🎉📚Best Books of 2026 (so far) with Liz Hein

Welcome to the FictionMatters podcast. Today I’m talking about the best books of the year (so far) with my co-host Liz Hein. This year’s reading has been strange for me, but I feel very excited about the books Liz and I are sharing as well as the books we have to look forward to in the back half of the year.

As always, I would love to hear your favorite books of the year so far! Drop your favorites in the comments below!

Books & Links

* Lost Lambs by Madeline Cash

* Seek Immediate Shelter by Vincent Yu

* Canon by Paige Lewis

* Exit Party by Emily St. John Mandel

* Ply by Hernan Diaz

* Under Story by Chloe Benjamin

* Ruins by Lily Brooks Dalton

* Cleo Dang Would Rather Be Dead by Mai Nguyen

* Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

* The Things We Never Say Elizabeth Strout

* Strangers by Belle Burden

* Adult Braces by Lindy West

* The Rise of Ragebait Lit by Maris Kreizman

* James by Percival Everett

* Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman

* John of John by Douglas Stuart

* The Watch Podcast

* 18:40 Brawler by Lauren Groff

* 22:06 Kin by Tayari Jones

* The Deserters by Mathias Ennard

* 26:04 Medium Rare by A. Natasha Joukovsky

* The Portrait of a Mirror by A. Natasha Joukovsky

* 28:46 Whistler by Ann Patchett

* Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

* 32:18 Departures by Julian Barnes

* The Möbius Book by Catherine Lacey

* 35:14 Vigil by George Saunders

* Lincoln and the Bardo by George Saunders

* 38:51 Transcription by Ben Lerner

* Audition by Kate Kitamura

* 41:14 Land by Maggie O’Farrell

* Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy

* 46:16 She Who Remains by Renee Karabash

* The Remembered Soldier by Anjet Daanje

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