose it, and to return, only to find it irrevocably changed.
Purchase Links: Bookshop.org, Libro.fm, Amazon
Pictures of You by Josh Malerman
Publication Date: September 8, 2026
After a magical night out on the town with her boyfriend Jack, Emily wakes alone in a huge bed in a beautiful, well-lit room. She becomes the unknowing subject of an artist’s dangerous work in this intense Hitchcockian thriller.
I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for my honest book review. You can read it here.
Purchase Links: Bookshop.org, Libro.fm, Amazon
Incarnate by Alma Katsu
Publication Date: September 22, 2026
From beloved horror maven Alma Katsu comes a terrifying reimagining of The Picture of Dorian Gray for the internet age. An illuminating, haunting tale of algorithmic worship and beauty that can kill.
Purchase Links: Bookshop.org, Libro.fm, Amazon
Something Followed Us Home: Tales of Latiné Horror by Cynthia Pelayo
Publication Date: September 29, 2026
Gathering chilling work from some of today’s most acclaimed Latiné voices, this horror anthology moves through haunted households, brutal landscapes, sacred spaces turned dangerous, and bodies claimed by forces both ancient and intimate.
Purchase Links: Bookshop.org, Libro.fm, Amazon
Contemporary
The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman by Deesha Philyaw
Publication Date: September 29, 2026
From the moment Scharisse Freeman ditched her humble roots and married a megachurch pastor fifteen years her senior, she’s been labeled too brash and too “of the world” by church folks who grudgingly accepted her into their fold, and too holy by her estranged childhood bestie Petra. Unflinchingly funny, frank, and splendidly unruly, The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman exults in the luscious, messy pleasure of finally feeling free.
Purchase Links: Bookshop.org, Libro.fm, Amazon
The Fractured Life of Lucy Hughes by Annie Morgan
Publication Date: September 22, 2026
After a surprise proposal fractures her life into two parallel timelines, a speech pathologist must learn to trust her own inner voice in this hopeful and inspiring story about identity and belonging.
Purchase Links: Bookshop.org, Amazon
Hollow Bones by Jodi Picoult
Publication Date: September 15, 2026
An epic story of the lies we tell ourselves as we write the narratives of our lives, the plans we design to protect ourselves at the worst moments, and the ties that bind mothers and daughters.
Purchase Links: Bookshop.org, Libro.fm, Amazon
Taipei Story by R.F. Kuang
Publication Date: September 8, 2026
A wryly humorous and profoundly moving coming-of-age novel that grapples with grief, language, and culture shock—all set against the backdrop of an unforgettable summer in Taipei.
Purchase Links: Bookshop.org, Libro.fm, Amazon
Queenie Is Working on It by Candice Carty-Williams
Publication Date: September 8, 2026
Reuniting us with the iconic character nearly ten years on, facing new chaotic choices in life and love with cherished old friends and family in this highly anticipated sequel.
Purchase Links: Bookshop.org, Libro.fm, Amazon
American Hagwon by Min Jin Lee
Publication Date: September 29, 2026
Once comfortably middle class in Korea, John and Helen Koh and their three children—Bo, DH, and Mido—find their lives upended, first by a shocking betrayal by John’s oldest friend, then by the 1997 Asian financial crisis. An unforgettable, panoramic novel where the smallest of gestures can have enormous repercussions, where the bonds of family and of memory twist and fray but rarely break.
Purchase Links: Bookshop.org, Libro.fm, Amazon
Fallow by Sarah Anderson
Publication Date: September 15, 2026
Slyly funny and disarmingly tender, Fallow is the story of a young woman who signs up to be the world’s first in-house corporate surrogate, then finds herself caught up in a social experiment of another kind.
Purchase Links: Bookshop.org, Libro.fm, Amazon
How Can My Manager Be So Stupid? by Kazumasa Hayami, Haydn Trowell
Publication Date: September 1, 2026
A wickedly funny office comedy about one bookseller’s (occasionally) ludicrous attempts to understand her manager while against all odds clinging to her passion for books—the perfect read for anyone who has felt that they can't even . . . with the idiots among us.
Purchase Links: Bookshop.org, Libro.fm, Amazon
All My Sisters and Me by Sheryl Lister
Publication Date: September 8, 2026
Instead of growing closer over the years, sisters-in-law Giselle, Kamryn, Chanel, and Taylor are more distant than ever. As everything comes to a head during a weeklong anniversary celebration, the truth could tear them apart forever...or bring them together as the sisters they were meant to be.
