7 New & Notable Books Coming in January 2026

Ever since her death, Jill “Doll” Blaine has helped bring 343 souls to the afterlife. So, when she lands in the driveway of an ornate mansion, she thinks this time will be like all the rest.

Except, K.J. Boone doesn’t want comfort in his final moments. He lived a life that made the world better. 

But was it as great as he believes? And does he deserve absolution?

On a farm in Pakistan, the land links everyone. But not everything is equal in feudal Pakistan, even in contemporary times. 

From a wealthy landowner to a lowly errand boy, over a dozen lives are linked in shocking and unexpected ways. Through violence and love, resilience and trauma, fate is often tied to your social station. 

But each person faces paths where morality can determine whether they stay rooted in the fate of their birth or break free and survive.

It’s bad enough that their open marriage is falling apart, but Catherine and Bud also have to deal with the fact that all three of their daughters are also wrapped up in their own chaos. 

But it’s the middle child that just might save them all. All it takes is her insatiable curiosity about a mysterious shipping container owned by a billionaire, which sends the family headfirst into a criminal conspiracy, finally bringing them together. 

When Bea Macon is fired after making a risky trade, she decides to leave NYC and stay with her estranged mother in Salt Lake City. After all, Christy has been living on Bea’s dime for a while. 

But Bea isn’t exactly honest about her visit. And she isn’t the only one with secrets. Christy has a map, a contact on a forum, and a plan to unearth a million dollars. 

Bea thinks this is nothing more than a delusion. But like she was a child, she finds herself caught up in Christy’s wake, both of them heading towards a future they may not be prepared for.

There’s no reason young Waldo should want her creative writing teacher. To start with, there’s his age, his family, and his middle-aged body. 

But then there are all the things he knows. The books, the films. Or how they see the world through the same lens. 

And then there’s Waldo’s own ravenous needs. Mr. Korgy sees her in a way no one else does. Why shouldn’t he see her in every way possible?

Growing up in the southern Mojave Desert has brought two unlikely teens together. Dan and Tamma are opposites. One is a gifted, the other a burnout. 

It’s climbing the boulders surrounding them that they share in common. But as their final year of high school progresses, myriad choices begin to pile up, both on top of the teens and between them. 

At some point, it becomes inevitable that something will finally have to give. 

Years after her father walked out on her fourteenth birthday, Qianze opens the door to a man on her doorstep. This man is nothing like the Ba she remembers. 

He’s frail and haunted by a prophecy. Before she can examine her own feelings about him being in her life, he begins telling her his life story. 

It’s a history she’s always longed for. But the more he tells, the darker it gets, and the prophecy he fears creeps closer to them both.