{"id":499368,"date":"2026-06-14T15:02:17","date_gmt":"2026-06-14T15:02:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/499368\/"},"modified":"2026-06-14T15:02:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T15:02:17","slug":"i-read-2026s-most-exciting-new-books-here-are-the-best-ones-for-your-summer-reading-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/499368\/","title":{"rendered":"I read 2026’s most exciting new books \u2014 here are the best ones for your summer reading list"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is a lit-girl summer on social media. To claw back time spent scrolling online, content creators are promoting their offline hobbies, and to fight back against \u2018brainrot\u2019 caused by too much time on devices, people are increasingly undertaking reading challenges to ensure they are consuming something meaningful.<\/p>\n

All that is to say \u2013 a book is the number one accessory to have in your analogue bag (yes, that\u2019s a trend too) this summer.<\/p>\n

As a lifelong lover of books, I always keep a novel to hand, be it physical, digital, or audio, to plug a gap anywhere from the cafe to the office canteen.<\/p>\n

Audio books fill my ears at the gym, well-thumbed paperbacks rattle around my handbag, and my Kindle is crammed with reads recommended by members of the numerous book clubs I am a part of.<\/p>\n

As your resident bibliophile, I\u2019ve read and rated quite a few of the books readers are raving about for summer 2026. Below you\u2019ll find my picks of this year\u2019s most talked-about books and why they\u2019re worth reading.<\/p>\n

Yesteryear, by Caro Claire Burke<\/p>\n

\"1.1. Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke<\/p>\n

I read an early ebook of Yesteryear in January, a few months before the softback was published, and the heated discussions around it since it landed on bookshop shelves have not come as a surprise to me. If you love unlikable characters and unreliable narrators, you\u2019ll adore this one.<\/p>\n

Natalie Heller Mills is a conservative Christian, mother to six children, and an influencer with eight million followers. She\u2019s the epitome of a \u2018tradwife\u2019, a woman who \u2013 at least on social media \u2013 embraces a traditional lifestyle of cooking and raising children while her husband is at work.<\/p>\n

However, Natalie is not all she seems on Instagram. What her followers don\u2019t see is the team of staff who help her perfect and polish her performance, how her older children resent the cameras, and how much she loathes the women who follow her.<\/p>\n

When Natalie wakes up one morning to a different version of her house, one that has no mod cons and is without underfloor heating and electricity; to an unknown man who calls himself her husband; to strange children who call her mother, and to an environment that seems to be in the 1850s, Natalie is as confused as the reader.<\/p>\n

Has she been drugged and smuggled to the set of a reality television show based in the past? Has she actually time-travelled? Or is something far more sinister going on?<\/p>\n

Yesteryear will leave you guessing all the way to the end.<\/p>\n

The Truth About Ruby Cooper, by Liz Nugent<\/p>\n

\"2.2. The Truth About Ruby Cooper, by Liz Nugent<\/p>\n

Liz Nugent\u2019s previous book, Strange Sally Diamond, is a tough act to follow, but the thriller writer has pulled it off with this tale of two sisters.<\/p>\n

Ruby Cooper, 16, and her sister, Erin, live an idyllic life in Boston, but Ruby is involved in an incident that causes her family\u2019s world to implode. Decades later, Ruby is in Dublin, Erin is in Boston, and there is a wake of destruction between the two.<\/p>\n

But the past can\u2019t stay secret for ever\u2026<\/p>\n

Nugent is a brilliantly twisted storyteller, and her skills shine here, particularly around her morally questionable, deeply unlikable, but wholly compelling characters. The Truth About Ruby Cooper is at times intense with dark, heavy themes, but it is an addictive read.<\/p>\n

Good People, by Patmeena Sabit<\/p>\n

\"3.3. Good People by Patmeena Sabit<\/p>\n

I inhaled Good People when I got the audiobook through the library\u2019s Borrowbox app. The audio book features a full cast of narrators and is a brilliant medium to consume the novel, which is laid out as a series of interviews and newspaper articles about an Afghan-American family and the tragic death of their oldest daughter. But did Zorah die in an honest accident, or was she the victim of an honour killing?<\/p>\n

The Sharaf family arrived in America as immigrants, fleeing Afghanistan with only the clothes on their backs. They worked hard to become wealthy, to live in an exclusive neighbourhood, to attend prestigious schools, and to embody the American dream.<\/p>\n

However, the death of Zorah casts the family in to the court of public opinion, and the chorus of voices that tells their version of events in each chapter is as varied as the stories they weave. Who is telling the truth?<\/p>\n

A powerful novel, Good People examines issues of community, family, race, and belonging and the constant ping-pong of perspectives keeps the narrative engaging and addictive.<\/p>\n