Purchase Links: Bookshop.org, Libro.fm, Amazon
Sophie, Standing There by Meg Mason
Publication Date: September 29, 2026
Sophie Pattison loves books. And as well as a dream job at a local book festival, she has a husband she adores, a lifelong best friend, Emma, and a brother she’s always been close to. Which makes you wonder why since Christmas Sophie has been living alone, estranged from Emma, avoiding her brother, and about to be fired. Capturing the heartache and dark humor of our relationships in all their complexity, with a story about the power of connection and an ode to the inexplicable nature of the human heart.
Purchase Links: Bookshop.org, Libro.fm, Amazon
Switzy by Emma Cline
Publication Date: September 8, 2026
A private plane cuts through the winter night, somewhere over Greenland. David, a retired executive, sits back in his leather seat, playing solitaire on his phone. As David’s arrival in Zurich looms, an exquisitely rendered portrait of an unraveling mind emerges, both darkly humorous and profoundly moving. Hypnotic and startlingly original, Switzy probes the depths of human consciousness, revealing what a man is left with when the accomplishments and compromises that have defined him, and the illusions he's relied on, vanish.
Purchase Links: Bookshop.org, Libro.fm, Amazon
Proof of Progress by Elizabeth Castellano
Publication Date: September 16, 2026
Maria Astorini, once popular character actress and late-night talk show darling, is having a moment. The B-list actress has survived deaths, divorces, a famous mother, a Hollywood blacklist, a string of public embarrassments, an aging face, financial ruin, an empty nest, a difficult best friend, and a worldwide pandemic. And then, along comes the call Maria has spent decades avoiding. It’s her publisher asking, “Where is that book?”
Purchase Links: Bookshop.org, Libro.fm, Amazon
Heavy Cream by Sarah Blakley-Cartwright
Publication Date: September 29, 2026
Abandoned by her mother in New York, sixteen-year-old Geraldine falls under the influence of three women, each seeking to form her in their image. A coming-of-age novel story that explores unconventional forms of motherhood and caretaking, Heavy Cream is both a charming comedy of manners and a deeply probing look at the complexities of love, mental illness, and inheritance, and one young woman’s eccentric path to selfhood.
Purchase Links: Bookshop.org, Libro.fm, Amazon
Romance
Take a Chance, Sasha Sinclair by Ashley Herring Blake (Clover Lake #3)
Publication Date: September 29, 2026
Legacies and hearts collide when a woman embarks on a film project about an extraordinary family’s rich history in this bewitching LGBTQIA+ romance.
Purchase Links: Bookshop.org, Libro.fm, Amazon
With All My Haunted Heart by Isabel Sterling
Publication Date: September 8, 2026
A witch hired to ethically haunt a small-town B&B instead finds herself spellbound by her non-magical client in this cozy and enchanting sapphic romance.
Purchase Links: Bookshop.org, Libro.fm, Amazon
The Invisible Roommate by Timothy Janovsky
Publication Date: September 29, 2026
With nowhere else to turn, an unlikely pair agree to be temporary roommates. Their forced proximity and vulnerability lead to an unexpected romantic spark. Could this be a love that neither of them saw coming or an experiment set to go horribly wrong?
Purchase Links: Bookshop.org, Amazon
Trust Fall by Lynn Painter
Publication Date: September 29, 2026
A rags-to-riches rom-com about a small-town girl whose family inherits a fortune and moves to New York City, where she meets a big-city boy hiding an explosive secret.
Purchase Links: Bookshop.org, Libro.fm, Amazon
Historical Fiction
The Chinese Lady by Bo Wang
Publication Date: September 8, 2026
This gorgeous and immersive debut historical novel immortalizes the life of the first Chinese woman to be brought to the United States in the 1800s. Combining archival research and brilliantly imaginative storytelling, Bo Wang masterfully fills in history’s gaps to weave a powerful narrative of survival in the face of hardship, tragedy, and betrayal. Told through the eyes of those around her; mirroring her life as an object on display, until we finally see the world through her own eyes.
