Barnes & Noble has selected 16 finalists for its 2026 Book of the Year, the titles B&N booksellers "find truly outstanding and in which they have felt the most pride in recommending to readers." The finalists, which include f six novels, seven nonfiction books and three books for young readers, will be voted on by all B&N booksellers and the winner named on November 12. This year's finalists are:
Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage by Belle Burden
Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
Sleeping Beauties: Why Good Ideas Go Dormant and How They Wake Up by David Byrne
This Vast Enterprise: A New History of Lewis and Clark by Craig Fehrman
Whale Harbor by Mary Beth Keane
London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and Family's Search for Truth by Patrick Radden Keefe
Partita by Barbara Kingsolver
The Book of Birds: A Field Guide to Wonder and Loss by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris
Redwood: The Untold Story of the Cold War's Most Extraordinary Spy by Ben Macintyre
This Is a Door by Daniel Nayeri
Land by Maggie O'Farrell
Is This a Plum? A Peek-Through Picture Book by Dan Ojari and Finn Ojari
Ottolenghi Simple Too: A Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi
The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett
The Unlikely Tale of Chase and Finnegan by Jasmine Warga
Cool Machine by Colson Whitehead
B&N CEO James Daunt commented: "This has been another wonderful year of publishing, and a great year for booksellers. The success of real bookstores, these inspiring physical places in which readers get so much pleasure, is a tremendous affirmation of the power of individual curation and the triumph of personal recommendation. Booksellers enjoy nothing more than to sell the books they love and, each year, first a shortlist and ultimately a winner is selected for the book of the year. Happily, there is not much science involved: booksellers vote, any which way they care--and care they do--and we find ourselves with another shortlist of excellent books."
Shannon DeVito, senior director of books at B&N, added: "Year after year, I'm always impressed by the efforts of our booksellers to make and sell interesting books. It's been a stellar calendar for publishing, and it's more important than ever to champion the books that made waves, from biting satire to gripping nonfiction, feel-good historical fiction and more."