Whatever Happened to Madeline Stone?, by Louise O\u2019Neill<\/p>\n

\"4.4. Whatever Happened to Madeline Stone? by Louise O’Neill<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve ever gone down an internet rabbit hole to discover the fate of a television show star from decades ago, Louise O\u2019Neill\u2019s new book will appeal to you. In 2002, twins Madeline and Chelsea Stone were the stars of the sitcom\u00a0Double Trouble.<\/p>\n

While Maddie is the true star on screen, Chelsea beats her to the role of a lifetime.<\/p>\n

And then, Maddie disappears. Twenty-three years later, heartbreaking truths are discovered about the year Maddie went missing, and Chelsea feels a flicker of hope. What really happened to her twin?<\/p>\n

Told in a dual-timeline narrative, it\u2019s a tale of fame, identity, and the fallout of child stardom. It\u2019s a story of the dark side of Hollywood.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Neill masterfully crafts a sharp social commentary around how young stars were treated in Hollywood in the early 2000s, from up-skirting incidents with paparazzi to magazine covers highlighting physical \u2018flaws\u2019. A natural next read if you enjoyed Jennette McCurdy\u2019s memoir, I\u2019m Glad My Mom Died.<\/p>\n

Land, by Maggie O\u2019Farrell<\/p>\n

\"5.5. Land by Maggie O’Farrell<\/p>\n

There are two reasons I think many people might pick up Maggie O\u2019Farrell\u2019s new book, which is released this month. The first is the interest generated by the success of Hamnet, the film adaptation of her last novel. And the second is a renewed interest in our personal histories since the release of the 1926 census records.<\/p>\n

Yes, Land is set long before 1926, but O\u2019Farrell says she was inspired to write this story of an Irish family struggling to survive in 1865 after she discovered that one of her ancestors worked for the British Ordnance Survey, mapping Ireland in the 19th century.<\/p>\n

Land follows Tom\u00e1s and his son, Liam, as they map the Famine-scarred west coast of Ireland.<\/p>\n

However, Tom\u00e1s changes after exploring a mysterious copse of trees, and becomes like a man possessed, leaving Liam to finish the mapping and get them both home. O\u2019Farrell\u2019s prose is unsurprisingly beautiful in this book of family, land, and history.<\/p>\n

Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage, by Belle Burden<\/p>\n

\"6.6. Strangers by Belle Burden<\/p>\n

Belle Burden\u2019s memoir shares the story of how her husband of 20 years suddenly left her, and it details her separation and divorce after his affair.<\/p>\n

Burden first published a version of the story in The New York Times in 2023, before the book was published by Penguin in January and became an instant publishing success.<\/p>\n

Burden was born into an old-money family \u2014 her family tree features Vanderbilts and Pulitzer Prize winners \u2014 and her privilege and status are explored in the book.<\/p>\n

Burden describes the process of divorce, as well as its psychological impact on her, and how it upended her life. And she writes about the financial <\/p>\n

impact, particularly since she had stopped working during their marriage and had left the management of the family\u2019s money to her now-ex-husband, \u2018James\u2019.<\/p>\n

This is another book I listened to on audio, with Burden\u2019s own voice narrating her story and adding an extra layer of depth.<\/p>\n

Lost Lambs, by Madeline Cash<\/p>\n

\"7.7. Lost Lambs by Madeline Cash<\/p>\n

Think your family is strange? I bet you\u2019re normal next to the Flynn family.<\/p>\n

Parents Catherine and Bud\u2019s marriage is falling apart, amid an open relationship and sexual experimentation.<\/p>\n

Their three daughters are more than a handful, whether dabbling in online terrorism or dating an older man, or falling in with a billionaire shipping magnate who may or may not be monitoring the entire town and moving some very illegal cargo for exclusive and secretive parties.<\/p>\n

This family saga had me hooked from page one, with its quick wit and sharp characters.<\/p>\n

Cash explores religion, family dynamics, and social justice within a very quick read.<\/p>\n

Everything That Is Beautiful, by Louise Nealon<\/p>\n

\"8.8. Everything That Is Beautiful by Louise Nealon<\/p>\n

Speaking of quick reads, I listened to the audiobook of Louise Nealon\u2019s new book in one sitting.<\/p>\n

Her debut, Snowflake, was a hit, and her second novel takes on a complicated family dynamic, as told through three women.<\/p>\n

The Foleys are at the centre of the story and of their town. The father was a legendary hurler, his wife a doting mother. Alongside the Foleys\u2019 own children, neighbouring Niamh Ryan spent her childhood on their farm, growing up among the family.<\/p>\n

Years later, ties are strained when they unite for a family wedding, but a tangled love still exists between them all. It is a compelling read, and each character feels real, with the GAA an ever-present factor in their story. A modern Irish classic.<\/p>\n

London Falling, by Patrick Radden Keefe<\/p>\n

\"9.9. London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family\u2019s Search for Truth by Patrick Radden Keefe <\/p>\n