Purchase Links: Bookshop.org, Libro.fm, Amazon
Library of Forbidden Books by Mario Escobar
Publication Date: September 1, 2026
Berlin, 1933. The vibrant cultural heart of Germany is darkening under the shadow of the Nazi regime. For Helene Nathan, one of the first female librarians at a prestigious German library, the books she cherishes are no longer just sources of knowledge--they are targets. As the government begins its systematic purge of literature, compiling lists of "forbidden" works and orchestrating public book burnings, Helene realizes she cannot stand by as her world turns to ash.
Purchase Links: Bookshop.org, Libro.fm, Amazon
The Disappearers by Marlon James
Publication Date: September 1, 2026
In 1988, eight men in Kingston, Jamaica, begin rehearsals for a play. Though strangers to one another, they share an inescapable truth: All of them are gay. And they live in a world that refuses to accept them. A propulsive crime story that is also a deeply human account of connection and acceptance. Full of fascinating characters, biting humor, and unapologetic sex, The Disappearers is both a thrilling page-turner and a finely etched portrait of queer life.
Purchase Links: Bookshop.org, Libro.fm, Amazon
The Pirate Queen by Ariel Lawhon
Publication Date: September 8, 2026
A sweeping historical adventure inspired by the life of Grace O’Malley, the legendary Irish folk heroine who risked everything to defend her people. Keenly observed and fiercely written, Ariel Lawhon's new action-packed novel channels the untamed beauty and harsh realities of sixteenth-century Ireland, as seen through the eyes of an unforgettable heroine who rightly became “the Pirate Queen of Ireland.”
Purchase Links: Bookshop.org, Libro.fm, Amazon
The Birthing Tree by Amanda Peters
Publication Date: September 1, 2026
An unforgettable novel about a woman who must confront her family’s buried truths and memories of passionate young love when her grandmother’s death leaves her as the only guide to her community’s future. Spanning decades of loss and reclamation, this sweeping yet intimate novel follows one woman’s journey to protect the land, the traditions, and the memory of the women who came before her—and to decide which parts of her inheritance she will carry into the future.
Purchase Links: Bookshop.org, Libro.fm, Amazon
Fantasy & Magical Realism
Paper Ghosts by Sarah Addison Allen
Publication Date: September 1, 2026
Part ghost story, part love story and steeped in magical realism, Paper Ghosts will transport you to a place where old secrets echo through the years and love finds a way of bringing us home.
I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for my honest book review. You can read it here.
Purchase Links: Bookshop.org, Libro.fm, Amazon
Exit Party by Emily St. John Mandel
Publication Date: September 15, 2026
A breathtaking novel of doubles, shadow worlds, and fractured timelines as a man disappears from a glittering Los Angeles party, and a woman—a gunrunner, an art collector, an operative of the State—searches for answers.
Purchase Links: Bookshop.org, Libro.fm, Amazon
Dead Beat by Leigh Bardugo (Ninth House Trilogy #3)
Publication Date: September 15, 2026
The highly anticipated, explosive conclusion to the Ninth House trilogy. Hell itself is stalking the delegates of Lethe House, and they’re all about to learn that demons don’t play by human rules.
Purchase Links: Bookshop.org, Libro.fm, Amazon
The Strangers by Naomi Alderman
Publication Date: September 8, 2026
A thrillingly original and devastatingly moving novel that blurs the lines between fiction and reality, inviting us to reconsider what it means to be human. It’s like nothing you’ll have read before.
Purchase Links: Bookshop.org, Libro.fm, Amazon
The Witches of Cambridge by Alice Hoffman
Publication Date: September 8, 2026
Follows two brilliant young women in 1950s Cambridge, Massachusetts, as they become immersed in a mysterious secret group of witches at Radcliffe known as the Lilith Society.
Purchase Links: Bookshop.org, Libro.fm, Amazon
Strange Is the Light by Sarah Maria Griffin
Publication Date: September 8, 2026
Now, after twenty years, Daphne, Ronan, Leonie and Finn will finally have to face the consequences of cutting their last adventure short--having accidentally opened a rift into a dangerous alternate dimension while playing a mysterious RPG version of their childhood game.
Purchase Links: Bookshop.org, Libro.fm, Amazon
Your Next Favorite Read
As always, I’ve rounded all of the books above into a convenient list on bookshop.org. Check out the September 2026 picks here.
When you purchase through their site you financially support the independent bookstore of your choice. Certified as a B Corp, bookshop.org puts this mission and the public good above financial interests, giving over 80% of their profit margin to independent bookstores. Check them out!