When the author of Say Nothing and Empire of Pain brings out a new book, you sit up and take notice. London Falling is as strange as fiction: The bizarre tale of a teenager with a double life. Zac Brettler fell to his death from a luxury apartment in London in 2019 and his grieving family later learned he had been posing as the son of a wealthy Russian oligarch.<\/p>\n

In this gripping non-fiction book, Patrick Radden Keefe explores what brought Brettler to the balcony that night \u2014 and how he became involved with some of London\u2019s most notorious gangsters.<\/p>\n

London Falling unearths the unsettling truths he and Breather\u2019s parents discovered, both about the sinister underworld on their doorstep and about their son\u2019s secret world.<\/p>\n

A must-read for true-crime fans, or anyone who wants a well-crafted narrative that will keep you guessing.<\/p>\n

Our Perfect Storm, by Carley Fortune<\/p>\n

\"10.10. Our Perfect Storm by Carley Fortune <\/p>\n

You didn\u2019t think I\u2019d leave you without some proper summer romance reads, did you?<\/p>\n

In Carley Fortune\u2019s latest book, two best friends have one week in paradise to fix their friendship \u2014 or fall apart. On the eve of Frankie\u2019s wedding, her best friend, George, is ready to be her best man, despite their ups and downs. But when her fianc\u00e9 dumps her the next morning, George tells Frankie to go on her honeymoon. With him.<\/p>\n

Frankie agrees, and the duo are off to the lush rainforests and misty beaches of Tofino to repair their friendship\u2026 and unearth long-buried feelings. This is your quintessential beach read, so pack it in with your SPF and enjoy a summer fling.<\/p>\n

Into The Blue, by Emma Brodie<\/p>\n

\"11.11. Into The Blue by Emma Brodie<\/p>\n

This is the book I was hearing about for months, with rave reviews popping up everywhere about an intoxicating, must-read love story. It follows AJ and Noah, who are best friends as teens, and eventually become acting partners, until Noah disappears from AJ\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

Seven years later, AJ is shocked to be cast in the same intergalactic television production as Noah, who has become a well-known Hollywood heartthrob.<\/p>\n

Growing ever closer, they are forced to confront the truth of what happened years ago, and the devastating secret that will send their lives careening apart.<\/p>\n

This book is filled with romantic chemistry and nostalgia and it will stay with you long after you have read the final page.<\/p>\n

BookTok summer reads<\/p>\n

\"CorkCork BookTok creator Emma O’Connell gave us some perfect books for summer reading.<\/p>\n

TikTok continues to be a melting pot of book reviews and raves, and, given its sheer size (the hashtag #BookTok has generated over 77 million posts globally), it can be hard to whittle down a select few reads to dive into. Cork BookTok creator Emma O\u2019Connell (@emmareads20<\/a>) has shared some buzzy books with us that she recommends for summer reading.<\/p>\n

\n Love Scene by Anna Carey\n <\/p>\n

\"LoveLove Scene by Anna Carey<\/p>\n

This bundle of joy is a love letter to Irish soaps and romantic comedies. Set in Dublin, two screenwriters with a rather tumultuous history are hired to write for a long-running Irish soap (a fictitious Fair City, if you would). The catch? Aside from the hatred that has festered between them for years, it becomes apparent from day one that someone working on the inside wants to see this show crumble. The two quickly team up to keep the show afloat \u2014 and keep their jobs while navigating a weird (sexual) tension between them. This book was full to the brim with dry, witty, and quintessentially Irish humour, delicate and moving character reveals, and a host of side characters that had me kicking my feet and giggling. This felt like more than a romance as we watch these two characters solve the mystery of sabotage whilst insisting they do NOT want a relationship\u2026but sometimes life has other plans.<\/p>\n

\n Off Campus series by Elle Kennedy\n <\/p>\n

\"TheThe Amazon Prime series of Off Campus was a smash hit, but not many know it started out as a book<\/p>\n

The Amazon Prime series of the same name has taken the world by storm, but did you know it started as a book in 2015? Save yourself from the FOMO and binge this highly addictive series this summer so you can prepare for season two. The first book, The Deal, serves as the source material for season one, and follows swoon-worthy Garret Graham, captain of his college\u2019s ice hockey team, as he strikes up a deal with musician and fellow student Hannah Wells to be her fake boyfriend.<\/p>\n

This book is full of those 2000s-style romcom moments that had us giggling like teenage girls, paired with some tender moments between the two protagonists that evoked more tears than I\u2019d like to admit. And most importantly, while most of us are more versed with the ins and outs of GAA, you don\u2019t need to know anything about ice hockey to enjoy these books.<\/p>\n

This series makes the perfect poolside companion \u2014 although I still haven\u2019t a notion how ice hockey is played.<\/p>\n